Yoga was born out of the intent of the mind to seek the universal truth. Our ancient Rishis and Munis, who were men of great intellect, were always possessed by the great desire to know the meaning of our existence. Why are we here? Is it coincidence? Are we part of a game played by God or are we just manifestations of cosmic consciousness? If it is so then what is the purpose of our existence? This led to the birth of Yoga. In Yoga, meditation is the seventh step on way to salvation, the last being samadhi i.e. continuous meditation. According to Yoga, visible or perceptible existence is just a manifestation of cosmic consciousness. The movement of an electric fan is the manifestation of electric current in a different form. The laws governing the electric current are quite different from those, which govern the circular rotation of the fan.

All the laws of nature, as we know them apply to this manifested world as we see it or perceive it. The laws, which apply to the underlying reality behind everything in existence, or to the cosmic consciousness in its integrated state, are quite different from the laws of the manifested world in which we exist. This is the reason why scientists have so far failed to come to any solid conclusion regarding the origin of this universe from the super integrated state. Meditation is the only way by which we can have some feel of this unmanifested energy. As long as conditions are compatible for life in a biological entity, the omnipresent and omnipotent cosmic-consciousness manifests in it as its soul. Mind and prana are the two constituents of the soul. Mind is a sort of differentiated consciousness and prana is the energy generated by it.
The mind in our body acts as an observer and a coordinator. It gathers all the information from various senses and processes this information in our brain to use it for our benefit. Awareness, analysis, coordination and working for the instinct of self-preservation are the main functions of the mind. In a conditioned mind when there is only pure awareness and nothing else, then this differentiated conscious merges with the cosmic consciousness without losing its identity. This is the aim of yoga.
In death this differentiated-consciousness looses it independence and become one with cosmic-consciousness. This cosmic- consciousness according to yoga is the ultimate underlying reality behind everything in existence. A lighted electric bulb is another perfect example of manifestation, the moment it is broken the conditions in the bulb become unfavorable and current coming in to it stops manifesting into light. The question arises, if soul is the manifested form of omnipotent cosmic consciousness then, it must also possess unlimited powers? According to laws of manifestation the manifested entity loses its omnipotence and is left with only limited powers. Thus a man has limited powers, but by means of yoga if he succeeds in merging his mind with the cosmic consciousness while retaining its independence, can still acquire unlimited powers.
In the first state of mediation the mind concentrates on a single sense and dissociates itself from all other senses of the body. This is then repeated with other senses one by one. In the next stage the mind disassociates itself from everything else.
So the final goal of meditation is to have a highly conditioned mind which stops analyzing everything without losing awareness, so that this awareness can be shifted to the cosmic consciousness, in its integrated state. The observation and knowledge gained after meditation cannot be shared or discussed in any language nor can it be explained according to any law. It is simply just a feeling, which in Yogic language is called BLISS. If you want to know the secret of ultimate truth you have to do meditation yourself.
It is beyond the capacity of logic or science to know or analyze the laws, which govern the underlying reality which can give birth to any kind of visible or perceptible entity. Meditation is the only way to imbibe the feel of those laws.
We may not achieve the final goal in meditation even in our lifetime. But if we continue to do meditation daily according to set practices of yoga, the rewards we get are astonishingly satisfactory. No other thing or any other activity can give us so much happiness and peace.
M.B.B.S., P.G.D. YOGA, 412 Adarsh Nagar, Jalandhar,
Tel: 09815304948, Email: arunkakkar11@gmail.com