Meditation Discouragement
Meditation Discouragement
Perhaps you heard of yogis meditating in blissful consciousness, in the absolute, in the oneness, according to how a particular yogi defines these experiences. Some yogis denounce bliss states as being part of the dualistic feature of relative consciousness which alternates between happy feelings and distressful sensation or happiness, insensitivity and distress.
For meditation, for me, blissful states will do, not just happy bliss but even neutral bliss states where the happy feature is such a small part of it as to be near absent. The mind chamber is such that if there is no bliss state in meditation there is a reluctant to remain in the absorption in that indifferent state. There is little or no self-attraction then.
The inner consciousness is drab and featureless which lacks the holding power for deep samadhi practice. When the self is featureless the yogi has little to keep for a focus. Then the mind twitches and turns as it impulsively seeks sense objects, memories and mental constructions which satisfy its need for preoccupation.
Steadiness in meditation happens when there are bliss states, even near neutral bliss states, where the yogi finds that there is effortless absorption within the psyche with no urge to venture outside the being and no feeling of a need to get or procure anything because the bliss yielding energy is such that it is totally satisfying and of itself causes a deep sensual energy withdrawal (pratyahar) with a samadhi containment occurring with no extraneous effort.
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Steadiness in meditation happens when there are bliss states, even near neutral bliss states, where the yogi finds that there is effortless absorption within the psyche with no urge to venture outside the being and no feeling of a need to get or procure anything because the bliss yielding energy is such that it is totally satisfying and of itself causes a deep sensual energy withdrawal (pratyahar) with a samadhi containment occurring with no extraneous effort.
In my practice, bliss states are a gateway to steadiness. If I objectively observe bliss arise and then simply allow it to be, it usually thins out fairly quickly into the near neutral bliss. Abiding in the near neutral bliss seems to involve a knack. Entering into near neutralilty or neutrality is sort of a mental jolt because of the absence of sensual and mental impressions. If I pass through that and remain steady in neutrality, it does indeed become satisfying. The real boon comes when I emerge from those states, even states of brief duration and infrequent occurrence. Upon emergence I see without a doubt that it is in neutrality that the true peace is found. The word is hard to choose because it is a still emptiness that seems to characterize this thing I called peace. It is that state in which there is no movement. By then, bliss has fallen to the wayside.
It is also after experiencing neutrality, that I was able to give up my preconception and expectation that meditation was for blissing out and zoning out into some sort of spiritual oblivion. In my experience, the satisfaction and stillness comes while I am fully alert, clearly alert. This is where everthing stops and one gets the idea that one is approaching the passageway from which one does not return to samsara.
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Such a condition where there is an approach away from samsara or away from the physical and subtle relationship involvements and the arising environments, is identified in the advaita Vedanta system as the approach to brahman.
One may assume that those persons who ventured to that situation successfully are there with others without relationship involvements, just beings being there, existing.
The Buddhist term for this is nibbana (Sanskrit - nirvana)
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The mind chamber is such that if there is no bliss state in meditation there is a reluctant to remain in the absorption in that indifferent state. There is little or no self-attraction then
This is true for me. I find that the duration and quality of my meditation sessions are hinged on my attraction to naad in that particular session. If a session is devoid of attraction to naad, or interest in naad is lost at some point, then I’m disinclined to prolong it. In essence, the bliss state that accompanies absorption and/or linkage with naad, is critical for my meditation practice.
