Doing Meditation or Meditating?

 

Doing Meditation or Meditating?

There is a subtle difference between ‘doing meditation’ and meditating. The question is whether one can do meditation? One can definitely practise meditation but do meditation – naa, you can’t do meditation because if you are doing meditation then you are not getting a state of meditation. The very fact that ‘you’ are doing it means you are involving the physical body in action. Meditation is the means to connect with your inner self – it is a slow process that involves total and unconditional surrender with complete faith to a higher power, it could be your Guru or Enlightened Master or any person to whom you submit yourself for higher spiritual learning.

I personally feel that even when a person says, “I am doing meditation” – that person subconsciously has the feeling of being a ‘doer’ – the moment that happens the ego comes into play and the state of meditation which one is trying to attain goes further away. When you observe people who are doing meditation, you will invariably find their brows stretched or brought together which show that they are trying to meditate, they are making an effort to stop the rush of thoughts in their mind. Many of us while sitting down keep wondering how we can stop this thought process.

The very fact that the mind is hyperactive indicates that we are far away from the state to which we aspire! An easy way to meditate or slowly work towards achieving that state is by just observing one’s thoughts while breathing slowly. Initially slow down your breathing consciously and you will observe that your thoughts also slow down, hold your breath for a minute and your thoughts will be on hold for a minute. By practicing in this manner, over a period of time, you will imbibe this habit and your breathing will automatically slow down the moment you sit for meditation. Whenever you want to meditate and you inform your family or friends, just say I am going for meditation, or sitting for meditation – do not use the phrase – ‘going to do meditation’. By consciously avoiding the feeling of being a ‘doer’, one is reducing one’s ego. Once this happens and the way you express yourself changes over a period of time, you will observe that your ego has subsided substantially. 

Just be a witness and meditate. With time you will go into depths of meditation and the feeling of being a doer or meditation will disappear. Meditation is something which happens, one does not ‘do’ it. Practice and you will definitely find yourself going into meditation rather than going to do meditation.