Though a person is learned, it may not be possible for him to attain to the spiritual ideal immediately on account of ignorance, as a person who may daily walk over a treasure hidden beneath the earth may not know that he is daily walking over it. In fact, Jivas go to Brahman daily in the state of deep sleep, but do not know it, being covered by ignorance, and return to external consciousness of the world outside them. As mentioned, the obstacles may be grouped under three heads - past, present and future - due to which the Self-manifestation of knowledge is obstructed and its revelation becomes difficult. Past impressions harass the mind. There was a householder who was attached to a she-buffalo to such an extent that even when he took to renunciation later on, the love for the she-buffalo became an obstacle in his spiritual practice and it is said that he approached his Guru for initiation, and the Guru had to take into consideration his love for the she-buffalo and described to him Brahman as conditioned by the form of a she-buffalo. However, by intense concentration on his beloved object, he was able to feel and realise the unity of himself with the object of his meditation and it is then that the Guru came and gave him the proper initiation into the mysteries of true meditation, admonishing him that the form he was thinking in his mind was only an adjunct outside truth, and that the truth was the Consciousness witnessing the form. The present obstacles are in the form of attachment to sense-objects and dullness of the mind, perverted argumentation and an obsessed wrong notion confirming the reality of the world and its objects. These obstacles are to be gradually eliminated by the practice of such virtues as tranquillity of mind, sense-restraint, etc., and by hearing, reflection and meditation on the great truths of existence, as also by employment, of proper means to suit, then and there, the different circumstances which one may have to encounter on the path. By such gradual elimination of desires, the obstacles decrease by degrees and then the Truth shines by itself. The future obstacles are the part of Prarabdha-Karma which manages to bring about future experience and even rebirth, such as in the case of Sage Vamadeva, whose Prarabdha was just enough to make him enter the womb of a mother, and the moment he entered it he had knowledge and realisation. In the case of Sage Jadabharata, the births were three before he had ultimate Self-realisation; but in the case of most people, the births are many. As mentioned in the Bhagavadgita, these seekers attain to a certain stage in Yoga, but not having had the final consummation of it, take further births until all the Karmas as obstacles are got over; but their honest practices are not a waste, though they have not succeeded in a particular life. Every little bit that is added to the storehouse of spiritual merit is a permanent asset and it shall never be destroyed, though it may be very meagre. Seekers and Yogins who have some desires in their minds unfulfilled, reach, after the dropping of their bodies, higher realms of joy accessible only to highly virtuous persons, and when the momentum of that enjoyment is over, they are born again in the house of pure-minded and wealthy persons. But those who have no desires in their minds are reborn in the homes of great Yogins endowed with spiritual wisdom. Such a birth is very rare to obtain and cannot be had by a mere little merit acquired in the world. Having acquired such birth, the Yogin is pushed forward by the spontaneous impulse which he carries with him and superior intelligence, as a result of his past practices. Consequently, he exerts more on the spiritual path in this birth. Hard indeed is this blessedness to obtain, for, here, one is driven forward by the spiritual current even without one’s personal will and effort. Thus, after several births the Yogin attains the beatitude of Brahman.

If there is any desire left in the mind, such as the longing to reach Brahma-loka, the meditation would not be completely successful, because realisation of Brahman will not be possible if there is any desire suppressed within. Those who meditate with a desire to go to Brahma-loka reach that region and attain to Brahman in the end, at the end of the age-cycle. In the case of most persons, even spiritual effort is very difficult, and self-enquiry is still more difficult, because of the obstructing Karmas. It is in regard to such persons that it is said that there are many to whom the Atman has not come within the purview of even their hearing, due to dullness of mind and the absence of the proper requisites, such as a proper Guru, a suitable place, conducive circumstances, etc.

As in the case of Saguna-Upasana (meditation with attributes), as described, so in Nirguna-Upasana (meditation without attributes), too it is possible to fix the attention of the mind on a series of concepts relating to Brahman. In Saguna meditation the mind is made to think and deeply feel the presence of God in the best conceivable form, called the Ishta-Devata (chosen deity). The fundamental stage here would be to regard the Ishta as the absolute deity, standing or sitting in front of oneself and possessed of sublime qualities, the best that can be ever conceived of. There is then a flow of thought towards the Ishta-Devata, the current of love proceeds from the meditator and envelops the object of meditation with the intention to gain communion with the desired objective. However, this is not so simple as it appears, because the mind has the natural habit of thinking something which is different from the prescribed object, due to the notion that there is some other thing in this world which can also bring the needed satisfaction to it, and an involuntary, rather unconscious, question arises within itself as to why one should not enjoy these pleasures of communion with the other objects of the world when they too have values of their own. Here commences the great difficulty which every seeker has to encounter in his spiritual endeavour, the difficulty of giving a proper education to the mind to the effect that its highest consolation lies not in coming into contact with sense-objects, but in seeking the source of all pleasure, which definitely is not the objects, and the purpose of meditation is after all to seek this ultimate source of perennial bliss, and, so, meditation is not an end in itself, but a means to this realisation. When one succeeds in such an educative attitude in regard to the mind, the mind will come back to the object of meditation. Then the seeker puts forth efforts to give a little relaxation and a wider range of activity to the mind by bringing before its eye the various names, forms and actions of God which he is meditating upon, feeling also simultaneously that what is meditated upon is only a form of God, and God is not only in one place, but everywhere. All the forms of the world are then invested in meditation with the glories of God so that the meditative consciousness begins to rise to the concept of the Virat (Cosmic Form) and the ideas of inside and outside get transcended. Eventually, even this kind of meditation gets surpassed in the resting of the consciousness in itself without an attempt at feeling anything external to itself or even as an adjective to itself. The Nirguna form of meditation should be mostly concerned with the effort to make the mind subside whenever it tries to take some shape or form, even a concept of Brahman, to feel that Brahman is unthinkable, undefinable, unknowable, and to perpetuate this feeling for a protracted period would be to engage oneself in a type of Nirguna meditation. Whatever may be the idea that arises in the mind in regard to Brahman, that should be withdrawn as inadequate and the consequent condition maintained for as long a period as possible, continuously setting aside attributes whenever they arise in the mind and trying to remain a witness of all the ideas that arise.

Nirguna meditation may be of two kinds, positive and negative; one associated with direct qualities, and the other with indirect ones.

The Nirguna form of meditation is laid down in several of the Upanishads. The main type of meditation inculcated is on Pranava, or Omkara. There is the injunction to feel the unity of the component parts of OM with the different states of Consciousness. Macrocosmically as well as microcosmically, A,U, and M, which are the component sounds of OM, are to be gradually identified with the conscious states of Visva (waking consciousness), Taijasa (dream-consciousness) and Prajna (sleep-consciousness), subjectively; and with Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Isvara cosmically. Chanting of OM and the feeling of its vibrations set up a rhythm and harmony in the system, nervous, emotional and intellectual, so that due to this equilibrium brought about in the whole system, the Rajas of the mind is made to subside for the time being and a Sattvika state introduced which is conducive to Upasana, or meditation. The feeling of the union of Omkara with the states of Consciousness should lead ultimately to the feeling of the presence of Brahman as identical with oneself. The procedure is laid down in the Mandukya Upanishad, as well as in the Panchikaranavarttika of Acharya Suresvara. This Upasana is a means to Knowledge. Knowledge is the end, and the Upasana is the means leading to it. Most people do not take to such difficult meditations, as they are hard to practise, but notwithstanding this, it is there and is open to anyone who has a will to undergo the requisite discipline for the practice. Being frightened by the difficulties involved in such stupendous meditations, people resort to lower Upasanas of inferior deities, and do Japa of Mantras for lower ends in view, but it is the duty of every true seeker to endeavour hard to reach that stage where he can summon the requisite capacity from within to commence truly spiritual meditations.

All the attributes of Brahman mentioned in the Upanishads, positive as well as negative, may be brought together in a single group as aids to meditation. Different qualities do not indicate different objects. They refer to one and the same being, though various modes of meditation are laid down in different recensions or sections. They are to be gathered together under one group, since it is the uniform teaching of the Vedanta that the Atman is one. It may be looked upon from various points of view. This is to be done both in the case of the positive qualities such as Ananda (Bliss), Vijnana (Knowledge), etc., and the negative attributes such as Asthula (not gross), Ahrasva (not small), etc. It will be found on practice that the numerous attributes may be condensed into a few for the purpose of convenience in meditation, the most fundamental and the highest attributes being Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda (Bliss). Though it may be remembered that the Nirguna-Brahman being above qualities cannot be brought under the head of objective meditation, yet, for all practical purposes, we need not regard such attributes as Sat-Chit-Ananda to be limiting qualities, but only indicators of the Supreme Absolute. However, the case is different in such meditations as the Divine Purusha situated within the Sun, who is asked to be meditated upon as a resplendent golden figure. Though qualities do not exist in Brahman, they indicate its presence and give us a hint as to its nature. Let the meditation be carried on thus. We may meditate that the essential being is one with the Akhanda-Ekarasa-Atman (Undivided, single essence of Self), which is faintly indicated by such descriptions as mentioned above.