The Effortless Meditation Practice
I’ve been meditating for the last 10 years, but it doesn’t look like it did when I started. In the beginning, it took a lot of effort and concentration — always bringing the attention back to the breath, focusing on the feelings of the body, etc. All in the hopes of silencing the mind. This is a great start for getting into meditation. But meditation doesn’t need to be something that takes concentration. It can be effortless and seep into any moment of your life. You can even meditate while working without sacrificing productivity.
The meditative practise I use comes from the teachings of Ramana Maharshi — also known as the sage of Arunachala (Arunachala being a mountain in the Indian province of Tamilnadu believed to be the embodiment of Shiva.) His teachings were consistent with the philosophies of Advaita Vedanta except for one crucial difference. Ramana Maharshi advocated primarily for self-inquiry rather than the study of scripture.
Self-inquiry is the basis of the neo-Advaita movement which has come to the West. I discovered this philosophy through the guru, Mooji who was a disciple of H.W.L. Poonja (aka Papaji) who was a disciple of Ramana Maharshi. Ramana didn’t recognize any disciples in his lineage and frankly never considered himself a guru either. Nonetheless, his methodology proceeded him.
