Introducing 'Heartfulness Meditation' to friends using WhatsApp

Recently I used WhatsApp to introduce 'Heartfulness Meditation' to people whom I know personally i.e., they are in my mobile's address book and they also have my mobile number in their address book.

Let's see what I shared with them.

Day-1
Hi, with your permission I will send one short video per day, giving useful information on Heartfulness Meditation. 

So, one video will be sent to you per day for next 12 days. It will be of 2 to 3 min duration telling you about one particular aspect of the meditation practice. For example, what is it, when and how to sit, how to regulate thoughts, recording experiences etc etc.

Please give feedback or feel free to ask relevant questions to me.

What is Meditation?

Day-2: "Heartfulness Meditation." Here we go.

Please go back a little in time and remember how you learnt driving, swimming, cooking or biking. It was difficult initially. Same here, but it is safer here.

Actually for some people, it may be somewhat similar to the situation when Harry Potter went to the 9 3/4 platform to catch the Hogwarts Express!

Just kidding. Don't worry.

Meditation without light

Day 3: Heartfulness Meditation. "Can you give me a book to read or a CD to know more about Meditation?" Watch this video for the answer.

Practice first, understand later

Day-4: Heartfulness Meditation

The Best time for Heartfulness Meditation

Day-5: Heartfulness Meditation

Regulating the mind with Heartfulness meditation

Day-6: Heartfulness Meditation

The Right Posture for Heartfulness Meditation

Day-7: Heartfulness Meditation

The Right Place for Heartfulness Meditation

Day-8: Heartfulness Meditation

Finding Balance through Heartfulness meditation

Day-9: Heartfulness Meditation

Importance of a Goal for Heartfulness meditation

Day-10: Heartfulness Meditation

Developing Humility through Heartfulness meditation

Day-11: Heartfulness Meditation

Meditation on the Heart

Day-12: Heartfulness Meditation. With this we end the series of informational videos on Heartfulness Meditation.

Hope you liked them. Please do share feedback.

Also, please sit for Heartfulness Meditation every day morning for 30 minutes. More information is available on this website: heartfulness.org

Recording Experiences of Heartfulness meditation

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That's it. At the end of 12 days recipients would have got a good general idea of what this is about. If any one shows interest in practicing Heartfulness Meditation the step by step process is reproduced below from the heartfulness.org website.

How to practice 'Heartfulness Meditation'

1. Create the environment
Find a place where you won’t be disturbed. The practice described below should ideally be followed at the same time and place over the next seven days.

Turn off your phones, televisions, radios and any other sources of distraction.

If you need to, tell your room-mates or family members that you will not be available for 30 minutes.

2. Relax
Sit comfortably and follow the Heartfulness relaxation. This can be done by people of all ages.

Heartfulness Relaxation

3. Meditate
Gently close your eyes and suppose that a Divine Light is illuminating your heart from within. Rather than trying to visualize it, simply tune in to your heart and be open to any experience that you may have.

Do this for 30 minutes. If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your heart.This can be done by people who are 18 or older.

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Once you feel yourself naturally coming out of the meditation, spend a few minutes writing down what you observed in a journal. Keeping a journal of your observations is highly recommended.

Points for reflection:

• How long was I able to meditate for?
• Where is my attention during this meditation?
• How did it feel to focus on the heart instead of the mind?

What Next?
When you feel inspired to explore this further, you might consider Practising Heartfulness with the assistance of yogic transmission.

Mind - Heart Relationship

There is considerable confusion among people on whether to use the mind or the heart - while thinking, deciding etc. This confusion is bound to happen because people don't correctly understand what each term represents and their relationship with each other. They naively conclude that since it's an inbuilt capability among human beings and everyone uses it all the time - we all know about it very well. Well, not really.

I will try to explain it in simple words using some modern terminologies.

If you understand working of computers or smart phones, mind is like a random access memory (RAM) i.e., volatile memory of a computer or a smart phone. And heart is like a permanent memory similar to that of hard disk or a SD card.

Come on, I can understand about mind's comparison with RAM but I won't agree with heart's comparison with a hard disk or SD card. How can it be?

You agree that whatever is in the mind is volatile in nature. Right?

Yes. But, how does it make heart like a permanent memory?

It works like this. Whenever we repeatedly think about a certain thing - say about a good movie that we have seen or a good restaurant we have visited or a bad memory about an unfortunate fight with a close friend - all this events leave an impression on the mind first; and after a few mental repetitions of that event in the mind, this impression settles on the heart. If attention is not given to the event, it fades away from the mind; and it does not settle on the heart. But once an impression is formed on the heart, it remains there till it is removed.

It is similar to what is in the memory (mind) is written to the hard disk (heart) when an impression remains in the memory (RAM) for a reasonably long period of time.

How can one remove it from the heart?

Good question. Normally such impression remains settled on the heart like a seed. When suitable circumstances present themselves it comes to life i.e., such impression makes its appearance in the mind in the form of thoughts.

You mean to say, I remember the event. Isn't it?

Yes. Not only you remember, you feel the same emotion that you had felt when you had formed the impression; may be, not that intensely now, but it does appear on the scene.

So, it gets removed/erased from the heart. Isn't it?

Not really. In fact, it depends on your mental attitude. If you treat it with equanimity and don't give attention to it, such thoughts drop off and the impression is removed from the heart. But, what happens in such an occurrence is quite the opposite i.e., we re-live the old experience and our thoughts and action makes it stronger, making its removal difficult, in not impossible. In fact, we make the impression stronger than it was before by thinking about it.

Come on. You mean to say whatever we indulge in anything intensely or remember the old events and give attention to it, it becomes stronger. And, only way out is to behave like a saint by remaining calm and composed without any reaction. That is not possible for an average person. Isn't it?

Quite true. But whether we want it or not, that's what happens. That is the reason why even though we wish to follow our heart we are unable to do it; because heart is giving us wrong signals. This happens because our heart is full of such past impressions; some mild and some very strong. So, sometimes although we know that our mind is fooling us by giving logical (and many times immoral answers) we are unable to follow the heart because even heart is giving answers based on what is already stored in the heart in the form of impressions.

There must be a way out? Situation can't be so hopeless.

Surely, there is a way out. But, you tell me, how this problem can be overcome?

Hmm... You said heart is like a hard disk. Isn't it? Then it should be possible for us to delete the impression somehow. Is it true?

Yes, you are right. It is possible to delete or remove the impressions. It is possible to remove impressions by self-effort, if such effort is made soon after its formation.

How does one do it? Is it difficult?

Not really, if one knows how to do it and learn it well by doing it every day.

Tell me please?

Sure. One has to use his will power to remove such impressions. Sit with eyes closed and think that all impressions gathered during the day's thoughts and actions are getting removed from the body from the backside in the form of smoke or vapour. Don't think about situation which lead to the formation of the impression.

This process is similar to cleaning a room using a broom. Here we use our will power to clean the mind, and heart of the impression.

For how long one does this thing? And how do I know it has worked?

One may do it for half an hour. If it done properly you will feel lightness of mind i.e., weight of the impression goes away making mind lighter.

Isn't this same thing, which you described as cleaning process, in our earlier discussion?

Yes. It is same.

And you said, cleaning of the older (and stronger) impressions is the work of the guide. Isn't it?

True.

I have a question. You say impressions settle on the heart. So, when one dies even the heart i.e., hard disk also dies. Isn't it? So, this should not pose any problem really because upon death all this impressions are lost.

That's what people generally believe; but that's not the case.

Let me explain.

Think of why some people commit suicide? They do this when they are unable to bear the weight of their own thoughts - and they commit suicide thinking that dying will solve their problem.

But in reality, after the death of a person impressions accumulated on the heart do not get erased but they are carried over by the soul in the afterlife. When I said mind is like a volatile memory and heart is a permanent memory, it is very much true i.e., upon death what was there in mind is lost but what was stored on the heart is carried further by the soul in the next life.

If what you saying is correct, then we should do something when we are alive. Isn't it?

Yes. If we don't wish to become slave of impressions settled on the heart one should adopt such means that would make us free of its effect. By whatever means, when we manage to free ourselves of all impressions, we truly become free of our past. That's what a liberation is. Our mind becomes clean and heart become pure; and it starts guiding the mind without any prejudices. And we are able to gain ability to think and behave right.

Thanks. Now, I understand working of mind, heart and its relationship.

What do you think? Do leave your comments.

Live simply - how & why to live a simple life

At my office, in my room I've put up a small paper saying this:

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Five simple rules to be Happy forever

Free your heart from hatred

Free your mind from worries

Live simply

Give more

Expect less

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How to do this naturally?

 Meditate

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When people are happy they don't know about it. It's only when something happens which makes them unhappy that they find out that they were happy. Isn't it a curse on humanity?

Any way, today I wish to write about Live simply. Obviously I should not write complicated and long essay on how and why to live a simple life.

With the advent of industrialized world, life has become complicated and fast. If we wish to retain sanity and be happy then its time to simplify life.

How?

Few suggestions:

1. Learn to love what you are; and use what you already have.

God made man in his own image; and still every person is different from his fellow brothers. There is a reason for that. Before taking birth each person has decided where he will be born, how he will be and what he will do. So, be contented with what you are and effectively use what you have already got. Don't think of taking short cuts. Acceptance is a great virtue.

Does it mean I should not look forward to or try anything in life? That seems to a derogatory idea.

2. Focus on becoming something rather than having things. 

One should aspire but not to have ambition. Learning a skill e.g, cooking, writing, painting; develop human qualities e.g., sympathy, ability to listen; rather than having a house, beautiful wife, strong body.

What's wrong with a rented house, average looking wife and reasonably healthy body? After all, we are here only for a brief period of say 60 to 70 years; half of which is wasted in growing up and following unnecessary pursuits.

3. Focus on fulfilling needs adequately. Reduce wants.

When one does what he likes and interested in, automatically things he needs comes. Needs are legitimate. Wants are our own creation. If we are able to discriminate and find out what we really need to live, our life becomes simpler.

4. Use technology to the bare minimum. 

Modern day conveniences offered by technology makes us dependent because once we become used to it we can't live without it. Also, lot of time, energy and money is wasted in acquiring and learning to use this technological innovations. Instead, once we start using our own inbuilt abilities i.e., start using our mind (to say remember phone numbers or storing our ideas); start using our hands/legs (to walk, play outdoor games); and adapt our body to withstand cold/heat; we become strong because our mind and body remains in use - by going through resistance training.

5. Learn to listen and follow your heart.

Even science has found that heart has neurons! It has ability to think; and we have forgotten to think i.e., we have stopped using our mind to think! Isn't it ridiculous? We have to regain this ability to think, first with mind and then with the heart. We have become too much slave of the past and its effects. If we wish to have a future that is different and better than what it is today then it is very important to learn to think and that too using our heart. How to do this? Learn to meditate. Learn to meditate on the heart and take help, if needed.

What to you say?