QUESTION & ANSWER
Q. 'In the Vedic Tradition, why do you have so many deities, so many methods of worship, so many meditation techniques?'
A. In the West, why do you have so many cars?
Why do we have so many cars in the West? Because so much time and energy has been invested in doing research, to give us unique designs and different levels of comfort and luxury! The West has done much research to improve the quality of our life in the outer world.
In the same way, in the Vedic Tradition, we have spent so much time doing research and development on how to raise the consciousness of the individual. That's why we have so many methods, so many techniques, so many Gods, so many paths!
In the Vedic Tradition, meditation has been elevated to a pure science for enlightenment.
For thousands of years, the enlightened mystics and Masters of the Vedic Traditionhave given their lives to research and enrich this science.
Understand, a scientist is a person who creates a formula to reproduce the experiences which he has had in the outer world. He creates techniques by which the same understanding can be transmitted to others.
A mystic is a person who creates a formula to reproduce the experiences he has had in the inner world. He creates techniques by which the same realization can be transmitted to others.
Not only are these techniques are time-tested and foolproof, created out of the experiential wisdom of thousands of realized Masters, many of them have been experienced and verified in my own personal life. In the Vedic Tradition we say, 'As many minds, that many paths'!
But basically, there are only three kinds of techniques. The first kind works on bringing the Truth or awareness into your daily life.
These techniques need to be practiced twenty-four hours a day. Techniques like vipassana which focuses on repeatedly bringing your awareness to the present moment, belong to this category. You may be doing anything –writing, reading, cooking, working… but the thread of meditation should be there all the time, like an undercurrent.
The second kind of technique is those which are to be practiced at a particular time of the day, or even during a particular period of life – maybe when you are in love, or when you are going through a difficult phase in your life!
The Mahamantra meditation technique, where you practice intense humming for a few minutes and then remain a witness for a few minutes, is a simple example of this category of meditation.
Then there is the third kind of technique, which you neither need to practice continuously nor at a particular time.
In fact, you don't even need to practice these kinds of techniques. Just the very remembrance of the technique is enough!
Examples of these techniques are the Upanishadic M*ahavakya*, the statements of the great timeless Truths, and the beautiful Zen koans.
When you are in a highly mature state, you don't need any separate techniques. Just the very remembrance of Truth will transport you to that elevated state, and you will simply experience the Truth!