People help themselves to food during an Indian lunch held at Lebanon Valley College's Miller Chapel. The college hosted Swami Pratyagboadhananda, a Hindu monk from an ashram in Saylorsburg. (Jeremy Long Lebanon Daily News)

ANNVILLE >> "The purpose of meditation is to have single-pointedness," explained Swami Pratyagbodhananda after a brief opening prayer to his instruction at Lebanon Valley College.

Swami Pratyagbodhananda was one of the four members of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam to visit LVC Tuesday. The monk and teacher led a talk at 11 a.m. on the practice of meditation, put on in Miller Chapel by the college's Office of Spiritual Life.

The Arsha Vidya Gurukulam is a gurukulam, which is, in the Hindu tradition, a place where a student goes not only to study from but to live with the teacher, therefore immersing themselves in religious study and practice.

The ashram, located in Saylorsburg, was established in 1986 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati and is based on the traditional gurukulams of India. It provides a number of programs year-round, including classes in Sanskrit, meditation, yoga and religious texts, as well as retreats and children's programs.

Additionally, all programs and courses offered by the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam are free and open to the public, with lodging provided for a nominal fee.

Pratyagbodhananda continued his talk by explaining that to achieve single-pointedness, "one does meditation."

"There are three types of actions I can perform: physical action, oral action and mental action," said the teacher.

All three of these actions can be connected through prayer and meditative chant, Pratyagbodhananda explained.

The teacher then went on to discuss meditation and the challenges to meditation brought on by the naturally wandering mind.

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Swami offers discussion on meditation at Lebanon Valley College