Learn How To Meditate

Surroundings of Z Meditation Center at Dharamsala, India - How Does It Look Like?

2011-03-30T01:44:00.005+08:00

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." ~ Alice Walker

Lesson #1 - Meditation is a Two Step Process

2011-03-30T01:41:00.000+08:00

Meditation is a two-step process - journey and destination.
The ultimate goal of meditation is the realization of the Self. The Self is your very own being - your soul, the substance you are made of.

It is like a lake that is covered by dirt and whose waters are restless. You can see the bottom only when the dirt is removed and agitations subside.
~Ajay

"The world is not a problem; the problem is your unawareness" ~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Lesson #2 - Where there is awareness, there cannot be suffering..

2011-03-30T01:39:00.000+08:00

The substance of at least ninety-five percent of our experiences is our own imaginations because we spend all this time of our lives in dreaming!
All our suffering is happening in dreams only! Where there is awareness, there cannot be suffering.

When dream thoughts are there, one's awareness sleeps and when awareness awakens, dreaming disappears..

~ Ajay

"My work is not about changing a world I cannot change. It's about touching the lives that touch mine in a way that makes a difference." ~ Unknown

Lesson #3 - Illusion of incompleteness..

2011-03-30T01:37:00.000+08:00

All of us wish to achieve a state of completeness and fulfillment. It is only when this state of inner wholeness is experienced that one can be truly happy.

There are 2 imaginary equations of incompleteness that we believe in:
I + X = Completeness
I - X = Incompleteness

The same X giving happiness now and unhappiness at another time.

'I + X = C' belief creates an imaginary void in the beginning itself. One then starts living in a chase mode to fill up that void.

Even when the void is temporarily filled up, the understanding that 'there must be a void to be filled up' is not given up.

One just keeps running from one object to another all the time.

~ Ajay

"Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable...attainable. Have the patience, wait it out." ~ Stacey Charter

Lesson #4 - Where can you find happiness?

2011-03-30T01:34:00.000+08:00

When the mind is restful,
peace and happiness is experienced.
When the mind is restless,
excitement or unhappiness is experienced.

Happiness is a state of one's own mind. One cannot find it anywhere outside.

It is the mind that needs to be fixed if you want to be happy. Your effort of trying to fix the world instead is not going to serve any purpose.
Have you not tried it enough yet?

~ Ajay

"The most important things in life aren't things." ~ Anthony J D'Angelo

Lesson #5 - What happens when we try to change the past or control the future?

2011-03-30T01:30:00.000+08:00

Can we ever undo the past? The actual happening is already over and it can never be changed.
We spoil our perfect present by clinging to the futile wish that the past should have been different.

The same with the future also. Another trap of unhappiness! Nobody can control what will happen 3 minutes from now.

Nobody. You can only live up to your best potential in the present. That is your sole obligation.

Just do your best and leave the rest.

Happiness always happens in the present.
If you live in past or future, you are also losing the joy of the moment.
Is it worth it to do so?

~ Ajay

"I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense." ~ Harold Kushner

Lesson #6 - Can running in circles take you to your goal?

2011-03-30T01:25:00.000+08:00

In the background of the mind of most of us, the unconscious and futile daydreaming continuously goes on.

When such daydreaming is happening, one mistakenly takes it to be reality and therefore, one does not remain aware of the reality of the moment.

When one is not aware of the reality of the moment, one's efficiency in the moment reduces considerably.

What one could have achieved in less time and using less energy, one takes much more time and energy to do that.

One can only take the best possible thoughtful steps living in the present and in the dharmic direction of the future.

~Ajay

"I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Lesson #7 - TARA Day..

2011-03-30T01:20:00.000+08:00

My Tara practice today..

I am sitting on the moon and wondering about
1) My life in the last 10 years
2) My life in the next 10 years
3) What is my lesson

"Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others." ~ Marian Wright Edelman

Lesson #8 - What is your best possibility?

2011-03-30T01:15:00.000+08:00

Once you let go of the illusions of duality, reality, permanence and incompleteness, once your 'X' factor is dropped and you realize that all the fulfillment is already within you, you just have to let your DHARMA shine forth.

Dharma -> Natural state of being
(Example: It might be physics for Einstein, painting for Picasso, social service for Mother Theresa)
You just live in your dharma and fill up your time with the love for it. That means you are not dependent upon the results of your actions anymore.

You follow your dharma with love, happiness and awareness.

You don't want to win games, you just love playing. There will still be problems on the way. But for you, solving them will be like sums of mathematics - with equanimity and joy. You will take on things as and when they present themselves to you. You will never have any reason to hurry and worry!

~Ajay

"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking." ~ Buddhist Proverb

Lesson #9 - Three Qualities of Mind..

2011-03-30T01:10:00.000+08:00

How and why are people different from each other?
Why do some people find it difficult to meditate and some find it easy?
Some are compassionate and some are insensitive?

There are THREE inherent qualities of the mind.

All human beings are born with a fixed proportion of
1) Lethargy
(means confusion, chaos, irrationality, indecision, indecision, fickle mindedness, procrastination, irresponsibility, blaming, criticizing, excuses etc)
2) Sensuality
(means attachment, greed, ambition, lust, sex, pride, lives in the future, habitually stressed, fulfillment of desires never fulfills him/her, always desire for more, etc)
3) Integrity/Purity
(means living in the moment with awareness, unconditioned peace, compassion, kindness, introspection, hardly has any wants, does not care for what others think about him/her, etc)

People differ in behavior because the proportion of the three qualities is different in each one.
Some people have a combination that is predominantly lethargic - say, lethargy 70%, sensuality 20% and integrity/purity 10%
Some others can have predominantly meditative combination of - say, lethargy 10%, sensuality 10% and integrity/purity 80%

What You Need To Know:
You can change what you are born with. You grow from lethargy to sensuality and from there, you can grow toward integrity/purity.

For developing purity, compassion, meditation and inner peace, you require doing systematic practice.

~Ajay

"Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul." ~ Wayne Dyer

Lesson #10 - What is pure love?

2011-03-30T01:03:00.000+08:00

Pure love is a state of being.

When your love is based on a notion that your heart resides in somebody else's bosom, it does give you pain.

It is the understanding that another person will give you happiness that is the cause.

In this process of 'loving', moreover, you naturally tend to lean, desire, expect, feel jealous, get upset, lie, get out of breath, want reciprocation of love and become now-sad-and-now-happy.

The solution is that instead of seeking love, you become love itself - your mind and heart getting suffused with this feeling.

Your heart and center reside within you. True love begins with love for oneself first.

~ Ajay

"Anyone can look at other's eyes, but true lovers can see into each other's souls through the eyes." ~ Larry Latta

Lesson #11 - Which state are you at in the 'Ladder of Evolution'? (Part 1)

2011-03-30T01:00:00.000+08:00

When dissatisfaction takes place with one's current state of being, one moves up on the ladder of evolution. One start growing.
It is also not necessary that the movement must take place in everybody's life.
In most cases, one lifetime is too short a time to outgrow the current state of being.

1) Lethargic
- Traits and qualities: Disorder, chaos, running in circles, indecisiveness, procrastination, aimless living, baseless fears and worries, blaming, criticizing, jealousy, guilt, hatred, mood swings
- To run away from inner voice: Resort to alcohol, drugs, television
- X factors give a very-very short team relief from turmoil of one's mind

2) Sensual
- Traits and qualities: Many desires and expectations, always lives in hopes and fears related in future, never peaceful and happy
- Life is a continuous struggle for attaining, achieving and accumulating, lives in a state of stress all the time
- X factors: pleasures, power, ambitions, relentless activity

3) Aesthetic-creative
- One's attention and love turns towards the intelligence type one strong in. It means one revels in one's natural 2nd dharma grooves
- The 6 intelligence types are
a) Linguistic                 : Love for fiction, non-fiction, philosophy, poetry, etc
b) Mathematical-logical : Love for natural sciences, mathematics, modern philosophy, etc
c) Musical                   : Love for music
d) Kinesthetic              : Love for sports, yoga, swimming, athletics, etc
e) Spatial                    : Love for colors and space as you see in architects
f) Intra-personal            : Love for psychology, psychotherapy, etc
- First step in bringing about some integrity in the mind.
- Now one's concentration and stability grow. Even the duration and quality of happiness become better
- However, when one is not doing what one likes doing, one is either bored or just drags on

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass..it's about learning how to dance in the rain." ~ Anonymous

Lesson #12 - Which state are you at in the 'Ladder of Evolution'? (Part 2)

2011-03-30T00:55:00.000+08:00

Dissatisfaction has a beautiful silver lining; You start growing.

There are only 2 paths for the inner growth;
a) Natural growth:
You go through various experiences, good and bad, and slowly learn from them. The so-called bad experiences give you detachment and the so-called good experiences lead to attachment. You oscillate between them and learn your lessons slowly. It takes you a long time to understand that happiness resides within you.

b) Revolutionary evolution:
You contemplate, meditate and thereby outgrow illusions and desires. It involves clear understanding, deep honesty and indomitable courage.

(Continue from Day 11..)

4) Compassion
- One understands that without opening the heart, something will always remain missing.
- Selfless love becomes important now and one consciously takes steps to develop it.
- Passionate about a cause; but if he does not achieve the desired results, he gets put off easily.
- Might not be doing things for any selfish ends, but even this selflessness can become a cause of pain.
- Wants to bring about quick and lasting changes in the society and this is a hopeless desire. He gets burnt out with time.
- There comes a time in the life of a compassionate person when he starts searching for some more enriching avenues.

5) Introspection
- The mind turns inwards and starts asking questions about the nature of the self, the causes of unhappiness, the way to peace, what is real and unreal, etc
- This inquiry takes one to the most important question that one can even ask oneself "Who am I?"
- The process of evolution within the state of introspection can be slightly different for each person, it takes this shape
a) Studying self-help books
b) Turning toward spiritual texts or places or teachers
c) Practicing meditation
- Slowly, one recognizes that it is not possible to quiet the mind in meditation unless these concepts are also lived in day-to-day life.
a) Experiencing fulfillment within oneself, independent of X factors
b) Living in awareness, peace and love each moment
c) Helping others without expectations
d) Faith in teachings
e) Happy acceptance of people as they are
f) Learning to benefit from difficulties
g) Considering fulfillment more important than excitement
h) Considering purity more important than lust
i) Considering peace more important than anger
j) Considering detachment more important than attachment
k) Considering contentment more important than greed
l) Considering humility more important than pride
m) Non-interference in the business of others
n) Not blaming and criticizing others
o) Loving oneself in peace and in one's own
- As one progresses in meditation, one realizes that the notion of possession is only a dream
- Initially, it comes only for a short duration, but with practice, the duration of experiencing one's true identity with the 'eternal blissful awareness' becomes much more concrete.
- Until the experience of one's identity with the eternal blissful awareness becomes stable, it is called the state of introspection.

6) Enlightened
- State of Liberation
- The notion that 'one is a separate Self' is give up when the experience of union with the Cosmic Self takes place.
- It means that the three-fold differentiation between the knower, the known and the knowledge gets annihilated now. Only One remains.
- It is the experience of the Universal Consciousness, Blissful and Eternally Aware. Total and unequivocal surrender takes place.
- One always lives in non-forgetfulness of the Truth.

~ Ajay

"Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom." ~ Buddha

Lesson #13 - This moment, mindful moment..

2011-03-30T00:50:00.000+08:00

You meet many mediators who even after years of practice, say that they cannot still their minds at all.
They are as restless as they were then they started years before. You hardly see any change in their behavior also.
Why does it happen like that?

There are 2 ways in which you can meditate:
1) You do it for inner growth or
2) You do it mechanically, unaware of the possibility of change where the is hardly any joy and upliftment in this meditation

Look at the 'Ladder of Evolution' and you will appreciate the reasons.
If the sensual X factors is big or if there is extreme lethargy, the motivation to do meditation will be missing.
If one still does it, one must be doing it for some ulterior purpose and not outgrowing one's habit patterns.
However, if there are not many X factors to hold one back, there is a better possibility that meditation will be deep and joyful.

~ Ajay

"Is there a barometer to measure the spiritual or personal growth? Try counting the number of times you become restless or agitated in a day?" ~ Ajay

Lesson #14 - TARA Day.. Yay!

2011-03-30T00:41:00.000+08:00

My TARA practice today..

1) Distance to the destination is imaginary. Am I walking to or living in?
2) I trust on my process. I do not force an outcome.
3) Am I still waiting for something to happen in my life?

~ Ajay

"I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Lesson #15 - What Is Is..

2011-03-30T00:34:00.000+08:00

Laws of Peace
If you want to be happy, you need to follow certain laws.
Happiness and peace of mind are governed by laws and need to be learnt. You may not be born with them.
You are surely brought up with many conditionings, which generally go against the eternal peace principles.

If you follow its laws, you will live in happiness and the more peaceful we become. If you don't, you will live in suffering and restlessness.

(I) First Law Of Peace - What is is

Nature plays a marvelous game with us in which coming into being, growth, decay and death are unchangeable occurrences.
It happens with relationship also. It happens with everything that has a name and form.
If you accept it, you live in peace. If you resist, you live in pain. (Example: Apple will taste like apple. If you want apple to taste like orange, you live in pain.)

Nature has strewn such beautiful qualities all around us, if you are not seeing, you must be blinded by your ego, your desires, your attachments and dependence.
When the mind is thus turbulent, it cannot enjoy the marvels as it is too attached and restless.
When it is detached, it can attain pure awareness of the marvelous happenings all around.

What is, is. What was, was. What will be, will be.
'I wish it were different' means suffering. Expectations mean chaos.

~ Ajay

"We do not realize how wonderful today is until tomorrow?" ~ Suruchi

Lesson #16 - Acceptance is the sweetest living..

2011-03-30T00:23:00.000+08:00

(II) Second Law Of Peace - Acceptance is the sweetest living

If you want to have peace of mind, you will need to ACCEPT these in your life - as they are; without ifs' and buts'.

1) Three qualities of mind
- People are what they are. They helplessly following their root character-patterns.

2) Past and future
- Past exists only in one's transient mental formations - one's memory.
- Future cannot be known or controlled by anybody.
- Unconscious dwelling in them always spoils the present by causing distress and worries.
- We can choose to live in awareness, love and happiness, that is very much within our domain.

3) The present circumstances
- This present moment is our opportunity to grow in detachment, fulfillment, understanding and love.
- When you are in your thought, the NOW slipped off
- If it is difficult situation, we need to make full use of it for learning detachment, strengthening our endurance and growing spiritually.
Nature will continue to test us.
- Peace needs to be learnt. One may not be born with it, but one can certainly study and practice for growing in peace.

4) The inevitable
- People will change; the amount of money we have will change; status will change; everybody will get old; beauty will never remain.
- One who is ever ready and alert about acceptance can never be unhappy.

5) The necessary
- What ought to be done, what is obligatory in the given circumstances and what is the righteous course of action has to be freed from the clutches of dilemmas.
- Things might be unpleasant, but if they are right then there ought to be no vacillation in execution.

~ Ajay

"As you become more clear about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide what is best for you - the first time around." ~ Oprah Winfrey

Lesson #17 - Pain is what you get certainly when you resist..

2011-03-30T00:13:00.000+08:00

(III) Third Law Of Peace - Resistance is Pain

- Resistance to the reality is resistance to nature. We are supposed to understand that an apple will never taste like a mango. Without interfering in the nature of apple, we have to learn to enjoy it as it is.
- Lethargy always has the bitter smell of confusion and chaos; sensuality must result in greed, attachment and pain; friends many not be considerate all the time; love may not get reciprocated always.
- Accepting all possibilities will lead to peace.
- The important thing is that whatever steps you take, you do it with equanimity and without imposing the outcome. Just do it with love and for love.

The destination is living in freedom and not reaching out to freedom

Push your rocks
- The rocks of life are the problems we face.
- Pushing the rocks of life, we become stronger in equanimity, peace, endurance and understanding.
- The problematic situations or rocks will always be there.
(Example: There will always be difficult people on the way. There will always be sickness and hospitalization of oneself or of some dear ones. There will always be birth and death elsewhere.)
- How can anybody avoid failures and keep winning all the time?

These are the inevitables of life. You accept them, good for you. You resist them, bad for you as they will still be there and you will be disturbed too.

~ Ajay

"Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you." ~ Richard Bach

Lesson #18 - What do you get when you are living in incompleteness?

2011-03-30T00:10:00.000+08:00

(IV) Fourth Law Of Peace - 'Completeness = Lack of incompleteness'

- We have been tutored by our society that we can attain completeness and happiness only when our desires get fulfilled.
- Actually, people in our world are so attached to this way of thinking that they have lost the ability to do the reality check.
- We are all following each other in this blind alley of ignorance.
- We do not learn from the mistakes of others and we do not learn even from out own mistakes.
- 'Desiring' continues to remain, as the values do not change when desires get fulfilled.
- In reality, we are unwittingly creating more misery and turmoil in our lives by believing in the illusion of incompleteness.

- All of us want to feel fulfilled and satisfied. That is our natural need.
- This satisfaction is a state of the mind, but we are programmed in believing that it is coming from the stars.
- Even after reaching them, we remain dissatisfied. Hence, we keep running.
- And there are infinite stars available. You reach one, you want another.
- You remain dissatisfied even on getting the ones that you were longing for earlier!

True completeness has only one definition: Lack of incompleteness

- The moment you accept I + X = Completeness, you have already admitted defeat.
- You are indirectly supporting incompleteness as your current state of being.
- Imagine a state in which you no longer believe that there has to be an X factor for you to be fulfilled.
- How would you feel then?
=> If you feel bad, you have not understood the whole process.
=> If you feel light and good, then you have understood it right.
- Now, you just need to practice living in this freedom - freedom from dependence upon X factors.

~ Ajay

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." ~ Helen Keller

Lesson #19 - What do you get when you step out of your own business and start interfering in others' business?

2011-03-30T00:01:00.002+08:00

(V) Fifth Law Of Peace - Pain is what you get when you step out of your own business and start interfering in others' business

- There are three kind of business in the world
1) My business
2) Your business
3) Nature's business

- When one minds just one's own business, one grows. When one pokes one's nose everywhere, one suffers.

- The most stressed people in the world are those who are in the habit of minding other people's business.
They think they know the best; but in reality, they know the least - even about themselves.

- Those who criticize others are always found wanting in the same things that they criticize about.

- While helping others, the odds that one may not get the desired response and one's compassion may get misunderstood are always there.

It is important to recognize the difference between interfering and living in compassion. The former disturbs you and the latter gives you pure joy.

Do your best, leave the rest.

~ Ajay

"What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own." ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Lesson #20 - Can you change the past or control the future?

2011-03-29T23:04:00.000+08:00

(VI) Sixth Law Of Peace - You cannot change the past. You cannot control the future.

Can we ever undo the past?

- The actual happenings is already over and it can never be changed.
- We spoil our perfect present by clinging to the futile wish that the past should have been different.

The same with future also. When there are worries and insecurities about future, are you more efficient handling the job at hand?
- Nobody can control what will happen three minutes from now. Nobody.
- You can only live up to the best potential in the present.
- Just do your best and leave the rest.

If your intentions are not to harm anybody and something happens just by chance, you are absolutely not responsible.
- Just pray, bless and help. You should not take it to heart.

Loving yourself is also your responsibility.

- However, if something untoward happens through intent and later on you keep feeling bad about it, that is also not helpful.

Regret and guilt are useful only when you resolve to do it differently the next time.
- It is human to make mistakes.

If you live in past or future, you are also losing the joy of the moment. Is it prudent to do so?

~ Ajay

"The future hasn't happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I'm in." ~ Annie Lennox

Lesson #21 - Are you responsible for what goes on in the minds of others?

2011-03-29T22:02:00.000+08:00

(VII) Seventh Law Of Peace – What they say about me has nothing to do with who I am. Who can know me better than myself?

This is the challenge for all of us, not to take anything personally.
Who knows the truth better about myself - myself or others?

It is such an absurdity that you try to understand yourself using the understanding of others, even if it is wrong!
When three qualities of the mind function, this is possible. You need to remain unperturbed and stable.

They might be right in their opinions.
Fine..but who will do the truth check?

(Example)
If somebody tells you that you are a liar, just do the truth check. Do you lie?
If yes => Feel grateful to the person that he has helped you become aware.
If no => Tell him with all your compassion that he is wrong.

You don't need to fight.
You don't need to be defensive.
You don't have to give explanations.
It is fine that they think bad about you.

It is a rock for you to push and grow in detachment and equanimity.

~ Ajay

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Lesson #22 - Do you want a relief or a cure? (Part 1)

2011-03-29T21:08:00.000+08:00

Mindfulness of restlessness is only a pre-requisite for peace. It can give you relief but not a cure. Restlessness derives from its roots of desires, incompleteness equations and conditionings, right in that order.

The lasting solution (cure) is right understanding.
You change your perspective. The illusion will drop on their own. You will feel light and free.

Deep Inquiry is a systematic process of digging, and digging out using well defined questions that you ask yourself.

When you get to know the truth through your own rational thinking, the effect is deep.
When you recognize that you were holding on to certain false ideas, you laugh at yourself and want to give them up.
But the next step is tough - really give them up.

Z Meditation Deep Inquiry technique
- 6-step process of self-questioning that helps you stand aside from your own mind and realize freedom:

(to be continue..)

"A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion." ~ Chinese Proverb

Lesson #23 - Do you want a relief or a cure? (Part 2)

2011-03-29T19:09:00.000+08:00

Meditation is an outgrowing of your root character-patterns.

It is serious work for realizing peace, happiness and compassion in your heart.
It cannot be taken as a routine and monotonous exercise that you must finish somehow.
You ought to be looking forward to this most beautiful time of the day.

Be ware of the thoughts that disturbed you. Just be aware.
The moment you are mindful, these dreams will vanish.
Whatever feelings or other mental formations you were experiencing while dreaming, they will come to rest.
It is just the mindfulness of the moment that will remain.

Now, do the Deep Inquiry on the dreams that you were lost in.
Dig out their roots and be free. You must face yourself and not try to put things under the carpet.
This is a very creative, beautiful and efficient way of utilizing one's own thoughts to release the root character-patterns.

Z Meditation Deep Inquiry is a 6-step process of self-questioning that helps you stand aside from your own mind and realize freedom:

A. Standing out of the daydreams and understanding their utilitarian consequences.
B. Digging out the first roots of causal feelings and understanding their consequences in terms of the actual consequential feelings.
C. Digging out the second roots of incompleteness equations and understanding their implications in terms of impermanence and unfulfillment.
D. Digging out the third roots of general conditionings and experiencing the effect in terms of happiness and freedom.
E. Understanding the implications of interfering in others' business and finding out what one's own real business is.
F. Reinforcement questioning for making the effect deep and lasting.

~ Ajay

"Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on." ~ Eckhart Tolle

Recommended Movie - Peaceful Warrior

2011-03-27T12:33:00.014+08:00

I have come across this movie by chance and it is a wonderful real life events which shares some of the teaching learned from Z Meditation. You may check it out yourself.