Rajyoga Meditation

Raja Yoga Meditation is a method of relaxing, refreshing and clearing the mind and heart. It helps you look inside to rediscover and reconnect with your original, spiritual essence. Meditation enables an integration of your spiritual identity with the social and physical realities around you, restoring a functional and healthy balance between your inner and outer worlds.

The most important journey you can take is the journey within. This is a journey to the truth of who you really are. This is the place, just beyond every day consciousness, where spiritual empowerment begins. Spiritual power gives you the power to choose creative thinking rather than automated thinking, response rather than reaction, peace, love and harmony rather than stress, conflict and chaos.

Meditation enables you to embark on this inward journey. Raja Yoga meditation gives you a clear spiritual understanding of yourself, helps you re–discover and use the positive qualities already latent within you, enables you to develop your strengths of character and create new attitudes and responses to life.

You begin to remember things about yourself that you once knew, but had long forgotten. You start to enjoy moments of silence and to savour periods of introspection and reflection.

Meditation also helps you disconnect from damaging habits of thought, feeling and reaction. This results in a conscious, positive release of energy which improves the quality of your attitude, actions, and interactions.

The process of going within, disconnecting from harmful habits, connecting to your innate spiritual resources, and reconnecting with your external life, is personally empowering in a lasting way.

Meditation is taught as a method of raising self-awareness leading to self–realisation. Meditation stills the mind and empowers the intellect to achieve insight and understanding of the spiritual laws and principles which sustain harmony and can bring natural renewal at all levels of life on earth.

“Meditation, accurately directed, makes God accessible to everyone.” –Sr. Jayanti, God’s Healing Power (Michael Joseph, Penguin Group, 2002)

Raja Yoga meditation redefines the self as a soul and enables a direct connection and relationship with the Supreme Source of purest energy and highest consciousness. Raja Yoga can be translated as ‘supreme union’, or as ‘highest connection’. Every soul has a right to experience this ultimate relationship.

Experience Meditation

Like any skill, meditation requires practice to achieve satisfying results. More and more people are adding some kind of meditation to their daily routine either as an effective antidote to stress, or as a simple method of relaxation. By doing a little meditation every day, it soon becomes a natural and easy habit, which generously rewards you for the effort it involves.

Courses on Spiritual Knowledge & Meditation

All of the Brahma Kumaris centres offer courses in meditation and spiritual knowledge, as well as seminars and special events facilitating self development and personal change. All courses, seminar and workshops are offered to the public free of charge, as a community service.
The Foundation Course in Meditation, described below, is available at every Brahma Kumaris centre on a regular basis. The other courses are offered from time to time. For information as to what is available in your area, contact a location near you .

The Foundation Course in Meditation

At the heart of the teachings is a clear understanding of the relationship between spirit and matter, mind and body, and the interplay between soul, God and our material world. Within the Foundation Course in Meditation, often referred to as Raja Yoga meditation, the core curriculum is offered under the following headings:

Meditation

Meditation is taught as a method of raising self-awareness leading to self-realisation. Meditation stills the mind and empowers the intellect to achieve insight and understanding of the spiritual laws and principles which sustain harmony and can bring natural renewal at all levels of life on earth.

Self – realisation

Self-awareness and self-understanding are cultivated in order to realise one’s true spiritual identity and nature. In the meditative state, the self is experienced as conscious energy taking the form of a point of light. This spiritual energy, the soul, is experienced as both different and separate from the energy of the material body.

Consciousness

The role of the mind, and the interplay between the mind, the intellect and the personality is understood through a process of self-observation. The meditator learns to quiet and control the mind, allowing the conscience to be clearly heard. Conscious awareness of the soul is then developed, allowing full understanding of the self.

Relationship with God

As meditation helps consciousness move beyond self-limiting beliefs, the presence of God is experienced in the state of yoga – a mental link with the source of spiritual power.

Laws of Karma

Understanding the laws of Karma which govern the relationships between the human soul, God and the material world is essential for cultivating right awareness and consciously choosing right thoughts and actions.

Cycle of Time

Time is perceived as moving in cycles and life as a whole is presented as an unlimited drama on the stage of the world. This perspective of time and constantly changing scenes (history and geography) restores the ability to find meaning and significance in local and global events.

The Tree of Life

Insights are offered into evolution and creation, illustrating why the world is so fragmented today, and explaining the values, roles and relationship between diverse human interest groups and disciplines such as religion, science, politics and business.

Enhancing Inner Strength

As the practice of meditation leads to an experience of inner strength, practical methods are offered to help shape and direct spiritual power into accurate and effective responses and actions in daily life.

Principles for a Spiritual Lifestyle

With an improved level of self-understanding comes the awareness of how behaviour and lifestyle – including diet, routine, responsibilities and relationships – can complement and enhance spiritual development in daily life.

Development of Spiritual Values

Emphasis is given to understanding the relationship between acquired values and innate values, between values and virtues and the importance of reviewing and renewing our values at the deepest level of our life.

The above core curriculum of the institution is normally presented during a formal group course over several weeks, or individually (one-on-one) at mutually convenient times. The presentation of the course may vary according to country culture and local facilities.