Path of Meditation

योगी the Yogi? युञ्जीत let him keep the mind steady? सततम् constantly? आत्मानम् self? रहसि in solitude? स्थितः remaining? एकाकी alone? यतचित्तात्मा one with the mind and the body controlled? निराशीः free from hope? अपरिग्रहः noncovetousness.Commentary The Yogi who treads the path of renunciation (NivrittiMarga) can practise meditation in a solitary cave in the mountains. He should renounce all possessions.A householder with Yogic tendencies and spiritual inclination? can practise meditation in a solitary and iet room in his own house or any solitary place on the banks of any holy river (during the holidays or throughout the year if he is a wholetime aspirant or if he has retired from service).The practice must be constant. Only then can one attain Selfrealisation surely and ickly. He who practises meditation by fits and starts and for a few minutes daily will not be able to achieve any tangible results in Yoga. The Yogic aspirant should be free from hope? desire and greed. Only then will he have a steady mind. Hope? desire and greed make the mind ever restless and turbulent. They are the enemies of peace and Selfknowledge. The aspirant should not have many possessions either. He can only keep those articles which are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of his body. If there are many possessions? the mind will be ever thinking of them and attempting to protect them.It you are well established in the practice of Pratyahara? Sama and Dama (withdrawal of the senses? control of mind and the body respectively)? if you have the senses under your full control? you can find perfect solitude and peace even in the most crowded and noisy place of a big city. If the senses are turbulent? if you have not got the power to withdraw them? you will have no peace of mind even in a solitary cave of the Himalayas. A disciplined Yogi who has controlled the senses and the mind can enjoy peace of mind in a solitary cave. A passionate man who has not controlled the senses and the mind will only be building castles in the air if he lives in a solitary cave in a mountain.He who has reduced his wants? who has not a bit of attraction for the world? who has,discrimination and burning aspiration for liberation? and who has observed Mauna (the vow of silence) for months together will be able to live in a cave.You should have perfect control over the body through the regular practice of Yoga Asanas before you take to serious and constant meditation.Aparigraha means noncovetousness? freedom from possessions.The spiritual aspirant need not bother himself about his bodily needs. Everything is provided by God. Everything is prearranged by Mother Nature. She looks after the bodily needs of all very carefully in a more efficient manner than they themselves would do. She knows beter what the reirements are and provides them then and there. Understand the mysterious ways of Mother Nature and become wise. Be grateful to Her for Her unie kindness? grace and mercy.If you want to retire into solitue for the practice of meditation? and if you are a householder with a thirst for intense spiritual Sadhana? you cannot all of a sudden sever your connection with your family. Sudden severance of worldly ties may produce intense mental agony in you and shock in them. You will have to break the ties gradually. Stay for a week or a month in seclusion to begin with. Then gradually prolong the period. They will not feel the pangs of separation from you.As your will has become very weak? as you had no religious discipline or training in schools and colleges when you were young? and as you are under the sway of materialistic influences? it is necessary for you to go in for seclusion for some days or weeks (during the Chritstmas? Easter or other holidays) to practise rigorous Japa and meditation and to develop your willpower.Those who have fixed up their sons in life and who have retired from service? and who have discharged their duties as householders can remain in seclusion for four or five years and practise intense meditation and Tapas (penance) for selfpurification and Selfrealisation. This is like entering a university for higher studies or postgraduate course of study. When the Tapas is over? and when they have attained to Selfknowledge? they should come out and share their knowledge of the Self with others through lectures? conversations? discourses or hearttoheart talks according to their capacity and disposition.How can sensecontrol be tested in a lonely forest where there are no temptations The Yogic student living in a cave should test himself after he has sufficiently advanced? by coming into the society of people. But he should not test himself every now and then like the man who removed the young plant daily after watering it to see whether it had struck deep root or not.