inidXyasn
Nididdhyaasana - profound and repeated meditation
Root verb is 'dhyaan' - to think, to contemplate. Dhyaanam is the simple act of sitting and doing the thinking and more correctly translated as 'contemplation'. Nididdhyaasanam is doing this in a single-pointed and sustained way. It is almost exclusively used in conjunction with the intellectual steps which precede it and prepare the meditator.
- Shravanam, which is to listen attentively, not merely hearing but receiving, acknowledging and processing. One whose skill of shravanam is firm will be able to inculcate as the knowledge enters them and to begin already the second process.
- Mananam is what follows. Having received a chunk of information, it is necessary to ponder upon it. Hold it up to the light of existing knowledge, assess it for what is new, and seek to integrate it. This may result in doubts and questions arising. These must be aired with the teacher and discussion is to be had so that the knowledge can adequately settle. (Vedanta doesn't want blind belief, or sheep wishing all the time to be herded - no, it demands robust assessment and debate so that each student can 'own' the knowledge.)
Having resolved the learning, nididdhyaasanam will start to become a habit. There will be plenty sitting and attempting to focus the mind, but only once all doubts are quashed, once commitment becomes firm, once the desire to move beyond gross knowledge into the realm of direct experience is his or hers, can the contemplator genuinely become the meditator.
Where two or more thoughts rub together, thinking is taking place. This is contemplation. Only when the flow of thoughts is suspended can one be said to be meditating. This is the 'transcendence' of which much is spoken.
It is not 'airy-fairy'.
It is not psychedelic.
It is not an altered perception.
It is not achieved by any means other than to work through one's thoughts to the point where they can be left alone… the thinking will not be about the ironing in the other room, the meal that is to be cooked, the problem at work, this that or the other desire which arises. The thinking will be about the teachings of the Upanishads and about four key statements.
- Consciousness Alone Is (प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म / prajnaanam Brahma)
- That (Consciousness) You Are (tÅv< Ais / tattvam asi)
- Consciousness and (my) Self Are One and the Same (अयं आत्मा ब्रह्म / ayam aatmaa Brahma)
- I Am Brahman (अहं ब्रह्मास्मि / aham Brahmaasmi)
High-falutin stuff? Yes, it has to be admitted that it is. However, no series of articles on Vedanta and its application in life would be complete without pointing to its higher levels.
When you are at school you are made aware, are you not, of the possibilities of where studies can take you? The chance of going to university might have seemed remote at one point, but then you might find that there is a real passion for one subject or other and you begin to pay more attention, more dedication. Gaining entry to the course of your choice, you discover that as much as you thought you knew, you actually know very little. Learning takes a different turn and more than ever you have to stay focused. What keeps you going is the knowledge that others have achieved the thing you are trying for and that you can too. Sometimes though, you need reminding when the going gets tough. You need to be shown the goal again so you can refocus.
Of course, not everyone wants a specialised, high-level standing. They just want to get on with life. That's fine, but there is still a need to understand life to get the most out of it. There is a need to obtain a skill-set to support yourself.
We are talking about meditation in this post so, if you find the idea of transcending your mind just too far beyond, do at least consider contemplative activity which keeps you relaxed and focused. Not to escape the turmoil of life, but to help you deal with it better.
Oh wow, there is a lot here and I need to head out now. (Later than I realized.) Will leave this up in web browser to look at when I get back. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteA lot of interesting stuff here as always. I'm not Hindu or Buddhist, but I find it interesting how much these ideas can apply in any contemplative tradition, and I do think of myself as contemplative. I try anyway. Some really interesting phrases here, to me, like "not everyone wants a specialised, high-level standing." and "the desire to move beyond gross knowledge into the realm of direct experience." It's often like, okay I'm not going to say this, but I think a contemplative life is better, not in an airy-fairy way but on the contrary. Because it is more thoughtfully real and hands-on, not just acting to act but thinking things out first. Not getting caught up in other people's destructive cycles and that one is huge for me. I feel like even though we're from very different faith traditions there is so much convergence. I also feel like you have put so much thought and time into how you write these. This should be a book or something. I've read books like this. I keep having to pause and be like wait is this a monk/nun writing a contemplative book. So well thought out and encapsulated. Thank you again so much for sharing!
DeleteHari Om
DeleteWe do not come for such different backgrounds, Anne... rather it is that I may have stretched my boundaries further, is all. I definitely sense in you a kindred spirit, albeit one 'younger'. (And do not consider that to be in years - although clearly that is true also!)
I would never say that contemplative life is a 'better' way than to be active in the world; it is a path chosen which can be equally productive - but only if one adheres to practice and application in the activities that must be undertaken simply as a matter of living.
For my part, that 'saadhana' is expressed through the teaching blog (chapter one, see sidebar, or via the link in the start of this reply); you may not have picked that I am, effectively, a 'nun'! I chose not to take the robes, but am qualified as Vedantaachaarya - a teacher of the end of knowledge. All that I write is simply an expression of my digestion of that knowledge from all the texts, some of which are explored over at AV ch1. ... but now there is a germ of thought about a 'workbook' that I possibly could concoct! YAM xx
Dear Yamini,
ReplyDeleteYour posts are so lucid that even the more complex ideas of the self and consciousness come across as not so.
Your analogy of school makes it clearer.
Mananam seems familiar: the pondering goes on and I am blessed to have a dear friend who (like you) speaks from experience about meditation. She helps me with words as wise as yours when doubts pop up.
"Only when the flow of thoughts is suspended can one be said to be meditating." keeping this as my take away from this post today.
Hari OM
DeleteYes, Arti, mananam is what the majority of folk are in even as they say they are meditating. What they are doing, actually, is ruminating! Turning over all that has been presented to them and grinding them into something they can digest. For some, this leads them further along the path. For others - especially if striving alone and for whatever reason do not have or follow a teacher - it can lead them very much astray. Mananam is truly a 'hinge' to the door of Knowledge. Yxx
I have discovered trying to practice mediation regularly leads to a very clean house :)
ReplyDeleteHari Om
Deleteah yes, the good old substitution action!!! Yxx