When we talk of meditation, people invariably think of spiritualism and start to doubt it. Though many of us don’t express, we conceal the doubts that linger deep inside our mind. So it is necessary to clear the air and understand why meditation is essential for us.
We live in a world of both material comfort and miseries. The human history, viewed analytically, is awash with countless wars, invasions, tyranny, flood, epidemics, famine, etc. These are only a few to name the main characteristics in our history. There are good achievements too. We have progressed scientifically and made great advancements in different fields. Yet, man is still searching for eternal peace, happiness and tranquility. The causes mentioned above are external forces that bring sorrow, other than you yourself.
The most powerful cause of sorrow is the self. It is . It is the uncontrolled mind inside us, filled with greed, lust, hatred, fear, jealousy, etc. which gives endless trouble more than any other cause.
The pain in the world is chronic, whereas happiness is fleeting. Happiness comes when you get something you liked. But there is also the fear of losing it so the tension is there hidden even in the ephemeral happiness. That’s why one is in fool’s paradise if he seeks the pleasure of the material world.
The body, which is the medium of experience (of joy and sorrow) withers in due course of time. The near and dear whom you love, as you say more than yourself, has to be missed for forever - sooner or later. The position you are now in, will be taken by another one. Your present business of billions of dollars might collapse in a moment, if not, it awaits your successor.
Why should we meditate?
When you ponder over the chaos in the world, you are certain to go off to the deep end. And you will ask, “Is there any way out of it?” The answer is positive – yes, why not, there is good riddance. Among the uncountable souls, there are even those who are not touched by the sorrow and are in constant bliss. They explain, along with the Shastras, that there is neither sorrow nor happiness in the world. It is our projection of happiness on the worldly objects that brings about both the happiness and the misery as well.
They explain further and go on to say that since we suppose the happiness to be in the world we get attached to the objects there and feel pleasure or pain in case of getting or losing it. The simple way to gain victory over sorrow and attain bliss is to remove the attachment from the world. But the mind, which is of oscillating in nature, doesn’t remain at rest. So the only way is to divert the mind towards the God who is the ocean of Bliss Himself.
The process of diversion of the mind from the world towards the Lord is called as Roopdhyan meditation. Meditation purifies the mind by many degrees and as a result you, feel less pain in the world since the bondage of Maya is lessened, i.e. decreasing the degree of attachment to the world.
The mind experiences true bliss by attaching itself to a divine entity and automatically, the attachment and discontentment with the material world is also lessened to the same extent.