From:

http://www.swamij.com/whole-part.htm



MEDITATION AS A WHOLE OR A PART?

Swami Jnaneshvara



The picture below captures one of the most confusing aspects of

Meditation methods being promoted in our modern world. While the

aspects of Meditation listed in the picture below are not intended to

be all-inclusive, they are representative of the fact that

Meditation, at least in the ancient most Yoga traditions is very

broad and and very deep. Yoga Meditation is complete unto itself.



Picture can be seen at:

http://www.swamij.com/whole-part.htm



However, it has become popular to take one small part of the whole of

Meditation, give it a trademark or brand name, and sell that to an

unsuspecting public as a complete Meditation system. The promoters of

these fragmented systems often ignore, suppress, or condemn the other

practices as being invalid or ineffective methods or parts, further

hiding the original whole of Meditation.



This segregating of the part from the whole gives the impression that

one must choose "this" or "that" so-called "method" of Meditation.

This phenomenon has widely happened not only in "spiritual" contexts,

but also in medical and psychological professional services. I'll

refrain from naming any of the the brand named or trademarked

systems, but you are probably familiar with many of them through the

advertising of programs, seminars, and materials such as books.



If one is seeking only a tiny portion of Meditation for purposes such

as the "management" of stress, then practicing only a tiny portion of

the whole of the process might be sufficient. However, for those

seeking the height or depth of self-awareness, spirituality, or

enlightenment, the finer practices of Yoga work together, like the

fingers of a hand or the various systems within the human body. This

is not a case of pasting together or integrating various parts to

make a composite whole, as Yoga Meditation is already complete; it is

already a whole.



In holding this perspective it is essential to remember that Yoga is

far more than the physical postures, which is one of the ways in

which the part has become separated from the whole in recent years.

The whole of Meditation can be learned and practiced, gradually

leading one to know himself or herself at all levels, up to and

including the eternal center of consciousness, which is one with the

absolute reality, by whatever name you choose to call that.



My wish for the sincere seeker of the highest Truth, Reality or

Divinity--however you name that--is that you find the whole of

Meditation and the preexisting Whole to which it leads.



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