Professor Ranade, drawing from the Brahma Sutras, outlines three types of meditation in his philosophical framework:
● Symbolic Meditation (Gunopasana or Pratikopasana): This type of meditation utilizes symbols or representations of the divine to focus the mind. It’s considered a preliminary stage in the spiritual journey, aiding the aspirant in gradually transcending the limitations of concrete thought.
● Qualitative Meditation (Ahangarahopasana): This form of meditation focuses on the qualities or attributes of God. It aims to cultivate a deep understanding and appreciation of these qualities, fostering devotion and love for the divine.
● Unitive Meditation: The most important and challenging of the three, unitive meditation aims to realize the identity of the individual self (Atman) with the ultimate reality (Brahman). This practice seeks to transcend the duality between the meditator and the object of meditation, leading to a direct experience of unity.
Understanding the Progression:
● Ranade emphasizes that each type of meditation serves a specific purpose and is suited to different temperaments and stages of spiritual development2.
● He advises aspirants to choose the type of meditation that best aligns with their personality and current level of spiritual maturity.
● Symbolic meditation provides a foundation, enabling the aspirant to develop concentration and focus. As progress is made, the aspirant can move towards qualitative meditation, cultivating a deeper appreciation of the divine attributes.
● Ultimately, the goal is to reach unitive meditation, leading to the direct experience of unity and liberation.
Insights from the Bhagavad-Gita:
● Ranade identifies a parallel structure in the Bhagavad-Gita, where three methods of meditation are presented: ideological, moral, and mystical.
The ideological method involves meditating on abstract ideas of God, aligning with symbolic meditation. The moral method focuses on cultivating virtues and aligning actions with divine principles, echoing qualitative meditation. The mystical method aims to transcend the limitations of the individual self and realize unity with the divine, mirroring unitive meditation.
Ranade’s categorization of meditation techniques provides a structured framework for understanding the various approaches to spiritual practice within the Indian philosophical tradition. His insights highlight the importance of choosing a method that resonates with the individual’s personality and spiritual aspirations, ultimately leading to the ultimate goal of God-realization.