We have already established the basic meaning of meditation. For all practical purposes it means to fix the thought process on the present. It is also popularly known as the process of being in the now. It is to be done as a conscientious effort. The process can be gradually learnt and eventually mastered in a certain span of time with regular practice. But before beginning one must also have a clear idea as to what is expected out of the practice. For most people this ultimate purpose is to have some sort of relief in the daily thought process and to rest, relax and rejuvenate the mind by the practice of meditation.

Meditation can also be called as a process that helps one concentrate more in the present. This is very advantageous as most of us are constantly handling too many things all at the same time. This is currently the latest trend in the busy corporate world. It is very fashionably called multi-tasking. It is something without which most people cannot survive their busy schedules. Although on one hand this factor has increased the human capacity to maximise the returns in all fields, on the other hand it has also taken away the core capacity to relax and rest, or like the younger generation calls in their trendy language, to chill. Communication has widened avenues with the technological advancement. In almost all businesses keeping up the pace of communication is extremely important. The world is presently moving on the concept that revolves around the fact as to how fast a certain communication can reach from point A top point B. This is powerful, fierce in own way and also very important for survival in the present day cut-throat competitive world.

But this has taken away or rather subdued the innate human capacity to be in the moment and enjoy it with full intensity. We are becoming a race that either keeps living in the past or the future. The present is simply being used to create better future so that when the future becomes the past, it can be revelled upon as a fantastic memory. This has also established an unrelenting path of constant worry about the future, whereas towards the end of life it is often realized that the life that was lived was never enjoyed. The dreams were realized but not cherished, the past has memories of achievement but the memories of togetherness and emotional attachments are lacking. This is the factor that creates despair and problems many times. Most of the conflict seen during these days in the life of various people all around the globe can be traced in one way or the other to inter-personal relationships. Is it really so that humans do not want successful inter-personal relationships? Because this is the very fabric upon which our success as a race was based and the quantum of our success was determined.

The human beings could not have survived the harsh realities of life without the factor of bonding and togetherness. We were not blessed with extra physical strength. We did not have any specialized offence or defence mechanisms. In fact humans as creatures are perhaps the most vulnerable compared to the rest of the modern day animals. Our ability lay in our brains, which we could use to overcome all of our deficiencies. And our ability to organize and lead groups played a very important role in our success as survivors and also as a ruling race. For us the inter-personal relationships were important to survive the competition posed by other human groups as well as other animals.

In the modern day we are still surviving the competitions, perhaps even beating them fair and square but we are compromising on our inter-personal relationships, hence the conflict. This is mainly because the humans are constantly living in either the past or the future and not noticing the present. Most of the relationships are being sacrificed because of this strange situation. The process of meditation teaches us to live in the present, to live in the now. Once habituated, meditation makes us more aware of the surroundings so that we become more observant and sensitized of the things that are happening around us all the time.

The basic process of meditation involves three stages:

To concentrate on an object or motion in the present: The most commonly used process here is to concentrate on the breathing. It is a constant process and it is generally used for visualizing essentially the entire system with the flow of air in the system by means of vital prana. Generally focusing on the breathing alone makes us come in the present and remain there.

Bringing the thoughts back to the present: We find after some time of intense focus, the mind starts to wander again, this happens to everyone who starts to meditate. Many people get disheartened by this too soon. They start reprimanding themselves without realizing that this is a common thing and is mandatory to happen. So there is no point in discomforting oneself for something that is bound to happen. It is best to start the focus all over again. Concentrating on breathing is a good exercise as this is a process that happens without our voluntary realization and it is easy to bring back the attention to it when the thoughts wander.

Ignorance really is bliss: It is best to remain a little ignorant about the process of meditation and not to fill up the mind too much as to what is going to happen. This keeps the mind from getting unnecessarily distracted. Also it is important to ignore all the distractions that occur in the process of meditation. This is necessary because if the thoughts wander and the person goes looking for them in order to tame them, he is bound to get lost in a maze of further thoughts. So any distractions are best left ignored.

This is essence establishes the process of meditation. Followed to the core it is bound to let the person attain many extra ordinary experiences. These experiences are preordained and predestined. Any effort to control or modulate them will lead to distractions and disappointments.

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