by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 13
 Aug 2001

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - ON MEDITATION - Part 2

The Benefits of Meditation - on the body and vital breath.

Continued from Chapter thirteen which dealt with Object of meditation.

"Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

 See for yourself how sanyasis and yogins enjoy long periods of disease and discomfiture free life.

This physical well-being as the first fruits of meditation is not really the prerogative of only sadhus and sanyasis. Any body who embarks upon his or her spiritual journey also enjoys these benefits. The degree and intensity of effort, the level of purity of purpose may vary and so also the fruits there-of, but it is within every single one's reach.

The Self is the controller of the body. It has the power to direct and dictate every action of every single cell in the body. We have trillions of them. Our vedic knowledge established that the consciousness by which the Bramhan or the Paramatma is defined, the same consciousness also exists in every single cell or particle in the creation. Meditation strengthens the communication between self and every constituent of our body. Even the modern science now recognizes that there is a constant to and fro exchange of electrical impulses between the cells and the brain which is the seat of all consciousness. They receive instructions to function and also to take correcting measures if any abnormality is detected. Thus, if our communication is perfect and we are established in consciousness of self, we are swastha. Everything works in harmony. Instructions to rectify disharmony is received in time. The body performs tuned with self, subjugating itself to natural divine laws that govern the universe and we remain bodily healthy.

That is the immediate benefit.

But it does not end there. The law of the divine is , as we have discussed earlier, that this body of ours is nothing but a tool, a very very special tool, acquired after enormous good Karma, which we are given to use for our spiritual development. As long as we use it in the right manner, the divine way of things will not let it disintegrate until its usefulness is over. That explains why referring everything to Self has a direct bearing with the physical well being and why benefits of sadhana can be physically experienced by all to small or large extent.

Those of us who have read Svetasvatara Upanishad, may recall this saying:

Laghutvam, arogyam, aloluptam, varnaprasadah svarasausthavam ca

Gandhah subhah mutrapurisam alpam yoga pravruttim prathamam vadanti

Lightness, healing of diseases, non-hankering after physical needs, a clearer complexion, controlled voice, no obnoxiousness, reduced body excretions, these are said to be the first signs of initial meditation.

The body is only the annamay kosha or the food-sheath. This body in itself is only matter, made out of the basic five elements- the pancabhuta that we have talked about earlier. Those are the same basic elements which are the constituents of all matter in the creation. A piece of stone or metal or any other inert matter is nothing different from this body of ours as far as the basic constituents are concerned. What makes our body different from other inert objects? The difference is that our bodies are living objects where as the other material objects like a piece of metal or wood do not have life in them. The life or prana is the difference between dead matter and living matter. That is why we are called 'prani's, meaning those which have prana or the pranic element in them. When this prana will leave our body, we shall disintegrate into the five basic elements back again.