During my time in the Himalayas, I started experiencing intense sensations in my entire body. Within moments, they would travel and establish firmly in my forehead. For the next few minutes, they would continue to build up and cover my entire head, the palate of my mouth and my cheeks. Sometimes they were distracting but most of the times they would help me slip into very deep meditation. This was so for the primary reason that these sensations would force me to focus automatically.
Imagine you are trying to write something but someone comes and tickles you. If you are someone who is tickled easily, your attention would automatically be drawn to the tickling.
This was the case with me too. The sensations would become so intense as if someone was kneading my brain inside (gently) and I couldn’t think of anything but be automatically focused on my object of concentration. I used to meditate on a mantra I was initiated into.
This phenomenon of intense (sometimes unbearable) sensations began when I realized that mindfulness and alertness were working in tandem, in perfect coordination. Initially, for the first one thousand hours of meditation, these sensations would subside when I stopped meditating. Admittedly, the period when I didn’t meditate was no more than 2 or 3 hours on most days. Yet, I could feel that those sensations were not there.
After a while though, it changed. The sensations would not stop even if I wasn’t meditating. No matter whether I tried to read, walk, eat, bathe or sleep, these sensations would not cease. Sometimes I didn’t want to be alert or be mindful. I just wanted to be restful but I’d hit a point of no return. The only time I get a respite from these constant sensations is when I go to sleep. Even then, it takes me one hour of careful meditation and a series of movements (where I change my body posture exactly three times in a certain way) to take these sensations to the peak and then bring them down in three stages before I can fall asleep.
The moment you learn (and it happens only with practice) to have your mindfulness, alertness and concentration flow together, you become a living Buddha. Positive and loving emotions continue to rise to the brim like bubbles do in carbonated water. Yogic texts, notably Buddhist sutras, give a wonderful name to alertness. They call it saṃprajñā. It means a state of even awareness. Saṃyutta Nikāya defines alertness as knowing both events in the mind and activities of the body as they are happening:
And how is a monk alert? There is the case where feelings are known to the monk as they arise, known as become established, known as they subside. Thoughts are known to him as they arise, known as they become established, known as they subside. Perceptions are known to him as they arise, known as they become established, known as they subside. This is how a monk is alert.
And how is a monk alert? When going forward & returning, he makes himself alert; when looking toward & looking away… when bending & extending his limbs… when carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe, and his bowl… when eating, drinking, chewing, and savouring… when urinating and defecating… when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and remaining silent, he makes himself alert. This is how a monk is alert.23
It is pertinent to add here that alertness not only allows you to detect and check the flow of thoughts, but also all other flaws including, but not limited to, emotions, dullness, restlessness, loss of clarity, random images and sleepiness.
Now that you know the role of attention, posture, mindfulness and alertness in meditation, you are ready to understand the various types of meditations available to you followed by how to actually practice them.
Before You Begin
Before you begin the practice of meditation, I wanted to briefly elaborate on the various systems of meditation. When you perfect one form of meditation, mastering all other forms becomes relatively easier. A good warrior, who knows the art of war, is generally an adept in using more than just one type of weapon. He may have to use a sword at times and mace at other times. Sometimes, he may have to put his skills of archery to use and wrestle in another situation.
Different strategies are required to deal with different situations in life. You can’t always be firm, you can’t always be soft. Similarly, different systems of meditation are needed to handle various aspects of our lives. Before I spell out the various systems and how to adopt them, I would like to share a famous story from the life of Buddha.
During his nationwide travels, when Buddha was spreading the message of peace and compassion in India, he once stopped in a village with his disciples in tow. The villagers were religious and some of them despised Buddha for he had proclaimed there was no God. They were unhappy at his arrival and believed he would pollute the minds of others. They got together and confronted him. Calling him an atheist, they unleashed a slur of swear words and asked him to leave.
Buddha showed no reaction, did not respond at all and continued to smile elusively as usual. His impenetrable mask of peace and serenity showed not the slightest crack.
After the long tirade, the villagers got tired and stormed off. Buddha assumed his yogic posture and sat under the tree as if nothing had happened. His disciples, however, were distressed and rattled at the disparaging, dishonorable and unfitting reception of their master.
“O Venerable One!” Shariputra, his close disciple, said to Buddha, “how come your holiness said nothing? Did it not bother you?”
“If someone offers you a gift and you refuse to take it, to whom does it belong, Shariputra?”
“It will remain with the one who offered it, Master,” Shariputra replied after some thought.
“In much the same manner, my spiritual son, I refused verbal gifts of the villagers,” Buddha added. “How could I react to something that caused no provocation, something I did not even accept?”
In the above mentioned story, Buddha demonstrated perfect fusion of the various types of meditation. In the middle of provocation, he continued to concentrate on what he was doing. His years of practicing concentrative meditation gave him the stillness of mind so they could not provoke him. With contemplation, he knew that these people had no role to play in the big scheme of things, that they were simply yelling some words that were inherently empty. With perfect mindfulness, he did not take any action that he might regret later on. He was mindful of what he was doing and thinking. Finally, he just played a passive witness.
He carried himself independent of the misdemeanor shown to him. He chose to be an observer.
On the path of meditation, if you intensify your practice one day, the best way of giving yourself a break is to alternate between various systems of meditation. For example, let’s suppose that you are mastering concentrative meditation – a type of meditation that requires building intense concentration. When you are tired of an hour of concentrative meditation, you could switch to walking or spirited meditation for a little while and then go back to your primary practice (concentrative meditation in the current example).
Alternating between various methods strengthens and trains your mind in the most effective way. It’s like the ultimate boot camp of meditation. If you persist diligently, mindfully, attentively, patiently and enthusiastically, success is certain. Let me get to the actual practice of various forms of meditation.