Cause, effect and meditation

November 5 2020 | Ashtanga yoga, Pranayama, Yoga philosophy

In this era of human evolution, we are constantly directed to be goal oriented, and we often forget that to bring about the desired result or effect, – sincere and long-term practice is required. The effect cannot happen without the cause reaching its tipping point.

We often get frustrated with meditation practice, for example. Forgetting, that meditation is not something we can do. It is not the action of sitting and closing the eyes and dozing off or spacing out. It is a quality within us, which arises when we are ready.

When our cause reaches a tipping point, it enables the effect – meditative state. Cause in this case is an accumulation of time spent on the practices, leading towards meditation. In yoga those are asana, pranayama, pratyahara and dharana. They work on the body, mind, breath, nervous system and enable us to make our body steady and effortless and our mind focussed.

It is said, that if we cultivate healthy body, healthy mental and emotional states, non-reactiveness, – we become meditative on the mat and off the mat.

In yoga, meditation or dhyana is a separation or discrimination of what we truly are (cosmic consciousness) and what we collected for this material existence, i.e. mind and body and all its products (emotions, desires, aversions, possessions, family, education, friend, money etc.).

Once the space between these two is there, it is said to be the end of suffering. Once there is no fear of suffering, we access consciousness.

Suffering comes from the mind being already too full. That’s why yoga does not suggest mind-full-ness meditations, but other practices to free ourselves from the fullness of the mind…