A series of questions arises in the human mind regarding life. Is this life real, or are we living in an illusion? Are we soul or body? What is the purpose of life and what happens after physical death?
One of the main reasons for illusion in human life is ego. We identify ourselves as bodies and identify with name, profession, tribe and nationality. Mindful meditation is an effective way to proceed towards your inner self and getting freedom from illusion. There are many things that we do not know. Courage to accept your weakness and trying to learn more about yourself opens up path for an inner journey.
The right way to meditate is self-paced meditation practices. If you are forcing it, you will get a negative impact on your mind and body. This will lead to forming layers of illusion in mind. It should be well observed. We need to observe our shortcomings, and first step to meditation is to accepts it as it is. It is the process to find the path towards truth.
Observing yourself to find illusions in daily Life –
Often illusions are associated with seeing the physical reality, which does not exist. If you observe your thoughts and your mind layers carefully, you find various illusion and biases, which wastes a lot of your mental energy.
Daily mindfulness practices like observing breath patterns, taking deep breath from the nose and leaving through the mouth, and Alom-Vilom are some of basic Pranayam to make your mind peaceful.
There are various steps to exercise in daily life to see change in your mental state. Below are given some powerful methods to get rid of crowded mind and make decision wisely.
Mindfulness Meditation:
Practice: Observing your thoughts while sitting in quiet place and without any defence mechanism for past actions. Observing your breath and thoughts will remove layers of conditioning set through various factors and environments.
You will see what is right and what wrong I have done in the past. At that time, we often accept it right due to layers of conditioning. Accepting the truth will open a new dimension of reality, which brings unconditional happiness, which is not dependent on situation.
Benefit: It is helpful in knowing the true potential of your mind and making you aware about how your mind forms your reality. It is a powerful technique to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Journaling:
Practice : Writing down a daily diary helps you see your subtle habits clearly. You can reflect on these shortcomings in a better way, thus helping to speed up your progress.
Benefit: Helps in diving deep into your habits and helps working on it.
Gratitude Practice:
Practice: Be grateful for the things and success you get in your life; do not take it for granted. Thanks God, Nature and, People around you who make your life easy and comfortable.
Benefit: It will create positive space in your mind and reduce negative feelings that gives rise to illusion.
Mindful Observation:
Practice: Observe each activity of your life, from breathing pattern to the nature around you. Your mind will wander in between; bring it back calmly to the subject.
Benefit: This practice enables you to live consciously (in the present moment), thus enabling you to see the solution for every problem.
Introspection and Self-Inquiry:
Practice: Asking yourself the right question is important. The Who Am I book by Ramana Maharishi helps you to introspect yourself and helps finding answer to the most asked questions.
Benefit: This is a good way to find the truth. The deep layers of illusions covering our soul will vanish with time with self-introspection.
Simplifying Life:
Practice: Simplify life by avoiding overthinking and pursuing only materialistic things. Stop watching movies that stimulate your mind in a negative way.
Benefit: Minimize the distractions that lead to illusion, thus creating a clearer path to your soul.
Seeking Guidance from a Spiritual Leader:
Practice: Search for your guiding master, if you can find a suitable one. He will only guide you, rest of the journey needs to completed by you.
Benefit: Provides external insights that can help you recognize and remove illusions.
Reading Spiritual Books:
Practice: Read and watch spiritual books and videos. Keep an open mind while going through any discourse.
Benefit: Expands your consciousness and opens your mind to new ideas.
Connecting with Nature:
Practice: Spending time in a natural environment, away from the hustle of the city will help rejuvenate your mind.
Benefit: Open up new dimension of life in your mind and help you connect with truth. These are important steps for rejuvenating and finding real nature of th