Meditation Archives

Purification from the Karma that Causes Mental Illness

Q: What is mental illness? My friend’s son has bipolar disorder with schizoid tendencies. How can I help? Everything in our life, inner and outer–except for the witnessing consciousness which our true Self–is a product of karma. Just as physical ills come from negative karma, … Continue reading

Possession and Obsession by Negative Entities, and How to Protect Yourself

Q: What is “possession” by spirits? It is the same as “obsession”? This is a most important subject. Possession by negative entities is absolutely possible, although obsession is much more common. Let us look at both phenomena. What possession is Possession occurs when an entity … Continue reading

What to Do About Sleep in Meditation and Other Problems

To an Indian Christian friend who asked about experiencing blankness and spontaneous bodily movements in meditation.

I am very happy that you are meditating regularly. This is so very important. It is also good that you are meditating longer.

Sleepiness

It does happen sometimes that the meditator gets into a kind of blank or tamasic state in meditation, and may even pass into dreamless sleep without realizing it. This is because the mind is used to going into the sleep state when the mind becomes still and relaxed. In time this problem goes away. But be sure you are getting enough sleep at night.

How to deal with bodily movements

Bodily movements and tremors do occur to some yogis in the beginning. When it happens, stand up for a few moments and then sit back down. Sometimes these things occur because the meditator has habitually been living with some muscles tensed, and now they are beginning to relax and cause such movements. It is good to take a deep breath and let out all tension occasionally. It is important to not let such movements take over, but stop them immediately. There are so many sources for these problems that it is impossible to determine them.

There are many people who sway back and forth or side to side and claim subtle pranic forces are causing this. Really it is their restless minds seeking some distraction and activity. (I am not saying this is your situation, but it is good to know, especially if in the future you meet such people.)

The yogi must always be in charge of body and mind. That is easier said than done, but can be done.

Worship of God in Meditation or in Church: Which Is True?

Q: In meditation, I feel myself OF God; in church, in the sacraments, I feel a “surrender” to God. Both are beautiful and in my mind, they are compatible energies, one feeding the other. But, I would welcome your thoughts on this matter in the … Continue reading

Why Meditation Can Be Unpleasant, and Why This Can Be a Good Thing

Drilling through the layers

It is not uncommon for meditators to complain about negative traits arising in their mind which they believed were already eliminated. It should be understood that the meditator is like a geologist boring through strata laid down through millions, even billions, of incarnations. Let us say we have been greedy to an extreme degree in a dozen past lives: not continuously, but with other lives in between in which we were not greedy. We may be forced to face the greed demon for quite a few meditations to eliminate it from the impressions produced in our most recent life. We may then spend weeks, months, or even years, moving through the debris of prior lives, only to one day find the greed imp facing us again, just as before. Although it is the same negative trait arising, it is in one sense not the same. That is, it is the greed germ of a life farther back. It will in time disappear, and then once more reappear when we get into the layer of another past life in which we were obsessively greedy. It is good to know this, so we will not mistakenly think that we are simply cycling the same negative impulses over and over, and not really getting anywhere. We are actually making great progress when this occurs. It is possible to dissolve or work out karma through meditation.As can be imagined, this process may take a long time to get through. It is possible to clear the debris out in one lifetime, but diligent application is needed. “It is possible to dissolve or work out karma through meditation.”As can be imagined, this process may take a long time to get through. It is possible to clear the debris out in one lifetime, but diligent application is needed.

Paramatma, Prakriti and Jivatma: Three Concepts You Need to Understand to Pursue God-Knowledge

Paramatma, Prakriti, and Jivatma

Q: I am wondering about the concept of Paramatma, Prakriti and jivatma: Why have a construct of Paramatma, Prakriti and atma/jivatma? Why not simply have Paramatma, without the need for any existence, any Universe, creatures or beings, given that Paramatma is eternal, unmanifest, not of Prakriti, and does not require Prakriti or jivatma to “be,” whilst the latter two require Paramatmna to “be”… etc?

I do understand that with this hypothesis, there would be no beings, universe etc. which is a false statement in itself, but from a Vedanta standpoint, what is the “tarka” or logical reasoning for the construct of Paramatma, Prakriti, and jivatma?

You see yourself into what absurdity it all falls when a person subscribes to Advaita Vedanta rather than Sankhya, the original philosophy (darshana) of Sanatana Dharma, especially the Bhagavad Gita, and of the Yoga Darshana itself. When we realize that these three concepts are necessary for an intelligent pursuit of Brahmajnana and moksha, it is really an absurdity to deny their value.

Any concept is fundamentally merely an image in the mind, but the entire universe is being held as a concept in the consciousness of Brahman. It is a dream, but a dream that is real like any other dream of the mind. To say that something is not real because it is not material reveals the mind of a materialist, of Charvaka, not Dharma.

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