MEDITATION ON THE SUPREME PERSON THROUGH ‘OM’
yadaksharam vedavido vadanti
vishanti yadyatayo veetaraagaah
yadicchanto brahmacharyam charanti
tatte padam samgrahena pravakshye // 8.11 //
What the knowers of the Vedas speak of as Imperishable, what the self-controlled (Sannyaasins) freed from attachment enter and to gain which goal they live the life of a Brahmachari, that state I shall declare to you in brief.
Sri Krishna now starts giving guidance for meditating upon the monosyllable ` OM 'or the Pranava which is the ultimate goal for man. Worship of the syllable OM is advised in almost all the Upanishads as a prelude to the meditation for an easier concentration of the mind. OM is considered as an expression of the Supreme Self or Its symbol like an idol.
Freed from attachment means detachment from the world of objects with full understanding of the goal of life. Men of least desires will have the maximum success in traveling the Path of Knowledge. Brahmachari is a religious student who takes the vow of continence etc. Every moment of this stage is one of hard discipline and asceticism.
sarvadwaaraani samyamya mano hridi nirudhya cha
moordhnyaadhaayaatmanah praanamaasthito yogadhaaranaam // 8.12 //
Having closed all the gates (controlled all the senses), having confined the mind in the heart, having fixed the life-breath in the `head', engaged in the practice of concentration,
Omityekaaksharam brahma vyaaharan maamanusmaran
yah prayaati tyajan deham sa yaati paramaam gatim // 8.13 //
Uttering the monosyllable OM-the Brahman-and remembering Me, he who so departs, leaving the body, attains the supreme goal.
The conditions to be fulfilled in the meditator for achieving effective concentration are narrated in these verses in the same order in which they are to be practiced.
Closing all the gates - The sense organs Viz. skin, ear, nose, eyes and the tongue are the five entry points through which the external stimuli reach the mind and cause agitations in it. To close these five entrances through discrimination and detachment means controlling all the senses.
Confining the mind in the heart - Although external stimuli can be prevented through controlling senses , it is always possible for the mind to get disturbed on account of the accumulation of past impressions gathered from the external world of change and pleasure. It is therefore advised that the mind which is the tool for emotion and feeling should be confined to the heart. Here heart does not mean the physical part of the body but an imaginary centre of the mind from which all positive thoughts like love, kindness, devotion, surrender etc. emanate which means the mind whose functions are checked.
Drawing Prana into the Head and occupied in the practice of concentration - The mental condition wherein the intellect is withdrawn from its identification with all the perceptions and engaging it in the total contemplation of the Self. In this condition of mental and intellectual equipoise the seeker is fit for meditating upon the monosyllable OM.
He who departs, leaving the body - This does not mean `at the time of death'. While chanting and meditating on OM, the seeker gets so much detached from his identification with the world of objects that the ego gets tuned towards a higher objective. This is called death - leaving the body - when he attains the Supreme goal.
WHO CAN EASILY ATTAIN THE LORD?
ananyachetaah satatam yo maam smarati nityashah
tasyaaham sulabhah paartha nityayuktasya yoginah // 8.14 //
I am easily attainable by that ever-steadfast yogi who constantly and daily remembers Me not thinking of anything else, O Partha.
Ever-steadfast, Constantly: One who does not allow his mind wanders freely among sense objects. The meditator who constantly keeps himself aware of the Self is the successful practitioner.
Daily: One has to remember The Lord daily till the end of his life and not merely at fixed times of the day or on fixed days of the week. No part-time behaviorism or weekly engagements in religion are advised. Divine consciousness must be maintained by the seeker constantly and continuously like a 24 hour TV channel.
Not thinking of anything else: One is not to think of any other object except his Deity. If these conditions are negated none can hope for an easy success in Meditation