How Meditation Helps You Being Better!

There are different people, different perspectives, and different demands in life. But with all the hustle-bustle, one thing is common: each one of us strives for betterment in life. We need growth in all spheres of life. Certainly, parties and friends are always there to rejuvenate and recharge you; however, mental peace, inner satisfaction and clarity of thoughts is what makes you stronger and better.

 

There isn’t any one method for obtaining the inner peace and strength which is reflected in your work and makes you the best. Different things work for different people. We need to discover for ourselves what works for us. The way to do this is through meditation. While meditating, you will find the answers to your problems on your own.

 

Meditation takes you within yourself. It allows you to spend some time with yourself. When you see life from an bigger perspective, you will craft better plans for a life that is best for you. Here are some of the ways in which meditation can improve your life.

 

1. It increases concentration.

If you can practice focusing on your breath or focusing on a particular thought, with time, you will have increased your ability to concentrate while working at the office or listening to your kids. This will increase your efficiency. The less time you take to get things done, the better your time management becomes.

 

2. You learn to live in the present moment, which is often referred to as “mindfulness.”

Mindfulness allows you to have better relationships and also creates a work-life balance. Meditation allows you to live in the moment. This allows to leave your office stress at the office and enjoy time spent with your family. Your mind gets trained to shift from office to home and vice-versa.

 

3. It reduces stress.

Stress: the word that almost all psychologists hear about over and over again. One study suggests that continuous practice of Meditation reduces stress levels.

 

4. It can help you fight depression.

A new study reveals that mediation proves very effective in curing depression. Depression and anxiety can be reduced to a good level with even a little training in meditation, as per the research. Hence, persistent meditation practice proves to be as effective as anti-depressants while fighting depression.

 

5. It leads to numerous health benefits.

Harvard scientists have explained that meditation helps in relieving pain. This is the reason why many doctors are asking their patients to practice it. Also, many healing centers now have mediation rooms.

 

6. Meditation gives you peace and bliss within your own existence.

 

Meditation allows you to enjoy your own existence. When the mind is quiet, you experience the divine bliss. You feel more connected to the universe. You start appreciating life with its tokens of love.

 

7. It makes you more creative.

 

Nishkama Karma

The Gita gives paramount importance to action-performance of duty-; Lord Krishna, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, makes it mandatory for everyone; so much so, that He even warns us of punishment for its non-performance. No doubt, action, discharge of duty enjoined upon us, as it is meant, assures one progress and happiness, but it also binds one to the material world by the operation of the universally accepted law of action which is invariably followed by reaction of equal proportion; and it is diametrically opposite to the very purpose of human life, which, as every religion of the world says, is to seek release from the world and not to get entangled in it. Lord Krishna recommends the same thing-action-, but with a difference, for the release from the world; action performed without expectation for its results (nishkama karma) leads one from the bondage, He says. 

 

As a matter of fact, God, the All Loving, the All Caring Lord of the Universe wants everyone to lead a happy life while on the material plane, and therefore mandates performance of duty. He also wants everyone to attain the state of eternal bliss at His Lotus Feet, for which, He recommends nishkama karma; He says one who conscientiously discharges the duty enjoined upon him, with no sense of doer ship and with no expectation for result (nishkama karma), and offers the duty thus performed to the Lord, one is led to the path of liberation. The Lord also recommends acquirement of divine knowledge, and of devotion to Him. In other words, the Lord recommends Jnana yoga, karma yoga and bhakti yoga for the attainment of liberation. 

 

Different scholars and saints have recommended different yogas for the attainment of liberation, although they agree on the importance of performance of nishkama karma. While some have recommended jnana yoga, others have recommended karma yoga and bhaktiyoga. Saints in particular rely heavily upon bhakti yoga; they recommend the simplest method of the recitation of God’s name, which, they say, gets strengthened, if continued, and transforms itself into total devotion to God, with the passage of time, and ultimately leads one to God Himself.

 

Shri Madhwacharya presents fusion of all three approaches; all the yogas are interdependent, he says. Karma yoga (nishkama karma) leads to jnana yoga and jnana yoga to bhakti yoga; nishkama karma paves the way to jnana which leads one to bhakti; and total devotion to the lord ultimately leads one to God-realization or enlightenment that promises liberation.

 

Shri Madhwacharya fully commends the exhortation of Lord Krishna, and says that nishkama karma is the very basis of liberation process. The term Nishkama karma is not merely confined to the performance of the duty enjoined upon one or to the allotted one, but it encompasses the entire spectrum of positive life; such nishkama karma is param dharma which, if observed, entitles one to the Lord’s prasada and the ultimate moksha; and one is able to lead the life of param dharma only with the integrated approach of all the three yogas, says Shri Madhwacharya.

 

There are, however, some people who assign every action, every piece of work, howsoever insignificant, to God; man acts as per the wish of the Lord and has no freedom to act on his own, and, therefore, the question of one making conscious efforts to engage oneself innishkama karma is superfluous, they say. However, Shri Madhwacharya says that God has given everyone a little freedom (datta-swatantrya) to act on his own; it is called jeeva kartutwa.

 

Poojya Shri Vidyasimhacharya elucidated the integrated approach, the synthesis of the Gita, and said that one should make conscious efforts to take to the path of param dharma which begins with shravana.

 

The Power of Vishnu Sahasranama

Vishnu Sahasranama is the medicine for all diseases. Vaidya Sastra freely invokes Sahasranama japa for curing dire diseases, generally known to be incurable, `Mantra Sastra' suggests Sahasranama japa for achieving the odds and ends of worldly life, `Karma Vibhagam' prescribes the Sahasranama japa for all the ailments plaguing mankind and of-course Sri Visnusahasranama is a medicine for the disease of birth, death and re-birth, which is far more dreadful than the worst of bodily ailments.

 

That man who with devotion and perseverance and heart wholly turned towards him, recites these thousand names of Vasudeva every day, after having purified himself, succeeds in acquiring great fame, a position of eminence among his kinsmen, enduring prosperity, and lastly, that which is of the highest benefit to him (viz., emancipation Moksha itself). Such a man never meets with fear at any time, and acquires great prowess and energy. Disease never afflicts him; splendour of complexion, strength, beauty, and accomplishments become his. The sick become hale, the afflicted become freed from their afflictions; the frightened become freed from fear, and he that is plunged in calamity becomes freed from calamity."

The man who hymns the praises of that foremost of Beings by reciting His thousand names with devotion succeeds in quickly crossing all difficulties. That mortal who takes refuge in Vasudeva and who becomes devoted to Him, becomes freed of all sins and attains to eternal Brahman. They who are devoted to Vasudeva have never to encounter any evil. They become freed from the fear of birth, death, decrepitude, and disease.