Try practicing the Meditation technique (described in detail) inside this Blog for 30 days and see the magic for yourself. Be it business or studies or enjoying 100% with the people you love- your concentration (absorption) will become top notch within a few months of practice of this technique.

Whatever your vocation be- you can increase your efficiency multifold by regular deep practice of concentration techniques & meditation. Some of the world’s hugely successful people are practicing meditation for decades now. I guess there is a clue here for us.

All men of success have been men of great concentration, men who could dive deeply into their problems and come out with the pearls of right solutions. Inequalities in the power of concentration exhibited by various people are reflected in the varying degrees of success they achieve. Most people are drowned in the tides of distraction while endeavouring to fish for the pearls of success.
– Autobiography of a Yogi

2. It will slowly rid you off restlessness,

And give you an ever new joy, peace and perception of love. Would you not want to have these feelings early in your life? With daily, deep meditation habit- any puppet like mind will begin to become restful & genuinely confident. You will begin to live in the NOW (begin practicing real mindfulness).

Many of us confuse mindfulness with being in a meditative state. Mindfulness is a by-product of meditation practice and techniques. Mindfulness is the art and science of being in the present moment, being aware of your mind and body and making the most of it. This blog will discuss mindfulness in detail in the subsequent pages. It is one of the most joyous benefits of continued practice of meditation.

3. You’ll sleep so well,

You will sleep better, deeper and wake up fresher with a much rested mind & with fewer thoughts (Compare this to how you normally wake up these days).

4. It will break your negative momentum.

One reason why we do not change in our life is because ‘We do not do what we know. Rather we do what our momentum makes us do’. Momentum is that Vriti (tendencies deep ingrained inside us). For e.g. I have this task-obsession momentum. This obsession is good professionally but it usually leaves me extremely restless & irritable.

My momentum (& your momentum) will not break with discrimination alone (because we all know what’s right and wrong). This momentum will break with the weight of meditation. It is like a see-saw – on one side you have momentum. The other needs to be balanced with meditation. Until we balance the wrong with right, the momentum will not break. Where momentum is carrying you away really fast, meditation slows you down & finally cracks your momentum (habits) forever.

5. Your intuition will increase.

That premonition, that ability to hunch things and events early will begin sprouting. You’ll also start intuiting the right things, the right people and the right decisions for your ownselves. Secret blessings get perceived more (Personally experiencing).

6. You will never feel Loneliness.

Because you will have God, masters and divine experiences as your company. What a super company boss!!

7. Whatever is good inside you will get amplified.

I found my spontaneity to have increased 10x since I started doing dhyaana (Stillness & Meditation). I smile more often than I used to.

8. Years of sincere practice and you will meet God. What else? You’ll find the purpose of this life.



‘Confusion to Clarity’& ‘Atheism to Devotion’- My Own Story
I was born & raised in a North Indian, Hindu and Brahmin family. As I was growing up; I saw my parents & relatives trying to devote themselves to God & deities in ways which were either rituals or random. Mostly fear & wellbeing (fulfilling desires) were the fulcrums of their devotions. As kids we used to do pooja, go to temples and yatras & more often than not these turned out to be more of an adventure & less of seeking the real. I never could feel any connect or depth (possibly my problem).

I was growing from a teenager into an adult & with time as I saw suffering & pain in the world (bad things happening to good people); my already confused faith about the concept of God began to quiver. There came a time when I started believing that God is a man-made concept. Became agnostic, which is worse than being an atheist (happens with most people in their lives).

I absorbed myself then into the worldly ways e.g. skin, money, glam, power & thrills of every kind. I thought this was the way to find not only success but also meaning. Reason: – I saw almost everyone around me competing to win THIS race only. So, everything made me believe that this race only is the real one. But as I kept on finding good success in THIS race; I only ended up tiring myself (even after achieving things). Every single time; there was a victory in my life- I could not even deep savour it for 10 mins fully AND my Goal post changed.

I always was looking for that ‘something else’ which can complete me. Right through- my mind was at perpetual unrest & in spite of having most things; my eyes still felt empty. The more i kept on gaining; the more I was feeling the scarcity in my life. The luxuries that I was acquiring were coming at the silent cost of dissipation of brain and nerve energy.

how to meditate pray to God
God’s Sarcasm 🙂 Handwriting- Dakshita Sabharwal
I was achieving almost everything but was progressively feeling trapped along. Elders, books and some friends suggested that I take a plunge into deeper truths i.e. Spirituality, Meditation, God. That hyper active quotient was perpetually inside me and my search for spiritual truth made me quite a wanderlust. I hopped from here to there seeking answers to my curiosities. Did almost all courses which were available to do in the spiritual market. Actually traveled North, West, East, South to learn about ‘How to Meditate & Increase Mindfulness’.

Somehow that total connect was escaping my soul in each of these places. Not that these courses were bad or fake; but one or the other reason stopped me from accepting them fully. Some schools of meditation emphasized on visualization (subconsciously produced hallucinations, frozen image of my own imaginations), others were semi-shops (books, courses and DVDs were very above the cost price), a few others demanded that I bring more followers (too much traffic) etc. They possibly were good only and maybe my low EQ / IQ could not match.

MY LIFE AS A SEEKER: The Various Spiritual Paths I tried
I tried doing Mantra Yoga. Here again my temperament was not matching. That stillness and deep dhayana was eluding (again could be my issue). My work was all travel and I used my travel to start visiting temples and places of worship of other religions as well. I felt hurt and confused at a lot of temples as if God was the exclusive right of pundits and pandas.

And then just when I was trying to figure out hidden truths through the words of saints and holy books- the episodes of Aasaram Bapu, Ram Rahim, Nirmal Baba etc. dented my belief to route my search through a Guru Medium (Not sure, who is true and who is a wrong number). The biggest damage that Baba Ram Rahim & Aasaaram genre do is to U-turn the faith of youth from Spirituality & genuine Gurus (who are God Realized themselves). I objectively thought about it and then re-thought.

Here is what I concluded after deep confusion & then cogitation: – India is a land of Spirituality. God Realized masters walked our country. Guru Nanak, Kabir, Sai Baba, Yogananda, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharishi, Gurus of Radha Soami sect – what beautiful names. A bad comparison but one or two Kheeras (Cucumber) if turn kadwaa; does it mean ALL kheeraas are Kadwaa?? Or for that reason ALL KHEERAAS that ever were grown here or shall be grown in future will be KADWAA?? Sreesanth fixed matches SO all cricket matches are fixed? Stampede happened at Kedarnath. Where was God? I don’t believe in him anymore.

See- It is important to be AWARE. To be CONSCIOUS. But is our FAITH so flimsy. Is our belief on God a relationship of Convenience which if doesn’t get suited to our terms – we sour it so easily?? I summarized that I would not let a few bad fish mean that the entire ocean is Bad.

STUMBLING UPON KRIYA YOGA; the Event that Changed My Life Forever
I read somewhere that when your search for God increases; God sends you a Book. When it rises manifold further- God sends you a teacher and when you really become extremely thirsty- God sends you a Guru (a soul in human form who himself is God realized & the voice of silent God). Just when I was exhausting myself in my search for truth; I found this book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Sri Paramhansa Yogananda. The cover pic of Yoganandaji (his eyes) drew my soul to this book. I read and then kept on reading everything from him (you have to read from him yourself to believe what I am saying).

A true Guru (SAT-GURU) will tell you the truth. A True Guru knows that devotion to the personality of any Avatar, Guru, Sage or Mahatma perpetuates the illusion of division. A True Guru helps the sincere devotee realize that what animates the Guru animates all. The True Guru directs the devotee’s devotion to that One Pure Consciousness (Aum-Tat-Sat).

Einstein said that space looks very suspicious, because everything comes out of it and everything disappears into it. Whither do electrons vanish and whole worlds? Meditate and you shall be told; where everything is coming from & disappearing into (Vibration to Vibration less ‘Sat’).

Shiva, Kaali, Krishna, Ganesha, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Prophet Mohammad are all symbols of that One pure Consciousness. Even if one prays to any of these deities; in deep Samadhi (the highest state in meditation) – the form will automatically convert into formless (super consciousness).

I decided that I will worship God as spirit, the one pure consciousness (instead of any one deity). Finally my head was sorting after so much tear and wandering. The book and lessons in meditation from Paramhansa Yogananda were helping me tremendously.

One gets connected to one’s Guru based on one’s soul temperament. I was seeking perfect answers which will lead to direct experience of God through the highest meditation techniques and was finding it in here. It is like till now I was making tangents & or chords to the circle of spirituality. With Kriya Yoga (meditation); diameters started beginning to get formed. Another thing which attracted me the most to this path was its inclusiveness. I see Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Foreigners and almost everyone meditating together on pure consciousness.

If you already have a true Guru and are very satisfied with his instructions on how to meditate and how to increase mindfulness then you do not need to change paths. If you do not have -your spiritual preceptor (Guru) will automatically draw you to him if your thirst is very high. I had some very intimate and personal super natural experiences in 2013 which made me believe that my path is that of Meditation (Kriya Yoga, the highest form of Yoga which is Raja Yoga). Based on your soul journey and at the right time; you will automatically get an indication of your Guru. A Guru may or may not be in his physical body (living) to be your Guru.

My favourite quote in all these years of search became 
God does not want to influence anyone by miracles performed through saints. God wants to keep Himself as a suggestion hidden behind all cosmic beauty. He wants every human son to use his own free will and innate willingness to find his cosmic Father.”
— ParamhansaYogananda

I summarized that all religions, sects, Gurus say the same thing and lead you to the same supreme consciousness. Just that their ways of saying it are different. And we humans create repulsive dogmas. Be it Islam or Sikhism or Buddhism or Christianity or Hinduism – all talk of ONE universal consciousness. Can there be two? Can you imagine elections or war in Swarg Lok? Crap! The biggest lie / falsehood perpetrated on mankind is ‘My God vs Your God’. History, as Napolean Bonaparte is reputed to have said, ‘is a lie agreed upon’.

how to meditate and find God
God in a candid mood 🙂
So, after reading Autobiography of a Yogi, I subscribed to lessons in Kriya Yoga meditations (& Self realization). For the next 3.5 years, the lessons started reaching my door step every month as a registered post. The cost of these 3.5 yrs of lessons was much less than any medium sized Pizza. I finally started meditating. As I progressively refined my awareness about ‘How to meditate right’; my restlessness, task obsession vriti, my negative momentums slowly started getting replaced with joy, peace and bliss.

Thousands of people pray in temples (wait in serpentine queues to visit the idols), in churches, in shrines but they don’t know why they do so, or why they don’t get answer to their prayers. If they knew the law of deep meditation, they would easily be able to commune with him. This is what I deeply learnt.

Temples, Churches, Mosques, Gurudwaras etc.- Imagine meditating at these shrines for hours (diameter devotion) vs plain visiting them (Tangents or at the max chords devotion). Imagine being totally aware of yourself, your existence, being mindful of the beautiful vibrations in these places of worship vis-à-vis the chaos and humdrum of surface worshippers! One of my Goals is to do Mt Kailash & deeply meditate in that time and place. Hope it happens. Amen!

So, WHAT IS MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS?
A lot of people ask me ‘What is the definition of Meditation’? Please read carefully and very slowly- the best one that I found from Vedas & Upanishads

Meditation (dhyana) is an unbroken flow of thought toward the object of concentration (God). In other words, meditation is prolonged concentration. The process of meditation is often compared to the pouring of oil from one vessel to another, in a steady, unbroken stream. Thoughts are waves (vritti) in the mind. Ordinarily as thought-wave arises, remains in the mental field for a moment, and then subsides, to be succeeded by another wave.

In the practice of Samadhi meditation (the highest), a succession of identical waves are raised in the mind; and this is done so rapidly that not one wave is allowed to subside before another rises to take its place. The effect is one of perfect continuity like the pouring of oil. A continuity of endless identical images is fused into one flow of love with no end. This is the real meaning of Meditation. Very important that you understand THIS.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, along with heartfulness is becoming a major trend. I repeat, it is a by product of meditation. In simple words, mindfulness is the human ability to be fully present in the present moment, be aware of our space and time, and focus on the task at hand. It is the ability to not get perturbed or overwhelmed by the situation around us but to observe calmly and try to figure it out. So, the best ways to be mindful is to be meditative!

meditation and mindfulness blog
(Image courtesy: Wired.com)
To have ANY kind of above mentioned spiritual experience(as given in the definition of Meditation above); The BODY must be still, the mind must be still and the feelings must be still. Stillness means NO restless thoughts, not even praying. Just be aware of the spiritual eye i.e. keep the mind riveted at Kutastha (the point between the eyebrows where ladies put bindi).

The word STILL is of paramount importance here. So, what is stillness? Razor sharp awareness of Joyfulness is STILLNESS. Do not expect anything. Do not look for anything.

Stillness can only be felt. It cannot be expressed. In stillness there is no effort. Just the PAUSE button. When you pray to the spirit i.e. Consciousness then do not coax God to come in any particular way. Let him come his way. He is keener to come. You just make the effort. In deep stillness when it happens to you; God will silently break in (as Light or peace or as sound (Aum) or as joy, devotion, bliss).

However, if you have an individualized relationship with God e.g. you are a devotee of any of symbols of God e.g. Shiva or Kaali or Hanuman ji or Guru Nanak or Christ or any prophets or saints or your Guru then God will appear in that form only (This is a divine promise mentioned in Bhagwad Geeta).

Without stillness God is impossible to achieve because PEACE and STILLNESS are the altars of Divine.

HOW WILL THIS STILLNESS COME?
It can come through many ways. Slower ways are chanting (Mantra Yoga), jappa, pooja, bhakti, gyana, laya, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga or singing songs or more. Most of these methods are bullock cart ways (slow). However, God has no rules to come. Each of these methods is good and can lead to God realization if done with deep intensity. This deep intensity comes the best and the fastest through STILLNESS (Aeroplane way).

And stillness cannot be achieved ordinarily (Finding the devotee’s attention entangled in restlessness and engrossed with sensations, thoughts, associated memory thoughts; God’s voice recedes into the depths of silence). So we need scientific techniques of concentration to get rid of rowdy sensations of touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, the tumult of sensation, and memory-roused thoughts.

There are dozens of concentration (people erringly call it meditation) techniques which one may learn. Do not forget that the objective of each of these techniques is NOT the technique itself but to progressively generate stillness (Pratyahara or interiorization of mind) for further meditation to happen.

Some good techniques which are there are Buddhist ways of stilling the mind, Vipassana, Transcendental meditations, Sudarshan Kriya, Osho methods, intellectual discriminative meditation & more. If you already are following any concentration technique and you believe it is leading to increased depth and dhyaana then pls carry on doing it. Rather start doing it with the greatest of mental intensity. I learnt many techniques in the last many years but stayed a little unsatisfied with most. Saying again- the problem could be with me or my individual soul temperament.

Then I started learning Kriya Yoga and Lo! It was like wowwwww ! Magic. I found all my answers (rather questions did not remain). Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Geeta extols Raja Yoga (Kriya Yoga) to be the highest form of Yoga. Kriya is the aeroplane route to reach God. It is that profound a technique. It is difficult to become a Kriya Yogi for the path is only for people with a dogged will power (Needs discipline).

WHAT ARE THE MAIN TECHNIQUES OF KRIYA YOGA MEDITATION?
Kriya Yoga path includes four main techniques 
1. 38 Energization Exercises (They are no ordinary exercises. It takes me 18-20 mins to do these exercises daily. Airport or abroad or at home – I do these super power exercises daily, without fail and they keep me recharged).

2. Hong Sau (a quite similar technique is described below)

3. AUM (One listens to the Aum sound in his right ear and merges with it. Later this sound starts getting heard in the surroundings as well. Yes! One actually hears AUM)

4. Kriya is highest of all meditation techniques. One single Kriya (which takes 30-35 secs to do) is equivalent to completing one complete year of normal spiritual evolution. Just doing a few Kriyas with deep intensity and deepest devotion disconnects the mind totally and stillness then comes easily.

The Lord, through the Bhagavad Gita, promised

“Even a little practice of this inward religion (Kriya Meditation) will free one from dire fears and colossal sufferings.”

Awesome na?

You too can begin your journey to become a Kriya Yogi by subscribing to lessons in meditation (self realization). The LINK is THIS. Strongly recommend you to read the classic ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ deeply before you subscribe.

how to meditate and increase mindfulness
Virat Kolhi on Spirituality and his inspiration: Autobiography of a Yogi’
A person in a lighted room whose windows are shuttered may enjoy the beautiful furnishings of the room, but can see nothing beyond unless he opens the shutters and looks out. Similarly, we live in a sunlit decorated hall of earth, but we cannot behold the territory of the infinite unless we open the window through deep & regular meditations.

Let us get back to Concentration, Concentration Technique & Meditation. I am sharing next with you the most beautiful, simple & yet a very effective technique. Following this technique one can easily climb the staircase of Stillness and thence to deep meditations on any aspect of God. If you do not believe in God then also you can practice this technique and it will lead you to supreme peace, joy and bliss (so much required for the worldly work). This technique is just not mine, not is its description. I am too small a person to teach anyone a technique as this.

This Concentration technique is very similar to the classic Buddhist mediation techniques or mindfulness techniques and also to Vipassana & Hong Sau (mentioned above). Be rest assured that you are reading next- a very profound technique given by God (through the voice of saints & monks who are self realized). The words, the inspiration and the blessings inside the technique are of Sri ParamhansaYogananda (The author of the biggest spiritual classic- Autobiography of a Yogi). I am just a copier of the truths said by him.

WHAT IS CONCENTRATION?
Concentration is the power by which one can free the attention from objects of distraction and place it upon one thing at a time. Mental efficiency depends upon one’s development of the art of concentration, the reason- why one must learn the scientific techniques to concentrate. Imagine if you knew the art of conscious concentration, you will be able to focus the burning power of attention upon any difficult problem, just as sun’s rays, concentrated through the magnifying glass, can set fire to objects beneath it.

Meditation is that specific form of concentration which is applied only to know God. Mindfulness is the result of it.

The correct place and posture for meditation:
1. Sit in a clean, silent place, preferably facing north, north-east or East. The place where you meditate regularly develops extremely positive spiritual vibrations that will help you concentrate better at the same place each day. And the north or east direction aligns you with the magnetic pull of the right currents from Earth. If possible, try and place a silk cloth or preferably a woollen blanket on your meditation seat.

2. The best is to sit in ‘padmasana’ position (lotus position) on the ground with your spine straight i.e. perpendicular to the ground. But a lot of people find padamasana difficult. So, simply sit cross-legged. The most important thing is to maintain a straight spine because it aligns all the organs into the right position which is conducive to seamless flow of breath & life force.

Initially, it might cause you slight unease, but with practice, sitting straight becomes quite easy. You still find it difficult to sit on floor- no issues. If sitting directly on the floor is difficult, you can use a pillow or a cushion. Slight elevation below the buttocks provides great support for sitting for longer hours.

You may choose to sit on an armless chair but with back straight (picture attached below). I do it this way. Many advanced meditators sit on chairs when they sit for long hours and it’s absolutely okay. Ensure that your feet are flat on the ground (keep a cloth on floor for feet) and you are not slouching or taking constant support at the back rest of the chair.

how to meditate on a chair
(Image courtesy: dummies.com)
3. The lumbar region of the spine (opposite the navel) should be gently crooked forward, the chest up and shoulders back (which places the inner edges of the shoulder blades closer together). Each hand, palm upturned, should be put on the corresponding thigh at the juncture of the thigh and abdomen to prevent the body from bending forward. The chin should be parallel to the floor.

4. While maintaining this correct position, undue tension in the muscles should be relaxed. This is a very critical point. Take two minutes to relax any kind of tension in your body (motor nerves, muscles or any other part). If body is tense then you started it.

Summary- The posture should be Sahej (i.e. should lead to ease and not to discomfort of any kind. Any discomfort will only block the flow of right energies). Try consciously to relax each part of the body; make a mental check every now and then throughout your practice to be sure the body is really relaxed. In the beginning- you may want to take about 20 deep breaths to calm yourself down (only if need be).

HOW TO MEDITATE: THE TECHNIQUE AND DOs & DON’Ts
Once you have taken position for meditation and are relaxed, close your eyes and fix your gaze upwards, to the point between your eyebrows (where ladies put Bindi). It is often called the Kutastha (or the spiritual eye) and is placed polar opposite to the medulla oblongata. As a preliminary exercise practice fixing your gaze at Kutastha (in the initial few days). With time, this will automatically happen. Keep the mind calm. This is important for successful practice.

Please ensure that you don’t shut your eyes too tight. Gently keep them closed and try to keep your gaze fixed at the Kuthastha.

Now, the technique starts.

Feel your breath naturally coming in and going out (Basically with a very relaxed body and mind- you need to observe your breath as if someone else is breathing i.e. Saakshi Bhaava (witness)). Very important- Do not in any way use mental will or force to send your breath in or out. While practicing, take the calm attitude that you are a silent observer of the natural flow of your breath coming in and going out, a rhythmic movement of which we are generally not conscious. Whether the breath remains in the lungs or flows out, always wait until it flows naturally again.

Don’t force yourself to inhale or exhale. Just keep gazing at your Kuthastha and allow breath to naturally come and go. Neither do you need to force yourself to hold your breath. To keep track of your inhalation and exhalations, you can fold your index finger in (for breathing in) and out (for exhalation). With practice, you can stop doing the finger fold as you will get accustomed to observing your breath without keeping any tab on it.

Do not concentrate on the movement of the chest or other movements caused by the breath; just be aware of the breath itself as it flows into and out of the body.

In summary- This is the only thing that you have to do – keep your gaze fixed and be conscious of your breathing. Be an observer, a ‘saakshi’. Gaze is important but not as much as your being a calm witness to the flow of air(breath). See it is like driving. You are looking at the front glass, changing gears also. So with time gazing at Kutastha and being a calm witness to flow of air- both will automatically set right. Practice for a few days and you’ll know.

There will be distractions of course. Every time you realize that your thoughts have strayed, simply bring them back to conscious observation of breath. Do not fret that you ‘just can’t sit still or concentrate on breath’ and start believing it is not for you. It’s just your mind resisting the good change that it is being forced to undergo.

Inattention during the practice of this technique produces sleep. Be conscious not to fall asleep during this technique.

EVERY TIME the attention goes away; BRING THE ATTENTION BACK (jabardasti). Concentrating on the flow of breath with the greatest mental intensity doesn’t mean tension. It means complete loving absorption in the process of witnessing the flow of breath. Concentrated attention will bring a tingling sense of divine life to every body cell. You’ll feel electric sparks in your nerves, something travelling all around your body and much more. Do not get scared. This is just the beginning 🙂

WHY MEDITATION WORKS THE WAY IT DOES?

The science behind this meditation technique is extremely beautiful! Read carefully the next six points to understand this beautiful science 
1. By training the restless attention to isolate and focus upon the normally unconscious act of breathing, we train the attention in the art of one-pointedness, or concentration. Those who attain even a small degree of success in one-pointing the mind during the practice of this technique find their ability to concentrate on their various duties and problems throughout the day increased multi-fold.

2. Further during the practice of this technique an increased state of calmness is attained. Intuition, the unerring guide of wisdom, manifests through the receptivity of calmness. Ultimately, perfect concentration is attained when by practice the life force is switched off from the internal body functions and senses. The attention and consciousness is then freed completely from all distractions to contemplate God or any object or problem.

As you cannot broadcast through a broken microphone, so you cannot send out prayers through a mental microphone that has been disordered by restlessness. By deep calmness you should repair your mind microphone and increase the receptivity of your intuition. Thus you will be able to broadcast to Him effectively and to receive His answers.
– Paramahansa Yogananda

3. As you watch the course of incoming and outgoing breath, you’ll finds that your breath naturally slows down and calms the relatively violent action of heart, lungs and diaphragm. As the breath slows, the heart also slows down and the heart muscles relax. A lower heartbeat ensures that the heart gets to take much needed rest. It pumps blood more slowly and shuts down the energy flow to the five senses of touch, hearing, smell, sight and taste. The nerve receptors at these senses also start relaxing and the body goes into a blissful limbo of inactivity.

Basically, the sense switch shuts off with the heart pumping lesser blood (energy to them). This is THE point for which you need to work for. When the disconnection with senses happens- it is then that Dhyaana or Magic can happen.

4. Initially you will notice that your inhalation and exhalation are longer and the time that you are holding your breath is shorter. But slowly, the breath becomes shorter and the pauses become longer. That’s when you will know – that your body is experiencing something extraordinary! Do not consciously attempt to shorten your inhalation and exhalation (like salesman achieve their targets. You’ll kill this technique by doing this). Let it happen on its own. But this won’t happen in a day. It will require daily, deep and prolonged practice. So be patient – and don’t forcefully hold your breath just to make something happen. It will happen naturally.

Remember that the purpose of this practice is to increase naturally the intervals when the breath does not flow.

The purpose of this technique is to gain conscious passivity, not mental blankness but a state of increased awareness & concentration free from 1) sense entanglement 2) breath and 3) other body motions. A state of deep peace or perfect inner calm.

5. How to handle Thoughts which come as a Thought Attack (when you begin to focus on your Breath)?

Anyone who has ever tried to meditate knows that one of the biggest hindrances to concentration is wandering thoughts that keep diverting our attention. Thoughts will come. They will. It is absolutely OK. Treat these thoughts as Birds. Let the birds come, fly over your head and then go away calmly. Do not pick up any bird and allow it to nest your brain (mind). It is only when we let nesting happen that the dhyaana goes for a toss. Adamantly (jabardasti) bring back your attention to the flow of breath (whenever birds (thoughts) start flying over the head).

6. It is very important to have realistic expectations of results from this technique. The minimum one needs to sit for in this technique is 20 mins. If out of these 20 mins; you are able to disconnect for the last 6-7 mins- it is a good achievement. In fact the real impact of this technique starts after 10 mins of its practice. But most people do not have the patience to sit till then religiously focusing on their breath with calm and ease. Its like a glass of water with soil (mud particles) mixed in it. You calmly allow the water to settle and stay unstirred and Lo !in a few minutes the mud would have settled down and water will become clear. Mud here is thoughts and water – your mind.

NOW THE REAL MEDITATON BEGINS
You should practice this technique TILL THE MIND BECOMES CRYSTAL CLEAR. This concentration technique will give you deeper concentration & thence your practice of STILLNESS and then MEDITATION will find more depth before you do them.

When you have calmed your heart and mind with THIS technique, remember that the stillness experienced afterwards is more important than the technique itself. Many are so involved with the performance of techniques that they don’t have time for stillness. So, at the end of this technique, forget focusing on breath and just sit for a long time (minimum 10 minutes) in Stillness.

Stillness is not doing anything. It is just a pause button. Not thinking anything, not even praying. Just very calmly gazing at Kutastha with shoonya(zero) thoughts. The problem is that we have worked all along on focusing on breath. Now telling the mind do not work – is a challenge. The most imp word here is PATIENCE. Only with devoted patience will Stillness come. Do not get tense or excited if STILLNESS doesn’t come initially.

The performance of techniques is the preparation of the meal, and that many stop there without partaking in the meal itself. Stillness is eating, enjoying and benefiting from that food fully.

Try to sit for longer periods of time at least once a week. Depth and length of meditation – both are equally important when it comes to effective meditation. It is understandable that you can’t always sit for longer hours. But make effort at least once a week. The result will be drastically different!

Remember- If there are ONLY two keys to deepen meditation then they are 1) REGULARITY & 2) STILLNESS.

WHEN TO MEDITATE?
The correct time for meditation is important but not something you need to worry about right now. Advanced meditation techniques do require some dietary and posture constraints. But basic concentration (mindfulness) technique as the one explained above has no such rules.

It can be practiced at any time and place where you can close your eyes.
You can practice right before meals, or right after them too (prefer former though).
You can practice during your leisure or free time, even while lying down. But remember – if you are lying down, you should lie down absolutely straight, without a pillow – like in the ‘shavasana’ position. Practicing during leisure hours will give velocity to your mindfulness & concentration Goals.
But what is the best time to meditate (especially for working people)?

It is said that ‘brahma-muhurta’ (4 am – 6am) is the most conducive time to meditate. But if those hours do not suit you, it’s absolutely fine. Personally, I feel the best time to meditate is when you are starting your day. Sit within 15 minutes of your waking up and give a wonderful, calmly active and actively calm start to your day.
Another very good time to meditate is just before going to sleep. Especially for people who suffer from sleep disorders, this is the best you can do.
It is also an excuse to not start and end your day with blue screens and devices but with your own mind and body. Try it out. It is Superrrr when you end your day with the above technique (& further with Stillness and Meditation).
If you are getting overwhelmed with all this information and want to remember just a few things about meditating – remember these 3 things: Sit straight, fix your gaze to the point between your eyebrows and observe your breath as it comes and goes naturally.

It does not matter where you are, what time of the day it is, whether it’s an empty stomach or a house full of people. The only important thing is that you meditate, even if it is for 20 minutes (Although this technique needs a 25-30 mins of minimum practice in one sitting). As long as you do that – everything else will fall into place!

DON’T WAIT. MEDITATE.
I am 40. I wish I had started at 20 or even earlier. Now, I want to use my profession and spend the rest of my life giving hope to needy people and in amplifying my biggest learning to the masses. And that learning is ‘The Goal of this Life is to find God and merge with him. The best gift that you can give to your own-self in this life is the gift of learning to meditate. So, do not wait, Meditate’.

Only this will lead to unalloyed happiness. Make the mighty effort to learn to meditate. Even after you have learnt; it wouldn’t be easy to do it daily. It is a hard, rocky path of self control. Stubborn bad habits will bludgeon your will power every time (Ask me! My ossified habits kick me like a football). Have the fibre to go ahead and hug the real substance instead of shadows.This will require patience, adamantine will and untiring persistence.

Think of the times in your life when you have idled hours away in useless talk, or in futile dwelling on negative thoughts. Henceforth, give such time to God instead. If you born as human into a good family and are healthy too; then you have an ovarian lottery. Do not waste it. Go and find God. Make your home a place of peace.

Maybe on this path, you will become slightly boring to people around but then you’ll focus much better. An important caveat here- ‘If you just meditate only but stay unscrupulous & debauch in your daily life- that meditation is of no use’.

Sharing my favourite poem 
I am running, running and running
I do not know where, I do not know why?
O, the embodiment of peace and prosperity!
Bless me with solitude for a few moments,
So that I can reflect upon myself & meditate upon you.
Thereafter, I can run still faster,
And with renewed vigour
But in the right direction
& with a specific purpose.

Spending the most important years of life on the ways of the world and things of the world only will be a very poor investment. Do not let your vanity hold back your search for the grand, the eternity, the infinite. Meditation will give you such a sorted head and mind that you will become 10x in your worldly achievements too. Personally experiencing!

Lord Krishna said- ‘Out of 1000, one seeks me; out of 1000 that seek me; one knows me”. Ask yourself where you are standing right now in this equation. My favourite most human sight till now remains that of a young girl in her 20s sitting in very deep meditation in a Shiva Temple in Ranchi at 4 am on a wintery night. Wow!

Have you ever done anything REALLY new, very amazing in your only Life? Do not wait. Meditate. Even though you may be able to do everything else but meditate, you will never find in anything else that joy which comes when the thoughts are silent. Meditation will get to you an Aura & a Grace which nothing else in the world can get to you. And further this Aura & Grace will get you everything else. Awesome na?

Everyone have a different assignment meaning different purpose in life.

So focus on your own exampaper, your assignment and purpose.

Don’t copy and paste or steal answer else you will fail big time.

Your dreams and visions are all valid.Just take your time and do the best you can.

Be like the hummingbird.Even when mighty lions and tigers underestimated him,hecontinued to do what he could,where hewas ,just as he was, with the little he had.

You're ok just the way you are.The little work you are doing today might seem insignificant but Ibet someday you will see the big picture.

You're Not late ! You're Not early.

So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, "See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own, and you have clear water."

Your mind is like that too ! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own.

You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down.
It will happen. It is effortless."

Having 'Peace of Mind' is not a strenuous job, it is an effortless process.

Let me share this with you, given the amount of heartbreaks I had 🙂 – it doesn’t matter in the long run, if you decide now that you won’t let it matter. And before you dismiss my casual treatment of these heartbreaks, let me tell you – when they happened, they meant a lot to me! What I am trying to say is – don’t judge people for their heartbreaks. Just be there for them. Sometimes people are just too young to understand, sometimes too blind. But almost always – the pain eventually fades, the bag of grief shrinks in size and people find ways to placate their suffering with dosage of logic and hope.

Do you know why? Because the heart doesn’t want to be sad. The mind has better things to do. I am telling you – it is only the shitty Bollywood that plays tricks with you! On a serious note, what does a broken heart crave for really? Past memories? The answer is NO.

Think about it. What the heart craves for really is the future that it thought it would have but has now vanished from the horizon. A whole bunch of plans, dreams and hopes pinned on a person – all gone. It really is the non-existent future that a person misses after a heartbreak, a hope for a repetition of the beautiful past memories – something that won’t happen now.

But then – even after the worst breakup, one sleeps at night and wakes up in the morning. The world doesn’t come to an end. The sun doesn’t stop shining. Nature doesn’t stop being beautiful and chaotic at the same time. The clock still keeps ticking. And most important of all – your heart still keeps beating. If nothing else is comprehensible to you in those bouts of despair, shut out all and listen to your heart closely in silence. You will hear the same rhythmic thump of your mighty heart, the size of your fist – beating. Apparently in pain but still pumping in oxygen, throwing out carbon dioxide and refreshing your body with every beat, keeping it healthy.

And it won’t stop beating. This bloody heart. Even when you would at times wish that the world should just stop because your love went unrequited. It won’t stop thumping even when your mind just refuses to let you do anything. There will probably be days when you are too sad to get out of the blanket, eat or come out of your PJs. You will feel that the sadness is all-encompassing and will engulf you into its black hole. But that broken heart will still be pumping. Why?

Because it is alive.

And so are you. And that’s all you need to get up and live another day. Because no matter what happens, till your heart is beating, it is a strong signal that your body wants to live. So shut that part of your brain that is feeding you all those dismal and mopey signals. And how do you do that? By feeding your brain with these motivational thoughts:

You are not the first one.
And you most certainly won’t be the last. Look around you. There are innumerable unrequited / broken / one sided love stories. There is no problem in this world, on which there is no book. Which means, someone somewhere in some part of this huge yet extremely small (in comparison to the milky way) world has suffered and pulled through.

letting of past
You are not alone in this. I have had the opportunity to counsel many youngsters on their relationship problems during the course of my career as a Motivational Speaker for the youth. I draw from their experiences, their good and bad outcomes and then draft my suggestions. And this experience tells me that thousands are going through your pain. It just marks and end to a phase of your life. The faster you move to the next one, the better it is for you. And the more you hold on to that pain, the farther you move away from the world. Trust me, you will wake up one day. And when that happens, you wouldn’t want to look around and find that the world has moved far beyond.

Life won’t change if you start living inside the blanket.
You know, the internet tries to normalize depression. Like it normalizes disease. I don’t think the ill and sick need to be cooed over. Don’t go gaga over someone who is unwell, keeping extra care. It sounds counter-intuitive and weird right?

What I mean is – do not fuss over an unwell person too much. For then, they won’t have a strong enough incentive to be well soon. Care for them from a distance. Observe so that they don’t get hurt but be strict, be exact with them, a little distant even. And use this very same logic for your broken heart.

I know too well, the want to live your days sleeping off. Because “I do not feel any interest in doing any work”. Don’t let this feeling last. God forbid if you suffer from BHD (Broken heart disease) in winters. Because then it will take you immense will power to just get out of bed and out of hibernation. (I know I am making super sense to many people right now). Don’t let your heart make you believe that it is okay to be sad. For, it is not.

Your heart, beating with a speed of 70-80 times per second wants to live happily. Something is stopping it. And telling it that it is okay to be sad, despaired or depressed over a person – is not going to help it. At all. Because life never happens when you keep sleeping to avoid facing your issues. It happens when you move ahead despite them.

Confront your thoughts
I once read a friend’s interview. In the section, “what is it about yourself that you are proud of?” he wrote – “That I never lie to myself”. I thought it was very profound, given he was only 18 at that point. It takes a wise man to never lie to himself. Because most of us do. You want example? Here it is – “Let me watch this movie today. I can always study tomorrow” – We do this knowing fully well that the tomorrow will come at the 11th hour only. We know our nature. Yet we lie to ourselves.

So don’t keep telling yourself that you are fine, that nothing has happened and it’s all cool. Because it isn’t. The first step for you to mend your broken heart is to know how it broke. Be hurtfully truthful to yourself about what went wrong in your relationship. Find out which was the blow that severed your heart into broken pieces. Who dealt the blow? Whose mistakes led to these outcomes? And do not shy away from admitting your own faults. No Motivational thoughts can help till the time you understand your own self.

Being truthful to yourself will help you learn things about yourself. It will tell you what kind of a person you are, and the qualities that you would admire / loathe in your partner. You will come to know what you truly want out of your relationship (that’s what Rumi means too). So, a heartbreak essentially makes you a better person by revealing previously hidden knowledge about your own self. Provided you don’t totally lose your head and become a raging maniac imbibing dangerous qualities to forget the pain of heartbreak. Don’t stoop to that level.

Because no matter how hard you try to go back in life by indulging in these, time stops for none. And it might be just too late when you wake up.

Something good will come out of it.
This has been one of my most profound experiences. My heartbreak not only brought in new light, it totally changed my life. I have newer and stronger aims in my life, and I am trying to not repeat those mistakes again.

You too can take away some profound learning. Maybe you will realize that he/she was not the right person. And this break up will actually push you towards better people. Or towards higher notches in life, whichever way they choose to pan out. Maybe once you are apart you will realize that they are better off without you, and you are better off without them. Maybe your breaking up is doing some good to the other person.

Maybe you will have learned a thing or two about extremely over-used but hardly understood qualities like trust and honesty in a relationship. It is funny you know. People have their ideas about truth. They think partial dishonesty is acceptable if you are trying to not hurt someone. But I have learned it the really hard way – it doesn’t work like that. You should tell the complete truth. You owe your partner this much. There is no replacement of veracity in a relationship. For it is the best way to live with a conscience as light as a feather. there will be no heavy stone on your heart.This was the good that came out for me. It could be anything for you. But it will not be a complete waste of time. Something good will come out of it 🙂

It doesn’t matter, in the larger picture.
That must sound like such a mean thing. But when you have lived a little more, maybe a decade more, you will know I am telling the truth.

Today love seems like to be the heart of life. You will soon realize that human love, mundane love, people love – is all just a part of life. It is only the divine that lasts forever. Rest everything is palpably ephemeral in this speck of the universe that we call earth and where we occupy a microscopic area in comparison. We are not that important! We can’t be.

Be it love marriage or arrange, after 2 years and 2 kids – it looks alike. Because after the love and the honeymoon, life happens to most relationships. So fret not. If your relationship couldn’t stand the test of time, is it not better actually? Because now you will know this is one bridge you won’t be trapped under, had it accidentally fallen while you were on it.

The larger goal in any humanly privileged life should be to be able to help those in need and live as righteously as possible. A consummated love story is just a tiny speck in the larger realm of your purpose. It doesn’t matter in the long run whether your heart suffered or not. What matters is, were you able to pull it up or not.

I am not trying to undermine the pain of a broken heart. Mental pain is so much more unbearable than physical pain because there is no instant pain killer fix available for it. But what I am trying to say is – these motivational thoughts might help you or someone you think is in dire need. Find a way to fix your heart. Because there is a lot to do in this world, in order to be able to do justice to this human form.

But always remember – a heartbreak is an avenue for opening new doors. Keep those doors of your heart wide open. Let the light come in. And do not for a second believe that love is worthless. The love in your heart takes you places and makes you do such grand things. Everything you feel is a manifestation of love, even your passion towards your dreams and goals.

Signing off with two lines from Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson,

“I hold it true, whatever befalls
I feel it when I sorrow most
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all”.

Be happy. No ‘Motivational Thoughts’ by anyone can make you happy. Only you will need to find that strength from within your own self. Go, FIND IT !

Rise & Shine!