Service/seva leads to good karmas, which leads to dhyan, which leads to gyan, which leads to vairagya, which leads to reality and bliss.

In the present yug, there is no other way. If you attempt dhyan otherwise, without the preconditions, then you will only be doing meditation or a self-hypnosis and just fooling yourself. You will give it up after a while as thoughts will never leave you and you will get frustrated, dhyan will never happen. Service or seva is the first step. The stronger is your seva, the faster you climb up the ladder of evolution. The strength of seva here does not refer to the amount of money or time you direct towards charity alone. If a person’s monthly income is Rs.1000 and he puts aside Rs100 towards charity, it is seva for him. If another person puts aside Rs.10000 but if his monthly income is 50,00,000, then even though his charity amount is 100 times the former, it is not seva. Seva is as per the capacity of a person.

Skandh Purana states, nyayoparjita vittasya dashamanshena dhimata? kartavyo viniyogashcha ishvaraprityarthameva cha. From the wealth you have earned by rightful means, take out one-tenth, and as a matter of duty, give it away in charity. Dedicate your charity for the pleasure of God. Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all prescribe similar contributions in the name of daswandh, tithe, alms and zakat. Only when one does seva as per his capacity do the karmas start improving, and it is only good karmas which can lead you to dhyan.

At Dhyan Ashram we teach dhyan, the way it is, through the practice of Sanatan Kriya under a Guru, free of cost. For us it is not a business but a seva, which takes us to higher planes of consciousness.

A seeker should always look for preconditions whenever he/she wants to venture on this path, which are: Dhyan should be a sadhna, not a business. There should be a living Guru, for only he/she can give you the vision and experience of shakti. The Guru should exude the glow and health which you have been promised. The purpose of dhyan should be evolution and nothing else, sanitised of any commercial activity.

—Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Ashram and can be reached at www.dhyanfoundation.com