Meditation - basic guide

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q1. What is meditation?
Meditation means to think continuously of the same thing. Meditation is time that we spend with our inner self. Meditation is a process of regulating the mind. Meditation is a process of calming the mind..

Q2. Why should we meditate?
To be able to release the stress on a daily basis, to balance professional & personal life, to give a pause to the mind & connect with our inner self.

Q3. Who can meditate?
Earlier the perception was that meditation is only meant for elderly people. However, anyone above the age of 15 years can meditate.

Q4. How do we meditate?
Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and start with a thought Divine light is present in your heart.

Q5. How is Heartfulness different from art of living or any other institution?
All missions are working towards helping humanity to deal with everyday life. All are doing a good job. I have experienced Heartfulness Meditation and so can talk only about its benefits.    (Please refrain from giving views about other spiritual or religious practices).

Q6. Do you chant mantras or play music during meditation?
No. Only a suggestion that Divine light is present in my heart.

Q7. Why to meditate on light?
Light is the most subtle form of energy. To reach the subtlest (God) we need to meditate on subtlest.

Q8. When to meditate?
It can be done at any time of the day but should be preferably done in the morning.

Q9. What do we do during meditation?
We sit comfortably & close our eyes & do nothing. There is no physical or mental activity during meditation. Many thoughts may come to our mind during meditation  we are taught not to attend but to ignore them.

Q10. How long do we have to meditate?
We can start with few mins preferably half hour & max 1 hour.

Q11. Why do we meditate on the heart?
Heart is the main organ of the body. It is the pumping station of the blood which sends out the blood after purification to different nerves and cells of the body. We take the heart as the center of meditation as purification of the heart will have an effect on refinement of the entire physical system.

Q 12. What are the benefits of meditation?
Meditation streamlines our thoughts and disciplines the mind. This helps in reducing mental stress which is the cause of various illness. Meditation helps to balance our mind and enhances spirituality. It creates an overall wellness.

Q13. Who is the guru of the system?
Shri Kamlesh D. Patel is our Guide. He is the President of our mission. But in Heartfilness Meditation practice, emphasis is more on process of Meditation.

Q 14. What is unique about Heartfulness?
The pranahuti (transmission) is the most unique aspect of this system. As body needs food to survive, Prananhuti is the food for the soul. It is transmitted by the guru into the heart of an aspirant. It removes impurities & impressions & accelerates the spiritual growth. Heart is also the seat of the soul.
Second unique aspect is cleaning. It helps to clean our samskaras.

E.g. Transmitting the inner state of the person, like when we see a child, the childs happiness automatically reflects on us, and we too become happy. In a way the child has transmitted his happiness to us.

Q15. What is samskaras?
Every action has a reaction which leave a trace in the heart. This becomes seeds for future actions. Repeated impressions forms samskaras. (Similar to karma theory) There is a need to clear the seeds so that it does not form future actions.

Q16. Will practicing Heartfulness Meditation improve my health?
Nowadays all illness are psychosomatic, that means starting from mind & then reflecting on the body. So if mind is purified, many diseases will improve considerably. But the goal of the meditation is not only improving health.

Q17. Will my problems be sorted if I practice Heartfulness?
Not necessarily. But the strength to undergo our own problems grows a great deal.

Q18 How do we start the practice?
Our trainers are available all over Mumbai and they help us in getting initiated into the system. Politely we can ask for their details (name, number, address) and then we can map them to the nearest prefect.

Q19. Are there any charges involved?
There are no charges to experience Heartfulness Meditation. It is all voluntary. We are here only to share the experience that we have felt over the years of our practice. Only competence required to start the practice is willingness.

Q20.  I am following any religious or spiritual practice do I need abandon that to start this?
NO. Whatever we are doing remains the same. Along with that we can experience this also.

Q21. Time period required to feel the effectiveness of the practice?
There is no specific time period. All we can say is at least practice for 3 months heart fully.

Q22. Is there any literature available?
Lot of literature are available at our centres. And also our Heartfulness magazine can be downloaded from our website as e-books.

Q23. Is there anything for children?
We have relaxation technique for children.

Q24. What do we do during cleaning? 
Sit for half an hour with a suggestion to yourself that all complexities and impurities including grossness, darkness, etc. are going out of the whole system through the back in the form of smoke or vapor, and that in their place the sacred current of the Divine is entering your heart. The evening cleaning is to be done at the end of the day, when you are done with the routine daily activities. 

Q25. What is the difference between cleaning and meditation? 
Meditation is a passive process, where you give a supposition that the divine light is present in the heart and wait for the feeling to emerge.  Whereas cleaning is an active process, wherein you use suggestion to clean yourself.