Meditation and Its Practice by Swami Rama

Lie down on your stomach, don’t keep your mouth open, huh? Otherwise, do you know what will happen? You will inhale all the dirt. So, always spread a towel, a handkerchief, and according to your convenience, just relax your legs. Separate them so much so that you don’t feel uneasy, so is the case with the hands, like this, huh? Yes, other side, there, Ok. Now close your mouth please. Fold your hands like this, yes, more, fold them here, yes, just. What is this posture called? Why this posture is called crocodile?

A very amazing story I want to tell you. When I used to do tapas on the bank of Narmada, my target was to go according to the movement of the sun from morning till evening so that I wouldn’t see anything of the world, gazing towards sky, remembering my mantra, sitting. So I heard a sound. That sound distracted me; suddenly I found all around me there were 10-15 crocodiles. Immediately I got this fear that they are going to eat me, yeah. But actually poor crocodiles were very much tired. They go to deep waters, live there for many, many minutes and then come out, and they want to relax. So what do they do? They lie down like that, that’s why it is called crocodile pose.

Now, inhale and exhale, this hand will tell you that you are inhaling or exhaling rightly or not. Yes, go down. I think those who really want to relax from long fatigue of the day, they should lie down like this and enjoy relaxation, they should, few minutes, as long as you feel comfortable. When you start feeling little bit pain here, just get up.

From “Finding Meaning in Life”

Learn to sit still, there are only two conditions which a teacher asks, only two things from you, keep your head, neck and trunk in a straight line no matter which pose you use. Sukhasana, still sukhasana, one thing, your body is steady and you are comfortable, there are only two conditions. This can be also called asana, this asana has been described by Buddhist scriptures as maitreya asana, maitreya means friendship, maitreya asana, one of the teachers from Buddhist tradition was called Maitreya, he used to sit in this posture. That’s why it’s also called maitreya asasna, maitreya means friendship pose.

from Yoga Sutras #8

Now this is called sukhasana. But this is called no-asana (slumps forward). It should be straight.

Now why do I say, if you keep a support–see–now turn your face this side. Yes, this side, just more. I’m not hurting you. See, it’s not aligned. Now it’s aligned. But at the same time your lower limbs should be assimilated properly.

Now I’m telling you something. Keep this in your hand. Now watch me. Wait. Hey! What are you doing? Hey! Get up. Ok. Will you please get up?

I am doing first easy posture, though I don’t sit in easy posture. I don’t meditate–I do japa on easy posture–I don’t meditate on easy posture.

Now put the head, is there. Wait, come on. Put it here as I did to you. Move. And what did you do? You did like this, there was so much gap it did not allow energy to flow.

So few days you should always find a rest so that your practice will be (like that?). It’s important for you to watch how you walk and how you sit.

Have you seen how I walk? Many people, those who are new, they misunderstand. “Swami Rama seems to be very proud.”
I said, “Why?” “Why do you walk like this?”
I said, “I want to keep my spinal column straight.” It’s important.

Only two things. Then, now see where it rests? It rested on,–You explain to them. Where am I resting my knee? Here, I’m not pressing the bone. And where is other foot? Resting there. This is easy pose. First start with easy pose. Here support. Gently close your eyes. Now watch which part of body creates a gesture. You’ll come to know that part of body has some problem. If head does like that, if shoulders do like that, sometimes you jerk, sometimes you perspire.

So there are three categories of sadhakas, aspirants–those who perspire too much, not good. May be some inefficiency in the secretion of endocrine gland system. I was taught medical science because I wanted to know all this.
So first few days you should see. You’ll find slowly all the turmoils on physical level is arrested. Don’t rush.

from Yoga Sutras #4

Suppose you are focussing your mind on the breath, what do you do? What do you observe there? First thing you observe that your breath is not jerky, it’s not noisy, it’s not irregular. Many of the diseases which are coronary heart diseases are created by you, and then you go to doctor for cure. And you expect a little pill can help you. How that pill can break your habit patterns? I want to know. I know medical science. I have not seen any injection, any pill, any surgery, that can help breaking your habit patterns. You will have to be aware of this fact.

So first mind is observing this. No noise, no shallowness, no jerks, no irregularity. That which is very important in the breath and that’s why Buddhist school of meditation gives you a very solid something. When breath is calm and serene then you observe that it does not create a long pause. Ordinarily you are creating a pause, this is pause. Nobody spanks his child, what are you doing this, out? If my students do this in front of me I would say stop doing this, you are hurting yourself.

If you throw a rock on me I can tolerate it. But if you constantly do it I cannot tolerate, because I know the consequences, that you are going to hurt yourself. When parents do not have knowledge of this, how can they teach children? Not to create a long pause, not to allow that pause, when you are creating a pause, you are suspending the motion of your lungs, scientifically. Motion of lungs is like a flying wheel in a machine called body. If it is irregulated, the whole body is irregulated.
So 2-3 times a day, as it is very important for you to take nutritious food, you should learn to breathe, not to allow that pause, not to form that bad habit.

From “How to Tread the Path of Superconscious Meditation”

Now, what do you do? Exhale as though you are exhaling from the head to the toes without breaking–no jerks. Come on do it. Hey, close your eyes. No! No noise, no jerks. When you are exhaling and inhaling, don’t do it (makes sniffing sound). No. If you create jerks you are creating a different pattern in your brain and different pattern in your heart. No. It should be smooth.

I will tell you one trick. Any part of the body that is aching, just when you are exhaling, go to that part, go through it. You’ll find your pain is gone. I’m telling you this.

Exhale as though you are exhaling—when you are exhaling what are you doing? You are releasing the carbon dioxide or used up gas. This is truth. Why do you not coordinate your mind and say, “I want to exhale all my problems I have.” They are thought problems and they are yours, and they are mental. You are doing exercise; why do you not exhale all the problems? When you have exhaled, you are empty. What do you do after you empty something? You fill it. And here, everywhere there is energy. It’s easy. So you are inhaling from here, gradually to the head. Do it a few times. Can you believe in a few time you’ll just totally relax and go to sleep.

From Yoga Sutras #5

Now shortest cut I am giving you this time. Leave all that nose business. You have done enough. You have done for many years. Now you have to use your mental effort to regulate your breath. For simple reason, if you pay attention on this (indicates left nostril) that nostril will become active. If you pay attention towards this (indicates right nostril) that nostril will become active. You should learn to change the breath consciously once in a day, so that breath functions according to your conscious control.

from Saundarya Lahari

Breath. One exercise will help you. Suppose you inhale four: 1, 2, 3, 4, though this system is bad. If you are doing it, if you take the graph of my breath, you’ll find my breath is creating jerks. One, two, thee, four. Jerky breath is very bad for the heart. During that time, the pumping station, because I have done so many experiments on it, you’ll find in blood supply, jerks. You’ll find coronary nerves not functioning well.

So you don’t count, even in your mind. Because if you count in your mind, the breath will jerk. Breath is barometer of body and mind both. Anything that happens in body, is registered in the breath. Anything that happens in mind is registered in the breath. What to do?
That’s why you have centers. Now, focus your mind on the center, on the spinal column, the lowest center called muladhara. Why? Why I am giving you center for the back? Why not in front? Because it will make your mind inward and one-pointed.

Now you are closing your eyes. You are inhaling as though you are inhaling from the root of the spinal column, you are inhaling a sound clearly, “so.” Quietly if you hear the sound comes, “so.” Now you are exhaling. You are exhaling as though you are exhaling from the crown of your head to your toes. Though only your body is this much, and these are your lower extremities. But that’s a measurement for your breath, for a yogi. If you ask yogi why these ten fingers are made, he will say, “Sir, to eat food, to earn?” He will say, “No. To make bakamudra. See, that’s why ten fingers are made.” Interpretation.

So when you inhale, inhale as though you are inhaling from the root of your spinal column to the crown of your head, and exhale as though you are inhaling to the feet. Do you know what will happen? The ratio will be doubled. Inhalation, twice will be exhalation. Best of all exercises in pranayama is inhale four and exhale eight. It means the amount of energy inhaled, twice of that you are exhaling. Best exercise! Do it ten times, of course after practicing diaphragmatic breathing. Then in few days time you will find your breath has become calm. No jerks, no noise, no rhythm. And something great, no… Those who practice this will never have heart attacks, what I’m telling you.

From “Spiritual Odyssey”

Now, you see when you want to know the nature of the individual soul, you say soul does not move—yet it moves. Externally it is a contradiction. What do you mean by moves and yet it doesn’t move? This hub on a wheel does not move, yet creates movement in the whole of this. If you take out this hub, nothing will happen. If you take out soul, individual soul, nothing will happen.
Now, direct energy comes through four definite functions. One is called manas, another is called chitta, another is called—which is the biggest in everyone—ego; another is called buddhi. Greatest is he, most successful person is he, who knows how to establish coordination.

What is the function of manas? Because I want to go ahead and talk of the chakras, which is important but for that, we need to understand this. Whenever you do something, something comes in your mind, “Shall I do it or not?” Immediately. That particular faculty which thinks, “Shall I do it or not? Shall I go this way with the crowd? If I go that way perhaps that is better.” Or “The grass is wet outside; perhaps I should not go that way. Oh, well, I will bow down, nod my head and the go outside.” Who is deciding all this? This is not the faculty of manas, but buddhi.

So these four functions have got different duties. Buddhi is considered to be supreme. The way you train your buddhi. But if you train your buddhi well, and buddhi is telling your manas to do this, and manas says, “I don’t want to!” then nothing is going to happen. But to establish a friendly, loving, coordination between different functions of your internal states, is very essential.

Manas has got two qualities. It functions externally and it functions internally, both; one quality. It is importer and exporter. It works both for this big company of life. And buddhi decides, discriminates, decides, and judges, three qualities.

Ego preserves. There is only one thing bad in ego, otherwise ego is not bad. Ego does not want to recognize the hub. Ego wants to say that I am everything. I rotate myself; it is not because of the hub, because of the soul.

It tries to separate you from the whole. It always want to separate you. It has built a boundary around you; it has made a cell for you and you live in a cell, because of ego. It does wonderful work when you function in the external world, but it does not help you when you follow the path of spirituality, when you follow the inner world, when you follow and try to understand the subtler realms of your life within. Because it has not been trained.

So when you talk of surrender, when you talk of the highest path is surrender, enlightenment through surrender. It means not the physical surrender. It does not mean surrendering your home and all the duties. It means surrendering your ego, making it aware of the Reality within you.

When ego is again and again made aware of the existence of what we call hub, then that is called surrender. So shortest cut is just to cut your ego, and you are there. But how to do it? Through dialogue it is possible. And that dialogue is called contemplation.

From Saundarya Lahari second SR lecture

Now you sit down, and remember this diagram. “Okay, my mind. What do you want to do? Sir, shall I do it or not? I want to do this. Is it profitable for me to do? Is it good for me to do?” You’ll have to make experiments. Take issue with your buddhi, and let your buddhi come forward. And let your ego accept it. And then you’ll draw the energy through chitta, the storehouse. This way, dialogue can be successful. Few minutes every day.

from Saundarya Lahari

You cannot stop mind. Many of you think, let us stop thinking. To stop thinking is called meditation, that’s not true. Anyone who thinks that trying to stop thinking is meditation, let him forget that, that is not called meditation. Here you should use, to let go. Allow mind to go. Let it think the way, you are observing it, you are not identifying yourself with that. If an unpleasant thought comes you are observing, pleasant thought comes, you are observing, you are not being affected by any thoughts. That is actually called introspection, inspecting within. Being witness and not being involved in it. Ordinarily you are involved. I am talking to you, I am involved. If I am planning to do something, I am involved, but during meditation you learn not to involve with your thinking process by understanding, to let go. All thoughts are going on in the train that is called mind. I am observer, I observe. You become observer, and you tell yourself I am not going to be involved, no matter what kind of thought, what type of thinking is there. Nothing is going to affect me because you have decided that. Even the worst thought pattern comes, will not affect me. Even the best thought pattern comes, will not affect me. You do it with your conscious mind.

From “How to Tread the Path of Superconscious Meditation.”

Now, I will explain to you what mantra means. Manayatatrayeta, that’s meaning of, it’s a Sanskrit word, mantra, which means that which dispels the darkness of ignorance, that which guides, that which leads, that which enlightens. There are 4-5 meanings, many meanings, you see. So there are many mantras which are chanted, but there are many mantras which are just remembered. And there are many levels of remembering mantra. You remember a mantra silently, where your mind follows the mantra towards silence, because silence, mantra leads you to silence. You remember mantra superficially, how much money have I received today, nononononono. Oh, my husband says like that, Ok tomorrow morning I will show her. You see. It depends on how, what mantra you have. There are varieties of mantras; best of the wines are never taken in paper cup. Nobody takes, he will be a fool who takes that, he will not have best of the wine. One who has got best of the wine will also have chalice. So there are special, very special mantras when the traditional teachers impart those mantras to their students. When they come out with overwhelmingly the height of gladness, they impart that mantra, come on, do this. And it is perfect; you don’t have to do anything. It’s a gift received from the tradition through a particular teacher. It’s a great art, it’s great philosophy, it’s complete spirituality in it.

From Finding Meaning in Life