WHAT Is Meditation? Who Invented Meditation?
So, what is meditation?
Meditation is the 7th step of the Ashtanga Yoga (Eightfold Yoga) practices. And what is Yoga? These days, anything involving twisting and turning the body is termed as Yoga. Though the difficult poses are part of Yoga, mistaking the part as the whole can be misleading.
Another misconception about Yoga is that it is practiced only by Hindus. Yoga originated in the Indian peninsula and has extensive reach in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions. But the concepts in Yoga are religion agnostic, and can be practiced by anyone.
Yoga means Union. (Side-Note : Even the modern-day colloquial usage means addition.) Union of which elements? It can vary depending on the school of Hindu tradition. The generally accepted version is union of the individual with the Supreme Consciousness. Let’s take a trip down the memory lane to some 2500 years or so for a quick history lesson (or recap if you already know it). There was this dynamic sage called Patanjali. Nowadays, he is super famous, maybe because of the namesake FMCG company. Jokes apart, he has been attributed with gifting the tradition of Yoga, Ayurveda and Sanskrit Grammar to the world. His book, the Yogasutras is considered the most definitive book on Yoga. The book starts off with
Which can be interpreted as
The eight steps of Yoga (and their loose translations in English) are
Yama (Morality) Niyama (Discipline) Asana (Pose / Posture) Pranayama (Control of the Life Forces) Pratyahara (Withdrawal, especially of the Senses) Dharana (Focus) Dhyana (Meditation) Samadhi (Deep meditation) At a beginner level, we will touch upon each of these slightly because Yoga is a practice. Reading theories are not going to benefit us unless we start actually doing it. A later step can be perfected only after the previous steps have been mastered. However, the eight steps are not strictly step-by-step and are more of an iterative approach. But it will serve us well to remember it is a way of living. Let’s have a quick quiz to check if you got it right.. shall we?
Meditation for Beginners. Build concentration. Build resilience. Practice yoga. Start your spiritual journey today.
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