Yoga Meditation Essay, Research Paper

In the eight fold path of yoga meditation is the eighth step (Smith, 11). Once herea Yogi must become more aware and more sensitive to what is within themselves(?Meditation?). ?A Yogi must first lose themselves here to find peace with themselves?(Smith, 11). The armor that a person has built around themselves throughout their livesmust be lost and they have to see themselves clearly (Smith, 19). Meditation begins with concentration (?Meditation?). In concentration meditation aYogi must focus all their energy onto one thing. ?Such as an object (a candle flame), asensation (something felt while walking), or an emotion (love)? (?Chakras andMeditation?). At first it might be hard to keep mind focused on one object. A personmust train themselves to concentrate. Narrow the mind on to one category of objects.Then focus onto one of the objects. When the mind begins to wonder, go to anotherobject in the category. When it becomes easy to focus on one object for a long time then aYogi is ready to move on to concentrate on one single object (Lidell, 94). Chakra meditation falls under concentration meditation. There are seven majorchakras along the spin. They start at the base of the spine and go up to the top of the head.The seven major chakras are connected by three major nadies. Sushumna, the middlenadi, has neutral characteristics. Nearest your left hand is the ida nadi. It has yincharacteristics. The third nearest your right hand is pingala nadi. It has yang qualities(?Chakras and Meditation?). Through these nadis the chakras are connected and energypasses from one to another. Each chakra is said to be an energy transformer (?Chakras and Meditation?).When a chakra is activated or meditated on, it releases a unique type of energy. Thisenergy is measurable and immeasurable. The measurable energy is electromagnetic energyand light photons. The immeasurable energy is called prana. ?Prana is the vital, essentialenergy of the universe? (Smith, 231-233). The chakras are the centers in the body werethis energy is activated and stored (Smith, 231-233).

For the chakras to be activated properly it depends on the sitting position. Duringmeditation a Yogi should sit Indian style, with their legs crossed. One heel should be infront of the pelvis bone and the other in front of the first heel. The knees spread as farapart as possible and rested on the floor. This sitting position will provide a stable base.The neck and spine will be straight. Breathing will also be easier because the chest cavity isopen. This will also help with concentrating and will promote clearer thinking (Smith,224-225). Chakra meditation is very simple and easy to do. A yogi simply concentrates oneach chakra starting with the root chakra traveling up the shushumna and activating thenext higher chakra (?Chakra and Meditation?). It may take weeks or months to move fromone chakra to the next. It is a very long process. The seven main chakras are muladhara, swadishthana, manipura, anahata,vishuddha, ajnal and sahasrara. ?The chakras are located along the ethereal counterpart ofthe spinal cord and cannot be seen through normal vision? (Smith, 231-233). To bring thebody to a state of rest a Yogi must focus their attention to the processes of breathing, theheartbeat, and the flow of electromagnetic energy. Then the prana will begin to move upthe Sushumna awakening the higher chakras. This awakening must start with the first chakra muladhara. This is the root or basechakra. It is located at the base of the spine (?Chakras and Meditation?). Each chakra isthought of as a lotus flower that has a color and a number of petals. This chakra is ayellow lotus with four petals. The main element of this chakra is the earth and survival(Lidell, 71). This chakra deals with the survival of one?s self. The Yogi should think ofphysical survival mainly, food, shelter, and the need for self preservation. When meditating one should be totally away from the rest of the world. At thislevel everything is solid and concrete. At this level viewing is that ?…each person is anindividual who must look out for himself” (Smith, 233). At this level of reality a Yogi mustachieve success on the material plain. It’s not possible to go any further until food, clothing,shelter and transportation have all been taken care of (Smith, 233). After all of this hasbeen achieved on can move onto the next chakra, swadishthana. Swadishthana is the second chakra. It is located above and behind the genitals. Itis a sexual chakra (?Chakras and meditation?). This lotus is white and has six petals. Itselement is water. This chakra has a principle of ?…if a little is good, then a lot more isbetter? (Smith, 233). This chakra tends to trap people in it. Here a Yogi can indulge in food, drink,drugs, sex, parties, gambling and other stimulating activities. One desire leads to anotherand there is no end. A person may stay here for most of their life. The only way thespiral of indulgences can be broken is if one?s higher nature overcomes the lower natureindulgences. The rational mind can overrule certain impulses. The only way to truly riseabove this chakra level is to say no to many of the lower nature indulgences (Smith, 233).?Meditation helps to give us this power to say no. It is easy to let go of earthly wine whenwe begin to taste divine wine? (Smith, 233). To get to the next chakra, manipura, the Yogimust be able to stop the cravings for the lower nature enjoyments. The third chakra, manipura, is also called the solar plexus. This chakra is locatedby the navel (?Chakras and Meditation?). This lotus is red and has ten petals. Its elementis fire (Lidell, 71). At this chakra a Yogi will identify their ego, rational mind, personalemotions and personality structure. When trapped in this chakra a person might never beable to get quite enough power. They might lose friendships to advance at work and this iswhen political backbiting takes hold (Smith, 233-235). At this level a person must deal with their emotions. In yoga and meditation it isvery simple and easy to deal with emotions. During an emotional time or while thinking ofsomething emotional, regulating the breathing will help a lot. To do this first inhale for acount of three and hold for a few seconds. Then exhale for a count of three. While doingthis the inhaling and exhaling should be smooth from beginning to end. This will behelpful for the emotions. The only way to overcome the prison of an ego-personality is tomove on to the higher chakra levels (Smith, 233-235). The fourth chakra is anahata. This chakra is located over the heart (?Chakras andMeditation?). This chakra?s lotus us a smoke color and has twelve petals. Its element is air(Lidell, 71). At this level it is said that a persons heart is totally open. Here the prana andelectromagnetic energy move into the heart center. This is were a person begins to thinkabout brotherhood. When a person is here the word to characterize them is compassionate(Smith, 235-236). To feel the peacefulness of this chakra it is easier to be in deep meditation than outin the world. Here a person realizes that physical distance is not a barrier between twopeople. This is because ?…neither consciousness nor love has boundaries? (Smith,235-236). Once a person realizes this, then while they are deeply in meditation they cansend pure love vibrations to acquaintances and friends. A Yogi can send out light and lovethrough the entire universe. Also at this level a Yogi should try to help others and share their light and love.?The person whose heart center is open should stand as a wellspring of light, love and truthfor the higher nature of others to feed from? (Smith, 2335-236). Vishuddha is the fifth chakra. This chakra is located at the base of the throat(?Chakras and Meditation?). This lotus is sea blue and has sixteen petals. Its element isether (Lidell, 71). This chakra is where the creative mind dwells. This is the level that poets, artists, and philosophers are at when they create. Here aperson will not strive to get the praise of others. They are driven by a force deep insideand it doesn’t matter to them if their work is ever noticed (Smith, 236-237). At this level aperson is ?…not vulnerable to the powerplay of another person?s ego as at the fourth level?(Smith, 236-237). Here a person acts spontaneously, creatively and with vision. Ajna the sixth chakra is the frontal chakra. This chakra is known as the third eye.It is between and slightly above the eyebrows (?Chakras and meditation?). This lotus iswhite with two petals. This is the seat of the mind (Lidell, 71). Ajna is the center of pure intelligence. This is were a Yogi understands all of thelower levels of reality at once. Here is were the full picture of reality is seen. This is donewith the third eye. This eye is thought of as an organ of perception. It gives off a beam oflight . This beam cannot be seen or measured except by another with the third eye. Thiseye gives the person the power to see qualities behind appearances. Also here ?…the separations and boundaries that have been constructed by man areseen as illusionary? (Smith, 237). A cosmic stream of intelligence and understanding arebrought into notice and it is realized that everyone is in an ocean moving together (Smith,237). To find out what this ocean is the next level must be activated. Sahasrara is the seventh and final chakra. It is the crown chakra and is located onthe top of the head (?Chakras and Meditation?). This is the thousand petal lotus. Thislotus has no color of its own. This chakra corresponds to absoluteness. This is were aYogi attains samadhi or superconciousness (Lidell, 71). The goal of a Yogi duringmeditation is to gain this superconciousness. Sahasrara is the center of pure spirit. The question ?Who am I?? is answeredthrough the crown chakra as: ?I am a wave of infinite bliss? (Smith, 237-238). To a Yogino further explanation is desired or needed. Added by this chakra is the feeling of eternal peace. This is the end of the soul?squest but the beginning of a new mission. This is when a Yogi will start to help othersoul?s seeking the light of truth. To do this they have to go below the seventh chakra, butno lower than the fourth chakra. ?The duty in sewing others is to communicate with themat their highest level of understanding, not your own. We must speak the language that isunderstood by others? (Smith, 237-238). Meditation in the higher stages allows a person to view life from an advantagepoint. In these higher stages life is viewed as unified and perfect. To most people lifeappears disorganized and imperfect. Throughout the day everybody passes in and out ofdifferent chakra levels. Most people have a chakra center that they reside in most oftenduring the day. Most people spend their lives in the first, second and third chakra levels.Some however are lucky enough to pass on even further and their lives benefit greatly fromit (Smith, 232-233).

Bibliography

1. ?Chakras and Meditation.? http://www.wicca.com/celtic/chakra.htm. March 21, 1998.2. Lidell, Lucy, et.al. The Sivananda Companion to Yoga. New York: Simon & Schruster, Inc., 1983.3. ?Meditation.? http://www.salemctr.com/newage/center6.html. March 21, 1998.4. Smith, Bob, et.al. Yoga For a New Age. Seattle, Washington: Smith Productions, 1986.