These quotes have been taken from Satsangs (discourses) given by our teacher Professor Ojaswi Sharma. He himself was never interested in writing anything but his students felt the need to preserve his wisdom. They taped his talks, transcribed them and sorted out into several Topics. Because the full discourses were very long, shorter passages were chosen on each Topic and presented here.
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Meditation happens to us by God's grace and not through effort. We try to meditate and the result is that some day meditation happens to us. Effort is not compatible with what is known as the state of meditation. All efforts end at the time when real meditation happens to us. It seems to be a paradox or contradiction but it is not. All that we are trying to do is to make an effort to discipline ourselves so that someday we experience our true state.
The purpose of meditation is to find our real existence. We go into our own self and we try to find out who we really are. The last stage of that experience is known as self-realisation.
The mind is either in the past or in the future but those who possess that mind are always in the present. We are always in the present and our mind is either in the future or the past. That is the whole conflict. We exist in the present and the mind is away in dreams of tomorrow or the memories of the past. The mind is never ready to function exactly here and now. If it does function here and now even for one moment, then this is what we know as the state of meditation. To be here and now means no thoughts but simply 'we', the pure 'I', the pure existence without thoughts, i.e. awareness without thoughts. When awareness is there without thoughts, then this is what we call a spontaneous life. 'Spontaneous life' means happiness and dance. All our worries are either about the future or the past.
Naturally, everybody is happy in his own home. Through meditation you may some day find your real home - that is your real self, your true self, which is also the self of everyone. This means an end of the conflict caused by your illusion of separateness from others and totality.
Real meditation does not happen by 'doing.' In the beginning make an effort to meditate so that one day meditation just happens. It is a matter of disciplining ourselves.
What is the purpose of meditation? The purpose is to find our true nature, our Self. The purpose is to experience that we are not the body, not the senses, not the mind, not the intellect, and not the ego. What are we then? We are that which we are! They call it 'Atman', 'spirit', or 'consciousness', or some other name. It is the indescribable state of our own Self - our own existence - the consciousness which was never born, and, therefore, will never die, and which exists in everyone, everywhere. When that experience happens - and that experience happens inside of us - then all problems are over.
When one continues with meditation regularly, after some time, depending on one's past evolution, mental make-up, cultural background, etc., some glimpses of peace start appearing. But do not be deluded by these glimpses. Sometimes you will experience peace and harmony, which is very nice, but do not think you have become a yogi!
The impressions of the pleasures we enjoyed in this and earlier lives are there in the mind. But it should be understood that the encounter with ideas, thoughts, sensations, or memories, while trying to meditate, is not the beginning of a new activity for enjoyment. When a sensation is generated inside, we are motivated into activity and go to have the pleasure. But in meditation on a new layer of thoughts, emotions, and sensations is opened up, and these layers gradually become diluted and weaker.
Doing our duties honestly is one necessary prerequisite for spiritual development. Besides doing our duty, we should also practise some meditation. Meditation means observation of the self by the self. The conflict inside is nothing but that of conflicting thoughts. When we sit patiently for some time and try to observe ourselves within, we feel that thoughts are there, coming and going, coming and going. If one continues with this practise, a time comes when thoughts start becoming less and less. In this way one advances towards finding one's own true existence, the self.
One may go on meditating for many years but as long as one does not open up and one is not ready to serve, one does not develop.
We meditate because we want to be with our own self. A person who is not with his own self, is in trouble. Only he can be happy who is perfectly at ease with his own self.
Meditation is an effort to reach a gradual balance between the physical, the mental and the emotional, and then finally to discover the spirit or spiritual aspect of existence. When that spiritual aspect is experienced, the person becomes fully evolved. Then he is fully with himself and understands the meaning and purpose of human life and the purpose of the whole cosmic arrangement. He understands the relationship between the individual and the cosmos, and all his questions are answered for all time. All problems are solved and he alone lives a happy and satisfactory life on Earth.
Every intelligent person would like to have a happy and contented life. Meditation is one of the important methods in daily life to achieve this realisation. Those who want to be happy and contented should practise meditation in their lives. Those who do not want to be happy and peaceful need not practise it. It is a clear choice. Everyone is free to follow his own path.
Real meditation is when there are no thoughts and no effort - only you are. In truth no one can be in meditation but meditation happens. It happens when it happens.
Meditation is the inner, indescribable state that sometimes happens and happens by itself - the inner emptiness which you cannot bring about by efforts.
In the domain of physical sciences, scientists are trying to discover the origin of the universe. In the field of spirituality a seeker tries to discover the cause and purpose of his own existence. In the field of scientific research there are two elements: the person who conducts the experiment, and nature which is the object of experiment. In the field of spirituality the experimenter makes experiments on himself. He himself becomes the object and subject of the experiment. His own body becomes the laboratory for making the experiment. The experiment of going deeper and deeper into one's existence is known as meditation and the objective is to find out what a person really is.
We need meditation because every one of us wants to be happy. Nobody can be happy without knowing his true nature, and it is through meditation that our true nature gets revealed to us.
We must come to know who we are in reality; that is, to become our own self. Meditation is the method for realising the essence of our own existence, which is nothing but the essence of the existence of all totality.
As long as mind is involved in the outside world, it cannot find its own reality. Therefore, when we start to seek our own reality, first of all we cut off our senses and mind from outside objects.
It is a misunderstanding in the spiritual world to assume that meditation is the only path. This is not the case. There are other paths and there are different paths for different people. If you find happiness in serving others, for you service will be better than meditation and there is no need to meditate. The path of selfless service is independent and it is a complete path within itself. It takes the person to the same height, the same realisation, to which meditation takes him.