Essay on “Meditation” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Meditation 

The correct definition of meditation is to think constantly of something. You become that on which you meditate. Think of God, you become God. Think of stone you become a stone. Meditation is a form of religious or spiritual contemplation, and the basis of most Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, as prayer is to the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish religions. The difference between prayer and Eastern meditation is that the former is a petition to, or dialogue with, God, and the other is a detached observation of one’s own mind, and its processes. Attention is focused on monitoring the breath, and noting thoughts crossing the mind…as a…detached witness.

The earliest recognized practice of meditation is from ancient India, where it has been established for thousands of years, and was known by the Sanskrit word dhyana. This became Chan in China, and Zen in Japan. The Buddha developed meditation in about 500 BC, and the Indian scholar, Patanjali, systematized the practice in his Yoga Sutras around 250 BC. A classical yoga is a darsana, or doctrine, that is theistic and emphasises purification through meditation. A yogi, or practitioner of yoga, meditates in order to achieve true bliss, which involves a complete withdrawal from the world. Yogis assume the bodily posture that affords them the most stability and the least effort. There are many methods of doing meditation; the method described below is the most fundamental of them. First of all, find a comfortable place to sit, the place should be quite and should not distract you in any way. Second, choose a comfortable posture, it can any be any posture, but your back should be upright. The Posture (asana) should not make you feel uncomfortable in any Way. Also, don’t move while meditating, it reminds you of your body, and distracts your concentration. If you have selected the correct posture then after about 45 minutes, your body will become very light as if it did not exist, and peacefulness can be felt everywhere. Third comes setting the time period, it can range from 15 minutes to over 2 hours. The fourth step is to choose an object of meditation upon which to concentrate for the entire ,length the practice. It is entirely upon the person to choose the object of and devote the entire attention towards the object of m meditation. Another thing is to forget everything about your self and devote the entire attention towards the object of meditation.

There are many benefits of meditation. It helps us to get to know ourselves better. It answers questions like “Who am I”, “What is Reality” etc. Meditation helps us to get closer to Goa. It develop good concentration. It relieves us from the stress and tension of daily life and brings about peace and calm throughout the day. After meditating, there is more clarity of mind as it is free from thoughts. Self-control, Self-respect, and Self-acceptance begin to develop. Supernatural abilities begin to develop as spiritual experiences begin to become more peaceful and blissful.

The stages of meditation are numerous. The beginning stages of meditation are usually associated with developing posture, and adjustment to its practice. This takes about 6 months or more, depending on person to person. The intermediate stages of meditation begin when the person starts getting spiritual experiences and gets into super-conscious (samadhi). Self-realization is the popular name given to the state of super-consciousness. In the advanced stages of meditation, 2yrs or more, the next state to achieve is cosmic consciousness (nirvabilka samadhi). Super-consciousness is only a step on the ladder to cosmic consciousness. In this state the person finds that he is no longer his body, his spirit and mind escape through the body to encompass the world, the solar systems, the entire Universe.

These were the method, benefits and stages of meditation. It has to be known that meditation is for everyone. Meditation has been known to transform the entire character of a person. The„ answer to everything is within. Turn within. All knowledge, all powers, everything is within. Your destiny is within, your future is within, the Ultimate is within. So meditation can be learnt from  books and practiced alone, but it is highly beneficial to find a good  teacher, and work with a group of students. There are many courses and retreat centers within the different traditions.