Projects

Why Has Meditation Become So Popular In Recent Times?

a. The research. Due to advances in technology, particularly in the field of brain monitoring devices such as fMRI scanners, the long reported benefits of meditation are now becoming measurable. Now a formerly skeptical audience are curious to experience the benefits of meditation first hand.

b. It promotes good health. A growing number of doctors and scientists recognise the beneficial physiological effects of meditation, especially in the areas of stress relief and relaxation.

c. Meditation has received widespread coverage in the media. Sports people and health care professionals openly advocate meditation, and magazine editors and advertisers now portray meditation as a normal part of everyday life.

d. Meditation is becoming accepted as a part of popular culture. Meditation was first introduced to the Western world in ancient Greek times, nearly 3,000 years ago, but this knowledge was to a large extent lost over time. It was re-introduced to the Western world at the beginning of the 20th century, and European intellectuals were exploring oriental mystical philosophy, which has its roots in meditation, long before that. But it took the revolution in thinking of the 60’s generation, and events like the Beatles taking up meditation, to create widespread public awareness of the practice. Now that same generation have entered middle age, and some of the values that they embraced during their youth have gained broad-based acceptance.

e. Nowadays we have access to vast reservoirs of knowledge from many cultures. We can choose from the best that a wide variety of traditions have to offer. People have sometimes asked me why I chose a spiritual practice originating in a culture other than my own. Just because something originates in another country does not mean it is unsuitable for us. Computer science was first developed in America, but no one suggests that computers are not useful elsewhere. Meditation originated in India and has been practised for thousands of years in Asia, but people from all backgrounds can experience its benefits.

f. Meditation is a way for people to explore their own spirituality. At a time when many people are disillusioned with institutionalised religion, meditation offers us a method to enter our own inner world, and experience spirituality directly.

So What Exactly Is Meditation?

Meditation has been described as a kind of concentrated thinking, but this does not mean just any kind of concentrated thinking. Concentrating on a pet rock or an ice cream is not meditation. Meditation is the process of concentrating the mind on the source of consciousness within us. Gradually this leads us to discover that our own consciousness is infinite. This is why the goal of meditation is sometimes described as ‘Self Realisation.’

What Is Self Realization?

The goal of meditation is to realize who we really are at the core of our being. The philosophy of yoga says there are two different levels to our inner self: our mental or emotional self and our spiritual self. The mental self is sometimes called the individual mind. It is limited because it is strongly associated with our limited physical body and is the cause of the feeling “I am this individual person” – our ego. But our real sense of self-awareness comes from our connection to a wider, subtler form of consciousness. Yogic philosophy says there is a reflection of an infinite, all knowing form of consciousness within our minds. This Infinite Consciousness is unchanging and eternal, and is at the core of our true spiritual ‘Self’.

When we identify with the small ego-centred self this is called relative reality, because that small self is prone to change and death. But when we realize that there is a subtler, permanent reality behind the relative one and we see that our true nature is pure unlimited Consciousness, this is known as Self Realisation.

What Is The Difference Between Meditation And Yoga?

To many the word yoga means a series of physical exercises ¬stretching and tying our bodies into impossible knots. But these physical postures are only one aspect of yoga, known as ‘asanas’. The physical postures of yoga are practiced for their health benefits, and because they help to prepare the body for meditation. Yoga is both a philosophy of life and a system of spiritual practice. The word ‘yoga’ actually means union between the individual self and Infinite Consciousness. Meditation is the most important practice in the yoga system and is the means by which this merger or union is achieved. So yoga is a system or science that enables an individual to develop themselves physically, mentally and spiritually, and meditation is the practice that makes the mental and spiritual development possible.

What Is The Difference Between Prayer And Meditation?

Evidence of the existence of religion dates back more than 40,000 years. Early religions were animistic, believing that the forces of nature were beings or Gods, and later pantheistic, worshiping many deities, and assigning divinity to the invisible but powerful forces of nature that held sway over people’s lives. These gods were feared and were appeased through prayer or sacrifice. As society evolved, people gradually realised that there must be a single guiding power behind all these forces of nature, and theistic religions emerged – the belief in only one God. But the relationship was still based on fear, flattery, appeasement and attempts to persuade God to grant favours to individuals. Some religious prayer still reflects this today.

Philosophically, praying to God requesting something or asking God to do something, even for someone else, seems illogical. According to all the theistic scriptures of the world, God is an all-knowing (omniscient) and infinitely benevolent being (‘God is love’), who already knows if somebody’s mother is sick, or someone is unhappy, and surely cares enough to do whatever is necessary to help them. Any concerns, or ideas we have originate with God anyway, so telling God how to run the universe seems inappropriate, to say the least. In yoga philosophy it is said that since Infinite Consciousness has given us everything, we should not ask that Entity for anything.

Prayer can take various forms. What I’ve described above is known as intercessory prayer – asking for God’s intervention in our affairs. More sophisticated forms of prayer include prayers of gratitude, worshipful prayer, contemplative prayer and meditative prayer. These can help to bring the worshipper closer to God through cultivating devotion, the feeling of attraction towards the Infinite Consciousness. But as long as it is based on a dualistic conception of God, meaning that human beings and God are kept inherently separate, prayer cannot be considered meditation. Spiritual meditation places no limit on our realization. It is a non-dualistic practice, and its goal is to merge our inner ‘I’ feeling with the Infinite Consciousness.

I think it very likely that all of the great spiritual teachers practised some kind of spiritual meditation and initiated their closest disciples into this practice. This was their treasured ‘inner teaching’. Often however, with the passing of time, this esoteric part of their teachings was lost or watered down, their later followers were left with only their outer teachings about morality and philosophy. But the key to realising what these enlightened individuals realized has always been, and will always remain, spiritual meditation.

Is Meditation A Science?

Science (from Latin scientia – knowledge) is most commonly defined as the investigation or study of nature through observation and reasoning, aimed at finding out the truth. The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. Since the yogic approach to spirituality uses both observation and reasoning to approach the inner truth, and the tradition of yoga constitutes one of the most ancient organized bodies of knowledge in the world, I think it reasonable to consider it a science.

But by its nature it is a somewhat subjective science. Meditation has been described as ‘Intuitional Science.’ Extensive laboratory tests have demonstrated the physiological effects of meditation, but this only shows us its external effects. Even a recording of a person¹s brainwave patterns is just a measurement of physical electrical waves. It does not tell us exactly what they are thinking or feeling. The only real laboratory for testing meditation is the mind itself, and the results need to be experienced personally. Another name for this science is “Tantra” – the science of spiritual meditation, which enables the practitioner to merge his or her unit mind into Infinite Consciousness.

What Is Spirituality?

Spirituality is that which concerns Infinite Consciousness. First let me make it clear that ‘spirituality’ should not be confused with ‘spiritualism’, which is concerned with mediums, communicating with the dead etc. Spirituality concerns Infinite consciousness – the same ultimate Truth that was realised by the great spiritual teachers throughout history such as Buddha, Jesus, and Krsna. According to spirituality, the goal of life is to merge the individual mind into Infinite Consciousness, and the way to attain this is by practising spiritual meditation and similar or associated practices.

Is Spirituality Scientific?

The central idea of spirituality – ¬that Infinite Consciousness is the ultimate reality – is common to most oriental and some occidental forms of mysticism. It is not so remarkable that this idea is widely accepted by mystics and philosophers, but in the last century many scientists have pointed out parallels between quantum theory and the mystical view of reality described in the ancient texts of Taoism, Buddhism and yoga.

Not only Albert Einstein but virtually all his contemporaries including Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger and Max Planck, in fact most of the pioneers of modern physics testified to a belief in mysticism. When Heisenberg (discoverer of the “Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle”) went to India and met with Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel prize winning poet and a great yogi, he was enormously relieved to find someone who didn’t think his ideas were crazy. The ancient yoga philosophy seemed to be saying much the same thing about reality as still-evolving Quantum Theory. This has been the subject of much discussion and many publications, particularly since the 1960s.

What Is Mysticism?

The unending endeavour to bridge the gap between the finite and the infinite is mysticism. – Shrii Shrii Anandamurti The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is at the root of all true science. Someone to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, is my idea of God. – Albert Einstein

What Is The Difference Between Spirituality And Religion?

The founders of all the great religions taught spirituality, yet religion and spirituality are not the same. When my own spiritual master was asked if he was trying to start a new religion he replied: “I am not interested in religion. I am interested in human beings and the goal of human beings, and how to bridge the gap between the two.” Many religions may make the same claim, but the reality is that all too often the spirituality taught by the founders of those religions has been lost, or obscured by dogma and ritual. There are profound differences between the teachings of Christ and the practices of mainstream Christianity, between what Krsna taught and Hinduism, between the teachings of the Buddha and Buddhism as it is observed today. Over time, divisions have developed within religions, which have sometimes led to persecution and even war. When you look at the darkest periods of religious history, it is hard to believe that people could depart so far from the exalted teachings of their great preceptors. The original message was spiritual, but to varying degrees that spirit has been diluted or lost through mistranslation and misinterpretation, through the loss of spiritual meditation practices, through the attempts of less evolved individuals to cloak spiritual concepts in dogma, and through religions devolving into political institutions.

Within all the major religions there are mystical traditions that include many of the features of spirituality. Generally though, they do not represent mainstream religion, and in many cases have even been branded as heresy, and the propagation of such teachings has all too often been rewarded with persecution. What we are left with in our various religions is a somewhat confusing blend of spiritual truth and dogma. If we wish to sift out the spiritual elements it is important to understand the real differences between spirituality and religious dogma. With the passing of time, these differences within mainstream religion have become increasingly distinct:

a. Spirituality is theistic, and has a highly developed and rational concept of God or Infinite Consciousness. Religious dogma can be theistic, as in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, or atheistic, such as some forms of Buddhism, Shintoism, and perhaps even communism. Dogmatic Religions generally have either a poorly developed and irrational concept of God, or no concept of God at all.

b. Spirituality is non-dualistic, and generally proposes that the purpose of human life is to realize that our individual consciousness and the infinite consciousness of God are the same, and to merge our individual consciousness into Infinite Consciousness.
Many theistic religions are dualistic, propounding a fundamental separation between God and the world and the belief that the purpose of human life is to enter into a relationship with God and go to heaven after one dies.

c. Spirituality is practical, and can be experienced and realized by practising spiritual meditation or something similar. The focus is inward, taking the practitioner towards a personal realisation. Religions on the other hand, emphasise faith and belief, and though they teach people different types of prayer, most of the actual practice is externally focused, consisting of rituals, festivals and ceremonies.

d. Spirituality is a lifestyle choice, and is integrated into every aspect of a person’s existence. Religion is generally a compartmentalized part of a person’s life, practised primarily in temples and churches. Religion can only serve it’s proper purpose of liberating the faithful from ignorance and spiritual darkness, to the degree that it remains true to its original spiritual essence.

What Is Spiritual Meditation?

In Spiritual meditation our mind is directed towards a spiritual idea. The simplest way to conceive of this is to think of infinite love, peace and happiness, or an entity embodying that. We may call it God, but the name is not important. What is important is to remember that this infinite love is within us and surrounding us. If we pause to consider, it becomes apparent that every experience we have ever had took place within our minds. If we want lasting happiness or love, what better place to look than at the source of these feelings?

Spiritual meditation is concentration on a spiritual idea, an idea associated with Infinite Consciousness,¬ an idea that is greater than our selves. As we contemplate this vast and beautiful idea, our mind is transformed into pure consciousness that has no boundary. So spiritual meditation is the effort to merge our sense of ‘I’ into Infinite Consciousness.

Do You Have To Be A Monk To Be Successful In Meditation?

Clearly not. Buddha was a monk, but Shiva – regarded by many as the father of yoga, had three wives. (This was not unusual 7000 years ago) Swami Vivekananda was a monk, but my own Guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, was married. And many great spiritualists were women, such as St Theresa of Avila (a nun) and Anandamayi Ma (who was married). I chose to be a monk for both personal and practical reasons, but I certainly do not see it as any kind of pre-requisite for spiritual practice or success on the spiritual path.

Isn’t It Self-Centred To Sit Around Meditating All The Time When There Is So Much Suffering In The World?

I could be. It rather depends what you would be doing if you weren’t meditating. If the answer is “watching television”, by all means, meditate. But if it means you are neglecting your family, or using it as an excuse to avoid doing something for others, that is another matter.

Education is the primary source for children to keep their life in safe way. This project provides education material to poor children upto elementary section. Basic education material required for their studies without any interruption is our goal

Challenge

Still in India poor people are unable to provide quality of education to their children. Un-education or illeteracy may cause lack of knowledge and unemployment.

Solution

This project will help to provide basic needs to children go for school without any interruption. We provide books, school uniforms, note books, travel charges and health care. Hence every one able to go for school.

Long-Term Impact

This project will help to develop children may get education. In future there is no question of unemployment, illiteracy. Poor people can study their children without any financial struggles.

Our orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose biological parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them. Biological parents, and sometimes biological grandparents, are legally responsible for supporting children, but in the absence of these, We godparent, are willing to care for the children, they become a ward of the god, and our orphanages are one way of providing for their care, housing and education.

Generally Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for old people We will take care of the of Both the young age and old age as all are gods children.It is our reponsibilites to take care of them and help them to attain the purpose of their Life through spiritual Journey through Patience, Peace and Faith of Love.