Yugavani

Meditation

[To devotees who worshipped God with form] At the time of meditation, think that you have tied your mind with a silk thread to the lotus feet of your chosen form of God, so that your mind may not stray away from there. Why do I say ‘silk thread?’ Because, those lotus feet are indeed very soft and delicate. They will be hurt if any other kind of string is used. Should one think of the Chosen Ideal at the time of meditation only and then forget Him at other times? You should always keep a part of the mind attached to Him. You must surely have noticed that a sacrificial lamp has to be lighted at the time of the worship of Durga. That light should always be kept burning near the deity, it should not be allowed to go out. If it does, it augurs ill for the householder. Even so, after the Chosen Ideal is brought and seated on the lotus of the heart, the sacrificial lamp of meditation on Him should always be kept burning. While one is engaged in worldly duties, one should watch at intervals whether that lamp is burning within or not. Ah! In those days before beginning to meditate on the Chosen Ideal, I imagined that I was thoroughly flushing out the inside of the mind. You see, there exist various kinds of dirt and dust (bad thoughts and desires) within the mind. I imagined that I was washing them off and was then making the Chosen Ideal sit there. Do just like that. I used to show to my mind the image of the Bhairava in meditation pose on the parapet of the roof of the music hall and say to it, ‘You must be firm and motionless like that and meditate on Mothers Lotus Feet.’ No sooner had I sat down for meditation than I heard clattering sounds produced in the joints of my body and limbs from the direction of the legs upwards; and they got locked one after another as if some one from within turned the keys. …. When I sat and meditated, I had, in the beginning, the vision of particles of light like groups of fire-flies; I saw sometimes all quarters covered with masses of mist-like light; and at other times I perceived that all things were pervaded by bright waves of light like molten silver. I saw these things sometimes with my eyes shut and sometimes with my eyes open. I did not understand what I saw nor did I know whether it was good or bad to have such visions. I therefore prayed to Mother with a troubled heart, ‘I don’t understand, Mother, what is happening to me; I don’t know Mantras etc., by which to call Thee; please teach me personally what may enable me to realize Thee. Mother! If Thou dost not teach me, who else will? For, there is no refuge for me except Thee.’ I used to pray thus with a concentrated mind and weep piteously on account of the eagerness of my heart. —Sri Ramakrishna