Meditation is a very broad term in the field of philosophy and religion. It includes all righteous efforts of mind, heart and soul that lead to enlightenment, revelation and realization. Enlightenment is the result of the right comprehension of truth. Revelation is the result of the inner unfoldment of truth. Realization is the perfection of becoming one with truth. Mind enquires and comprehends. Heart feels and unfolds. Soul recognizes and realizes. Meditation begins with the mind, it is inspired by the heart and perfected in the soul.
Meditation may be practiced in the following five ways:
1. Contemplation on a spiritual form or symbol. A spiritual form is the personified image of impersonal truths. A symbol is the visible manifestation of absolute ideals. The knowledge that an image or a symbol is but a finite representation of infinite truths and ideals must be recognized in this method of meditation.
2. Contemplation upon the spiritual qualities which are associated with a sacred form or symbol. It is the concentration of mind exclusively upon the sublime qualities of a symbol. In this meditation, mind and thought are lifted completely beyond form and finiteness.
3. Contemplation upon the divine attributes of one's own heart. Within the heart of each of us are enshrined all the attributes of divinity and perfection. Meditation upon each and all of these attributes fills the heart with inspiration, joy and blissfulness.
4. Contemplation upon one's own inner self as a spiritual being. By deep introspection we recognize within us a self-conscious self. It is totally independent of body and mind. It is completely free from all finite thoughts and impressions. It is a distinct individual entity. It is our spiritual self, our soul. Contemplation upon the spiritual self is meditation on the soul. The light of God illumines and liberates the individualized self-consciousness.
5. Contemplation upon the cosmic-consciousness. This is the unification of individual self-consciousness with infinite Self-consciousness. It is that inner profound meditation wherein the self, rejecting and transcending all subjective finiteness, becomes absorbed in meditation upon the absolute Self.
RAJA Yoga: The Yoga of God-Realization by Swami Premananda
(Translation and commentary on the first chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras)