The Science of Meditation-Its Relevance to Education
Author: S. S. Ramakrishnan

From: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar on Science of Human Development, 14-15 Dec. 1997, pp. 21-23
Organised by: Forum for Advancement of Science of Human Development, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
Sponsored by: Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari

"Education" comes from the Latin word, "educe"-which is to draw out of ourselves our own latent potential, skills and wisdom, which are already buried deep within ourselves, in our karma, in our genes! It is also like the birth, growth and survival of an organism in the sense that it is an internally driven mechanism, and the nourishment selectively taken by the organism form external sources is only to assist the internal process. Same is the case with organisations, nations, and societies.

So, to enable us to maximise the effectiveness of the education of our own selves, we have to develop and improve our skills and faculties like memory ability, concentration, creativity, motivation for learning, love of the subject of education, and so on. Value systems are also important to effectively utilise the benefits of education for our own advantage and the benefit of society, country, and humanity as a whole.

Even though modern theories of educational psychology and its practical aspects have developed many techniques to develop all or some of the above-mentioned faculties and skills, they have ended up as piecemeal, partial and temporary in their effectiveness. However, the ancient science and technology (or even the "therapy") of yoga have stood the test of time, over so many millennia, or even eras and epochs. Out of these Hatha yoga (including asanas and pranayama) and Raja yoga (or meditation) stand out as two foremost techniques. Since Raja yoga suits our topic best, let us discuss it here.

The value of systematic meditation was recognised by the ancient Rishis, Dravidian Siddhas, Desert Fathers of Christianity, Sufis of Islam, and so on. The ancient sages and "seers" of all societies could "see" any subject or object and go instantly to the "heart of the matter" and know its essence. This ability included the knowledge of the past, present and the future. These abilities were developed by meditation.

Meditation is the continuous, systematic thinking about one object and that makes us capable of concentration. Mind is focussed on any object of our choice and extracts the "essence" of it. To develop that ability of concentration, one meditates on one's own inner self seated within the heart as a "Divine presence". This is only a means to improve the ability to concentrate, which results in the revelation of knowledge. The key is a state of "deep relaxation," a state of relaxed attention from the conscious, subconscious and super-conscious levels of the self, wherein the revelation takes place. This deep relaxation is what helped Archimedes discover his famous principle in the bathtub or Newton his principle of gravitation under the apple-tree! Thus, meditation helps creativity.

Thus meditation practice helps not only the ability to concentrate for developing the skill of learning, but also the faculty of creativity that can utilise that learning for our benefit.

The next, and the most valuable benefit, is the restoration of value systems, which alone can utilise our evolution and not for our degradation. When the meditation on the "Inner self" or "Divinity" "Life essence" inside us results in an experience or vision of that "Divinity", we realise that the Inner self is our real self and "we" are (our body, our senses, intellect, mind, etc.) only the vehicles or instruments for the real boss or self within. Then only, those values which are conducive to harmony and evolution gain a natural and spontaneous attraction for the individual. Moralising never succeeds! An inner motivation, to improve one's happiness and skills, eventually results in a higher motivation of harmonious living for the "good of all". This can come only when I realise my inner-self as the same as your inner-self or Universal-Self! Then the greatest motivating force in the human species (namely, LOVE) takes over. That force will help to develop pall the earlier skills of Concentration, Creativity, Revelation, self-motivation, value-judgement, even the art of meditation itself!

The subatomic nuclear forces, known as the strong forces, extend only over minute atomic distances; gravity, known as the weak force extends over interplanetary or even interstellar or inter-galactic distances. Love, describable as a "forceless force" or apparently weak force, but actually the subtlest force, extends over infinite distance of time and space. This force alone can save humanity, or even life itself on this planet! This alone we have to tap.

Now, we enter the Realm of Spiritual practice, whereas meditation is normally understood to be a mere mental practice. What is this practice by the "Spirit" or "Soul"?

According to the Masters, the human existence consists of bodily existence, mental existence, and spiritual existence. There is that mysterious "substance" or "substance-less substance" called LIFE inside the body. When life leaves the body, we cannot see it, hear it, or feel it physically. But body mechanisms fail and bio-matter decays rapidly. Similarly when the life enters the mother's womb, no one can "see" it with physical eyes. This substance or essence was perhaps called as Soul or Atman by the ancients long ago-a fantastic discovery!

"If soul gives life to body, is there something that gives life in soul?"

The answer given was: "The soul of the soul or atman of atman, namely Paramatman." This essence is the same for man or woman, animal or insect.

The "body" and the "soul" within, are connected by the interface called "the mind". Of course, there can be semi-arbitrary classifications or boundaries in the body-mind-life-spirit continuum. Saints talk of Kosas (bodies) made of anna (matter), prana (breath and vital force), manas (mind), vigyana (intellect and buddhi), and anandha (bliss). Or, physical (sthoola sarira), astral (sukshma) and causal (karana) bodies.

Yogic practice takes us from the grosser to the subtler levels of existence. Swami Vivekananda illustrates it with a beautiful story:

A king had imprisoned his minister in a tall tower with a big window and an internal staircase, and a watchman. The minister's wife brought food for her husband daily. One day, she asked him if she could help him to gain his freedom. The minister told her to bring a bottle of honey, beetle, a silken thread, twine thread and a thick rope. He told her to tie the silk thread to the beetle, smear honey on its nose and keep it on the wall, face up. The beetle traveled up near the window, thinking honey is ahead on top. The minister caught the bee and silken thread and told his wife to tie the twine to the other end of the silk thread. He took the silk thread and twine and finally the rope which was tied to the twine. He tied the rope to the window and using the rope, climbed down the window and escaped. If he had fallen down without the rope, he would have fractured his body beyond repair.

Swami Vivekananda calls the first thread as the body (yoga asana practice), then breathing exercises (gross prana), and then to go to the nerve currents (subtle prana), and then meditation as the subsequent stages.

My Master tells us that unless you travel from the mental practice of meditation to the spiritual practice of constant remembrance and Love, our success is only partial. To make that essential transition from mind to spirit, He recommends Prayer from below (from us) and Transmission of Prana from the Master, who receives Grace from above, from God. And the best time to do this prayer is just before sleep so that the subconscious mind is tuned to the meditative state, and achieves Constant Remembrance during the sleeping hours (6-7 hours). From there, the next transition of 24 hours of Constant Remembrance is possible. That will be a condition where conscious mind does the worldly duties skillfully, while the deep subconscious or superconscious mind will be immersed in the meditative state in the heart and receive the Master's Transmission. The summum bonum or ultimate accomplishment of all meditative-contemplative-spiritual practices is that dissolution of the limited self into the Divine Unlimited Self.

Now, the selection of the objet of meditation, technique of meditation of the teacher-the goal we fix up will help us to choose the rest. If the goal is health and exercise, yoga and pranayama are the means. If the goal is knowledge of shastras, the means are pandits or scholars, and we should study under them. If the goal is evolution up to the level of God Himself, we must then pray to the Divine source or power to send us a suitable guru or Master. The Master will knock on our door and come to us when we are ready. And our heart will give us a signal-but not by logic and not by the head! We can meditate on it and confirm it by intuition.

Sahaj Marg or "the Natural Way" can be chosen based on the following factors:

1. As the idea is of purity and Divinity, the blood flowing through the heart to all parts of body gets charges with Divinity, and we get accustomed to the inflow of Divine energy. The heart (to me), is a better center to meditate than any other point or chakra.

2. When the idea of cleaning and purifying the mind and the heart comes, the thinking apparatus and the emotional-cum-feeling apparatus are cleaned. Then, it becomes easier to improve our emotional quotient (EQ), side by side with the IQ. EQ is more important than even IQ for success in life. Character is more valuable in heart, than brilliance in the head!

3. Among health giving therapies, I like those systems best which give importance to cleaning and purifying, and removing the poisons and toxins from purifying the systems. This is more valuable than adding new things. In a similar vein, I like the spiritual and mental cleaning of this system.

4. The idea of percolating the sleeping consciousness and dream consciousness (sushupthi and swapna) with the practice of prayer meditation on the Divine appeals to me much. Kekule could solve the structure of Benzene in this way. Language fluency improves by listening to foreign language tapes in sleep! Also, the awakening of the Fourth State ("Turiya" or "transcendental" state, pragna) is more likely and faster when the practice of meditation can percolate to the other three states of consciousness-walking, sleep and dream states.

5. Most importantly, I like the idea of a living spiritual Master (in flesh and blood) who can set an example to me, who can teach me to become equal or even better than him, whose life and human activities are transparent and who holds up a life of idealism (and no other "-isms") as a beacon light for human evolution.

References:

1. My Master by Shri P. Rajagopalachari, President, Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Manapakkam, Madras-600125. 2. Reality at Dawn by Shri Ram Chandra, Founder President, Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

2. Reality at Dawn by Shri Ram Chandra, Founder President, Shri Ram Chandra Mission.