Chapter 8
The Levitating Saint
"The saint and I entered the meditative state. After an hour his gentle voice roused me.
'You often go into silence, but have you developed anubhava?' He was reminding me to love God more than meditation. 'Do not mistake the technique for the Goal.'
He offered me some mangoes. With the good-humored wit that I found so delightful in his grave nature, he remarked, 'People in general are more fond of the Jala Yoga (union with food) than of Dhyana Yoga (union with God).'
...With silent zeal he aided me to attain anubhava."
As translated from the book, anubhava is the actual perception of God.
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I am wondering what are some techniques to develop anubhava in ones meditation?
"In Hindu thought, Anubhava or anubhavah (Sanskrit: अनुभव) refers to personal knowledge or aesthetic experience.
The term anubhava or anubhavah (Sanskrit) is a compound of:
अनु anu: 'after', 'afterwards', 'later on', 'in consequence of', 'being indicated by';
भ(भु)व bhava: 'causing', 'delighting' or 'experiencing'.
Anubhava has a wide range of possible translations:[1][2]
अनुभव – 'direct perception or cognition', 'knowledge derived from personal observation or experiment, 'notion', 'apprehension', 'the impression on the mind not derived from memory', 'one of the kinds of knowledge', 'experience', 'understanding', 'result', 'consequence';
अनुभवसिद्ध – 'established by experience'.
Several related words express the mental state which can be communicated to others or represented (अभिनय – 'acting'), either verbally or physically or emotionally, in one or different contexts:
भाव bhāvah: 'feeling', 'emotion', 'sentiment', 'temperament', 'mood';
विभाव vibhāvah: 'any condition which produces or develops a particular state of body or mind';
अनुभाव anubhāvah: 'greatness', 'dignity', 'firm opinion or determination', 'an external manifestation or indication of a feeling by appropriate looks, gestures etc., called by some ensuant';
अनुभू anubhū: to enjoy, taste, experience or suffer;
अनुभूति anubhūti: 'realization', self-realization'.
Anubhāvas are not causes, but aesthetic experiences and important ingredients of Rasa. Anubhavah is not a sense-experience."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubhava