Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: advice on "dhyAna" for a novice?

From the Bhakti List Archives

TV.Venkat • August 26, 1998 


     I am forwarding this mail as per Sri Parthasarathy's request.

     adiyEn RAmAnuja dAsan

     Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh


______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: Re: advice on "dhyAna" for a novice?
Author:  parthas@rice.edu at INTERNET-MAIL
Date:    08/25/98 2:13 PM


>      -------------------------Quote-------------------------------------
>      In such a short time, how can I successfully calm my mind and
>      concentrate on the paramAtmA? All too often, my mind wanders and thinks
>      about something completely unrelated to nArAyaNa.
>      It is easier to focus on the last funny episode of Seinfeld or the next
>      meal than to think about God! This is my practical experience.
>      ------------------------Unquote------------------------------------
>

In my school (Padma Seshadri), when we were taught transcendental
meditation (TM), we were told that we should not make any
effort to abruptly curb's the mind's wanderings. I remember my teacher
asking us to "go with the flow,... and gradually get back to the mantra."
One of the things she told us was that concentration during meditation was
a skill acquired only with practice, and that in the early
stages, it was not uncommon to have only 10 minutes of "concentrated"
meditation in an hour of meditation... Breathing was also something
that was emphasized (I think someone described the usefulness of
regulated breathing very nicely in an earlier mail); pranayamam was
prescribed before we started our meditations. However, I must confess
that it is hard to practice all that we learn. I find it very hard to
concentrate when I meditate too. It is really so much more easy to
get distracted thinking about other things...

I am glad that Mani brought up this topic. The discussions so far have
been very educational. I am looking forward to learning more as the
thread progresses.

Regards,
               -- Partha
---------------------------- Forwarded with Changes ---------------------------
From: parthas@rice.edu at INTERNET-MAIL
Date: 8/25/98 2:13PM -0400
To: TV Venkat at USMTNMO2
*cc: bhakti@lists.best.com at INTERNET-MAIL
Subject: Re: advice on "dhyAna" for a novice?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------