Meditation at Dawn and Dusk

The practice of meditating upon first awakening in the morning and as the last thing we do before retiring at the end of the day is quite natural and logical. We feel drawn to Nature’s heart, a consciousness that unites our body, mind and spirit in inspiration. With each dawn, the sun floods all earthly life as it spreads its gaze over the horizon and reawakens all with its smile of pristine purity. With daily morning meditation, we feel that our day has been blessed from its beginning with God’s own Light-Life-Love to sustain and guide us.

Our evening meditation affirms our spirit’s independence from worldliness as a perfect completion to our day: As the sun withdraws over the horizon, we also withdraw our minds from all attentions, trappings and efforts as “sufficient unto the day” and finished, following the sun’s example by letting go of all mundane responsibilities such as job, family and other social concerns.

Swami Kamalananda
The Breath of God and Pranayam

Breath

There are many similarities in Vedic and Biblical stories of creation.

God is Creator in the Book of Genesis and the Supreme Being (“Brahma”) in the Vedas. In both traditions the Creator transcends the entire universe while bringing forth all life and beings, animate and inanimate. Every religious tradition we know describes the human being as the pinnacle of the process of creation, the most advanced of all living beings on earth.

In the Biblical story, God first created heaven and earth, the seas and the air, the fishes, fowls, herbs and plants and all living creatures in six days, and seeing that it was good ended all this work on the (symbolic) seventh day with rest. And then,

...the Lord God formed man (Adam) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  Genesis 2:7

The name “Adam” derives from a combination of “adi,” meaning first, and “aham,” or “ahong,” meaning “I-consciousness.” Adam thus became the first manifested self-consciousness as he drew in God’s imparted breath-of-life. This is similarly stated in the Qur’an:

I breathed into humanity something of my own spirit. Qur’an 38:72

Yet reading “God breathed” only begs the greater persisting philosophical question: How? Exactly what is God’s breath? The profound answer to that question is what strikingly distinguishes the Vedic and Upanishadic thought in several ways, the foremost being that breath existed BEFORE creation itself, i.e., without extraneous breath, as the One Existent, without a second:

In the beginning,

Before there was existence or nonexistence,
Before there was sky or atmosphere above,
Before there was birth, death or immortality,
Day or night, light or darkness. . .
Only the One Existent breathed calmly. . .
self-contained, with nothing beyond. Rig Veda

From that Absolute Being comes the cosmic manifestation of Breath.

Mental Habits for Meditation

Do you know what happens to the mind that is unprepared, untrained, ignorant of its divine powers of pure self-reflection? It becomes afraid. Afraid to be alone. Afraid to be silent. Afraid to be calm. It is the greatest tragedy of life, because every person desires peace of mind. Every person craves self-composure and strength of calmness, yet few people know where they exist or how to find them. Few people are willing to devote even a few minutes of their day to find themselves in silence and solitude.

Yet we can free ourselves from the habits of worldliness and get into the peace of self-subjectivity in many beautiful, meditative, ways: For instance, some people enjoy absorbing themselves in the thought of being part of the all-pervasive beauty and peace of God. They walk alone, “losing themselves” in the company of God in nature, communing with the vastness of the heavens above them or answering the hypnotic invitation whispered from a woodland stream at their feet. Who wouldn’t be blessed by the subjective adoration? A love of the “inner life” includes finding in the quietness and loveliness of the world surrounding us a self-revealing subjective calm. This comprehensive mood of inspiration is a prerequisite for meditation. The habits of quietness, reverie and reverence for nature are of themselves important components of meditation.

Meditation is the only way to self-enlightenment and peace, but unless one truly understands his subjective life he will encounter great difficulties when he attempts meditating. Promised the bliss and spiritual attainments of meditation the novice initially elects it with enthusiasm. But what happens if he is subjectively unprepared is sadly predictable: He either becomes bored with meditation or restless. The reason? So long has his consciousness been dominated by and engrossed in the outer, sensory world that his uncultivated inner realm seems empty to him. Or worse, left unattended it has become cluttered. It is just as if one has been outside all day and returned home to find everything inside his home is in disarray. How discouraging! Entering our subjective abode that has been neglected and unattended day after day from morning til night, our mind would surely turn inward and feel,”I want out of this!” The novice, having initially chosen meditation with enthusiasm now rejects it summarily. His unexplored power of introspection is weak—too burdened by wordiness, and also too weak to withstand the demands of the world.

Steeped in worldliness, our values are totally distorted. Our would becomes trivial and puny, offering us precious little of life. How odd that the popular meaning of “sophisticated” is “worldly” and that the connotation, far from pejorative, is complementary! Without the dynamic richness of subjectivity how can the mighty faculty of mind become anything more than provincial and small, boring, dull and mediocre?

The most curious and the sad thing about the restless and distracted sense-bound mind is that it is lonely. It seems to be busy and occupied all the time, and yet, it is invariably and painfully lonely. The reason is understandable: Without a subjective life the true self remains veiled, unknown. Loneliness is separation from self.

The Mystic Cross
Swami Kamalananda

Subjective Meditation

By the practice of subjective meditation the Self is revealed in its transcendental perfection as well as in its immanental existence; and the Yogi realizes that he is the Self, all-pervading yet absolute.

Meditation reveals in successive states of consciousness: I, the self, exist in the Self; the Self manifests itself through me; I am one with the Self; I am the Self; I am the Absolute.

The practice of Kriya unfolds the absolute divinity of one’s own Self, and the whole phenomenal universe, in all its diversities, is revealed as the manifestation of the one cosmic Self.

In the power of pure-consciousness the bliss of the Self transmutes the dual experiences of joy and sorrow in all states of existence. Bliss is the supreme power of self-realization.

As he aspires to liberate the mind from its identification with the sensory enjoyment of temporary pleasures the spiritual aspirant observes that the mind is incapable of independent existence, hence it seems that permanent tranquility is not its nature.

The sense-identified and sense-bound mind remains invariably objective in its tendency and stubbornly refuses to become subjective. Abiding calmness of the mind seems as impossible to attain as it is to gain perfect polarization of the currents of energy between the Muladhar and the Sahasraram.

The impression-bound mind is subject to ungovernable passion for objectivity and is consequently restless; but by continuous and steady practice of Kriya, as well as by complete renunciation of all relative desires, sensory and supersensory, the mind is made serene and is illumined by the Self.

The realization of the transcendental Self is a difficult task; this is the experience of every seeker after the state of self-liberation. But by the practice of subjective meditation the mind becomes steady, serene and self-composed, it is inspired by the strength of the self, and the power of remembrance reawakens the consciousness of self-transcendence, and finally the revelation of oneness with the absolute Self is attained.

Subjective Meditation 6:29-36
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita: The Revelation of the Supreme Self
Swami Premananda

Pranayam and Meditation

Existence in the world of duality, even for an instant, is impossible without Prana, the cosmic energy, because the phenomenal universe is the differentiation of the undifferentiated Prana. Illumination does not come from merely attaining complete mastery over the sense-organs. But when mind transcends the influence of sense-impressions, the Self is realized. The enlightened mind must rule the senses. Control over the mind is attained by Pranayam and meditation. When the senses and the mind act in perfect harmony with the Self, then alone liberation is attained and the Yogi realizes himself as the absolute Self. Therefore practice Pranayam, the Kriya meditation, observing all major and minor laws in every detail. Pranayam regulates the entire system of the Yogi and enables him to attain higher realization, hence the practice of Pranayam is more desirable than living in an inharmonious state of body and mind. Besides, it is absolutely impossible to feel even the least sensory vibration without preserving in some measure the harmonious movement of Prana in the body. Pranayam must be practiced with the sole object of self-realization, otherwise it will become a veritable source of bondage. Therefore, discarding and thus being free from all phenomenal desires, practice Kriya. Since the beginning of creation, every soul has been endowed with the desire to regain its original state of absolute perfection. This desire inspires the spiritual aspirant to manifest his divinity in its fullest glory. Let him meditate on the six centers within the spine to awaken their spiritual vibrations. The spiritual vibrations of these centers, thus awakened, will keep his mind uplifted and enable it to remain established on Ajna, the spiritual eye; and finally he will be led into the Sahasraram where all consciousness of duality vanishes, and therein he will attain the supreme state of absolute, self-existent, conscious bliss.

Spiritual Interpretation of the Gita according to Kriya Yoga
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita: The Revelation of the Supreme Self
Swami Premananda

Realization

Life, intelligence and love are truly within us. When these are spoken of in their universal nature, they are called absolute truths. We can only reveal and assert, but never prove them. We are Brahman, the Self, God. Yet at present we are not fully conscious of our true nature. The goal of our life’s journey is to realize our absolute divinity, otherwise called realization of our oneness with God. Is it possible to know, or realize God? Yes, it is most assuredly so.

There is a great difference between “knowledge” as we generally understand this term, and “realization.” To realize is to be come one with the reality which transcends sense perception. Realization is subjective. It rules that state of consciousness which intellect cannot penetrate. Knowledge is objective; it is finite. It is based on intellect. We know the phenomenal world; we realize the noumeal reality. We may know about a table, a picture, or any other object in the manifested universe, but in our knowledge of it we do not become one with it. It remains as a separate entity in our consciousness. Intellectual grasp is not realization. Let me further point out the difference between the two concepts from the illustration of a beautiful table. We acquire knowledge regarding its form, size and materials. These are external conditions. But we realize the beauty that is manifested through it. Beauty is a transcendental reality, which we realize.

Meditation is the gaining of control over our mind by turning it towards God. Meditation can be in two forms, subjective and objective. Subjective meditation is to meditate upon the Self within. “I am the absolute Self.” Thus meditate that you are Self, Spirit, God. Withdraw your mind from all other thoughts and firmly establish it on the Self within. Objective meditation is to realize God in all objects of the phenomenal world. Always culture recognition of the presence of God in all things. Unconditionally learn to see God everywhere. Never mind whether an object is pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad. See God in all. All these conceptions of the pairs of opposites are our own manufacture. Rise above duality and see God everywhere.

Our spiritual life should not be dominated by adverse material circumstances. Spiritual life must stand above all earthly conditions, as our Soul is above all effects of dualities. Do not always seek God, begin to see God. Blessed is he who sees God everywhere and beholds good in all things.

Swami Premananda
The Path of Pure Consciousness: Jnana Yoga