Concentration & Meditation - Vedanta

Concentration and Meditation 11only a small — the conscious — part of the personality. The otherparts of the personality, especially the unconscious part of themind, which is a magazine of psychic energy, go on in their oldways. This kind of meditation lacks power. Prayer and worshiprouse the unconscious, energize every part of the personality andgear them all to meditative effort. It is only when meditation ischarged with power that it will act like a power drill and pierce theveil of maya.We have also seen that meditation becomes meaningful onlywhen there exists a living relationship between the soul and God.Some people are born with an inner sensitivity of the soul for theunseen, intangible Reality and feel a spontaneous love for God.For the others the only way is to cultivate devotion through longpractice of prayer and worship.Prayer and worship are of help in yet another way. They providesupport to the mind even when one does not or cannotmeditate. It so happens that on certain days aspirants find it difficultto meditate. When this happens many of them think, “Insteadof wasting my time trying to meditate, let me do some work.” Buta true devotee does not think that way: he just switches to intenseprayer and worship. True devotees are not discouraged bydryness of mind or other obstacles; in their case meditation isonly an extension, a subtler expression, of prayer or worship.There are, of course, other aids to meditation, but here we areconcerned mainly with the path of devotion where prayer andworship play an important role.Meditation During the Early StagesIf meditation is so difficult, does it mean that we should take itup only after attaining proficiency in prayer and worship? Indeed,if the aspirant could devote a few months or even years exclusivelyto prayer and worship, he would quickly advance andwould find meditation easy and spontaneous. But today few peoplehave the faith and patience to wait for such a long time. Nor isit necessary even for the beginner to abandon meditation. Thepractice of meditation along with prayer and worship can betaken up even in the beginning of spiritual life. For meditation,even when not perfectly done, helps the aspirant in several ways.It helps the aspirant to understand the working of his own