It is everyone’s experience that real happiness and peace and tranquillity come from within and not from without. As a deer runs all around for the fragrance which is coming from within its body, we run around here and there all our lives in pursuit of pleasure and happiness and peace and tranquillity which are our own treasures hidden within all of us. None is deprived of the Immortal Bliss.
As we are hoodwinked with the glamour and grandeur of this world, we seldom embark upon the Inner Journey through meditation. So the first barrier in meditation is the conviction that this external, ephemeral world is the be-all and end-all of life and there is nothing within and beyond.
Once you realise that immense treasure of happiness lies hidden within you and the way to attain that treasure is meditation, you will start devoting some time to meditation. Then there are some misconceptions about meditation. Generally meditation is considered as the concentration or control of mind. All the efforts to control the mind have failed. Meditation is not forcing the mind to be quiet or meditation is not to control. It is going beyond mind. It is to find the quiet, peace which is already there. When thought-current is interrupted it is concentration. When the flow is un-interrupted, it is meditation.
The greatest barrier experienced generally in meditation is the mind which in Upanishads, is compared to a maddened monkey restless by nature drunk with the wine of desire, stung by the Scorpio of jealousy at the success of others and possessed with the demon of pride. So it is a daunting and an uphill task to control such a mind. This is the Himalayan mountain in the path of meditation.
Sh. Gurudev Swami Vishvas Ji says, “Meditation is not at all the concentration of mind. It is going beyond mind. It is watching your mind as a WITNESS and a Seer. Just WATCH, WATCH & WATCH your thoughts and mind wakefully and persistently without identifying yourself with any thought. Close your eyes and sit in a comfortable posture and watch and watch whatever is going on inside. There is darkness, there is dead silence there is an endless traffic of thoughts. Just watch these thoughts wakefully and persistently. Don’t get involved into the meshes of mind. If you do, come back to your watchful and wakeful State. Thoughts will start losing their strength and this boisterous mind will calm down. You will be in thoughtless state and go beyond mind. All this happens spontaneously. No effort is required. Meditation is not the subject of DOING. It is just being in your own true state.
Doubts, misgivings and absence of faith in your own true Self are great barriers in meditation you must have immense patience and perseverance and devote time to meditation regularly without any interruption. When you are giving twenty-three hours to worldly affairs and for others, at least spare an hour for yourself in meditation to attain Bliss – the state free from stress and strain. In meditation, the soul becomes free from the bondage of gross body and mind and attains the state of super-consciousness. Identification with body, mind, little lower self and the powerless matter is a barrier in meditation. Identify yourself with the Self which is All Existence, All Knowledge and All Bliss through meditation. Ignorance stands in the way. It is ignorance to call your self a sinner or a weak creature crawling on earth. The expectation that you will see some light or image in meditation is also a barrier. Do not lament if you don’t see an image or light in meditation. Go deep into the perception of Bliss, there you will find the actual presence of Self. Seek not a part but the WHOLE.
The most destructive shade of maya’s delusion is unwillingness to meditate, for by this attitude, you prevent yourself from knowing your true nature through meditation. Do not say, “To-morrow I will meditate” because to-morrow never comes. You will suddenly find that a year has passed without fulfilment of your good intentions. Instead say. “This can wait and that can wait but my search for my own Self can’t wait.”
A few obstacles have been mentioned in the path of meditation but to an unwilling person drowned completely in the worldly affairs headlong, the list may be endless but Sh. Gurudev Swami Vishvas Ji sends a wave of very optimistic and encouraging note in His retreats, “O, ye, true seekers of Truth and children of Bliss, never ever worry about the barriers in meditation. Just embark upon the natural, joyful Inner Journey towards your own Source, your own Self, your own true nature. No barrier will stand in your way of All Bliss. Such is the marvellous blessing of meditation.”