Meditation & its Practices – Part 3
A definitive guide to Techniques and Traditions of Meditation in Yoga and
Vedanta
By Swami Adiswarananda

At the culmination of meditation, the individualized consciousness becomes
completely merged in the infinite expanse of absolute and all-pervading Pure
Consciousness; this is called Samadhi in both Yoga and Vedanta.

[Pure Consciousness is the great Self of Vedanta, designated by the Upanishads
as Brahman]

Ramakrishna says, “The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, the Gayatri in Om, and Om
in Samadhi. That is, ritualistic worship and prayer merge in the Gayatri, which
is the highest and most concentrated prayer of the Vedas. The Gayatri then
becomes further concentrated into the sacred word Om, from which all words
emanate; and finally, Om merges in the profound silence of Samadhi. Meditation
is thus the culmination of all worship, the state before the final revelation.

There are three components of every form of worship: the object of worship, the
act of worship, and the worshipper. In the beginning, the three are distinct
from one another, but in the end, the three merge into one.

In the state of Samadhi, truth is revealed in its pristine purity. Meditation
reveals that our true nature is divine. Our true self is the focus of the
all-pervading Universal Self. Vedanta calls this revelation Self-Knowledge;
Yoga calls it Self-Realization; Buddhism designates it as bodhi (awakening to
one’s Buddha-nature) or prajna (wisdom); and in Christianity, it is beatific
vision.

In the state of meditation, one becomes videha, or detached from
body-consciousness.

When the mind is immersed in worldliness, it dwells in the three lower planes-at
the navel, the organ of generation, and the organ of evacuation. The fourth
plane of the mind is at the heart. When the mind dwells there, one has the
first glimpse of spiritual consciousness. One sees light all around. From this
plane onwards grows the real spirituality.

The seers of the Vedas mention four goals of life: knowledge of the sacred and
secular, worldly prosperity, fulfillment of legitimate desires, and
Self-Knowledge.

Direct realization leads us to see God face to face, beyond philosophy,
theology, emotion, reason, and other structures of religion.

We believe in something that we do not really know. The reality of God cannot
be proved or disproved by reason. Meditation is necessary because direct
realization cannot be given to us by anybody.

[Source: Meditation & its Practices – A definitive guide to Techniques and
Traditions of Meditation in Yoga and Vedanta
By Swami Adiswarananda]