Meditation To Cleanse The Mind

In my earlier posts, I have given an introduction to the Rudram and an introduction to the concept of Ishwara. 

The Veda gives us five different types of Yagnas to connect with Ishwara; 

1. Manushya Yagna : Loving and supporting other human beings
2. BhutaYagna: Supporting the nature and other living beings 
3. Pitru Yagna : a. Love and support for family Pitru Yagna  b. Remembering and being grateful to ancestors
4. DevaYagna : a. Surrendering to GOD / Higher Cause b. Propitiating our own body and mind c. Prayers and all spiritual / religious practices
5. BhrahmaYagna: Study and propagation of the scriptures

Shri Rudram can be used as a means for performing Deva Yagna and BhrahmaYagna. 

Imagine we are going on a road trip from the East coast of USA to the West coast. One of the key things we would do is to ensure that the engine is working well and the fuel/oil is clean. In the same way, before starting on the study of the Rudram as a Yagna to connect with Ishwara, it is essential to clear our mind of impurities. If we look at our basic structure, we have a gross physical body, a mind, a intellect and the driving chaitanya or soul. Let us focus on the mind. 

The mind is a seat of emotions. Its very nature is that it is wavering. If I were to tell you right now, not to think of a monkey sitting on a tree, your mind surely is thinking of it. It is something that is seemingly not in our control and accumulates various emotions like jealousy, anger, greed, love, etc. These are what are the impurities of the mind. They are called impurities because they cause turbulence in the mind and prevent it from focusing. Hence if we are beginning the Rudra Yagna, our mind has to be purified to ensure we can focus on the Rudram. The preparation before embarking on the Rudram is known as nyasam.

Basically, as a preparation, we are doing the invocation of the deity in our body. When we worship we should also be as pure as the Lord . We purify the body by invoking various deities at various parts of the body. Nyasas include:

▪ Mahaanyasah – Larger invocation 

▪ Laghunyasam – Lighter invocation 

There is a meditation verse even for Naysam, which is the Dhyana shloka. Meditation is to be done to realize the essential unity of myself with the Supreme. One is advised to seek out a calm lonely place and select a fixed time every day to do meditation. There are several techniques suggested for meditation. Some of them are as follows:

a.Taking an image of a favorite God or angel or spiritual teacher and try to focus thoughts on that
b. Focusing on one's own shadow in the mind
c. Focusing on one 's own image as though in a movie
d. Focusing on a word or "shloka"
e. Focusing on one's own heartbeat
f. Focusing on one's own breath

There is no single technique that can be good for everyone. Readers are encouraged to try any of these and see what works best for them. During initial phase of meditation, it is almost impossible to focus the mind. The nature of the mind is to wander and create thoughts. So a practitioner can become disillusioned about the absolute lack of progress.  But this is very normal. The best strategy is to let the mind wander, but try to be aware that the mind is wandering and slowly bring the mind back to focus. The strategy is to be aware of such thoughts as they arise and observe them as they pass through the self. The idea is to be non-judgmental and just observe the thought as a third person.

The Dhayana Slokas of Rudram describe Lord Shiva in three different ways: 

1. Lord as a person ; with hands & legs, ornaments, weapons, vehicle etc. (Eka roopa) 
2. Lord as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation (Viswa roopa) 
3. Lord as formless, attributeless; the Absolute Reality (Aroopa)

For a beginner in meditation, when it is difficult to control the mind, there is the need for a hook to attach the mind to. This could be any thing that a practioner wants to focus on. It could be  light source, an image etc. Here, the Dhyana shloka describes Shiva as a person and provides the ability to visualize Lord Shiva in a human form and meditate on that image. If we ask the purpose of this, the idea is that in focusing the mind on the image, other impure thoughts will not enter the mind. There is a detailed description of the physical form in the Dhyana shloka, which I will not be covering. Just as an example, the Lord is looked upon as an individual as pure as as a crystal. He has three eyes with the third eye representing knowledge. He has five heads which symbolize the following: 

1. Sadyojāta –Will power, Creative force associated with manipooraka chakra 

2. Vamadeva – Shakthi & beauty, associated with Anahat chakra 

3. Aghora – Power of knowledge, Svadishthana chakra 

4. Tatpurusha –Absolute Reality, MuladharaChakra, 

5. Ishana – Individual consciousness, Vishuddha chakra

My humble suggestion to readers is that at this stage of mediation, they should not try to focus on the symbolism, but just the image. 

Over a period of time, with regular practice, when the mind is fairly under control, it is worthwhile to step up to meditate on Ishwara  as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation (Viswa roopa).  In this form, Ishwara is  Eternal, which implies a concept beyond Time & Space. He is Changeless which implies that Changes with respect to time is zero. He is Pure. There is no movement, no distraction and no decay. In the next stage of meditation, the Lord is seen as  formless, attribute less and as the Absolute Reality (Aroopa). The entire universe is nothing but a manifestation of the Lord . HE is the form of whole universe and pervades the whole universe. 

Conclusion 

Before starting on the actual Rudram, the reader is advised to cleanse his mind through meditating on the concept of Ishwara in 3 different planes. Meditation prepares the mind for the journey of the Rudram study by:

1. A sense of discipline: Just as a regular physical exercise is a discipline that keeps the body fit in the long run, meditating regularly is a discipline that enables one to keep the mind fit for the long run.
2. A sense of calmness : All the while we are focusing our mind outwards and getting frustrated in the illusory world.Meditation turns the mind inwards generating a sense of calm.
3. A sense of positiveness : During meditation,if thought is of all positive things coming in as I inhale and all negative things going out as I exhale, there is a feeling of positiveness