"Wisdom is intuitive knowledge of the mind of love and clarity that lies beneath one's ego driven anxieties and aggressions. Meditation is going into the mind to see this for yourself - over and over again, until it becomes the mind you live in"! (Gary Snyder)
"As long as we identify with the body and the mind we bob around on the surface level of consciousness, chasing after the fleeting attractions of life outside us. Here a pleasure won, there one lost. A bit of praise today, some criticism tomorrow. Profit, loss, profit, loss. Thus ours days are spent, and we are scattered, divided, restless, incomplete. Now in profound meditation, we drop below all that and become concentrated on one thing and one thing alone...our true identity. In this absorption, this great gathering within, we break through the surface of consciousness and plummet deep, into our real nature. What we discover can not be put into words, but thereafter we are never again the same." (Bhante Henepola Gunaratana)
Meditation may present greater mind barriers and physical impatience than the relaxation. Sitting still listening to a tape and perhaps some nice music is one thing, but meditating for twenty minutes is a much greater challenge for most people.
The basics
Find a quiet space in your house that will be your meditation spot (so that you begin to associate meditation with that particular place - association is half the battle). Try and pick somewhere that is uncluttered and peaceful, somewhere where you can close the door (or lock it if necessary) and the space is, at least temporarily, your own.
Sit on a chair or on a cushion on the floor. Lying down on the bed is not recommended as it is associated with sleep (save this for your relaxation tape). If sitting on a chair, sit up straight, but not ramrod straight and the chair should support your back. Keep your neck and head erect. Put your two feet on the ground, preferably barefoot or in socks, and your hands relaxed in your lap. You can hold your fingers in typical meditation posture if you like to - thumb and first finger touching - but what is important is that you hands are relaxed, not clenched. If you are sitting on the floor, you way want to sit cross-legged, in typical meditation style. Again this may be uncomfortable at first, but do it as long as you can, relax and straighten out your legs and try again. You can build up to being able to sit in this position for twenty minutes.
When you are sitting comfortably, start by taking a couple of deep, full breaths. Continue to breathe properly - to consciously breathe in and out in a deliberate but relaxed fashion. Focus on your breathing for a couple of minutes until you feel relaxed. Then you are ready to start repeating your mantra. However, it is important to continue with your breathing while meditating and you can repeat your mantra on inhale and exhale.
Mantra
A mantra is a word which you repeat to yourself during meditation. This gives your mind something to focus on, as it is very difficult to empty your mind completely of thoughts. The mind does not naturally want to quieten down and as soon as you're sitting comfortably and ready to go, the mind will immediately start to focus on other things - jobs that you have to do that day, conversations you've had with others, memories of past events and anxieties about future events will come to the fore. The mind is a little like a naughty toddler, racing up and down corridors, coming back on the urging of its mother, only to be gone again, called by the attractions and excitements of doing. A mantra gives your mind something to concentrate on while you are meditating and when the thoughts come, as inevitably they will, you acknowledge them and then gently bring your mind back to the mantra. You may become annoyed with yourself for drifting off and be tempted to try and force the thoughts out, berate yourself and manically repeat the mantra. But there is nothing forced about meditating and it's not a competition to see who can concentrate the longest. It's a gentle letting go of the world for a short period at a time. It's a coming back to the real self. In this day and age of "must try harder", meditation is the antidote. It is the dissolution of difficulties, a bit by bit fading of everything we find hard, an acknowledgement that all we need is within ourselves.
Some examples of mantras:
Om (infinity and immortality)
Om shanti (infinity and peace)
Ram (consciousness, truth and virtue)
Shalom (peace)
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How it works
My meditation teacher explained it like this. Deep in our mind is a pure consciousness, we can liken this to the seabed deep in the ocean. Most of the time our minds operate on the surface of the ocean, on the level of the waves. When we start to meditate, we begin to go beneath the waves and move downwards. However, when a thought comes into our minds, we start to move again towards the surface. But as we move upwards again, stress is released. This takes the performance pressure off us, I believe, as if we are able to concentrate on the mantra, that's great but equally if our minds are wandering and stress is being released, meditation is being beneficial to us either way.
Again, if it is more comfortable for you, start with five minutes, or ten minutes and build up your time slowly. If you want to do the full twenty minutes, you can gauge the time by making a tape yourself that tells you when to start and finish the meditation. Use your gentlest voice on this tape, particularly when taking yourself out of the meditation. Alternatively, when starting out, you can have a clock near you and every so often you can take a quick squint at the clock to see the time. You may find yourself checking it very often at the beginning and this is to be expected.
What I have found is that the first ten minutes are the worst for thoughts intruding or for feeling restless. The second ten minutes are nearly always the most enjoyable and relaxing, so much so that you can feel that you want to just continue with the meditation. When you are finished the meditation, bring yourself out gently over a couple of minutes, in order to adjust back to your everyday life. Getting straight up and bolting out the door to the next thing can leave you feeling a bit jarred and edgy.
I have found often that the benefits of meditation are not necessarily felt in the moments after meditation. Some days you may not feel like meditating, perhaps you feel too anxious, worried or stressed to sit still. If you go ahead with your meditation anyway and finish it feeling that it was all a waste of time on that particular day, you may find that within a couple of hours, without being conscious of a change having taken place, that you may be feeling very calm or the particular worry may somehow have shrunk or taken on a new, less anxiety producing perspective.
Ideally meditation is done twice a day for twenty minutes, once in the morning and once in the evening. You can gradually extend this to one hour if you like.If it is impossible to manage this, try at least to meditate once a day. As you begin to feel the benefits you may automatically make the space to do it twice a day.When you are comfortable with meditation and doing it as part of a daily routine, you may like to add in, for example, a meditation on letting go or on forgiveness.
In my class we start with a few warm up exercises (from tai chi and yoga). We then listen to a relaxation tape for approximately 8 minutes and then we begin meditating. Do whatever works for you, the main objective is to move from being unable to sit still, to being able to relax, to being able to meditate. This may take some time, as for many people it is a significant change in their lives.
"Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Do not expect any praise or reward.
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.
Your struggles with the world will have come to an end"
(Ajahn Chah)
HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
"If your doctor gave you a prescription to walk for 20 minutes twice a day, and told you that those walks alone would lead to good health, peace of mind, freedom from worry, increased success in your personal life, would you follow this recommendation? Most people would at least give it a try. Meditate for 15-20 minutes twice a day. Meditate in the morning, live the rest of your day, and then meditate again in the evening. That alone will start you on the road to transforming your life and creating the miracles you want." (Deepak Chopra)
- Decreases respiratory rate
- Lowers blood pressure
- Reduces anxiety, stress and tension
- Reduces muscle tension and related pain
- Increases serotonin production (the "happy" chemical)
- Reduces P.M.T.
- Improves function of immune system
- Improves concentration
- Improves sports performance
- Improves conditions such as asthma/arthritis
