Meditation in India: Where to go for meditation in India?

Which could be the best place for practicing meditation in India? India is the mother of most of the spiritual practices prevalent in the world today. Most religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc. had their birth in India. They are still flourishing here and have produced some of the greatest spiritual teachers. Before we try to find out which is a great place of meditation in India, let us first understand the various kind of spiritual practices. The prac tices of meditation in India can be divided into four broad categories. Depending upon the inherent propensities of the practitioners, they can choose the path that is best suited to their spiritual growth:

a. Jnana Yoga: Path of Knowledge is most suitable for those who have a deep urge to understand before they can accept anything. They want clear rational and experiential proofs before having faith in any knowledge. The meditation practice in this discipline consists of Truth based mantras and analytical inquiry. The inquiry helps dig out all wrong notions and the mantras make one experience the true Self which is absolute awareness and bliss.

b. Bhakti Yoga: Path of devotion is suitable for those whose minds are more love and faith based. They would like to follow a meditation method that would help them develop in their love for God. The devotee believes more in surrendering that in understanding. He will first have faith and then this faith will take him to the sublime experience of the Truth. Surrender to the divine will and deep longing to meet God are the main traits of Bhakti Yoga.

c. Raja Yoga: Path of concentration and awareness is suitable for those who like to practice a witnessing attitude. The witness is free from desires and reactions. The practice is based on certain moral principles without following which, the witnessing cannot shine.

d. Karma Yoga: Path of selfless work helps in making the mind pure and stable and gives immense joy to the practitioner. One who is compassionate at heart and feels that the highest practice consists in helping the needy will be following this path.

For practicing Meditation in India, there are many meditation retreats available in all parts of the country. Wherever you go, you can find true seekers and true masters who will help you find your path. These places are called ashramas where seekers create a sort of a sangha and practice together. The most prominent places for these spiritual retreats are Rishikesh, Varanasi, Dharamsala and Tiruvannamalai.

If you are somebody who is more inclined toward the Path of Knowledge, i.e., understanding the nature of the mind and the Self, Z Meditation Center can be an ideal place for you. Z Meditation Center is situated in Dharamsala in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. It has been the abode of very deep spiritual practices for thousands of sincere seekers from all over the globe. The path followed here is called Deep Deconditioning Inquiry. The students learn to dig out their painful conditionings and practice the questions of the inquiry alongwith Radiant Mantras in order to realize their true Self.

The experiences of students of June-2011 Z Meditation Retreat

Ajay and Suruchi, the founders of Z Meditation, are ever grateful to the Cosmos for giving them this opportunity to serve the suffering humanity through this most sublime and pure work. If you feel ready to let go of your false stories, they will be very happy to help you do the same. This work requires sincerity, objectivity and openness to growing.

Some insights about meditation

It is a two-step process – journey and destination.
The ultimate goal is the realization of the Self. The Self is your very own being – your soul, the substance you are made of. It is so near and yet appears to be very far as it is covered by agitations and impurities of the mind. It is like a lake that is covered by dirt and whose waters are restless. You can see the bottom only when the dirt is removed and agitations subside. The bottom has always been there. It is just that you are not able to see it.
The immediate goal of meditation is the realization of peace and purity. Purity means detachment from the causes of restlessness.

It is only when the mind is peaceful and happy that meditation is possible. There cannot be any depth in meditation if you are restless and unhappy. These days, even the process, i.e., the work you do for realizing the Self, is called meditation.

This process gives peace and happiness. This, in turn, prepares and gives you the realization of the Self. Both the journey and the destination can be called meditation.

For meditation, there has to be a sincere desire that one has to grow towards the higher centers of consciousness. It requires determination and sincerity about the goal of unconditioned peace, love and freedom.

The meditator has to find a comfortable and firm posture in which back, neck and head remain in a straight line. This ensures alertness in meditation. The mind should be feeling fresh as with a tired mind, one cannot do deep contemplation.

In the beginning, most of the work is done for detaching from mind’s restlessness and its roots. One should be careful that one does not put anything under the carpet. One must face oneself in meditation. That will involve detaching from the thoughts and the causes of restlessness in the mind.

All agitations in the mind take place because one is too attached with certain conditionings and take them to be absolute truths. One is also involved in many illusions and is not ready to let them go. In meditation, one develops in indifference from the previous character patterns and does the work on them.

As one gets deconditioned, one comes to experience unconditioned peace, happiness and love. That is a strong foundation for meditation to happen and deepen.
In the initial practice, it is more of contemplation that is practiced. One uses the mind’s higher faculties to outgrow its lower nature. As one progresses, the use of words and thoughts becomes less and less. One is able to experience peaceful stillness without using any supports.

In the end, when the duration of meditation deepens there takes place the experience of the shift of identity. One realizes that one is an eternal blissful awareness and the identification with the body was only a transient and detachable notion. One is said to be enlightened when the individual awareness merges into the universal awareness. “I am” is replaced with “I am not”.

Meditation, not to be confused with meditation, is an ancient art form that has been practiced for centuries, with origins in the Eastern part of the word; India being a prime example. The basic use of meditation is as a form of healing which does not require the ingestion of any medications, relying only on the individuals mind and how it may be finely tuned to achieve the desired effects on both mind and body. The purpose of meditation is to transcend “normal” thinking and elevate oneself into a higher state of awareness and consciousness, achieve a relaxed state of mind, and be able to clearly focus.

Meditation covers a wide range of spiritual and psycho-physical practices and is not limited to religious traditional practice. The common denominator among all types of meditation, however, is the discipline involved – anyone going into a regime of meditation needs to know the level of discipline that will be required.

As has just been mentioned, meditation does have a number of religious roots including forms developing from the practice of the Baha’i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism , Judaism, Jainism amongst many others, and more recently, from New Age movements.

The practice of meditation can take one of several forms including the focus on a single object or process such as a mantra. Meditation can also be performed while walking or performing or engaged in a simple repetitive task. The object in all cases is to focus and concentrate while minimizing distractions in order to achieve the desired goal of inner peace and self awareness, transcending the mundane cares that usually bog down a good number of us.

Meditation, as practiced in India, has its origins in the Hinduism and Buddhism faith. The original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama, is believed to have achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Buddhist meditation is classified into two forms: the samatha and the vipassana, both of which are necessary for achieving enlightenment. The two classifications have also been found to merge into one another, with a session starting out with samatha characteristics while ending up with a vipassana practice. While the samatha practice is based on focusing the attention single-pointedly, the vapassana practice is aimed at seeing things as they really are, in the true nature of reality.

In the vipassana style of meditation, the focus of awareness is first of all on the rising and falling the breath and then, when respiration is almost suspended and the mind and heart are still, the focus is then shifted onto either some simple symbol e.g. a candle flame or a body part such as the individual’s thumb; or a concept. This is provided that any of these is not likely to prove emotionally or intellectually disturbing.

Meditation has been practiced in India for centuries and there are meditation practitioners and coaches in India who have further developed the art of meditation into a fine skill which will help the individual gain a sense of peace, awareness and total well-being.

Come forward and join Z meditation in india for the greatest inner revolution. You are going to find many hidden gems in your heart! If you are practicing any other meditation method, you can even do a personal retreat at Z Meditation Center in India. We encourage all paths that lead to peace, love and freedom.

Love and Blessings