From top-level CEOs to glamorous movie stars, everybody who is anybody does meditation these days. But… you can’t really do meditation, you can only “become” meditative. Confused? Don’t worry, just read on.
Sadhguru: The moment we utter the word “meditation,” there are all kinds of misconceptions about it. First of all the English word “meditation” doesn’t mean anything in the sense, if you close your eyes and sit, in English we call it “meditation.” You can sit with your eyes closed and do many things. There are many dimensions. You can do japa, tapa, dharana, dhyana, samadhi, shoonya. Or you might have just mastered the art of sleeping in vertical postures!
So what is this thing that we call as meditation? Generally we assume that people are referring to what is known as dhyan or dhyana. In that context of referring to dhyan as meditation, it is not something that you can do. Nobody can do meditation. Why most people who have tried meditation have come to the conclusion that it’s very difficult or impossible is because they are trying to do it.
You cannot do meditation but you can become meditative.
You cannot do meditation but you can become meditative. Meditation is a certain quality. It is not a certain act. If you cultivate your body, your mind, your energies and your emotions to a certain level of maturity, meditation will naturally happen. It is just like if you keep the soil fertile, if you give it the necessary manure and water and if the right kind of seed is there, it will grow and bloom into flowers and fruits.
Flowers and fruits will come out of a plant not because you want it, but simply because you created the necessary, conducive atmosphere. Similarly, if you create the necessary atmosphere within yourself, on all the four dimensions of who you are, then meditation will naturally flower within you. It is a certain fragrance that one can enjoy within himself.”
Editor’s Note: Samyama is an intensive eight-day residential program conducted by Sadhguru at the Isha Yoga Center, which presents the possibility for participants to reach heightened levels of consciousness and experience explosive states of meditativeness in the presence of a self-realized yogi. Find out more here.
