Category:Contemplation

Theme Analysis

This article analyzes Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings on contemplation (meditation), defining it as the mind’s natural function which must be correctly channeled. It contrasts the futile modern and impersonal forms of meditation (which often lead to sleep or material entanglement) with the authorized, personal, and purifying forms of contemplation.

• The Mind's Natural Function: Contemplation is inherent to the mind; whatever we speak or hear, we will later contemplate, making the subject matter of hearing and chanting paramount.
• The Great Illusion: Material contemplation—focused on women, wealth, and skyscrapers—is the cause of bondage and creates a false sense of happiness (māyā-sukhāya), wasting valuable human energy.
• The Authorized Subject: The true subject of contemplation is always personal: the Viṣṇu-mūrti (Deity form) or the sound vibration of the Holy Name, as these subjects are transcendental and beyond material contamination.
• The Goal: Contemplation, when correctly practiced as part of bhakti-yoga, leads directly to liberation, ensuring that the devotee returns to the spiritual world to serve the Lord in the same way they contemplated during their life.

• Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: From Illusion to Liberation - The Science of Contemplation.