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4 Ways to Meditate.
\nAnanda Vrindavaneswari Devi Dasi: A simple definition of meditation is to \u2018think deeply about something\u2019. A broader definition includes \u2018to think deeply or focus one\u2019s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.\u2019 Other good words for meditation are \u2013 to ponder, reflect, contemplate, muse, ruminate, or lost in thought.<\/p>\n
I love this idea of getting \u2018lost in thought\u2019 as a description of meditation in the Krishna Bhakti tradition. Our practice is to think about Krishna (God) as a real and living person. This meditation is compared to turning on a light in a dark room \u2013 the light enables us to see ourselves and everything else. When we meditate on Krishna, we see our spirit self, and a see the world and beyond from the soul perspective.<\/p>\n
To meditate properly we must be willing to slow down, turn off, turn in, and stay awhile. There are 4 ways we can think of Krishna to deepen our experience of meditation \u2013 His name, form, qualities, and pastimes.<\/p>\n
Krishna has unlimited names, and all of them tell us something about Him. Hare Krishna, our main meditation mantra, invites us into the presence of Krishna and His beloved consort Radha. Krishna means the \u2018all attractive one\u2019. When we chant this name, get \u2018lost in thought\u2019 hearing Hare Krishna, our meditation becomes a sweet longing for connection with this original form of God, and His beloved Radha.<\/p>\n
If God is a person, He has a form. Not just the vague form of love, or power, or divine energy. A real form which is charming, sweet, and irresistible. Here is a brief description: \u201cHe is a beautiful youth with a glowing complexion the color of rain clouds. He plays a flute, attracting the hearts of all. His cheeks are brilliant, His smiling enchanting. He wears a peacock feather in His curly black hair and a flower garland around His neck. His beautiful garments are the color of lightning. His toenails resemble the light of the moon.\u201d Just this one verse alone can be a sustained meditation for weeks.<\/p>\n
The qualities of Krishna are another way to \u2018get lost in thought\u2019 of Him. In the book the Nectar of Devotion there is a list of 64 qualities. That\u2019s a good place to start. But even reflecting on the Bhagavad-gita and Krishna\u2019s interaction with Arjuna tells us a lot about His qualities. We first meet Krishna when Arjuna is asking Him to drive his chariot between the two armies. Krishna is serving, supporting, being a friend \u2013 just some of the many qualities we can see. And if we ever think we will run out of qualities to meditate on, we can think about this – \u201cEven if it were possible to count the atoms after smashing the earth into powder, still it would not be possible to estimate the unfathomable transcendental qualities of the Lord.\u201d \u2013 SB 1.16.26-30, Purport<\/p>\n
The 4th meditation is about what Krishna does.. Such reflections are called Lila \u2013 sacred stories or pastimes of the Supreme Lord. The Bhakti scriptures are filled with Lila, which in turn fill our hearts and thoughts with meditations on love, adventure, charm, heartbreak, daring rescues and close calls. By hearing about Krishna, by meditating in this way, we received something wonderful \u2013 \u201c\u2026all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.\u201d SB 1.2 17-21<\/p>\n
Treat yourself to a daily Krishna meditation. Morning and evening are best, but anytime is the right time when it comes to finding ourselves in loving connection with Krishna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Ananda Vrindavaneswari Devi Dasi: A simple definition of meditation is to ‘think deeply about something’. A broader definition includes ‘to think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.’ Other good words for meditation are – to ponder, reflect, contemplate, muse, ruminate, or lost in thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-66893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media","tag-nectar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66893"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88615,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66893\/revisions\/88615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}