8. Initiating Deep Meditation

[The following conversation took place at Sringeri, in June 1976. Referring to a procedure to facilitate meditation that Acharyal had taught me three years earlier, I asked whether it could be used to advantage by all practitioners of meditation. Acharyal replied in the negative. He said that in His opinion, it ought to be practised only if advocated by the Guru. Those for whom it is unsuited would not derive benefit from it. Moreover, they may even experience negative effects, such as poorer meditation and headache. Acharyal added that when He was young Paramacharyal had taught the method to Him.]

I: Would Acharyal please tell me the details of Paramacharyal’s teaching and of Acharyal’s putting it into practice?

Acharyal: One morning, when I went to offer My namaskāras to Acharyal during His āhnika, He asked Me, “When performing various japas during Your āhnika, You contemplate in accordance with the dhyāna-ślokas. Do You not?” I answered that I did. “How do You begin?” He questioned. The significance of the question was not clear to Me as I was not aware of any special prelude to imagining a divine form in the heart-lotus. I replied, “I take up the rosary and commence a japa, keeping My eyes partially or fully open. Simultaneously, I just imagine the form described in the dhyāna-śloka concerned as present in My chest in a red lotus with eight petals.”

Acharyal said, “Your mind does not wander when You contemplate. However, You are aware of Your body and surroundings. Am I correct?” I answered in the affirmative. “Independent of the requirements of Your āhnika, would You like to practice deep meditation on divine forms?” He queried. I expressed My keenness on doing so.

Having instructed Me to sit down, Acharyal told Me, “I will tell You a simple method that will help You to start any meditation that You wish to do. During meditation, there is no need for You to use a rosary. Instead of straightaway picturing a devatā in Your heart, first direct Your gaze to the middle of Your eyebrows. While doing so, You could chant a mantra such as the Praṇava.” Acharyal then focused His eyes on the space between His brows. He remained thus for a few moments.

{At this point, Acharyal demonstrated what Paramacharyal had done.}

(Acharyal:) He then said, “Turning the eyes upwards can well be done with the eyelids partially closed. I have found this to be more convenient, but equally effective. You will experience a tingling sensation between the brows. After You mentally apprehend a light in that region for some time, picture the divine form that You wish to meditate on. Then, focus on that form. You can, when You feel like it, use this method even in connection with the visualisation of a form during Your usual japa.” A question that arose in My mind was, “What is the difference between picturing a form before and after directing the eyes to between the brows for some time?” Other queries were about what kind of light I would see between the brows and why. However, as Acharyal had commenced a japa, I did not pose them.

Deciding to try out what Acharyal had taught Me, I went a little later to Śāradāmbā’s temple. There, I sat next to the sanctum, facing Her. As I looked at the idol, a jewel on the face glittered in the light of the oil lamps. From My position, it appeared bluish. When I shifted My face a little, it appeared green. Many would have come across Śāradāmbā’s jewels shining in various colours. After seeing the blue light for a short while, I half-closed My eyelids and directed My eyes towards the space between My brows. Simultaneously, I mentally chanted the Praṇava repeatedly in a slow, lengthened manner.

In a matter of seconds, I could feel a tingling sensation between My brows. This gradually increased in intensity. I also began to see an attractive, blue disc of light. This resembled the light from the jewel on the Mother’s face. The main difference was that this was diffused. I then visualised a diminished version of Her idol emerging from the disc and occupying the lotus of My heart. The great clarity of the image in My heart and the readiness with which I had been able to visualise it pleasantly surprised Me. I focused on the form. My chanting of the Praṇava stopped.

Moments later, I opened My eyes. Actually, about half an hour had passed. During this time, I was unaware of the surroundings and My body. I realised that while it is perfectly possible to picture a form without adopting the procedure taught by Acharyal, the latter facilitates the visualisation of, and focus on, the form. Further, I understood that the light apprehended mentally can be related to the light seen before gazing at the space between the brows.

That evening, I went to the Kālabhairava temple. After prostrating before the idol, I sat down facing east. In front of Me, I could see the clear blue sky. I directed My eyes, with partially closed eyelids, to the middle of the brows. Simultaneously, I mentally chanted the Bālā-mantra. This time, following the onset of a tingling sensation, I beheld a luminous expanse of blue. I first visualised in My chest the heart-lotus, in bloom. Then, I imagined the form of Bālā described in the ‘aruṇakiraṇjālaih...’ dhyāna-śloka condensing from the blue light and entering My heart. The form was clear. As for My japa, it automatically stopped. This time too, I lost awareness of My body and surroundings. I remained in meditation for about 45 minutes.

{The Bālā-Tripurasundarī-mantra is:

The dhyāna-śloka referred to by Acharyal is:

May Bālā, the ever-auspicious one abiding in a blooming lotus, who spreads golden rays and bears in Her hands a rosary, a book and the signs of granting fearlessness and boons, ever abide in the heart.}

On both these occasions, the light mentally apprehended between the brows had semblance to that seen outside earlier. I decided to test whether I would mentally apprehend any light and, if so of what kind, if I were to begin My meditation in a dark place. So, that night, I woke up at about two o’clock. In a seated posture, I directed My gaze to between the brows, while mentally chanting the Praṇava. I promptly felt a tingling sensation there. In a few seconds, I could see a disc of blue light akin to what I had perceived in Śāradāmbā’s temple. I did not proceed further. I reasoned that one’s earlier experience can well serve as a basis for the apprehension of light between the brows. An extraneous light is not a requirement. I then lay down and went back to sleep.

The next day, I examined whether I would necessarily apprehend a light of the colour seen before meditation. For this, I sat facing the evening sun and began My meditation. The light that made its appearance then was not orange, but blue. I understood that past experience can be an overriding factor. I assumed that a person may, on the first occasion, even see a colour that he expects to see and thereafter this experience can influence the succeeding ones. Over the next few days, I perceived not only a blue light but also a green one. The size, shape and intensity were not always the same. However, such differences did not affect My subsequent visualisation of a divine form and concentration on it.

In this period, I also reflected on the possible reasons why the new procedure facilitated concentration. I knew, from experience and observing others, that the eyes move not merely when one deliberately shifts one’s gaze but also involuntarily when one is looking at an object that is not minute and when one thinks. Prior to saṁnyāsa, I had noted that the eyeballs of even a person whose eyelids are closed and who is asleep may move, and quickly too. I conjectured that such movement is associated with dreams. I now know that eye movements have been recorded by scientists in persons who are dreaming. I reasoned that as eye movement is associated with shifting of attention, arresting of eye movement by looking fixedly at the middle of the brows could help in arresting attention. The analogy that came to My mind was the checking of the mind through the control of breath.

When an ant or mosquito bites, one’s attention is drawn to the site of the bite. The rest of the body is momentarily ignored to a greater or lesser extent. Likewise, the tingling or slightly painful sensation arising between the brows could help in drawing attention away from the surroundings and the rest of the body. This was another reason that came to My mind.

One can comfortably do japa with the eyes open. However, it takes some practice to keep repeating a mantra mentally while talking to someone. This suggests that a verbal activity especially interferes with a concomitant verbal, rather than visual, activity. So, mental chanting of a mantra while looking at the space between the brows ought not to disrupt the apprehension of a light there. However, it should impede one’s thinking about some conversations or mentally talking to oneself and thereby becoming distracted. Likewise, the apprehension of a light between the brows should act against one becoming distracted by recollecting or imagining some visual situations. I thought that in these two ways also, the procedure could favour meditation.

At that time, I did not think of whether it is relevant that the ajñā-cakra is located in the region towards which the eyes are directed. At any rate, I was certain that in My case the primary reason for the effectiveness of the method was that Acharyal had, with His blessings and grace, taught it to Me.

I: Did Acharyal start using this method prior to every one of the usual japas performed by Acharyal during the morning āhnika?

Acharyal: Not with all but with two or three. I regularly resorted to it before commencing the japa of the Nārāyaṇa-aṣṭakṣarī. In the case of the other mantras, I used it before one mantra on one day and before another mantra on another day.

{The Nārāyaṇa-aṣṭākṣarī-mantra is:

This japa of this mantra forms a part of the āhnika of not merely the pontiffs of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham but also other paramahaṁsasaṁnyasins.}

I: What advantage did this method give in such cases where Acharyal rolled a rosary to keep count of the japa?

Acharyal: The visualisation of the forms described in the dhyānaślokas concerned was facilitated. However, because of the need to use a rosary, I did not focus on the forms with such intensity as to forget the body and the surroundings. Further, I ensured that there was not even a temporary pause in My chanting of the mantras.

{In 1980, Acharyal told me, as recorded earlier, that Paramacharyal instructed Him about contemplation on the Ātman in the year Āngirasa. He also said that such contemplation became effortless some time before His Vardhanti in the year Śrīmukha (October 18, 1933, on which day He completed sixteen). Subsequently, I asked Acharyal whether Paramacharyal taught Him the procedure involving gazing at the space between the brows before or after the contemplation had become natural. Acharyal replied, “He taught Me this some months afterwards, a month or two before the close of Śrīmukha.” The year Śrīmukha ended on March 15, 1934.}

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