Meditation in the Himalayas is a dream of many. Let’s see what this majestic mountain has to offer in the spiritual journey to Himalayan meditation. We will also try to look for the best place for meditation in the Himalayas. First, let’s understand what Himalayan Meditation is all about.
There is confusion on techniques by more than 90% of the teachers. They make you imagine things. This teaching leads to self-hypnosis rather than Meditation. Temporarily, you might get good sleep through self-hypnosis but there is no long-term impact. Yogis practice Meditation to get rid of negative thoughts and these are just another form of imagination. So, yes you need to avoid thoughts. Only this can make you see the miracles of Himalayan Yogis.
There is a common question among people who practice meditation through online teachings. It is ‘Why do I get thoughts while doing meditation?’ The real answer is, Thoughts are common, they come and go but the main aim of Meditation is to get rid of them.
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You can also read about powerful ways to handle thoughts in meditation.
Probably, the Gurus of the generation before you will not tell you this answer. They will simply say, let the thoughts come because these Gurus never understand the way our generation lives. Scientific Monk knows better because we have felt it with emotions. Our generation has infinite thoughts, they had few.
Millennials have seen the transition from Black and White Television to Ultra HD and from landlines to high-quality smartphones. These transitions happened somewhere during our teenage or childhood. From here, we got unlimited thoughts but they didn’t. So, they could control their thoughts because psychologically, they would have fewer thoughts. Let’s not complain about them or discuss more because it’s their psychology. We have more thoughts than them so the approach has to be different. However, we will discuss the secret techniques of the Himalayan Yogis designed for a modern audience.
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Table of Contents
Meditation in the Himalayas; Techniques and Practices.
To start, you would need a comfortable seat or Asana. There is a belief in India that, lord Shiva from the Himalayas was the first person to initiate meditation on Earth. He always sits in a deerskin, but we cannot rest on a deerskin in the 21st Century. We need some alternatives, which correspond to the deerskin. You can use a Yoga Mat if you have one.
Asana
Maximum Gurus tell you you can sit in any position for meditation, or in any place. Be, it chairs or bed. Then Why do Lord Shiva and other meditators didn’t follow it? Shiva or ancient Gurus avoided it because the main aim of Himalayan Meditation is to resist senses towards unnecessary attractions. Sometimes it is best to resist attractions and comfort to know other things. These attractions towards comfort are the main reason which maximizes random thought activities in the mind. Practically, you cannot go to the Himalayas to shiver in cold for resistance. However, a cool environment is necessary because body temperature plays in Meditation.
You can read our article given below at the end on Agni to know more. You can think of the Morning time or nighttime when the temperature falls to start with. I suggest you keep the Asana in-floor rather than the chair. A balcony or near the window is better, where you can get the Natural Air. However, people having back problems can use chairs with comfortable Asana. Sitting, and postures (Yogasanas) can be chosen accordingly, however, the Upanishads praises Padmasana and Sukhasha ( Folded knees and legs posture). Remember, your spine has to be erect. For chair-type people, just sit with an erect spine. The link is given at the end of the Article to practice these Yogasanas.
You may also be interested to read about Himalayan Yogis.
The essence of Meditation, Fire, Air, and Water element.
In the Indian system, the five elements of Space, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth are always praised. These elements are also in the body. According to Ayurveda, various compositions and ratios of these elements form Doshas in Body. You have to understand, which Dosha you need to balance for Spiritual healing from Ayurveda. Let’s think of these in terms of emotions. If you cannot control your Anger, you have to concentrate on the fire element.
Here are Yoga quotes to motivate you. You can read it from Scientific Monk.
Agni Element Meditation.
- Light up a Diya, and understand how Agni (Anger) plays in you.
- Take deep breaths 10 times.
- Feel the moment in your memories when you used to get angry (this is Dharana).
- Try to understand what made you angry. In my case, I used to get angry in childhood whenever my parents didn’t buy me ice cream. There can be various other things that can make you angry. The thing that is making you angry is just Agni ‘Tattwa’. Try to get this emotion manually every time when you sit down in your Asana.
- It is a contemplation of your memory called Dharana and is very much crucial in Himalayan Meditation
- Whenever, you get that feeling, in deep breaths feel the phrase ‘Agni tatvamasi’ (this is a fire element).
- Assume that, the fire is moving up with each breath you take.
- While practicing, keep on relaxing the muscles with deep breaths. This is done to make the fire/anger reach the Agni Devta (the fire deity) or his consort named ‘Svaha’.
- When your personal anger unites with Agni, the anger remains only in Agni.
Practice it daily, you should be able to see the results in just a few days. You will be able to control your Anger or fire element in you. However, yogis of the Himalayas say that you can also control the real external fire element. You can read the book ‘Autobiography of the Yogi, by Paramhamsha Yogananda to understand the mystic yogis. This book mentions about great Himalayan Master who taught Yoga in modern times.
Water element meditation in the Himalayas.
Water is the representation of the flow, it is a majorly of the Taoist methods. The main idea of practicing water element meditation is to control desires. The emotions flow inside the body through the thoughts only. When the desires are unfulfilled, the water element gets imbalanced. It is better to understand the hidden desires within and live in sync with those desires. For some, there can be excess sexual desires and for some the desire to become successful. It is said that desire is the seed of creation. However, when it is unfulfilled, it leads to self-destruction.
- Sit, in a comfortable asana followed by proper Yogasana.
- Himalayan Yogis carry ‘Kamandalu’ (small pot) with water in it. In the Initial days, Lord Brahma was deeply fascinated by the desires. However, he knew the technique to control it. He always carries Kamandalu having water to control desires through water element meditation.
- Hold the water in your hands from the Kamandalu or the pot and chant the mantra ‘Om Shanti’ three times.
- Take deep breaths 10 times.
- Relax your muscles with deep breaths.
- Hold the water once again and feel the coolness.
- This coolness is your desire. Just like the river or any water body always move to the sea or ocean.
- Your emotions unite with Varun or Sagar (deities of water element).
- Assume that with each deep breath, your emotions are moving down to reach the Deity of water or the Ocean.
- This is the Dharana (contemplation) of the water element.
The water element meditation is perfect for those having problems with excess desires. However, remember that during the first few days you might not be able to resist all the emotions. Make yourself understand that all the emotions will eventually get united to make you realize who you really are. Filter the desires to keep the best one, this best desire will be your true purpose of existence.
Air Element meditation techniques.
You can Practice Air Element meditation only through proper training. Air is the essence of your life. It is the Chi or Prana. It is the breath itself that is the major Kriya (process) of the ‘being’. If you are interested to understand the Air element, you can directly consult me through the contact page. Please don’t forget to mention why you want to do meditation and what you understand from it.
This is to ensure the proper utilization of real knowledge. It is as per the Guru-Sishya tradition. So that there is delivery only to the deserving one. It is to maintain the ethical values of the Himalayan Tradition so that Himalayan Meditation techniques are protected.
However, you can read more on our website Scientific Monk
You might be thinking, I have missed the two elements in the Article. The Earth element is nothing but your Asana and Yogasana which makes you one with the Earth. Akash’s element (Space and Time) is yourself. You will understand the Akash Tattwa by yourself when you practice the above first. However, the Yogis achieve miracles-like experiences only after knowing the Air element properly. I am sure, you will get a great spiritual journey through fire and water element meditation.
Click Here to Read the Article on Agni Element.
If you don’t like this technique you can always shift to Tantra Meditation.
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