Introduction
IT WAS JULY, 1973, and on a hill overlooking a small lake, a tent had been set up to provide shelter from rain and bright sun. More than a hundred people were gathered to listen to a series of talks by Swami Rama in the relaxed surroundings of central Minnesota farmland. He sat on a low platform, facing the length of the tent. The grassy floor of the shelter was filled with blankets, carpets, and cushions for those sitting in front of him. Because the day was warm, the canvas at the sides had been raised, and a light breeze drifted through. The timeless setting seemed an ideal com-plement to this accomplished teacher's words about yoga. Through the intervening years the ideas Swami Rama ex-pressed then have become familiar, but on that day they were new and challenging. "You are a citizen of two worlds," he began, "the world within and the world without. To be a successful person you will need to understand how to build a bridge between these two worlds. Extreme views are not helpful to the world, nor are they helpful in your own life. It is best to gain control of your thoughts, sensations, emo-tions, and urges." With these words he initiated the idea of working with one's self. "Control does not mean stopping these things entirely, or over-indulging," he continued. "Control means balance. To achieve it, calm down the parts of the mind that are running so fast. You will need to rest the entirety of your mind, and for that you should learn a new way of knowing yourself. That method of inner knowing is called meditation." And with this simple introduction he began to describe the meditative pro-cess This was not the first time I had heard Swami Rama lec-ture on meditation. We had met eight months earlier at a seminar exploring the relationship between meditation and biofeedback. During the course of the seminar he spoke with me individually in a small room off the side of the main hall. When I sat down with him, a low coffee table separated us in the narrow space, and on the table was an EEG record-my own brain waves-prepared that day by seminar staff on a portable machine. He glanced at it as we talked. "Do you meditate?" he asked. "Not really," I replied, although I had tried on a number of occasions. Somehow I felt that my rather unorganized attempts did not constitute the answer "Yes." "You should learn to meditate!" he responded. Soon he had gotten me started, and I left the weekend dedicated both to the goals of meditation and to an elementary tech-nique for learning to do it. I joined a small class of his stu-dents to continue my training. In those early years information about meditation came from a variety of sources-mainly books, articles, and class handouts prepared under Swami Rama's guidance. In addi-tion, a few experienced teachers served as guides. As a result, a good deal of note-taking and sharing took place, and stu-dents frequently revised their method of meditation as new techniques were introduced. In addition, general concepts about meditation underwent a continual shaping process. "What is meditation, after all?" we seemed to be asking.
About The Book
Meditation and Its Practice In this practical guide to inner life, Swami Rama teaches us how to slip beyond the mental turbulence of our ordinary thought processes into an infinite reservoir of consciousness from which we can draw guidance, creative power, joy, and tranquility. The Program for Progress in Meditation outlined here opens the door to internal resources we have always had at our disposal, but have not been able to access. These are the techniques the sages of India have used from time immemorial to live in harmony with the world around them, to find strength to face life's difficulties, and to know themselves.
About The Author
ONE OF THE greatest adepts, teachers, writers, and humanitarians of the 20th century, Swami Rama is the founder of the Himalayan Institute. Born in the Himalayas, he was raised from early childhood by the great Himalayan sage, Bengali Baba. Under the guidance of his master he traveled from monastery to monastery and studied with a variety of Himalayan saints and sages, includ-ing his grandmaster, who was living in a remote region of Tibet. In addition to this intense spiritual training, Swami Rama received higher education in both India and Europe. From 1949 to 1952, he held the prestigious position of Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham in South India. Thereafter, he returned to his master to receive further training at his cave monastery, and finally, in 1969, came to the United States, where he founded the Himalayan Institute. His best-known work, Living with the Himalayan Masters, reveals the many facets of this singular adept and demonstrates his embodiment of the living Himalayan Tradition.
Asana (101)
Bhakti Yoga (21)
Biography (53)
Hatha Yoga (95)
Kaivalyadhama (58)
Karma Yoga (32)
Kriya Yoga (85)
Kundalini Yoga (60)
Massage (2)
Meditation (347)
Patanjali (139)
Pranayama (69)
Women (32)
Yoga for Children (12)
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