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Meditation
Support
Daily
Meditation: The Key to Progress
By Bharat Cornell
Learning a new
skill requires regular, dedicated practice. This is especially true
for meditation, which attunes us to higher levels of awareness.
Daily practice of meditation creates the strong momentum necessary
to lift our consciousness above everyday concerns. Without consistent
discipline, our consciousness too easily slips back into restlessness.
Imagine a feather
floating in mid-air, kept aloft by a blowing fan. As long as the
fan stays on, the feather will remain in the air. If the fan stops,
however, the feather will fall. It is the same in our meditations.
If our practice is sporadic, (on and off), our consciousness falls,
like the feather, and we have to work that much harder to lift it
again. If the feather is kept in the air continuously, however,
less effort is required to keep it aloft. Likewise, it's easier
(and more rewarding) to keep our practice going by meditating daily.
Then any increase of effort takes us further as opposed to trying
to reclaim lost ground. This is why Paramhansa Yogananda said that
the more you meditate, the more you will want to meditate.
The good news
is that intensity and consistency are far more important than the
length of time spent in meditation. Swami Kriyananda said that we
should not meditate past our level of enjoyment. If we meditate
with enthusiasm and regularity, we will naturally increase the length
of our meditation.
To advance steadily
in your practice, it is highly recommended that you meditate twice
a day—even if the sessions are brief at first. If you find
that time is short, and the hour is late, do even five minutes before
going to bed. You will then carry a meditative calm with you through
the night and into your morning meditation, making it easier to
go deeper. Consistency does wonders for your meditation and consciousness.
Meditating regularly is a way of demonstrating your spiritual sincerity.
You are making a concerted effort to spend time with God (or your
higher Self), and this does not go unnoticed. When we take one step
toward God, He takes seven toward us, says an Indian proverb. Any
effort to reclaim our divine nature is blessed enormously by God
and the Great Ones.
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