God is immanent in this world. He has hidden Himself and is seated in the cavity of the lotus of your heart. You will have to seek Him through concentration and meditation with a pure mind. This is a real play of hide-and-seek. If you do not practise meditation, the supreme splendour and unrivalled glories of Atma will remain hidden from you. The wise cut asunder the knot of egoism by that sharp sword of constant meditation. Then dawns the supreme Knowledge of the Self, and the full inner Illumination, Self-realisation. Meditation is the only real, royal road to attain godhead - the only road which takes the aspirant direct to the destination of divine consciousness. Meditation is the pathway to Divinity. It is a mysterious ladder which reaches from darkness to Light, from ignorance to Knowledge from pain to Bliss, from restlessness to Peace, from mortality to Immortality.
The more you meditate, the more the spiritual strength you will have wherein you are cleansed of impurities. Be silent. You will be very close to the source, the Atman. Know thy Self. Know That. Melt the mind in That. The Divine energy freely flows from the feet of the Lord to the hearts of sadhakas. This is the action of Grace of the Lord upon the soul in meditation. In that inflowing Grace, there forthwith arises that light. You will enjoy the waves of Bliss and Peace. You will develop a new mode of thinking and acting, and a new view of the universe as God in manifestation.
Meditation acts as a powerful tonic. The holy vibrations penetrate all the cells of the body and cure diseases of the body through the powerful soothing waves that arise during the meditation exercise. Just as you require food for the body, so also you require food for the soul in the shape of prayers, japa, kirtan, meditation, etc. If you are not regular in your japa and meditation, the subtle body will become weak, and your power of resisting the evil thoughts, vasanas and samskaras will be less. Meditation develops strong and pure thoughts and increases sattvic qualities. When the mind becomes pure, it attains the state of steadiness and becomes one-pointed.
Meditation gives peculiar spiritual ananda (bliss), peace, contentment, fearlessness, an unruffled state of the mind in worldly difficulties, steadiness, inspiration, intuitive perception, sattvic qualities, and absence of anger, egoism and raga-dwesha (likes and dislikes). Those who practise concentration can do any work with scientific accuracy and great efficiency. It purifies and calms the surging emotions, strengthens the thought current and clarifies the ideas.
The more the mind is fixed on God, the more the strength you will acquire. It opens the inner chambers of love, the realm of Eternity, etc. It is the sole key for opening the chamber of Knowledge. You cannot compare the Ananda (Bliss) from meditation with transitory sensual pleasure.
Cultivate the flowers of peaceful thoughts of love, mercy, kindness, purity, etc. in the vast garden of your antahkarana (inner being); through introspection; water this garden of mind with meditation and sublime thinking.
Swami Sivananda Saraswati
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