Rajyoga Meditation For Beginners

Let us practise the steps of Rajyoga meditation:

1. I hold in my mind the words Om Shanti, ‘I am a peaceful soul’: Let us reflect on this statement, or mantra. A mantra is something that frees the mind from wasteful and negative thoughts, stress and worry. A mantra is usually repeated over and over again in order to get the desired results. However, in meditation it is not a matter of repeating words over and over again without truly understanding them. Otherwise it becomes forced concentration. Concentration of the mind should be natural because, when it is so, the mind can remain in a state of peace and relaxation for a very long time. The result of this is a recharging of the battery of the self, a renewal of energy from inside.

How do we achieve this state of natural concentration on the thought, 'I am a spiritual being', 'I am a peaceful being'?

2. I reflect on 'OM’; the consciousness of ‘l am’.

What does 'I am' mean? In this thought, the attention is drawn only to the present moment. I have no need to go into ‘I was', 'I will be', 'I hope to be' or 'I should be'. To go deep into the self, I need to be completely in the present. This thought of 'I am' takes me into the consciousness of self-realisation.

3. I focus and concentrate on the thought until I stop thinking about it and experience it.

These are the primary steps of silence and must be mastered correctly.