Our true nature is to be free from all sorrow and anxiety in spite of the natural ups and downs of life. We have a wrong notion that our happiness is based on security and pleasure. We have another wrong notion that security and pleasure come from people, objects and situations. All spiritual practices are to free us from these two wrong notions, and free us from the fundamental wrong notion about our limited individuality. Meditation is an important step in this process.
To be able to meditate effectively, it is important to have a meditation-conducive lifestyle. Without that, the mind would be thinking about all kinds of things and meditation will not be possible. After aligning the lifestyle, following the prescribed process makes meditation possible with some patient effort. The fruits are enormous to make everything worthwhile.
Preparation
Our strong identification and attachment to our life and what we think support life — money, job, relatives, etc., make us dwell on the past and future. We have a lot of regrets and guilt about what we did in the past. We have grudges against people, situations and even God about what happened to us in the past. We have fear and anxiety about the future. If we don’t resolve these, at least to an extent, these thoughts will rise up when we close our eyes. These psychological defects or complexes should be resolved by Karma Yoga.
This story is from the September 2021 edition of The Vedanta Kesari.
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This story is from the September 2021 edition of The Vedanta Kesari.
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