Yogi Chinamayananda. Meditation and life

Introduction

In his life, a person constantly has to deal with various creatures and objects in the outside world. No one can get away from this, since everyone is connected with the outside world, at least with their thoughts. Thus, not by his own choice, but under the influence of the universal Law of life, everyone has to live constantly in the world of events. If a person has a balanced character, a strong will and a correct understanding of the course of events, then no life situation can break him. But, unfortunately, most people are frightened by the terrible appearance of reality and situations and give up, under the pressure of threats from life. This seems to be a universal modern tragedy. People try to calm their inner excitement by extolling this mercantile age and the benefits of civilization. The press, radio, books, magazines, etc. are trumpeting about the same on every corner.
But every thinking and feeling person understands that we are internally, most likely, unhappy. As long as we do not pay attention to this, we can think that this is not so, but if we look around closely, we will everywhere see wrinkles of fatigue, despair and tears rolling down the cheeks of young and old.
What is the cause of this terrible paradox? It should not be sought in the wrong order of the world. All changes in the world of things lead only to the better, since the pacification of the wild Nature by the Divine Intellect is a boon. Therefore, it remains to be accepted that the reason lies in the inner world and character of each person. If it were possible to look into this world, then there would hardly be any truthful critic who dared to praise our era. At heart, people have not become any better than their wild ancestors. They became senselessly cruel and selfish. Their thoughts are shameless, base and idle. This is the reason for the failures that accompany an age in which man has lost control of himself. Having completely devoted himself to the struggle with nature, he completely ceased to notice his moral deformity. That is why his inner world, like an uncultivated garden, turned into a wild jungle. But we must understand that in the external world we live "from within".
The character and personality of a person determines what person x receives from the world. Until we learn to master our inner life, the outer organization of life, which no matter how perfect it is, it can give nothing to remove our sorrows and make us happy. We see that the world has become a graveyard of human hopes and joys. Now we are witnessing the agony of the age, tired and devastated by the problems created by itself. We plunge into hopeless despair, as we cannot find a way to restore inner balance and self-improvement. However, if we turn to the Holy Books (Upanishads, the Bible, Korea, Dhammapada, etc.), then we will find in them a carefully developed Science of Life, designed so that a person can learn to live in full harmony with the Truth and master his inner world.
The ancient sages never doubted that even the most degraded person can master his inner world and achieve happiness. They said: "Everyone who has mastered himself is the master of the outer world." The cause of the disease of our age is inner weakness. Everyone is a slave to their passions. With his psychological weakness and intellectual impotence, modern man is completely unable to control the wild impulses of his passions and resist the murderous temptations of sensual impulses. Therefore, he cannot withstand the pressure of external circumstances and correctly assess his life experience. He cannot find a better foundation, and so the wind of fate ruthlessly tosses him from side to side. At the same time, a person who has mastered his inner world is the full owner of this outer world, which meekly serves him. He is freed from the slavery of circumstances and never again falls under the blows of misfortune and failure. He rises above his body to the shining peaks of Power and Knowledge, and there he enjoys Peace and Tranquility.
A modern person cannot even believe that life without grief is really possible. He is even afraid of bliss and peace, so unhappiness and excitement have become so natural for him. All the Holy Books speak of self-mastery, it is advised not to run away from life, but to find the right path in life, corresponding to our life circumstances. In the struggle with external circumstances, we must learn to be stronger and master ourselves and the outside world. Such a constant improvement of man is the goal of the True Religion, which has the power to turn grief into joy and base man into the perfect.
Although the experience of life is acquired through the body, the comprehension of this experience is carried out only through our intellect. That is why all methods of self-improvement should be aimed at strengthening and disciplining our psychological and intellectual factors. This is the purpose of meditation.

Глава I. Meditation and life

A person without knowledge cannot feel satisfied. To know and understand is, apparently, one of the most burning desires of man. Science deals with the knowledge of the external world. She has made significant progress. At the beginning of its history, philosophy tried to find out the content of a person's inner world, its influence on behavior. The goal of philosophers and science was the happiness of mankind. In contrast to Western philosophy, Eastern philosophy has never been engaged in the construction of utopian theories of an ideal life order. She only suggested practical means and methods by which her follower could achieve a perfect state of life.
All schools of Indian philosophy have a complete and clear description of such methods, which ensure the rapid achievement of the goal of life indicated by the respective school. In all Indian treatises on life, meditation is celebrated as the most sacred practice of man. Only man is capable of making the greatest effort to hasten his evolution and rise above the limitations of the intellect. When we successfully overcome these limitations, we will be able to get to the Great Planes of Perfection, intended for the Superman. To achieve this goal, one must know how to meditate. This requires a detailed description of the methods leading to prolonged meditation (Dhyana).
It is well known that we are not able even for a moment to stop the wandering of the mind among the accumulations and flow of thoughts. Only after mastering the flow of thoughts, we can consider our work finished. The only thing that distinguishes and elevates man above the animal is that man can consciously develop his intellect and concentrate mental efforts. Work in this direction is the beginning of spiritualism (spirituality). Perfection is Bliss, Bliss is Peace. Divinity is attained by those who, with a strong religious feeling, follow the path of right inquiry and continually pursue liberation of the Real and Permanent from earthly bonds. Find the rope - here is the cure for the venomous bite and the suffering of the victim of this non-existent snake.
All the causes of man's imagined suffering are simply mental constructions of man himself and are illusory. If Satan, who came to destroy the Divine and Blessed Nature of man, settled in the mind, then the most sacred and necessary war should be a war for peace. The terrifying enemy, the mind, on closer examination turns out to be only a bunch, a sequence, a chain of impressions created by past thoughts, which, in turn, give rise to present (today's) thoughts. Control the loose senses and organs and the cause of the disease will be eliminated. Watch the mind and its modifications - thoughts. Stop their crazy, crazy flow. When the whirlpool of thoughts stops, the mind will no longer be a hotbed of sadness. The death of the mind is the birth of Knowledge and the Perfection of man.
To successfully move forward, you must first develop the habit of looking inward. Ordinarily, we scatter our attention outward. And the Divine life is within us. Therefore, while doing current affairs, get used to constantly peering into the depths of your mind. No thought, word or deed should pass by you unnoticed by your attention and discernment. Use part of your attention to guard duty on a high intelligence watchtower. Let the silent observer in the hustle and bustle of everyday life look inward constantly and evaluate the motives, intentions, and goals that underlie your thoughts, words, and actions. This is introspection. At the same time, consider your actions completely indifferently, as if from the outside. Analyze! Discover! Replace! Align and be happy! Start today. The tomorrow you've been waiting for may never come.
In the beginning, attempts at introspection may fail. Your analysis of the first days may look like a paraphrase of the ideal Life of a Saint. Keep going anyway. Try to find weaknesses, mistakes and animal passions. This is discovery. In a week you will find out; that your life is not the Life of a Saint. Don't let this discourage you. Spend more time re-evaluating your values. As soon as you manage to detect weakness and you are really ashamed of it - at that very moment she will be destroyed. This is denial. But this is only half the victory. Now we need to create a new one, and this is also difficult. Replace the destroyed weakness with the opposite virtue.