This meditation goes with the nature of your mind, because the mind wants to think of something beautiful. The mind desires happiness. In this meditation (Roopdhyan or visualizing the form of God), we are not trying to clear the mind or make the mind blank or thoughtless. There's not much value in that anyway, other than a temporary sense of peace. Because having a blank mind doesn't make you more attached to God or able to receive God's grace. Having a blank mind doesn't purify your mind. And having a blank mind doesn't result in God realization or the attainment of divine bliss. Bringing Radha Krishna into our mind does all of that.
Therefore, this meditation is not only easier than trying to have a completely empty mind, it is also much more fruitful. This meditation is the core of bhaktiI (devotion). All other physical forms of worship need to have this Roopdhyan incorporated into them. Otherwise, they're merely physical. They have no effect on us internally. The real point of doing bhakti is to transform ourselves internally by purifying our mind.
But this Roopdhyan can be incorporated into any practice of worship that you're accustomed to doing. Any routine can be enhanced by adding Roopdhyan. And if you leave the Roopdhyan out, then it's a good physical thing you're doing, but it won't have the true effect of devotion and it is not considered part of the path of God realization.
So we always have to start with Roopdhyan, then add Kirtan. Start with Roopdhyan, then do Aarti. Start with Roopdhyan, then offer Bhoga. Start with Roopdhyan, then do Puja. Roopdhyan is Pramukh. Without Roopdhyan, all these practices are physical doings. With Roopdhyan, they have the power to join us with God.
Roopdhyan be practiced anywhere. It's not like other practices regulated by the Vedas, where you have to be, what time of day, how you have to sit. Because Roopdhyan is just between you and the Supreme God, Radha Krishna, They're everywhere, all the time. Therefore, you can do Roopdhyan anywhere, anytime.
The only thing is, if you want to practice Roopdhyan every day, then you need to find a place where you won't be disturbed. So you need to have a comfortable, quiet place to sit and do Roopdhyan and sit comfortably, but alertly. And just remember that the more time you spend doing Roopdhyan, the more benefit you will get. So you might start with five minutes a day. Then you might change it to 15 minutes a day, or 15 minutes a day, morning and evening. And then you keep increasing, because the more you do it, the more you'll enjoy it. The more pure the mind becomes, the more Ras we receive through our practice of Roopdhyan.
So this Roopdhyan can and should be adopted by everybody. This is what we are taught by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, that any form of worship can be enhanced by adding in Roopdhyan as the primary focus. And if we do so, we move towards God Realization.
Do it in a place where you won't be disturbed. You can have an image of God there to help you develop that Roop in your mind. So you can look at It and then close your eyes. And then again, open your eyes in between if you need to.
And there's one more thing when you're doing Roopdhyan. We need to not only imagine the form of Radha Krishna, but we need to feel related to them.
