Meditation - The Laser of the Mind

1. Meditation - The Laser of the Mind

4. Spiritual Benefits of Meditation • Peace = a state of mental equilibrium and equipoise. • Systematic spiritual practices leads to psychic balance. • To be free of sorrows and afflictions is the principal aim in human life, otherwise one cannot hope to attain peace. • Spiritual practices enable you to attain permanent relief from sorrows and afflictions. • As you perfect your spiritual practices you experience tremendous physical, psychic and spiritual benefits. - Anandamurti

5. Spiritual Practices • Spiritual practice does not encourage a person to give up all worldly duties, rather it teaches one how to make the best utilisation of properties - physical, subtle and causal. • Spiritual practices should be formulated in conformity with the physical, psychic and social needs of people from all walks of life. • Spiritual practices should be appropriate for the existence and development of a dynamic social structure in a changing world. - Anandamurti

6. Practical Spirituality • Attainment of permanent mental balance and peace - and physical, mental and spiritual progress - requires a system of meditation which is methodical and scientific. • Spiritual practice should be practical and universal, rational and psychological. • There should be an adjustment between body and mind to keep pace with the fast speed of the development of the external world. - Anandamurti

7. What is Mantra? • It is a sound vibration that has the effect of liberating the mind from darkness and mental bondage. • From 2 Sanskrit words: • man = mind + • tra = that which liberates. • By practicing meditation with the help of mantra, it can elevate us to the superconscious mind.

9. 1st Quality of Mantra • PULSATIVE: a mantra must be composed of 2 syllables to accompany the breathing. • One syllable for inhalation and the other for exhalation.

11. 2nd Quality of Mantra • INCANTATIVE : it must resonate with our own personal rhythm, your entitative rhythm. • What is entitative rhythm: it is the sum of all the vibrational patterns of our physical organs, of all our thoughts and emotions – our vibratory signature.

13. 3rd Quality of Mantra • IDEATIVE : it must have an elevating meaning – so that with every pulsation the meditator thinks “I am Infinite” – “I am That”. • The goal of yoga is to merge with the Infinite Consciousness, beyond mantra, beyond pulsation – merge in union with the Infinite - dissolve in Infinite Bliss.

15. BABA NAM KEVALAM • Is a universal mantra: • Baba- means Beloved; • Nam - means name; • Kevalam - means only. • Taught and practiced in Ananda Marga.

16. BABA NAM KEVALAM • So, Baba Nam Kevalam means: “Only the name of the Beloved ”. • Or: “ Everything is an expression of the Infinite Consciousness … Love is all there is”. • Or spiritual sentiments to that effect.

17. Our Essence Our essence is pure consciousness.The quantum level is a ‘vacuum’, vibrating with cosmic energy from Cosmic Consciousness.“ The universe is a living mind ”– said physicist Schroedinger.

18. All is Cosmic Consciousness When we penetrate deep into our cells, through molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles … finally we reach the realm where there is no matter. This ‘nothingness’ is the pure Consciousness. “ All is Brahma – Cosmic Consciousness. ”

19. Pure Consciousness • It is in the ultimate level, of pure Consciousness, that is hidden the essence of our lives. • Our nervous system, neurotransmitters, DNA – this is the hardware of our being. • Our mind, intelligence, thoughts, feelings and emotions – this is the software. • And the level of pure Consciousness is the programmer – the creative source code.

21. Layers of the Mind • CONSCIOUS MIND - controls the 5 sensory and the 5 motor organs. • SUBCONSCIOUS MIND - is the level of deep thinking and memory. • SUPERCONSCIOUS MIND - is the level of creativity, spiritual realization and intuition.

25. The Superconscious Mind “ Those who have attained this superconscious level of awareness develop the true discrimination, the ability to transcend the illusion of life and discern the eternal which underlies all the changing forms. The result of true discrimination is non-attachment. Those who are established in non-attachment realize that everything of this universe is the manifestation of the Supreme. They cannot hate or neglect anything of this universe. ” - Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

26. Supreme Consciousness “ The universe is changeable, while Supreme Consciousness is unchangeable, true and absolute. But non-attachment does not mean to leave all pleasures and remain in a state of indifference to the world. It does not mean to leave everything and go to the seclusion of a mountain cave. Those who are truly non-attached do not deny the world (worldly life), they embrace it, for they feel the touch of the eternal hidden within all the changing forms of their lives. They are with everything. ” - Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

27. Though-waves “ An infinite Cosmic flow is in continuous motion in this universe. When humans … let themselves drift in the eternal flow of Consciousness, when the human psychic thought-waves flow in parallel rhythm with the Cosmic thought-waves, the finite human merges in the infinite Cosmic flow. … That is, the little human being experiences the taste of the Infinite. ” - Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

29. Brain Waves - β • BETA WAVEs - Are generally irregular, associated with a mental state of extroversial movement, or of restlessness, worry, frustration, anger, fear, and for sensory perception. - They have a rapid rhythm of more than 13 cycles per second and up to 24 cps or more.

31. BETA brainwaves are the fastest frequencies. • Beta is your normal thinking state, your active external awareness, and thoughts generated by sensory processes. • Without beta you would not be able to function in the outside world.

32. Brain Waves - α • ALPHA WAVEs - With the repetition of mantra [internal music], we gradually calm the restless beta waves and they are transformed into the slow and rhythmic alpha waves. - This is the state of serene alertness. - They have a frequency of around 8 – 13 cycles per second.

34. ALPHA brainwaves are the brainwaves of relaxed detached awareness, visualization, sensory imagery and light reverie. • Alpha is the initial gateway to meditation and provides a bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind. • Relaxation assists alpha waves.

35. Brain Waves - θ • THETA WAVEs - As one’s meditation progresses, the frequency of the brain waves diminish still further, and alpha waves become theta waves. - Long term meditators produce theta waves, which are associated with profound states of internal awareness and inner peace. - They have a slow frequency of 4 –8 cycles per second.

37. THETA brainwaves are the subconscious mind. • Theta is present in dreaming sleep, but more importantly provides the concentration needed for deep meditation when you meditate. • Theta also contains the storehouse of creative inspiration and is where you often have your first spiritual connections.

38. Brain Waves - δ • DELTA WAVEs - The lowest frequencies are delta waves. - They occur in very deep states and also during experiences of the ‘empathy state’ – which means being involved with our ability to integrate and feel oneness. - They reflect peacefulness. - Their frequency is less than 4 cycles per second.

39. Delta : Takes you closer to the Cosmic flow – psycho-spiritual insight

40. DELTA brainwaves are your unconscious mind or superconscious mind. • When present in combination with other waves in a waking state, delta acts as a form of radar – seeking out information – reaching out to understand on the deepest unconscious level those things that we can't understand through thought processes alone. • Delta provides empathetic attunement, intuition and psycho-spiritual insight. • They take you into the Cosmic flow.

42. Omni-telepathic • “ The physical sense of the body is telepathized on the mental plate. In other words, the physical sense is awakened in the mental plate due to the reflection that follows the impact of the crude physical waves on the mental plate. Similarly, the sense of every crude object is awakened in the mental plate as soon as the reflection takes place following the impact of the waves of the objects on the mental plate. Identical mental waves hit the soul entity, causing the reflection of those mental waves, and this awakens in the unit a sense of its indivisibility from the soul. If, in the language of philosophy, mental waves, that is, thought, be called thought-waves, then the reflection of the mental waves on the soul-plate will have to be termed telepathic waves. And so in reference to the soul-plate, we may say that it is telepathic to the mind. All mundane objects, crude, subtle or causal, consist in mental waves or thought-waves, and so in the fullest accord with reasoning and logic, we may call the Soul omni-telepathic. It is because of this omni-telepathic A'tman (Soul) that the existences of all mundane objects, visible or invisible, large or small, find their factual substantiation and recognition. Had there been no A'tman, the existence of everything would have been in jeopardy. ” - Ananda Sutram 1-1 - Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

43. MEDITATION AS LASER • During meditation, a meditator’s mind becomes like a laser beam because all his/her mental and physical energies are in a constant phase due to intense concentration on the mantra, its rhythm and ideation. • The meditator acquires psychic force.