Vedānta & Dhyāna – Healthy Thinking
Healthy thinking is perhaps the most helpful of the 5 Points of Yoga, for we become what we think. Yoga teaches us that a positive outlook on life can be developed by learning and practicing the teachings of the philosophy of Vedānta; and the mind will be brought under perfect control by regular practice of meditation and living a yogic lifestyle.
What is Thought?
We have waves of heat, light and electricity in science – in yoga we also have thought waves. Thought has tremendous power. Everybody is always experiencing the power of thought unconsciously to a greater or lesser degree.
Yoga – A Transformative Power
It is helpful if we are watchful in keeping non-positive thoughts… negated. Each thought is a link in an endless chain of causes and effects, each effect becoming a cause and each cause having been an effect; and each link in the endless chain is welded out of three components: desire, thought and activity. A desire stimulates a thought; a thought embodies itself as an act. Our actions constitute the web of destiny.
Yoga – Living in Action
A positive yogic lifestyle automatically generates positive thoughts. Āsanas help move the prāṇa and remove mental blockages. Prāṇāyāma balances energy and supplies new energy to the body and mind. Śavāsana removes stress. Healthy diet provides vital energy and meditation recharges and purifies thoughts.
Everyone has the power to transform his or her thoughts from the negative to the positive. As thought is immediate, one needs to master these different thought tools at our disposal as a negative thought becomes more serious over time, by the power of repetition. There are methods offered through all paths of yoga – Rājā, Karma, Bhakti and Jñāna – there are methods for whatever path suits one best. For now we will summarize by offering this brief introduction and will continue with a few points to remember regarding meditation and learning to connect with the ever-present stillness inside.
7 Points of Meditation
- Sit in a steady, comfortable, cross-legged position with spine and neck erect but not tense.
- Before beginning, set the intention to be quiet for a specific length of time.
- Breathe in a normal, rhythmic nature – inhale for three seconds and exhale for three seconds. Regulation of breath also regulates the flow of prāṇa, the vital energy.
- Allow the mind to wander at first. It will jump around, but with practice. it will become more and more concentrated/quiet.
- Select a focal point on which the mind may rest. For people who are intellectual by nature, this may be the Ājñā Chakra, the point between the eyebrows. For more emotional people, use the Anāhata or Heart Chakra.
- Consider focusing the mind on a neutral or uplifting object, holding the image in the place of concentration. If using a Mantra, repeat it mentally, and coordinate repetition with the breath.
- Regularity of time, place and practice can be quiet beneficial as providing the mind with a positive habit naturally conditions the mind to slow down its activities with a minimum of delay while you sit. (Like the famous experiment: “Pavlov’s dog”) Setting a regular time to meditate is conditioning… in a positive way.