Introduction:
The objective of meditation is not to acquire physical goodness alone, but to
acquire total psychical goodness by eradicating all evil from one's thoughts,
speech and action. It is a "process of remedying inner incompleteness and
reducing inner discord" as aptly stated by William James. To achieve
this objective, the system of Preksd Dhydna bifurcates into (a) Concentration
of Perception and (b) Concentration of Thought i.e. Preksha and anupreksha In
the former technique of meditation, preception and awareness are primarily used
for concentration; thinking is considered a distraction and is banished as far
as possible. In the latter technique, the conscious mind is encouraged to engage
itself in a 'thinking process i.e. contemplation. Perception and contemplation
both awaken and develop practitioner's conscious reasoning and thereby modify
one's attitude and behaviour. Contemplation is, sometimes, defined as 'religious'
meditation which is non-discursive (i.e. intuitive) and mostly mystical. But in
Preksha Dhyan, contemplation is both discursive as well as intuitive. It means,
research and deliberate reflection for Truth and Reality. Just as impartial (without
like or dislike), objective and concentrated perception is meditation, a totally
impartial and objective contemplation bereft of subjective prejudices and emotions
is also meditation. Contemplation, therefore, is search for truth by a single-point
mental faculty engaged in reflecting upon the reality, eliminating all that is
mere appearance or illusion. It consists in concentrating on the entire mental
faculty in searching Truth and nothing else. The process of contemplation
banishes all memories, eliminates all ideas and conceptions except one. Full concentration
on a single mental conception becomes contemplative meditation and this is an
efficient process of ascertaining the reality. It, therefore, becomes a powerful
tool for realising the Truth. Whenever one concentrates on a theme or a object
and takes a purely objective view, that banishes all subjective considerations,
acuity of his cognition increases manifold. One, then, realises the true meaning
of the theme or the true nature of the object Ancient philosophers and seers used
this tools extensively for realising the Truth. Modern science also uses this
process to ascertain the ultimate structure of the material universe. In
practice of contemplation the exercise is two-fold: (a) exercise of concentration,
contemplation and reflection on a single theme and (b) exercise using auto-suggestion
to effect attitudinal change. Contemplation of eternal truth such as "transitoriness"
comprise the first irrational fear by auto-suggestion is an example of the second
type. Relaxation and the steadiness of body are essential pre-conditions in both
types of exercise. |