Meditation Sessions

The place: The Happy Raj Meditation Center where a group of female academics from the State Polytechnique were attending a seminar on Meditation.

When Apemaniyo sat down, after explaining to them the concept of the Kasina Meditation, the Chair spoke, “Now you   know what it is. Do you have any questions?”

“Please tell me whether I have understood it correctly. You light a small coconut oil lamp that you get at the entrance to this hall. You put some coconut oil and then the wick and light it. Then you keep on looking at its flame and continue saying, “Tejo” And what is the success you are talking of with this type of devise?”

Apemaniyo got up once again and  explained, “ We call it a nimitta. A nimitta is another flame. It will appear a few inches above the flame of your lamp flame. The coconut oil lamp you light in your room. Or sometimes it can be below or on to the left or to the right side. It can be smaller than the original flame, or equal in   size and strength. I count up to ten saying Tejo–tejo is fire–and come down from ten to one. When I repeat like this, the nimitta appears. Sometimes it gets delayed. In my case I have always got it before I go to one hundred. Some say it gets delayed. As far as I know it is your power of concentration. Looking at the lamp is not the same as looking at it with the force of your eyes. It can come and go off. That is not a reason for you to worry about. It will generally come. I was planning to take a photograph of it. But I was not sure why I wanted to do it, other than to show it to someone. My advice is not to play with it until you are very well establishedwith the practice.”

Next day when Nanda Silmaniyo inquired of them about the success of their home-work assignment,most of them were surprised that they had seen the Nimitta after several minutes. One lady who had been practicing the metta meditation daily, before she commences her tedious day explained, “This is the first day that I experimented with this meditation and I was surprised to see the flame got doubled in no time. But it died off and returned. Went on and off. I think the cause was that my concentration had got disturbed. I was thinking of my absence from my home. Now I know what it is, and can continue with it possibly daily.”

Nanda Silmaniyo informed them “The small bottle of coconut oil can last only a few hours, if you need more you have to tell one of the girls who brings your  meals to your rooms.”