Meditation practice

Meditation practice. The following guided meditations can be useful to sAdhakas.

The standard approach to samAdhi is to focus the mind on an object, gross or subtle. Mantra meditation is very useful. PraNava is the ultimate mantra for Self Realization. Through meditation practice the mind is able to focus on one point, which is the bindu, and ultimately the mind dissolves in the object and samAdhi is experienced.

Another guided meditation practice is to conceive of the "I" as subtler than space and extending over the entire conceivable universe. In this practice the obstructions to this conception of "I" are examined and systematically rejected. In this way the pancakoshas are transcended and finally it is seen that the obstacle that prevents from abiding as One is the conception of the other. The conception of the other has its root in the false "I" or non-self. When the four aspects of mind (manas, buddhi, ahamkAra and citta) are transcended by seeing that they are all simply manifestations of the guNas, then the mind becomes devoid of thought itself. It is only the uprising of rajas, its sustenance through sattva and its destruction through tamas that create the worlds. When the mind abides as Pure Consciousness and its Power, Shakti, which are the three guNas, then it dissolves completely.

There is a connection to the MANDukya Upanishad also regarding the significance of AUM:

AUM .

A -  I am vaishvAnara

U -  I am taijasA

M - I am prajnA

    -  I am (tUriya)

The pRaNava is the portal through which the jIva (individuated Consciousness) accesses the paramAtma (the Self). 

These two complementary practices of focusing on the very minute, atomic (bindu, passing through which one pierces the hRdaya granthi) and focusing on the infinite, is described in the Yoga SUtra I.40:

परमाणुपरममहत्त्वान्तोऽस्य वशीकार:

paramANu paramamahattvAnto'sya vashIkArah

By focusing on the atomic and the infinite the mind is brought under control.