One does not need to wait for an after-life to experience what heaven feels like. But it needs focus, effort, and persistence.
Bhagwad Gita, India’s primary book on spiritualism, teaches that heaven can be experienced in this life itself. People can do so if they follow the book’s guidelines. Amongst religions this makes Hinduism a rare exception – its central book promises a taste of heaven before death, if a person actively abides by it’s teachings. This aspect of Gita is rarely noted, much less discussed. It should be and in this article I touch upon about how this taste of heaven is within reach.
Start with seeing this as a scientific experiment rather than a religious endeavour. This is about the search for personal happiness and fulfilment. It is not a dogma or a “self-evident truth” that should be accepted on blind-faith or someone’s authority. It should be personally validated and only thereafter accepted.
How does this heaven feel like?
Glimpses of the bliss that lies beyond our senses are often visible in deep state of meditation. This is a state that is fundamentally different from the existence we are familiar with. The familiar existence is one where I see myself as my body (my consciousness is diffused across my body). And where I act to satisfy my senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). Put another way, I work to fulfil different desires. The heavenly state inverts this fundamental aspect of my existence. In the heavenly existence, there is no desire left. There is nothing left that I want. None of the things that I craved for in my normal existence are important in that state. The normal attachment to the body, which is perhaps the most basic of all attachments, dissolves away too. Time does not seem to exist in this realm. There is a sense permanence and changelessness to it, even though the experiences may be fleeting – lasting not more than a few minutes of the meditation session. There is also a sense of bliss. Huge amount of it. Limitless, infinite bliss. This bliss is the defining feature of heaven, according to ancient Indian texts. In my experience, it is a feeling that one cannot get tired or bored of it. This is the heaven I have subconsciously looked for here in my normal life. It was unspoken of because I had not experienced it. We look for this bliss in every corner of life because deep down we know that we are missing it. This bliss is the essence of heaven.
Then there is also a sense of freedom. Freedom from the shackles of this existence. Laws, like that of gravity, don’t appear to apply. There is a sense of lightness of being that is liberating. This feeling also gives a sense of what it really means to be free. Apparently, true freedom is not the ability to express or do what I feel like, go where I like, and say what I want. It is to be free from the bonds of attachments and from laws of physics and biology to which every living being is subject to. Then there is the way breathing changes. It’s as though I don’t need to breathe in air to live. To be sure, the physical breathing process does not entirely stop. But it does slow down very substantially. And the volume of air being breathed becomes a fraction of what is typically needed. This happens automatically and must not be forced. It’s as though the body is able to draw its energy from a source other than the chemical processes that otherwise use breathed-in oxygen. The senses become both more sensitive as well as more insensitive. Sensitive, because I am able to hear everything clearly, for example. But also insensitive, because there is nothing that I want in this state for my senses to relay to me to make me happy. I am not looking for riches or any material or other sense-based happiness. In fact, I would be happiest if I remained in this state of bliss.
It must be noted that meditation is a difficult act to master. For this reason, while a person starts achieving a meditational state closer and closer to the one described above (indicating progress), it may take months or years to experience the deep state described above. But the experience left me permanently changed in a very positive way. Just one such experience brings a whole new spiritual perspective to the daily grind of “normal” life. And once experienced, it becomes progressively easy to re-achive. Things that would otherwise bring me down suddenly no longer seem to carry the level of importance they earlier did. The reality does not change but my mind becomes so much peaceful and happy despite any negatives that reality might present.
Coming out of this heavenly state – what changes?
Coming out of the meditation, the mind changes a bit. A small fraction of the bliss stays with me as a source of peace and happiness. It’s mere memory brings my mind to a peaceful state even though I may be surrounded by chaos. Repeated meditations with the above experience build upon each other and change the mind a lot. The mind becomes much more at peace. It discounts the importance of things it would otherwise hanker for. Desires do not disturb it much. Anger starts having a declining impact on it. Other “sins” like greed and many bad habits become easier to overcome. This is quite aptly described by Gita Verse 2:70 – saying that for a person who has achieved such tranquility, it’s as though unruly desires start flowing into a calm ocean. Disturbances or stresses rooted in desires and anger that would otherwise bring a person low – all can similarly flow into this same spiritual ocean of peace that resides inside of us, and then vanish.
Reaching this state
Meditation is one way to reach this state. Personally, the TAME meditation technique has worked extremely well for me. This special meditation is also described in Gita Verse 6:11 onwards. But it needs practice. This practice needs to be regular and frequent (around 30 minutes daily has worked well for me). And along with way, I have experienced progressively deeper states of meditation. Over time my daily TAME meditation leaves me more at peace and happier – thus indicting positive progress.
Closing Note: Also read the Bhagwad Gita
It should be pointed out there that this result is more likely to be obtained through a combination of the above meditation and a reading of Bhagwad Gita. It’s the difference between understanding the science and then applying it vs. just following someone’s instructions while remaining ignorant of the principles involved. I have read multiple versions of the Gita and the one I found most compelling is the one by Yogananda.
Recommended reading:
The Advanced Meditation Exercise (TAME): This meditation technique is an incredibly powerful way to keep the mind peaceful. It is prescribed in Bhagwad Gita, the primary book of Indian spiritual heritage. It derives its power by activating three key things in us: detachment, stillness, and transformation.
Why TAME meditation appears to work better than other techniques: TAME meditation appears to be more effective than other meditation techniques because it activates three essential elements of meditation: detachment, transformation, and stillness. Meditation needs all three.
Float above reality …. to remain always happy: Use the TAME meditation technique to keep yourself emotionally detached from ups and downs of the daily grind. This can feel like physically floating above the world. Don’t get divorced from reality, but don’t get drowned by it either.
