AN INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITUALISM

 

The history of meditation is as old as the history of man and civilisation. It has been practised since times immemorial. Perhaps, the massage of spirituality was given to the world by Aryan for the first time. Aryan was not only great war-warrior but also highly learned race who migrated to different parts of the world from central Asia and finally settled in India 3500 to 5000 years ago. They acquired vast knowledge into different fields of learning and secured a high degree of spiritual attainment.

At its core, meditation is about touching the spiritual essence that exists within us all. Experiencing the joy of this essence has been called enlightenment, nirvana, or even rebirth, and reflects a deep understanding within us. The spiritual essence is not something that we create through meditation. It is already there, deep within, behind all the barriers, patiently waiting for us to recognize it. One does not have to be religious or even interested in religion to find value in it. Becoming more aware of yourself and realizing your spiritual nature is something that transcends religion. Anyone who has explored meditation knows that it is simply a path that leads to a new, more expansive way of seeing the world around us.

Everything including all heavenly bodies is controlled and works under the influence of an unknown Supernatural power in a much disciplined manner and this invisible power can be said to be God who is omnipotent and omnipresent. God can neither be seen nor be tested in the laboratory. However, the existence of God can be felt with the faculties of mind in peaceful internal environment. In fact, God creates, sustains and destroys everything in this Universe. All Natural and Supernatural events take place as per the wish of God. In case of living beings, God performs three significant functions i.e. God creates: Everything, living or non-living is created by God, and God sustains: God reshapes our luck in accordance with our past deeds. In other words, God pushes up or pulls down the level of prosperity or keeps it constant with little ups and downs in terms of health, wealth and fame etc. and the last function is that God destroys: everyone who is born has to meet an end after a specified period.

The sun is the secondary God. It is the creator of life on earth. It sustains life on earth. It makes days and nights. It changes seasons. Fruit and crops ripe and we get food. It provides all living or non-living things with energy. The Sun-light forms all the colours. The gravitation force of the Sun keeps the earth in discipline. In yogic philosophy Surya Namaskara, or the Sun Salutation is practised to honour the Sun. Surya Namaskara is very commonly practiced in most forms of yoga. It originally evolved as a type of worship of Sun, the Vedic solar deity. The physical aspect of the practice 'links together' is twelve Asanas in a dynamically expressed series. The Asanas included in the sun salutation differ from tradition to tradition.

Meditation is a narrower term than Patanjali’s Ashtang yoga i.e. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayam, Pratayahara, Dharna, Dhayan and Samadhi. Former is just a part of the later. Dhayan or Meditation, Asana and Pranayam are mostly propagated and widely practised. At the same time, Pratayahara is a forgotten or neglected limb of Patanjali’s Ashtang yoga. In fact, Asana, Pranayam and Pratayahara are performed simultaneously with equal weight to accomplish Meditation.

Many people today look to Patanjali, the compiler of the ‘Yoga Sutras’.  A study of the very old text on Yoga reveals that the Yoga practice is much older than Patanjali’s work. Patanjali in the ‘Yoga Sutras’ is not referred to as an inventor of the Yoga teachings, but only as a compiler. Patanjali’s compilation having a striking depth, clarity and brevity is the mark of a later summation but not a new beginning. The topics addressed in the Patanjali Yoga Darshana from Yamas and Niyamas to Dhayana and Samadhi are already taught in detail in the older literature. The traditional originator of the ‘Yoga system of philosophy’ is generally said to be Hiranyagarbha. Yoga texts like the Brihadyogi Yajnavalkya Smriti XII.5, describe Hiranyagarbha as the original instructor of Yoga. This former Yoga texts before Patanjali can be called the Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshan. In fact, most of the Yoga taught in ancient literature of Yoga derives from Hiranyagarbha Yoga Darshan. Such ancient Pre-Patanjali literatures have a word of a Yoga Shastra or the ‘authoritative teachings on Yoga’ and of a Yoga Darshana or ‘Yoga philosophy’, but they mean the older belief traced to Hiranyagarbha by that. It is the Yoga Darshana attributed to Hiranyagarbha which existed long before Patanjali. In fact, the literature on the Hiranyagarbha Yoga custom is much larger than that on Patanjali Yoga tradition, which itself represents a limb of it. While no single simple Hiranyagarbha Yoga Sutras manuscript has survived, quite a few of its knowledge have remained.

The first thirst for acquiring spiritual knowledge arises at the stage of the period of transition from childhood to adulthood i.e. adolescence when biological, physical, social, cognitive changes take place and a person tries to trace out his identity i.e. a person’s sense of placement within the world, the meaning that one attaches to oneself in the broader context of life. Identity is composed of the weight an individual gives to the questions “who am I?”  and “why do I exist in this world?”

After settling down in young adulthood and having lived through with rooting phase, the individual starts feeling sense of uprooting and dissatisfaction during mature adulthood. At the stage of aged adulthood, an individual gradually lose the sense of meaningfulness in life. It is the time for spiritual revaluation to take place. For want of proper guidance, counselling and direction, some remain indifferent while others develop interest in social service and spend most of their time in financial planning, reading, travelling, visiting religious places and enjoying nature and so on. On the other hand, the real satisfaction comes out of meditation only.

New Age meditation is regarded for its techniques of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. It is frequently influenced by Eastern philosophy, Yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism yet may have some degree of western influence. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on an object. Gym Yoga is one of the most effective techniques. It is a modern development in the field of meditation, in which meditation on all the centres of energy is done following physical work-outs in order to secure almost all the benefits.