Category:Engaging in Meditation
Theme Analysis
The category Engaging in Meditation explores the internal practice of fixing the mind upon the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while meditation is a vital limb of yoga, its ultimate success depends on whether the mind is directed toward the personal form and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. This analysis outlines the levels of meditative focus, from mechanical discipline to spontaneous love of God.
- Meditation as a Path to Spiritual Realization: Chanting and hearing the holy name is described as a mystic meditation that is easily practiced in the current age. By engaging the senses in the sound vibration of the Lord, a person can attain the Supreme and purify their existence from material contamination. This process is considered more effective than artificial mental engagement because it naturally draws the mind toward the lotus feet of the Lord.
- Examples of Divine and Sage-like Meditation: Throughout the Vedic literatures, great personalities such as Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, and King Manu demonstrate the power of constant meditation. Whether performing creation, destruction, or administrative duties, these empowered beings remain fixed in trance. Even the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī-devī, engaged in austere meditation to attain the favor of the Lord, highlighting that even the most exalted souls utilize this process for spiritual advancement.
- Internal Fixation and the Protection of Devotion: A devotee who is constantly engaged in the meditation of seeing Kṛṣṇa, both internally and externally, attains the perfection of samādhi. This internal absorption provides divine protection, as seen in the life of Prahlāda Mahārāja. When the mind is genuinely captivated by the Lord's form, as in the case of Dhruva Mahārāja, the practitioner can eventually experience the physical presence of the object of their meditation.
- Spontaneous Absorption Versus Mechanical Yoga: While the mechanical system of mystic yoga involves controlling life airs and subduing the senses, the highest stage of spiritual realization makes artificial meditation unnecessary. Once love of God is fully developed, the mind is naturally and spontaneously inclined toward the Lord. At this stage, the devotee’s meditation is constant and effortless, transcending the need for external rules and regulations.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Internal Liberation while Engaging in Meditation.
Pages in category "Engaging in Meditation"
The following 34 pages are in this category, out of 34 total.
A
- As for Lord Brahma, he is always engaged in austerities and meditation. The other demigods, headed by Indra, are devoid of prowess. Therefore you (Kamsa) have nothing to fear - SB 10.4.36
- At this stage of spiritual realization (of fully developed love of God) it is not necessary to engage the mind artificially - in meditation
I
- If God is anxious, what kind of God is He? Even Lord Brahma and other demigods are anxious. Lord Brahma is engaged in meditation, Lord Siva dances to annihilate the universe, the goddess Kali is engaged in killing with her sword, and so forth
- If somebody is engaged in meditation for two hours and other is engaged for twenty-four hours, then whose meditation value will be greater?
- In the beginning you must work very hard; you come to the stage of pure devotional platform. Then you can fully engage yourself meditation or chanting. Not in the beginning. In the beginning you should be very expert and active. That is wanted
- In the mechanical system of mystic yoga, the airs within the body are controlled, and the senses are subdued and checked from being engaged in anything other than meditation upon Lord Visnu
- In the Padma Purana there is a statement about remembering the activities of the Lord, "A person who is always engaged in meditation on the sweet pastimes and wonderful activities of the Lord surely becomes freed from all material contamination"
P
- Persons who are constantly engaged in the transcendental meditation of seeing Krsna, internally & externally, by thinking of Him playing the flute, entering Vrndavana forest & tending the cows with the boys have really attained the perfection of samadhi
- Prahlada Maharaja was constantly and fully engaged in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said, govinda-parirambhitah. Prahlada Maharaja engaged himself always in meditation, and thus he was protected by Govinda
R
- Rules and regulations, Lord Buddha himself, he showed. He left his everything and became engaged in simply meditation. Who is doing that?
- Rupa Gosvami, in his Laghu-bhagavatamrta, has quoted from the Padma Purana, that Laksmi-devi, the goddess of fortune, after seeing the attractive features of Krsna, was attracted to Him, & to get the favor of Lord Krsna she engaged herself in meditation
S
- Sometimes we see a picture of Lord Siva engaged in meditation. This verse (SB 5.17.16) explains that Lord Siva is always meditating upon Lord Sankarsana in trance. Lord Siva is in charge of the destruction of the material world
- Sometimes when we hear that great sages and devotees go to the forest and engage themselves in devotional service or meditation, we become surprised: how can one live in the forest and not be taken care of by anyone
- Sridhara Swami said in his verse, "Let the mystic yogis engage in their meditational service, and let the different sects engage in unnecessary arguing as to which is the best"
T
- The mind has to be engaged in meditation on the lotus feet of the Lord in order to execute devotional service. It is also stated in Bhagavad-gita (BG 15.15), mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca: from the Lord come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness
- The process of worshiping the Lord is considered to be very easy and complete, for anyone can sit down anywhere and in any condition of life and simply chant the holy names of the Lord. By chanting and hearing, one automatically engages in meditation
- There were many devotees engaged in meditation on Lord Visnu under the big banyan tree
- This verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 3.15.46) describes persons who are expected to be very expert yogis engaged in meditation but who do not find the Supreme Personality of Godhead seated within the heart
- Those so-called yogis who, although engaged in meditation, are not broad hearted cannot find the four-handed Narayana form, even though He is seated within their heart
- Those who are engaged in worshiping the form or arca of the Lord or who are engaged in meditation on the Lord simply for liberation from material bondage, also know, by the grace of the Lord, the purports of Brahman, adhibhuta, etc. BG 1972 purports
- Those who are engaged in worshiping the form or arca of the Lord, or who are engaged in meditation on the Lord simply for liberation from material bondage, also know, by the grace of the Lord, the purports of Brahman, adhibhuta, etc
- Those who desire to purify their existence must always engage in meditation upon Your lotus feet, as described above. Those who are serious about executing their occupational duties and who want freedom from fear must take to this process of bhakti-yoga
- Those who worship the Supreme Lord directly by devotional service are called personalists. Those who engage themselves in meditation on the impersonal Brahman are called impersonalists. BG 1972 purports
W
- When asked by Krsna why she engaged in meditation with austerity, Laksmi-devi answered, “I want to be one of Your associates like the gopis in Vrndavana.” Hearing this, Lord Sri Krsna replied that it was quite impossible
- When Lord Caitanya accepted the renounced order, Paramananda Puri offered Him the danda. Paramananda Puri was always engaged in meditation, and Sri Svarupa was always engaged in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra
- When Lord Siva was engaged in severely austere meditation, Cupid, the demigod of lust, threw his arrow of sex desire. Lord Siva, thus being angry at him, glanced at Cupid in great wrath, and at once the body of Cupid was annihilated
- When the great devotee Dhruva Maharaja was engaged in meditation on the four-handed form of Visnu, all of a sudden his meditation broke, and he immediately saw before him the same form upon which he had been meditating
- While Indradyumna Maharaja was engaged in ecstatic meditation, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great sage Agastya Muni arrived there, surrounded by his disciples