MEDITATION - The Art of Dehypnotization

It has become an established yet erroneous belief around the world and most particularly in the West that meditation is synonymous with hypnotism. Ironical as it may seem, the science of Yoga on its side asserts that man is already under the spell of hypnotism and compares our actual state to that of a sleepwalker whose actions are performed in the absence of consciousness or whose deeds are motivated by unconscious energy and impressions of the mind. While in normal hypnotism one has to be hypnotised by an expert on this matter, the hypnotism to which Yoga refers, is very subtle and hardly discernible, and the expert hypnotist is the world itself and all that it withholds. Some of us are mesmerised by power and wealth while others brood over beauty and fame; still some are dazzled by the possession of material objects. In one way or another, we are all in a hypnotic state.nnWhy are we so easily deluded by attractions in the world? This is so because the universe and our mind are made from one and the same stuff - matter! Our attachment to objects of pleasure is, from a certain angle, logical but from a higher standpoint, it has been referred to as ignorance by saints and sages. The cosmos and our mind are governed by three basic principles: inertia (tamas), activity (rajas) and purity (satva), which are the cause of our ignorance and can be transcended through certain techniques. When the mind is cleansed of the three strata of nescience, it is then that meditation is attained and dehypnotisation is achieved. Meditation is the purest and most natural state of the mind, free from all unconsciousness and distractions of ceaseless thought-flow. It is the state of pure consciousness that transgresses all boundaries like the infinite sky. It is then that the hypnotic trance, in which we are captured, fades away and self-realisation dawns in us. It is like waking up from a long dream or like the sleepwalker who suddenly becomes self-conscious and fully aware of his true identity.nnMeditation therefore dehypnotises and does not, as wrongly believed, hypnotise the meditator. It silences the mind to such an extent that, in the intensity of the inner peace, one is naturally exalted and blissful. Silence is the essence of all that exists, it is GOD. There is nothing so godly, so divine as silence. This is why there is this magnificent prayer among Hindus, "Shantakaram ..." meaning 'He whose form itself is silence.' Likewise in the Bible it is said, "Be still and know that I AM."nnThe soul is eternal, unblemished, the witness of its own play, while it is the mind which becomes hypnotised. Yet, both of them are eternal. The difference lies in the fact that the mind is ignorant and the self on its side is all-knowing. The first is caught in the web of the world, which becomes its own production, and the second is eternally free. Sad it is that, forgetting its real nature and origin, the mind wanders from one dream to another, each birth representing a dream until an illumined teacher comes to liberate it from the deep hypnotic spell. Shri Ramakrishna in one of his beautiful anecdotes admirably illustrated how self-forgetfulness brought about by ignorance can be transformed in self-realisation by following the spiritual path under the guidance of an enlightened master. The story goes like this.nnOnce a pregnant tigress attacked a herd of goats but as she sprang on her prey, she gave birth to her cub and expired then and there. So helpless and tender was the baby tiger that, overtaken by pity, the kind shepherd allowed it to live among his goats. It lived so much with the goats that it completely forgot its identity and took on that of a goat: suckling milk, eating grass and even bleating like one, despite the fact that it had grown up into a robust tiger. Sometime later, another tiger, a more mature one, attacked the herd and was surprised to find a tiger running away, bleating like the rest of the goats. Catching hold of this strange bleating tiger, it dragged it to a pool in the forest and asked it to look at its reflection. Doing as it was bidden, the self-forgotten tiger realised that its face was exactly like that of the other one. Then the mature tiger forced a piece of meat in its mouth which, unlike the green grass it used to graze, was tasty. Its guide to self-consciousness then instructed it that their nature was to roar thunderously, to govern the forest and not to bleat like coward goats. Realising its true nature, its authentic identity, the ignorant tiger roared fiercely clenching its claws and gratefully joined its kind friend to rule the forest.nnThe mind has journeyed through eight million four hundred thousand forms of life to reach that of a human being. The layers of impressions that have accumulated during countless lives are so thick that the mind continues to behave unconsciously like animals though having taken a human body. The human body is the perfect instrument through which one's ultimate nature can be realised. Throughout time, prophets, illumined seers and avatars have ceaselessly fought to bring man back home, to make him come face to face with Truth. We are not what we think we are, but much more divine: we are a parcel of the infinite all-pervading life.nnIt is very sad when we realise that so many divine beings have appeared in humanity's long history and delivered their messages, yet these have hardly benefited the ignorant as they have become even more engulfed in their dreams and slumber. All symbols, rituals, prayers and other religious activities are solely meant to lead the mind to its origin - God! We get foolishly attached to them thinking that they are the end, while in fact they are only the means. Dehypnotisation is what religion or meditation is all about. It has nothing to do with fanatical belief or non-belief.