This evening I set out to explore the words of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita
“The mind of him, who is trying to conquer it, is forcibly carried away in spite of his efforts, by his tumultuous senses. Restraining them all, let him meditate steadfastly on Me; for who thus conquers his senses achieves perfection. “
I sat comfortably and tried to see what it is to meditate on Krishna, who is the Christ. In the past I’ve concentrated my mind and reached meditation- perfect silence whereby I left behind the body, mind, and emotions to enter into the light that casts no shadows, the illuminated void.
But this meditation that Krishna refers to is quite different; he refers to meditating upon him in the actions of life, not being out of the body, so I wanted to learn something about what he meant by meditating upon Krishna.
I quietened the body and looked for a way to meditate on him. I sought to concentrate my mind, so I thought of him, but my thoughts were not him. I visualized him, imagined various forms of light, but I realized this was only my imagination and not him.
So I immersed myself in the Samadhi that is always with me, which unfortunately ebbs and flows throughout the day according to the action of my mind and emotions.
Of the Samadhi is intelligence, in the Samadhi is action without attachment, of the Samadhi is Krishna. As I looked there was nothing I could fix my mind upon to recognize him, he is beyond the mind.
I could be aware of my body, the breath, the heartbeat, and fix my mind upon them, but these were matter. The Samadhi was not to be found located specifically in these forms; everything of matter I perceived was my interpretation of form. The Samadhi is that which sees. It is what I perceive, the breath, it is the heart, the body, it is everything that exists and it is the true “I” stripped of form.
To sing to Krishna, to praise his name, to visualize him is not really to meditate upon Krishna. I realized that to rest in the peace of the Samadhi is to meditate upon Krishna from moment to moment during daily life, and that this is the key to conquer the senses.
Thanks for this article, Mark.
Re-reading it was really inspiring.
Thanks Mark, there’s so much to discover ahead. Hopefully we can follow.
I hadn’t seen this post before, thanks Anita for bringing it back to view in the ‘recent comments’!
I wonder what is meant with “he refers to meditating upon him in the actions of life,”? To perhaps live and feel the presence of Krishna in whatever task you are doing…To act through this force? I don’t understand a lot of this but it’s very interesting nonetheless. Thanks Belsebuub for sharing this approach.
Actually, Karim brought this article to my attention when he made a link to it from a post he made on TSS.
Zorana, if I could answer your question I’d be a teacher :) I guess the most important thing is that we are wondering about such things and really wanting to practice and experience them with all our being. This part spoke to me:
“I realized that to rest in the peace of the Samadhi is to meditate upon Krishna from moment to moment during daily life, and that this is the key to conquer the senses.”
It’s okay, it wasn’t directed specifically to you :) But I do agree with what you say about the wonderment and will to practice.
Thanks Belsebuub
I think an exploratory approach is something that I’m missing in my practices, and that I often do them without a yearning to explore and discover and go beyond what I already know. It’s great to hear how you approached the practice and trying to discover the meaning of a passage in a text. Thankyou for this article!
I really enjoyed re-reading this. It made me reflect on some of the ways I approach mindfullness and awareness of the senses throughout the day, and also as Matthew said, on the need to attain Samadhi.
It’s amazing how much insight can be expressed in just one little passage of the Bhagavad Gita. It’s not like I didn’t know it already, but still the tendency to sit down and read these texts one chapter at a time, etc. is there. I’ve done that before with some of the books, but haven’t for a while now. I feel inspired to take it one meaningful passage at a time and explore it further.
Belsebuub,
Thank you for sharing this insight with us, as Matthew said, it leaves one with “plenty to reflect on ‘ourselves’ and the need to attain Samadhi”.
Those 2 particular passage are quite inspiring and helpful:
But this meditation that Krishna refers to is quite different; he refers to meditating upon him in the actions of life, not being out of the body,
To sing to Krishna, to praise his name, to visualize him is not really to meditate upon Krishna. I realized that to rest in the peace of the Samadhi is to meditate upon Krishna from moment to moment during daily life, and that this is the key to conquer the senses.
It seems impossible for me to know what it is like to have this force within, this perception of a completely different nature, without having it within.
Yet I found investigating and trying to grasp the meaning of what is said in this article useful for me.
It makes me contemplate the ’emptiness’ of our interpretation of form, and about the importance of acquiring this force of Krishna within.
Thanks for teaching us.
A very nice insight to read. Can see the value of being honest with spiritual practices and not just dwelling in the mind/imagination. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing this insightful reflection; it was very helpful, and leaves me with plenty to reflect on myself, particularly about the need to attain Samadhi.