Meditation is the journey inwards, a journey of self-discovery or, in fact, re-discovery. Meditation is time taken for quiet reflection and silence, away from the hustle and bustle of daily living. Taking time out enables us to come back to a cent red place of being. In our modern world, the pace of life is growing ever faster and we are losing touch with our true inner peace and power. When we no longer feel grounded, we can experience ourselves pushed and pulled in many different directions. It is at this point that we start to experience stress and a feeling of being trapped. Gradually, over time, this feeling leads to illness and disease, as our mental, emotional and physical health is thrown out of balance. 

Raja Yoga meditation is a form of meditation that is accessible to people of all backgrounds. It is a meditation without rituals or mantras and can be practiced anywhere at any time. Raja Yoga meditation is practised with ‘open eyes’, which makes this method of meditation versatile, simple and easy to practice. Meditation is a state of being in that place just beyond every day consciousness, which is where spiritual empowerment begins. Spiritual awareness gives us the power to choose good and positive thoughts over those which are negative and wasteful. We start to respond to situations, rather than just reacting to them. We begin to live with harmony, we create better and happier, healthier relationships and change our lives in a most positive way.

What is Raja Yoga meditation?

As discussed in ancient texts of Bharat (India), one of the four types of yoga, and in fact the highest one of them is Raja Yoga (pronounced as RajYog)

Raja means ‘a King’ and Yog or Yoga means ‘a connection, a relationship’. Raja Yog is the Supreme Yoga through which the Soul becomes master (a Raja /King) of all its senses (organs, mind, intellect) by simply remembrance of the Supreme Soul. There are two inter-connected steps to learn and master the Rajyoga meditation. 

1. Self-realization – One has to practice the soul consciousness. This is a matter of effort making (purusharth) as we are now have become body-conscious. We have forgotten that we are a tiny metaphysical Soul. This is the true introspection.

2. God-realization – As we put soul consciousness into practice and it becomes a natural stage of consciousness, we now recognize our spiritual God-father who lives in the soul world, away from this material world. He is the ocean of all virtues and powers. We now remember him. Just as I remember the father of my body, so as I remember the father of me the soul.

‘RajYog’ is a direct connection or relationship with the Ocean of Peace, Purity and all Powers (God, the Supreme Soul). In RajYog, we remember (visualize) first the Self as a Soul and then remember (visualize) the Supreme Soul, keeping in mind his virtues (Peaceful, Pure, loving, Blissful and Powerful). Parallel to this, we experience deep connection with our own nature (i.e. peace, love..)

The word yoga means connection. In Rajyoga meditation, the soul experiences a connection, or mental link, with the Supreme Soul. The process of establishing this link begins with a journey into one’s inner world to discover one’s true, spiritual identity.

The process of going within, experiencing oneself as a spiritual being or a divine soul, which is a self-luminous, divine point of energy, and then connecting with the Father, the supreme source of energy and virtues, empowers the self in a long-lasting way.

This process of self-empowerment is entirely voluntary and involves no element of suppression of the mind. It is in fact freedom from all limitations of mind that we had drawn. It is also a process of aligning one’s thoughts, feelings, words and actions with the soul’s original qualities of peace, purity, love, bliss and truth. This is the way shown by God for our Self-transformation – from being vicious to become voiceless

.Meditation is a journey of self-discovery and a journey inwards. It is time taken for silence and quiet reflection, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Taking time out is an excellent way to come back to a centered place of being.

The pace of life in the modern world is growing even quicker and humanity is losing touch with true inner peace and power. When you no longer feel grounded, you can experience yourself being pulled and pushed in multiple directions.

It is at this point when you start experiencing stress as well as a feeling of being trapped. Over time, the feeling gradually leads to disease and illness, as your emotional, physical, and mental health is thrown off balance.