What Meditation Really Means in the Ayurvedic Tradition

Repeat ten times. Chapter 7 Meditation and Mental Discipline M editation is an art of bringing harmony to body, mind, and consciousness. Life with meditation is a flowering of bliss and beauty. Life without meditation is stress, confusion, and illusion.

During ancient times meditation was often considered a way of life. Truly, meditation is not separate from daily living, but as a discipline, we have to practice certain techniques, methods, and systems. Once we have practiced a form of meditation and mastered it, that discipline stays with us in every aspect of our lives. So whatever technique you do, whatever system you follow, according to the instruction given by your teacher, please do that.

But what is meditation, and what is not? Meditation is not concentration. In concentration we narrow the mind, and a narrow mind is a limited mind. We need that limited, pointed, concentrated mind to probe into any subject, to solve problems, to learn a language, to fly an airplane.

We need it. But not in meditation. In concentration we build a wall of resistance, and in the effort to control the mind, we lose energy. Some people meditate that way for an hour, and when they’re finished, they feel tired, because for that hour they were fighting and fighting, negating everything, saying no to all thoughts and perceptions, trying to focus the mind.

Concentration is all-exclusive, but meditation is all-inclusive. Meditation is open, choiceless awareness. Everything is welcome. Meditation says yes to everything, while concentration says no to everything.