M-e-d-i-t-a-t-i-o-n spells relief

An ornately-decorated Oriental rug is sprawled across the floor of a dimly-lit room.

Sitting cross-legged atop a soft cushion on the rug, Meditation Club member and teacher Linda Harvey explained the club's attraction.

"Every year we find that students have an interest in meditation, but don't know how to do it," she said. "People want to get rid of shallowness. They want something deeper. Meditation allows people to become comfortable with themselves."

Two Mondays ago, the class was taught by Shakhi Dasi, a chemistry major who discussed the benefits of meditation.

"Mantra meditation takes the mind from a material to a transcendental platform," Dasi said. "You are transcending from the material world to the spiritual world."

Dasi's birth name is Shannon McQuaid. Her spiritual teacher gave her the new name, which means "Servant of God."

On Monday, McQuaid taught three forms of mantra meditation, which consisted of chanting a repeated phrase.

The first of these, Gauranga breathing, is associated with a cross-legged sitting position.

Resting their hands on their knees, members inhaled, then exhaled, slowly saying the phrase "Gaur Ra Ang Ga."

McQuaid said the idea is to focus one's mind on this phrase while inhaling, and to utter it upon exhalation.

The Maha mantra, another form of meditation, involves reciting the "Hare Krishna" chant.

"The mantra is not associated with the Hare Krishnas," said McQuaid, referring to the religious group that shares the chant's name. "We can't give it material designations. It's spiritual, not material."

When practicing Maha meditation, one holds a string of 108 beads.

"This focuses your mind by engaging your senses," said McQuaid.

Kirtan, a congregational chanting, was the last type of meditation McQuaid taught.

Unlike the Maha mantra, which can be done alone, Kirtan consists of reciting the mantra in a group of two or more people, often against a musical background.

The Meditation Club practices Kirtan with two guitars and hand drums.

One member of the club, former CSUS student Jody Haworth, remembered the ways in which meditation helped him through stressful times at school.

"When I would get stressed with studying I would meditate," he said. "It helped me realize the only reason I was in school was to keep my body alive and eventually support a family. I was just using school to keep my material comforts. This body is going to go, but I'm eternal."

Harvey likened the physical body to a vehicle -- something to be used as a tool, but which eventually dies.

"There are people who have great physical bodies but are empty inside. Even if your body is not healthy you can have true health of spirit," said Harvey. "Meditation is like a freedom journey from anxieties, unhappiness and stress that are materially based. To a person who does meditation, it's as necessary as breathing or eating."

The Meditation Club, which has been on campus for approximately eight years, meets every Monday and Thursday at 7:00 p.m. For more information, call 944-7817.