Habit can be a powerful ally if you have developed the right ones. Conversely, as you also know, they can sabotage your most earnest efforts. So it would seem like a worthwhile use of your time, to reflect on those habits that both help and hinder a good meditation.
As Yogananda told us, “You can’t get rid of the darkness by beating at it with a stick. Instead, turn on the light. The darkness will then vanish as though it had never been.” So the way to uproot bad habits is not so much by fighting them as by working all the harder at developing opposite good habits. It takes time to do this – sometimes as much as five to eight years in the case of deeply rooted habits – so don’t give up!! Read the rest of this entry »
Think of stillness as coming to you like the dawn. At first, in the pre-dawn hour, it is very dark. But imperceptibly the horizon, and then the sky, begins to lighten and long before you actually see the sun, daylight has arrived! Practice each technique (stretching, energizing, prayer, chanting, and breath awareness) with calmness and depth so that you can feel this stillness between breaths, between words, between notes, and at the resting point between movements. Then, at last, when you come to rest in the silence (letting go of all “doing” to enter “Being”), the stillness is waiting to embrace you as an old friend!
This year’s Retreat to the Heart of Silence at Camp Brotherhood was a powerful opportunity for me to reconnect with the spiritual practice of retreat. When I was in high school at Seattle Prep, I went on several retreats to wilderness areas, surrounded by trees and the distant sound of waves washing upon ocean shores. In the tradition of Catholic Jesuit priests, we were encouraged to reflect deeply through conversation, writing, and time spent quietly contemplating and awakening our awareness in nature. We also had a lot of fun playing together and building relationships over shared meals, music, skits and deep learning. Looking back, many moments from these retreats are some of my fondest memories of adolescence.
Saturday and Sunday were full of opportunities to meditate, practice yoga postures, breathe the cool country air, and reflect. Many hours of meditation were balanced with two Saturday yoga asana classes lead by Murali that were keenly focused on helping us experience stillness in each pose. As morning turned to afternoon turned to night, I felt more and more aware of the subtle currents of energy gathering in my spine and flowing upwards to my spiritual eye. Instead of the static of idle chatter, my mind’s ear resounded with prayers, chants, affirmations, and the sound of OM. In the midst of all of the sadhana, I also took time to journal and witness the seasons turn throughout the verdant grounds of Camp Brotherhood.
Meditation is deep concentration on God or one of the 8 manifestations of God as per Yogananda’s definition. The key to this is “deep concentration!” We can be faithful and practice our techniques regularly but without deep concentration, we won’t be making a lot of progress. Master said, ”Mechanical practice is not enough. There must be sincere interest in what you are doing. You must deepen your devotion.”
