Preksha meditation develops the feeling of equality and a consciousness free from duality. This is a new phase of consciousness when the duality of gain and loss, pleasure and pain comes to an end.
There is nothing new in the world. That which has grown old assumes a new form. When what has been lost to memory reappears, it is called new. For example, the first experiment in preksha meditation, conducted by Bharata, remained hidden for a number of centuries.
We’ve reconstructed this simple process of meditation for the benefit of all those who are looking for a straight and clear-cut path to experiencing an unalloyed consciousness free from duality.
This is because, we knew, a complicated and difficult process of sadhana would not become popular, particularly because humans by their very nature avoid that which is difficult.
Preksha meditation develops the feeling of equality and a consciousness free from duality. This is a new phase of consciousness when the duality of gain and loss, pleasure and pain -- which disturbs, deforms and defiles the mind -- comes to an end. Pain and grief are products of the dialectical operation of the opposite forces of life.
A son who doesn’t earn enough may earn his father’s displeasure, and his love gets suppressed by anger. This is because the father’s mind is conditioned by the experience of pleasure and pain and loss and gain. If he has, say, three sons and only one of them earns, he will be more attached, if not more affectionate, to the earning son.
Duality creates problems which have no end. Power and knowledge when opposed by ignorance and passions often fail. If we want to be free from sorrows, we’ll have to put an end to the sense of duality. And there is a natural inclination in man to look beyond material objects and the pleasures they give. Hence his search for lasting joys which can bear fruit only by a unity of experience.
When the darkness (ignorance) caused by sensual pleasures becomes thick, one comes to feel a strong desire to go beyond empirical experience and to experience a state of undivided consciousness.
This consciousness is called samayika. It results in a complete restraint of mind and its fickleness. A new life then begins in which there are no grief and sorrow.