In order to understand mediatation clearly, We have to understand mind and consciousness, thier default working characters, and their relation to each other. Mediatation cannnot be understood without this. This is precisely the reason why it looks wierd or useless to some people. let me state this as i found and understood.
Many intellectuals will object this and claim that i am stepping into religious zone but i am not. As i mentioned above that as i found and understood., means what my personal experiences told me, Not any religious book. That is altogether a deffernt thing that one may find something like that in some religious books also but i cannot help it.
Like most of the modern intellectual populace believes that mind and consciousness are the same thing but they are not. They are entirely two differnt entities but work with each other. Not only that, they cannot work without oneanother. Mind is a doing entity while consciousness in feeling entity. Mind collects all the data from the physical organs and think over it. Consciousness neither does anything in this process nor interfere. But, consciousness has the data of all the past experiences. Means, our memory in not stored in the mind but consciousness only. However, both these entities are that much intagled witheach other that for all practical purposes, they act as one not two. So, Mind think over whaever data it gets from the body, compare it likewise expreiences which are stored in the consciousness as it(Mind) has full access to that memory.
Meanwhile, consciouness does nothing but reamins a mere spectator in all this process but as mind goes through the anlysis of present and past ecperiences, Consciouness feels/rewinds all those instances and thus cased present and past feelings. Now, lastly, mind takes action according to those feelings and directs body to act accordingly. and, this process goes on and on throughout our life.
To understand this working and relationship of the mind and consciousness, I would like to put an analogy forth. If we think in the terms of a computer, body is hardware, Mind is software while consciouness is like a spectator/Oprator, who is looking at the screen.
One more issue is related and pertinent here, though somewhat outside the scope of the thread, But i would like to take that up right here.
As i said above that both of mind and consciousness exist and work in a very much amalgamated form and mind has access to what is stored in the consciouness. That is true for all prectical reasons but not entirely. The fact of the matter is that the mind does not have access to all what is in the consciousness but only a limited portion of it, though that limited access is enough for rourine woking but still incomplete.
If anyhow mind is able to get the full access of the consciouness, That is enlightenment, Nirvana or whatever one wants to name it. Believe me or not, it is as simple as that. There is nothing else to know or attain whatsoever. All information/Knowledge that the mankind wants to have, is right there, inside everyone. All we have to do is to get access to that. And, every quest will be over, right from big bang up to the God. Both of sicence and philosophy will be done.
And, that is precisely what the mediation is meant and designed for. Mediation enables mind to realize that consciounss is differnt from it and also gives access to that extent which is not possible normally.
I think that the theory part is over, so, from the next post. i will again go back to the mental exercise part of the mediataion, Unless any question from the readers comes by.
with love,
sanjay