Shiva Bala Yogi Virtual^* Darshan
* (Virtual: non physical, but being such in essence or in having the power or practical effect)

Shivabalayogi: MEDITATION

What would Swamiji advise the beginner on the spiritual path?

“Swamiji makes them sit in the meditation, teaches the meditation, and asks them to practice it.”

What is meditation and why is it so beneficial?

“Meditation is to control one’s mind. Through meditation one can get peace of mind. One’s blood pressure comes down so your health improves. Whatever one does in life is done better. One comes to know one’s own mind. Through such understanding, everyone can function and work together. The quality of one’s work will become good.”

“Meditation reduces the tension in you. With progress it helps you achieve Self realization. The practice of meditation makes it easier for you to understand the people with whom you interact. If they are planning to harm you, you come to know of it ahead of time.”

What are one’s first experiences?

“You will come to know when you start meditating. Many questions will get clarified during meditation without anybody telling you.”

How does one get meditation and control the mind?

“You need experiences and that is what I give. I will teach you. It is my duty to help you in meditation.”

“If you practice the meditation daily, then Swamiji’s astral body will be with you and help you wherever you are. Just like Swamiji is helping you here with his physical presence, his astral body will come and help you wherever you are in the world.”

When starting meditation, one gets so many thoughts without meaning to. How can one still the mind?

“When you start meditation your mind will remain busy for the first twenty minutes. After that, around thirty or thirty-five minutes later, you will start getting aches and pains in your legs and in your body. After forty minutes you will get real meditation. The vibhuti Swamiji gives you is to help you with all of these distractions. You should apply it on the spot between your eyebrows and do meditation. If you meditate for one hour then it will be only the last fifteen minutes in which you really do good meditation.”

Is it best to meditate with a clear mind or should we meditate asking a question and looking for the answer?

“You need not do anything at all. Just concentrate your sight at the point between the eyebrows and everything will happen by itself.”

Are there stages of meditation through which one must develop?

“All the student needs to do is meditate for one hour a day. The rest is in Swamiji’s hands. He will take care of that. You will not be aware of the stages, nothing of the kind. Your duty is to perform meditation for one hour a day. He will take care of the rest. Whether you are taken up or not is all in Swami’s hands.”

Why would you take on such responsibility for another person?

“It is Swamiji’s duty. He has come here just for that purpose. He has been asked to do that by his guru. He has come here to this world to reduce your tension.”

How does the world change for the person who meditates?

“If one meditates, one can get peace of mind and be able to work well. One can understand others and also guide others on how to work.”

Some of the concerns that people might have is that if they get into a meditative state they leave themselves wide open for some soul or energy to take them over. Could you respond to that?

“No spirits will catch you. None of those can really come near you. Do not get frightened by bad visions. Energy created by meditation cleans the body and mind and leads to samadhi. However, one should not open the eyes.”

“You can neutralize thought forms, through meditation. Any thought that you have produced and which is coming back to you in any form — so whether good or bad, when you meditate that stops, that get neutralized. It will be deflected in other directions and you will not be affected.”

“The mind is like a monkey, so that has to be controlled. When you meditate, you should be careful that you don’t move your eyeballs and eyelids. If you can control your eyeballs and eyelids, then your mind will also get controlled and you can get over these thought forms.”