Brain Functions

&

Complete Meditation

Brain Functions

Brain Functions

A Balanced Meditation: Personal or Impersonal?

Relationship is the essence of a Complete Meditation.

Inner connectedness.

Connecting with others.

Connecting with the Personal Godhead.

Harmony, not Withdrawal.

“Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be

more perfect, those who are always properly

engaged in Your devotional service, or

those who worship the impersonal Brahman,

the unmanifest?”

What is Complete Meditation?

The Bhagavad Gita

12.1arjuna uvaca

evam satata-yukta ye bhaktas tvam paryupasate

ye capy aksaram avyaktam

tesam ke yoga-vittamah

“The Blessed Lord said: He who fix their minds on My personal form,

and are always engaged in worshiping Me with

great and transcendental faith, are considered by Me to be most perfect.”

What is Complete Meditation?

The Bhagavad Gita

12.2sri-bhagavan uvaca

mayy avesya mano ye mam

nitya-yukta upasate sraddhaya parayopetas te me yuktatama matah

Brain Functions

15 Hz to 40 Hz

8 Hz to 14 Hz

5 Hz to 8 Hz

1.5 Hz to 4 Hz

Beta

Alertness

Concentration

Cognition

Alpha

Relaxation

Visualization

Creativity

Theta

Meditation

Intuition

Memory

Delta

Detached awareness

Healing

Deep Sleep

Brain Functions

Beta

Alpha

Delta

Theta

Neuroscience has not yet fully understood how

Consciousness is related to these mental states.

But there is a consensus that Consciousness is at a

deeper level than these states of mental activity.

So what isComplete Meditation

?

“There is something operative in the human being which transcends

matter.”

J.B. Rhine, Mind and the New World

Physical

Mental

Intellectual

False ego

SOUL

The Bhagavad Gita

What is Complete Meditation?

What is Complete Meditation?

Vaikhari

External senses

Madhyama

Mental level of thought

Pashyanti

Beyond discrete classification

Para

Absolute, Transcendent

Vedic Theory of Vaak

“Speech”

What is Complete Meditation?

Ordinary consciousness:

Id, Ego, Superego.

"The Drama of Me”.

Constant mental commentary.

Reduce random thought patterns.

Concentration.

Awareness.

What is Complete Meditation?

Is Meditation related to Self-hypnosis?

Nope.

In hypnosis one does not try to maintain an awareness of the here-and-now, or stay conscious of the process.

Instead one essentially enters a sort of semi-conscious trance.

Meditation deepens the experience of the Here & Now.

Spiritual growth is ultimately about altered traits, not altered states.

What is Complete Meditation?

Is Meditation a form of Relaxation?

Meditation attempts to transcend the thought-process. Relaxation usually does not.

Meditation is an active process where the meditation subject remains fully aware of what the awareness is doing .

Relaxation is passive.

Relaxation may – or may not – be a by-product of Meditation.

What is Complete Meditation?

What is the difference between Meditation and Thinking?

Constant thought-activity, specially of random nature, can sap vital energy.

Meditation attempts to transcend this crude level of thought activity.

Through regular practice one becomes aware that they are not their thoughts but that there is an awareness that exists independent of thought.

You are not the Mind.

What is Complete Meditation?

What is the difference between Meditation and Concentration?

Meditation begins with concentration.

After an initial period of concentration, thought activity decreases and keeping the awareness focused becomes more spontaneous.

The Object of Meditation makes all the difference.

Meditation is a quest for the ideal Refuge. That Refuge must be the Object of Meditation.

What is Complete Meditation?

Guidelines for Meditation

It should be done every day, preferably at the same time. It should preferably be done before a meal rather than after a meal.

The best attitude is not to have any expectations when practicing.

Failure to experience silence, peace of mind, mental clarity, bliss, or other promoted benefit of meditation is not in itself a sign of incorrect practice or that one can't concentrate properly or concentrate enough to be good at meditation. Whether one experiences peace or bliss is not what is important. What is generally considered important in meditation is that one is regular with their meditation -every day- and that one makes a reasonable effort, but not strain, to remain with the object of concentration during the practice. With regular practice one inevitably acquires an increased understanding of and proficiency with the particular meditation technique.

Transcendental Knowledge (jnana)

Transcendental Action (karma)

Transcendental Love (bhakti)

Pure Love of Godhead (para-

bhakti)

What is Complete Meditation?

The Bhagavad Gita

6.47yoginam api sarvesam

mad-gatenantar-atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo

mam sa me yuktatamo matah“And of all yogis, he

who always abides in Me with great faith,

worshiping Me in transcendental loving

service, is most intimately united with Me

in yoga and is the highest of all.”

What is Complete Meditation?

The Bhagavad Gita

8.8abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina

paramam purusam divyam

yati parthanucintayan“He who meditates on the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in

remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha

[Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.”

What is Complete Meditation?

The Maha-Mantra

Haré Krishna Haré Krishna

Krishna Krishna Haré Haré

Haré Rāma Haré Rāma

Rāma Rāma Haré Haré

Harā = Divine Energy

Krishna = All-attractive

Rāma = Ocean of Bliss