Meditation: Its Process, Practice, and Culmination
By Swami Satprakashananda, 264 Pages, Hardcover.
The practice of meditation is one of the most essential, and yet one of the most difficult, of all the processes the human mind can be engaged in. More than just having a quiet place to sit and a little concentration, meditation in spiritual ife means consistently being able to turn one's mind toward the Supreme Being. Arjuna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Verily the mind, O Krishna, is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and stubborn. I regard it quite as hard to gain control over the mind as over the wind."
Yet countless spiritual persons in all ages have successfully practiced meditation on one aspect or another of the Supreme Being. Through persistent effort, and by following the path of virtue and other preparatory courses, the mind gradually develops the necessary inwardness and devotion. Only then can meditation be rightly directed, for in the true sense it is not the beginning of one's spiritual life, but the end, being regarded as the last of all spiritual disciplines.
Swami Satprakashananda has enunciated the many ways one can prepare oneself for meditation—from work and prayer to the yogas of Karma, Bhakti, Raja and Jnana. He explains through Vedantic scriptures its time-honored methods for directing every aspect of one's being to the Supreme Goal, culminating in the realization of God in deep meditation.
The practice of meditation is one of the most essential, and yet one of the most difficult, of all the processes the human mind can be engaged in. More than just having a quiet place to sit and a little concentration, meditation in spiritual ife means consistently being able to turn one's mind toward the Supreme Being. Arjuna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Verily the mind, O Krishna, is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and stubborn. I regard it quite as hard to gain control over the mind as over the wind."
Yet countless spiritual persons in all ages have successfully practiced meditation on one aspect or another of the Supreme Being. Through persistent effort, and by following the path of virtue and other preparatory courses, the mind gradually develops the necessary inwardness and devotion. Only then can meditation be rightly directed, for in the true sense it is not the beginning of one's spiritual life, but the end, being regarded as the last of all spiritual disciplines.
Swami Satprakashananda has enunciated the many ways one can prepare oneself for meditation—from work and prayer to the yogas of Karma, Bhakti, Raja and Jnana. He explains through Vedantic scriptures its time-honored methods for directing every aspect of one's being to the Supreme Goal, culminating in the realization of God in deep meditation.
