The Origin of Meditation

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Yoga is the constant union of body and soul, which the traditional body-conscious individual is unable to imagine or understand. Meditation is to link self with the greater Self. Meditation has no origin and no beginning. It was and has been practiced for aeons.

From even the earliest ages, many applicants of various spiritual and educational institutions have upheld the practice of devotion, worship and meditation on the One Supreme Spirit, Brahman or God. This has been the principal means to liberation, as well as possible bondage and sorrows of life and living. There therefore arose in that old period, many sects and subsets, seeking everlasting spiritual bliss.

Each of these sects and subsets had its distinctive feature, a religious philosophy, and a code of moral and spiritual self-discipline for fulfilling life and winning liberation or moksha. Each claimed devotion to the Source of all existence - the supreme Lord of the Universe. While each sect recognized the authority of the four Vedas, developing each denomination became more and more humanized. Over the centuries qualities of mercy, forgiveness, love and grace became steadily more and more practiced.

Devotees of Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Shakti, Durga and Kali uniformly developed into devotional sects, which became increasingly popular. Each believed that were worshipping God in these many Names and Forms. With the arrival of the Aryans, their culture developed and expanded to spread all over Bharat or India. The society now became diverse and increasingly varied. Assimilation of new and existing schools of devotion continued. In all these changes, the ideals and spiritual values stipulated in the Vedas were deliberated on and heeded. Despite heated discussions, exponents of different ideas cooperated for the sake of unity, peace, progress of society and the perpetuation of the race itself.

Faith in the Vedas was the strong bond of alliance among all sections of the race. Sages with extraordinary intellectual talents and intuitive spiritualism flourished throughout these ages. They succeeded in spreading their influence into the hearts and minds of seekers at large, even if some of these were alien races from afar. The paths and practices were honored through cooperation and a responsibility for coexistence. They were given practical applications in day-to-day life. The understanding and annexation of knowledge or gyana, devotion or bhakti, service or karma and meditation or yoga made assimilation possible through faith.

Earnest seekers felt a need for an integration of all the paths. In this compulsion they felt their domestic and social responsibilities gratified. Their duty in life and accountability to the beliefs of Moral Consciousness could then become perfect. Their energies would become spiritualized through detachment from worldly affairs. These efforts could then consummate in realizing the Origin of Cosmic Awareness and Consciousness through love, devotion and meditation.

Existing literature explains that even from ancient times, many sages and saints made many serious attempts for a rational agreement of the various interpretations of the Vedas. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, made the most successful attempt at combining the different viewpoints made by the different schools of thought. The truest representation of the spirit of the Vedas was made by this extraordinary personality, who was of an intense spiritual insight. He delivered to posterity the most comprehensive and practical philosophy and religion. In the history of religious evolution, Krishna gave India a unique place in the annals of spiritual an incarnation of God in a human form. Even then, this political leader and strategist was declared a hero. Students of the twenty-first century continue to regard him the most spiritually enlightened politician of all time.

It is believed Krishna taught Arjuna the message of Bhagavad Gita on the battlefields of Kurukshetra, just before the start of a horrible battle that was to follow. Within the shortest time frame, Krishna delivers a rational and the most practical synthesis of all forms of moral, social, emotional and spiritual disciplines. The discussion is about a spiritual outlook on human life and society, in all environments, as taught by the Vedas.

The celebrated sage and author of many epics, Vyasa, gave Krishna’s discussion with Arjuna the widest publicity possible. Krishna’s instruction in the Bhagavad Gita is the centerpiece in the Mahabharata, one of the most celebrated national epics of India. In the Gita, Krishna has succeeded in exposing the true essence of the Vedas, without doing injustice to any of their instruction. Every denomination, creed and school of thought is given thoughtful esteem and consideration. He has succeeded in raising ordinary domestic and social activity to a high spiritual level.

Krishna taught humankind to perform all action efficiently for the sake of duty in the service of the Cosmic Whole. By spiritualizing the entire human life, Krishna succeeded in reaching the common people, of all strata of rational society. Man has for many millenniums understood the message of the Gita, as the ideal instructions filled in the teachings of all the Vedas. Narrow interpretations of Vedic disclosures were given relevance in everyday life.

Krishna explained that Yoga of meditation should be the regulative principle of everybody’s life. He asserted the practice of meditation is not only for the exceptional few who renounce all worldly connections, but for all, of all religious disciplines, whether in solitude or while performing the mundane. He proved that Yoga was essentially living a God-centric life, an existence governed by a moral and spiritual perspective, in all affairs of experiences.

With this enlightened idea of Yoga, Krishna succeeded in unifying all differences between all paths, by bringing out the inner significance and underlying spiritual unity of the two major disciplines. One asserting that Man is by nature self-conscious and able to self-determine, without a regulatory body - this school felt Man has every potential for nobler actions of permanent and intrinsic value. The second school prescribed rules and laws for men of different physical and intellectual talents - the aim, with this school, was to ensure progressive development towards higher planes of consciousness.

Krishna, however, pointed out that when God is worshipped as a deity, with offerings or yagna of the self or with material things, the gift goes to the same One Spirit, to cultivate a divine outlook on everything and to feel the divine presence in every breath. For the sake of love and reverence for that One Spirit, Krishna said, perform action without care or apprehension for the fruits of such endeavors, which belong to and are determined by God. By cherishing such a cordial personal love, man is able to look on the Spirit as the eternal father, mother, and brother, friend, Lord and the Soul itself.

Back of the Book

Many have printed on paper the dialogue connecting Krishna with Arjuna in the Mahabharata. A great deal was left unarticulated but it unquestionably was understood by Krishna’s addresses. Perception of the message of the Bhagavad Geeta is easier said than done. A lecturer and guide are mandatory to unleash its significance for the likes of us. From beginning to end, insightful Sanjaya unfolds where meditation was first introduced eons ago. The Origin of Meditation simplifies and demystifies the process of self discovery by offering a matter of fact guide to spiritual unfoldment through discussion and dialogue.

Chakraburtty has successfully shown the serious student the sculpture of meditation. Through aerobics of writing this book she describes her own personal journey in the field of meditation. The author gives an intellectual and intuitive process beckoning for New Age balance.

The most satisfying of philosophies are those in which religious and cultural disparities are dispelled in the light of Truth. The universal quest for the source of life and the purpose of existence is met and revealed.

Sneh (Ahuja) Chakraburtiy was born in Punjab, educated in Zanzibar and in Ireland. She grew up with a deep interest in spirituality. She was taught the Vedanta by Swami Chinmayananda himself for over twenty years. Thirty-three years later, she continues to make medicine and philosophy a symbiotic relationship.