Meditation Yoga
Chapter 6, Verses 11-12
śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya
sthitam-āsanam ātmanaḥ
nāty-ucchritaṁ nāti-nīcaṁ
cailājina kuśottaram
tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā
yata-cittendriya kriyaḥ
upaviśyāsane yuñjyād
yogam-ātma viśuddhaye
He should set his firm seat in a pure spot, neither too high, nor too low, covered with a cloth, a deer skin, and sacred grass; seated there with a concentrated mind, and with the workings of the mental consciousness and
the senses under control, he should practise yoga for self-purification.
In these verses, Bhagavan Krishna explains that it’s important to have a fixed place to meditate and a proper seat, or asana, to sit on.
“He should set his firm seat in a pure spot.” Even though you should be comfortable, the seat should not be too soft: it has to be firm. In ancient times, yogis used a wooden seat or a stone slate as a base for their asana.
“... neither too high, nor too low.” The seat should not be too high, because if you are sitting too high and you go into deep meditation or deep sleep, you might fall down! Your meditation will be disturbed or you may fall and get hurt. If you are sitting near the floor or directly on the floor, there will always be an exchange of energy: the heat, or the cold, will have an effect on your body. Furthermore, if there is a small animal crawling around, it will crawl on you! Imagine that you are sitting for meditation, and you have not yet perfected it, you are not yet completely absorbed into the higher Self where you are not aware of the body consciousness. And then
small flies are flying all around you, or ants are crawling on you! In India, probably even snakes would be crawling on you. All this will disturb you and interfere with your
meditation.
“... covered with a cloth.” The purpose of a cloth is to make you feel more comfortable when you are in meditation. Then you won’t end up feeling pains in your legs and say, “I am sitting too long on this hard wood. It’s terrible!” So Krishna says that you can make the seat a little bit softer by putting a piece of cloth over it.
“...with a deer skin, with sacred grass.” In ancient times, the yogis used to meditate seated on a deer skin. They would not go around killing deer to get the skin, but they would use the skin from an animal which had died naturally. Do you know why they used deer skin? Because it is said that deer skin acts like an insulation which protects the energy that flows through your body when you are absorbed in the Divine rhythm during meditation. During meditation the energy flows through all the chakras, from the base up to the head, and you become like a pillar of energy. You have to utilise this energy for your spiritual growth. You have to sustain this energy inside you and not let it slip away. That’s why Lord Krishna says to place a deer skin on the seat.
However, put Kush grass under the deer skin. Kush grass, which we use in prayers, is considered to be the hair of Narayana, so it’s very holy. Then put a piece of cloth over the deer skin, because the deer skin is not that comfy to sit on: it pricks you. The hairs on the deer skin seem smooth when they are all laying in the same direction, but if you move just a little bit, they will prick your behind, which will be very uncomfortable, and then you’ll start scratching and moving even more. So, the cloth over the deer skin will protect you. It will keep the hairs laying in one direction, otherwise they will prick you, then you’ll move, and move and you’ll not be able to concentrate. Furthermore, placing the Kush grass under the deer skin, will protect the deer skin, and prevent its decay.
Therefore, Lord Krishna advises putting these three layers on the seat: Kush grass, a deerskin, and a cloth. This kind of asana will help the bhakta, the sadhak, to concentrate during meditation.
But please note very well that the deer skin which the yogis used was from an animal which died naturally. So for the sake of your meditation, don’t buy a skin from an animal that was killed. When somebody kills an animal, he kills it for his own personal pleasure or gain. By buying the skin of that killed animal, you are participating in its killing and taking upon yourself that karma. What good would this bring you? It would not bring you any good. It would be better to have a proper seat made only of Kush grass. Kush grass is very good for meditation!
Āsanam ātmanaḥ means, “The seat belongs to oneself.” One should not sit on somebody else’s seat when one meditates. Because when you sit on your own asana, there is a certain energy which is emanating from it and this energy is important for your spiritual growth. Your asana becomes a place of concentration of energy. And if you use somebody else’s asana, you don’t know which level of energy or which level of concentration they put in it. By utilising the asana of a person who has a low frequency of energy, you get in contact with that energy and automatically your whole attitude changes. This is why, in these verses, Bhagavan Krishna explains how important it is to keep one’s own asana.
When the bhakta has his own asana, his own place, the right timing, and the “workings of the mental consciousness and the senses under control, he should practise yoga for self-purification,” cittendriya kriyaḥ. Here Krishna says that the mind and the intellect have to be under control. You have to concentrate yourself to the point where there is a complete suspension of all activities. In that state, the mind doesn’t run towards the outside world; the mind is stable. So focus the mind on the object of meditation. What is the object of meditation? God. By concentrating the mind on God, by fixing the mind on the Divine, the senses are automatically under control.
“... he should practise yoga for self-purification.” Here Lord Krishna emphasises that when one practises meditation, it is to purify oneself, so one can reach the state where one is fully immersed in the Love of God within. One should not meditate to attain any worldly glory or worldly object. So you shouldn’t say, “I am meditating. O God, I want something!”
Bhagavad Gita
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