Meditation is a consequence, not just a practice

During my college years and some more to follow I was very passionate about yoga, spirituality, health diets and different lifestyle tips and tricks that relate to them. I can't say that I fully understood what Yoga is even after reading some good amount of books, taking part in classes and of course practicing it. From all that yoga has to offer it seems though, that meditation is the one that I misunderstood the most and it seems that I am not alone in this circle.

Watching a short video of Sadhguru talking on the topic I not only understood where I took my steps wrong, but also the fact that I was aware about the steps. Now, when one reads the Yogas Sutras by Patanjali, from what I remember, there are some clear and well determined steps on the path of yoga which a yogi needs to take on this path. But, before jumping on the steps theory let's see what yoga means. The yoga term from Sanskrit means oneness or unification in the simplest way of translating it and that's where I got my first step wrong.

By the way all the info presented in this post is my own experience, perception and knowledge and not some diploma project with tens of books and website of references so expect some subjectivity to the topic and an amateur flavor. Now that I've set the terms and conditions clear I will bring back the attention to these Yoga steps established by Patanjali. So, in order for one to attain the state of Yoga, or the union with God, Universe, oh however you want to call it, must walk on these steps on yoga and not overpass any of them. Just like in a multi level game.

The first of them is yama and nyama which is a set of behavioral and moral recommendations to prepare the yogi for his Yoga journey towards that union. Something like the tens laws of Christianity. Once he's settled with those and lives by these moral principles it is the time for learning and practicing asanas, which is the next step. The one with those exercises that have become famous all over the world and have the world wide known name of Yoga, which is completely wrong, and a result of the western adoption of such practice.

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Once the yogi masters the asanas and attains control over his body he is prepared for panayama, which is a compound of tens, if not hundreds, of different types of breathing techniques. Techniques that are very helpful in actually controlling the mind, as the great yogi BKS Yiengar once said: "whoever controls the breath, controls the mind". After getting control of the mind the yogi follows the next step in yoga which is pratyahara that refers to the ability of one to retract his awareness and senses from the surroundings, or the external world making him aware of the inner world, followed by dharana that teaches the Yoga practitioner the art of concentration, through different techniques.

Just after one masters all of these six steps, mentioned above, can now move forward towards the seventh one which is called dhyana and it is what we know as meditation or the contemplation of one self. But the modern yoga practitioner and especially the western ones make the mistake, as I also did, of jumping straight to meditation or just doing asanas and meditating without taking in consideration Patanjali's all of the 8 steps in Yoga and that seems to be the reason for many of us not having the expected results in the practice of meditation and ultimately quitting it.

Yoga and especially meditation is first of all not a fashion and you can't just take out an ingredient from "a science", if I may call it like that, practice it and expect to be one with everything and ultimately transform yourself so that's why meditation doesn't work for many of us. Because we forget about the previous steps that prepare us for its fully potential that can take a meditation practitioner to the state of Nirvana which is very often talked about by all sort of people. I can't say that just by meditating one will not feel anything or won't feel more relaxed and things like this, but to reveal meditation's full potential and benefits we need to go through much more than a quiet room, a lightened candle and a yoga mat. At least that's how I now understood the whole thing, thanks to Sadhguru.

As a conclusion meditation is a consequence, not a practice and once we understand that we know what kind of a road waits for us and if it's worth taking it. I am not discouraging anyone from meditating, with or without taking in consideration all of Patanjali's steps in Yoga, but I understood that I kinda jumped over some of those steps although theoretically I was aware of them at some point of time. I don't think I will even try on walking the above mentioned steps, but I can say that I understand why and why not meditation works for some, but not for all.

Thanks for your attention,
Ace