Author: Swami Swahananda
Publisher: Advaita Ashram
Year: 1994
Language: English
Pages: 176
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8185301859
Description
Of all spiritual disciplines prescribed for the attainment of self or god realization, meditation forms the core, the common, underlying thread. Whether one believes in God with or without form, as personal or impersonal, or whether or not one believes in God at all, one can practice some form of meditation conducive to success in one’s particular approach.
The science of meditation, raja-yoga, includes a comprehensive psychology both theoretical and practical designed to diagnose one’s state of mind and prescribe an appropriate technique to make the mind fit for deeper states of concentration. Even from the point of view of maintaining one’s physical and mental health in our modern world, one should consider practising meditation. Perhaps the root meaning, to heal, most accurately describes the value of meditation; meditation can cure our ills be they physical, mental or spiritual.
Contents
Types of Meditation
Japa or Repetition of Holy words
Japa in different Traditions
The Divine Name
Prayer
Ritual
Image-worship
Self-negation or Self-expansion?
Nine Means of devotion
The Holy Mother and Simple Faith
Spiritual discipline and Shankara
Spiritual discipline and Ramanuja
Spiritual discipline and Madhva
Spiritual Discipline and Nimbarka
Spiritual Discipline and Vallabha
Spiritual discipline and Chaitanya
Spiritual discipline and Shrikantha
In the Scriptures