MR. MODI’S MEDITATION AND WHY MEDITATION NEEDED ? – By N.S.Venkataraman
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Ever since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently meditated in Kanyakumari in southern tip of India for 48 hours, the concept of meditation has become subject of debate and animated discussion not only in India but in other parts of the world as well. While the sworn critics of Mr. Modi called his meditation exercise as a mere photo shoot , discerning observers do not share such negative view and think that it is a meaningful and significant mental exercise of Mr. Modi , that should not be belittled and such belittling certainly amount to uncharitable criticism.
For thousands of years, deep thinkers all over the world have resorted to prolonged meditation from time to time , observing silence and with detached outlook , to understand the concept of human life , particularly introspecting on the origin of birth and destination after death.
While the concept of meditation has been evolved and advocated for over several centuries in India apart from prayer to God in equal measure, , it appears that in other parts of world, resorting to prayer to God has been stressed,, much more than the meditation exercise.
Difference between meditation and prayer:
There is subtle difference between meditation and prayer.
In the case of meditation, the upper most thought in mind is the query about origin and end of life and with sustained efforts to discover the TRUTH within oneself. The meditation exercise lead one to conclude as to how futile is the life process itself , leading to the view that chasing material benefits in life process is similar to the act of chasing the shadow endlessly.
Meditation enable individual to feel the bliss of Superior Force. which some deep thinkers say is within . Certainly, the meditation exercise with deep introspection enable the person to develop a feeling of detachment over the happenings around and shed the ego and facilitate a mindset with ill will for none.
On the other hand, when prayers are offered by individuals in temples, mosques, churches or gurudwaras, the concept is one of total surrender to the Almighty ,praying for removing hardships and providing benefits in life process and ultimately praying for reaching the feet of God
The subtle difference between meditation and prayer is that during meditation, the individual undergoes a deep thought process to understand the “ facts of life” and elevating the thought process to a very high level. There is no self interest while meditating .In the case of those who offer prayer , there is generally an element of self interest too, even as religions advocate that prayers combined with a virtuous life is the way forward.
Way to attain mental peace :
The philosophy of Hindu religion and philosophy of other religions do not ask individuals to sit on meditation or offer prayers all the time in life. But, on the other hand, what religions advocate is to lead a life of goodwill for everyone that will lead to mental peace and enable the individual to attain a feeling of BLISS ( what is called as Ananda in Hindu religious text).
While prayer to God is one way of striving for mental peace , meditation is the other and possibly superior and more intense way of achieving this mental state.
Teachings of Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi on meditation :
Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi, one of the great Hindu philosophers who lived in 20th century and stayed in Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India almost throughout his life , told everyone to introspect and meditate on “who am I “.
This introspection should be the single and only theme while carrying out the meditation exercise. During meditation time, certainly, the mind is not closed , as human mind cannot be closed at all at any time. Instead of attempting to close the mind, the next possible step is to introspect on who am I , during which thought process , the events in the world are not focused and the focus is on understanding and realizing “ultimate truth”
Need to cultivate meditation practice :
In human life, the matter of utmost importance is to target to attain mental peace ,which is not possible if one were to focus all the time throughout the life on pursuing a target to achieve material benefits or physical pleasure. However, it is futile to expect that any normal human can lead a life without looking for such material oriented targets to be achieved in life time, for whatever it is worth.
At the same time, even with the materially oriented life process, an attempt can be made to reach a state of mental peace too. For this to happen and as one gets advanced in the ageing process when the crave for mental peace become more intense and dislike for material benefits become more pronounced , elevation of mind to higher level become vital. This cannot be done suddenly in advanced age without cultivating meditation as a practice from young age.
Obviously, it is necessary that everyone should make meditation as a regular exercise in everyday life for a few minutes or more and tune the mind to think on higher plane. In other words, meditation exercise can commence at any time in life, even when one is young. This meditation exercise has to become a regular practice , with clear realization about the value of meditation and its significance.
Mr. Modi’s meditation :
After addressing more than 200 public meetings and participating in nearly more than 70 road shows and giving more than 60 interviews to media houses during the recent election campaign in India, India’s Prime Minister Modi went for meditation for 48 hours, sitting in Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari , where the great Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda meditated over one hundred years back.
Mr. Modi could not have found time in his very busy day today schedule to introspect by sustained meditation and must have decided to give himself 48 hours exclusively for meditation , after completing the intense election campaign.
Obviously, Mr. Modi wanted to detach himself from the worldly affairs by meditation focusing on higher aspects of life process, with deep introspection about the ultimate purpose of life. Certainly, Mr. Modi is entitled to act as per his inner call for meditation like any other persons. Questioning Mr. Modi’s meditation by others is unwarranted.
After meditating , Mr. Modi has returned back to normal life but still this meditation exercise must have brought in his mindset a greater determination to do universal good for every man and woman and other creatures and lead a life with ill will for none.
The one criticism which seems to have impressd some people is as to why Mr. Modi permitted to be photographed while sitting on meditation exercise.
The possible explanation would be that Mr. Modi wanted to spread the message about the importance of meditation , so that others would follow and emulate him. There is nothing wrong about such an objective.
In this connection, it should be noted that when Mr. Modi launched Clean India Campaign, he took the broom himself and started cleaning the ground. to set a personal example. When Mr. Modi launched yoga programme , he himself participated in the yoga exercise. , On both these occasions, Mr.Modi was photographed which was widely publicized , , obviously with the view to spread the message , so that others can emulate him,.
