How Meditation Leads to Supreme Happiness
Bhagavad Gita Ch. 6 v. 24-28
Discover how meditation and awakened discernment guide attention inward, revealing the supreme happiness of our essential spiritual nature.
Contents
Turning Attention Inward Through Meditation
Developing Concentration Little by Little
Returning the Wandering Mind to the Divine Self
Supreme Happiness and Our Innate Wholeness
Experiencing the Infinite Bliss of the Eternal
Experiencing the Infinite Bliss of the Eternal
PODCAST EPISODE: The Wandering Mind - How to Deepen Your Meditation
The Bhagavad Gita teaches that supreme happiness is the natural experience of our innate wholeness.
As we continue our study of Chapter 6, the Yoga of Meditation, verses 6.24-6.28 offer practical guidance on concentration, meditation, and samadhi. They reveal how the wandering mind becomes steady, how awakened discernment guides attention inward, and how meditation prepares us to live with greater clarity and freedom.
Turning Attention Inward Through Meditation
Verse 6.24 gives us practical instruction for the inward movement of meditation:
“Abandoning without exception all desires born of selfish will, restraining with the mind all the senses on every side.”
The practice of superconscious meditation involves progressively subtleizing our awareness. As attention flows inward, the instruments of perception become increasingly subtle and more pervaded by Supreme Consciousness.
Consider how this works. The senses perceive objects, yet the senses do not perceive the mind. The mind is aware of the senses. The intellect is aware of the mind and senses. The Self is aware of the intellect, mind, and senses. Through meditation, attention and awareness progressively move inward toward the source of consciousness.
What interrupts this inward flow? Sensory stimulation, attraction, aversion, and self-centered desire continually pull attention outward. Abandoning that outward pull again and again is dharana, the practice of concentration that prepares us for meditation and superconscious absorption.
The source of these distracting drives is the ego self. The purpose of meditation is to move beyond that false sense of self and experience our essential nature, which is free from desire. It is pure, still, whole, and complete.
"Supreme happiness is the natural experience of our innate wholeness or completeness."
—Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Developing Concentration Little by Little
The Bhagavad Gita verse 6.25 offers encouraging guidance:
“Let one gain little by little tranquility by means of reason controlled by steadiness and having fixed the mind on the Self, let one not think of anything else.”
Notice those words: little by little.
Here, one of the most ancient and revered scriptures, offering insight into the highest state of superconscious meditation, tells us to be patient with our practice. Concentration develops little by little as we return our attention and awareness again and again to the essential Self within.
We need to be clear about our intention to meditate superconsciously. This meditation is for fixing our attention and awareness on our essence of being and experiencing the profound peace it offers. Everything we seek can come forth from that connection.
Our steady practice is guided by buddhi, the faculty of discernment. Buddhi helps us recognize where attention is flowing and guides it toward our intended focus. When the mind begins to follow a distraction, buddhi helps us recognize what is happening and return inward.
Through practice, tranquility is progressively gained as discernment becomes steadier and our intention becomes clearer.
This shows us how important it is to cultivate a clear and bright buddhi. When discernment is obstructed by restlessness or lethargy—the influences of rajas guna and tamas guna—it cannot guide us effectively.
If we were trekking in the Himalayas, we would want a reliable guide to help us avoid the cliffs, recognize the pitfalls, and stay on the path. In the same way, we want our divine intelligence to guide us steadfastly toward our highest goal.
Returning the Wandering Mind to the Divine Self
The Bhagavad Gita verse 6.26 continues:
“Whatsoever makes the wandering and unsteady mind wander away, let one restrain and bring it back to the control of the Self alone.”
Here we discover that our faculty of discernment acts as an instrument of the Divine Self. Buddhi facilitates concentration, while the peace and profundity of the Divine Self attract the current of our attention and awareness to return home to its source.
This is tremendously encouraging. Just as the senses, memories, and thoughts can pull attention outward, there is an inward attraction toward superconscious awareness.
The untrained mind may wander like a child walking along a forest path, becoming fascinated by a colorful rock, mushrooms, or a lizard moving through the undergrowth. Attention moves from one attraction to the next.
Restraining the mind simply means noticing when attention has wandered and gently guiding it back to our meditation focus. Wandering is the nature of the untrained mind. During the early stages of meditation, it may happen repeatedly. Some people become discouraged because they believe a wandering mind means they cannot meditate successfully.
This is why the previous verse is so important. Concentration develops little by little, through repeated practice and continual adjustments. Each time we bring attention back, we strengthen our capacity to concentrate. The mind gradually learns to be guided by the higher faculty of intelligence instead of continually following the senses, memories, and passing thoughts.
There is a natural inclination to return to the source of our being, and that movement is occurring continuously. When we meditate, we arrange conditions in the mental field that allow us to cooperate with this natural inclination toward awakening, peace, and the realization of our innate wholeness. Kriya yogis use mantra and a dynamic form of pranayama to enhance the inward flow of attention and awareness.
Here is a particularly helpful insight for our practice. Whenever you notice that attention has wandered, consider what has called you back. We often focus on the distraction and become frustrated with the wandering mind. That frustration adds to the outward movement of attention. Yet something has already prompted us to notice that we have wandered.
Instead of dwelling on the distraction, turn toward that inward prompting. Follow what has just called your attention back into deeper awareness.
Remember that you are cooperating with the soul's natural inclination toward awakening. The movement toward peace is already active within you.
Supreme Happiness and Our Innate Wholeness
Verse 6.27 describes the experience that unfolds as the mind becomes peaceful:
“For supreme happiness comes to the yogi whose mind is peaceful, whose passions are at rest, who is stainless and has become one with God.”
Supreme happiness is the natural experience of our innate wholeness and completeness. When we experience the sublime Self, we are freed from the egoic bondage of continually wanting more. We are no longer driven by the restless feeling that something is missing or that we must continually acquire or accomplish something else.
Paramahansa Yogananda observed that everyone is looking for something else—something that will finally satisfy the craving for more or better. He explained that this “something else” is God.
Only wholeness itself can satisfy that continual hunger. When we experience our innate completeness, nothing needs to be added.
The verse also describes the yogi as stainless. What does it mean to become stainless when all of us have made mistakes or caused harm during our lives?
We do our best to repair any damage we have done to ourselves or others. As meditation and sadhana clarify the mind and heart, we become increasingly capable of recognizing what needs repair. Spiritual awakening brings a new way of living, guided by an awakened conscience rather than habitual reactions in the mind.
There is also a deeper understanding of what it means to be stainless. Our essential spiritual nature is already inherently pure and without stain. As awareness of that truth becomes more pervasive, it begins to guide our actions.
We develop a greater resolve to live in harmony with our essential nature. We want to remain in integrity with the truth of our being and actualize that truth in everything we say and do.
These teachings apply to meditation practice and meditative awareness throughout daily life. Attention is continually pulled in different directions. Desires arise, concerns appear, and circumstances change. Through spiritual practice, we learn to remain anchored in the Divine Self and allow awakened discernment to guide our choices.
From Self-Will to Divine Will
The Sermon on the Mount offers a teaching that beautifully complements this instruction from the Bhagavad Gita.
In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus tells his followers to release worry about the necessities of daily life. He points toward the birds of the air and the flowers of the field as examples of life supported by divine provision. He asks what worrying can accomplish and reminds his followers to give their attention to what matters most.
The essential instruction is to seek God's kingdom and righteousness first. In the language of yoga, we might say to seek God's wholeness and dharma first.
This teaching invites us to change our orientation.
As we move toward a meditative way of life, we may feel some concern about releasing egoic control and worry. We might wonder how responsibilities will be managed or whether things will be taken care of if we stop worrying about them.
Yet the teaching offers another way of being: meditation and daily living guided by the Divine Self through awakened discernment and intuition. We are guided moment by conscious moment to do what needs to be done.
This is the movement from self-will to divine will. As we become increasingly established in meditative awareness, we learn to trust that guidance and act from a clearer state of consciousness.
Worry has never accomplished anything except perhaps a headache or heartburn. The practice is to return attention to the Divine Self, become receptive to guidance, and do what is ours to do.
Experiencing the Infinite Bliss of the Eternal
Verse 6.28 brings this teaching to its fulfillment:
“Thus making the Self ever harmonized, the yogi who has put away errors experiences easily the infinite bliss of contact with the Eternal.”
This beautifully describes the body, mind, soul, and spirit in perfect communion and harmony, with no discord within our field of awareness. This is the goal of the yogi.
Sadhana purifies the body and mind so that the inner light can shine unobstructed. As we continue our practice, the Divine Self increasingly guides our awareness, discernment, and actions.
Purify the body and mind through yoga sadhana, and the divine light will guide your life. You will be a brahmachari, one who walks freely and blissfully through life with God as your constant companion, guided by the reality of your Divine Self.
S. Radhakrishnan offers a beautiful reflection on the direct experience of God in his commentary on this verse:
“God is no more a mere rumor, a vague aspiration, but a vivid reality with which we are in actual contact.”
He explains that religious experience is grounded in direct realization. Reason can offer explanations of that experience, yet the foundation is the experience itself.
Radhakrishnan also observes that such experiences are found across different cultures and throughout history. The illumination described by Hindu and Buddhist seers, Greek philosophers, and Christian and Muslim mystics belongs to the same family of direct spiritual experience. These experiences attest to the persistent unity and aspiration of the human spirit.
This is the great promise of yoga: intimate contact with the Eternal, the direct experience of the Divine Reality that is our life.
Through steady concentration, meditation, and samadhi, attention and awareness return to their source. The mind becomes peaceful, passions rest, discernment awakens, and the truth of our innate wholeness becomes increasingly evident in the way we live.
For me, this was the great call of yoga that captured my heart and mind: the call homeward and the assurance that I would meet my true Self rejoicing.
Listen to the full podcast episode below.
Bhagavad Gita, pt 58: The Wandering Mind - How to Deepen Your Meditation
Chapter 6, v. 24-28
How can we quiet a wandering mind and deepen our meditation practice? These verses offer practical guidance for developing concentration, strengthening discernment, and gently returning our attention to the Divine Self. Discover how patience and perseverance support spiritual awakening, cultivate lasting inner peace, and allow meditative awareness to guide everyday life.
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