Mind without agitation is meditation. Mind in the present moment is meditation. Mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation, is meditation. Mind that has come back home, to the source, is meditation. Mind that becomes ‘no mind’ is meditation.
When can you rest? Only when you have stopped all other activities. When you stop moving around, working, thinking, talking, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting — when all voluntary activities are arrested, then you get rest or sleep. In sleep, you are left with only involuntary activities such as breathing, heartbeat, food digestion and blood circulation. Yet this is not total rest. Total rest or meditation happens only when the mind settles down.
Before going to sleep, if you simply let go of everything, only then will you be able to rest. When you want to sit for meditation, let go of everything; feel the world is disappearing or dissolving.
Being fulfilled in the moment, being centred, looking to the highest and remaining in that space of peace, is focus. If there is no peace, there is no focus. Similarly, if you focus, you attain peace. Look into your own life. You are bothered if you have the things you want, and you are bothered if you do not have them!
Real freedom is freedom from the future and freedom from the past. When you are not happy in the present moment, then you desire for a bright future. Desire simply means that the present moment is not all right. This causes tension in the mind; every desire causes feverishness. In this state, meditation is far away from happening. You may sit with your eyes closed, but the desires keep arising, thoughts keep arising; you fool yourself into thinking that you are meditating, but actually you are daydreaming!
As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be at total rest. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the self) unless you drop the desires or hankerings in you.” Every desire or ambition is like a sand particle in the eye! You cannot shut your eyes nor keep them open with a sand particle inside — it is uncomfortable either way. Dispassion is removing this sand particle so you can open and shut your eyes freely! The other way is to extend your desire, or make it so big — then also it will not bother you. It is a tiny sand particle that irritates your eyes — a big rock can never get into your eyes!
Observe from your own experiences — if you go to bed with some restlessness, agitation or desire, you will not get deep sleep. On the surface, it may appear that the desire is not there — but those plans or ambitions are still there in the mind. Very ambitious people cannot have deep sleep because the mind inside is not free. The more you are anxious about doing something, the more difficult it is to sleep. Before going to sleep, if you simply let go of everything, only then will you be able to rest. So why not do the same thing, moment to moment? When you want to sit for meditation, let go of everything; feel the world is disappearing or dissolving.
Meditation is letting go of all planning for the future. Planning can hold you back from diving deep into yourself. Desires come up. Instead of holding on to them, or daydreaming, just offer the desires. Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. Just this understanding, and a few days of continuous practice of meditation, can change the quality of your life.
With dispassion, you can enjoy the world freely and relax. Dispassion can bring so much joy in your life. Do not think that dispassion is a state of apathy. Dispassion is full of enthusiasm – it brings all joy to your life and allows you to rest so well. When you come out of deep meditation, you become very dynamic and are able to act better. The deeper you are able to rest, the more dynamic you will be in your activity. Even though ‘deep rest’ and ‘dynamic activity’ are opposite values, they are complementary.
Actually, meditation is not an act; it is the art of doing nothing! The rest in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep, because in meditation, you transcend all desires. This brings such coolness to the mind – it is like servicing or overhauling the entire body-mind complex.
Meditation is letting go of all anger from the past and events of the past, and letting go of all planning for the future. Planning can hold you back from diving deep into yourself. Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. A few days of continuous practice of meditation, can change the quality of your life.
Wakefulness and sleep are like sunrise and darkness. Dream is like the twilight in between. And meditation is like the flight into outer space, where there is no sunset, no sunrise, nothing!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace.