MEDITATION
FOR BEGINNERS ---
CHOOSE
YOUR FLAVOUR
Beginning a meditation practice can be both exciting
and intimidating. There’s a smorgasbord of choices – some simple, some
complicated, some highly exotic, and others disarmingly bland. If you asked 10
random meditators what style of meditation they practice, you would probably
get 10 different answers. With such a variety of techniques and flavours
available, it's common to feel overwhelmed and uncertain as to where or how to
get started.
In a way, I was lucky because I'd been meditating all
of my conscious life – I just didn't realise it. When my parents introduced me
to the practice, they called it “praying”, and it took the forms of saying
grace before meals, bedtime prayers kneeling beside the bed, and bowing my head
while prayers were said in Sunday School and church. And such formula praying
dwelt mainly on things like giving thanks and asking for blessings (whatever
they might be) upon food, Mummy and Daddy, brother and sister, “the poor”
(whoever they were), and asking God (whoever he was) to help me be a good boy,
which meant mainly doing what I was told the instant I was told to do it.
As I grew older, though, I really needed help in
dealing with feelings, emotions, desires and compulsions that I just couldn't
understand, I needed kindly guidance with acute feelings of the powerlessness
of being me, and at the same time I got interested in girls and had absolutely
no idea what to do about that. The “praying” I’d been offered as the solution
to everything was not working. So I tried doing it harder. My prayers began to
earnestly ask for help in getting noticed and liked by whomever my passions
currently blew hot for and, since the answer I usually got from God was a
silent nothing, I had no idea of who else or how else to ask for help, and as
far as I could tell God, if he heard me at all, was indifferent.
Too late to save me from some monumental mistakes, many
years passed before I found out about meditating, and even longer still before
I got the hang of real meditation, only to discover that meditation has very little to do with asking for what we
haven't got, and much more to do with finding out what we actually are.
You, fortunately, need not wait any longer.
Let's get started …........
Perhaps the best place to begin this is to consider,
firstly, why do you want to meditate?
What is your need right now? What do you hope to get from the practice? Once
you become more precisely aware of what you want, it will probably become a
little clearer which form of meditation you'd like to try first.
I first began meditating as a conscious exercise
almost by accident at drama school, when I was picked by Hermes Martini, a
student in the Stage Management Course, to take part in a piece of improvised
theatre about Yoga. As part of my research I bought randomly a few books on the
subject and read up and practised a few different techniques. I found some of
them physically and intellectually very difficult, some dauntingly bewildering
(chanting Sanskrit phrases to deities I’d never heard of), and some impossibly
painful.
But one or two others turned out to be very helpful in
getting fairly quickly into a state of quietness and relaxation. Because I was
working overnights from 10pm to 6am 10 days per fortnight to help keep a roof
over our heads and food on the table, and NIDA went at least 5 days per week
from 9am to 5pm – often-times a lot longer – the relaxation techniques I
learned made up for lack of sleep and probably saved my life and sanity. Maybe
God had been listening after all.
Meditation
is a word that has come to be used loosely and inaccurately in the modern
world. That is why there is so much confusion about what it is and how to
practice it. Some people use the word “meditate” when they mean thinking
or contemplating or just shilling out; others use it to refer to visualising, daydreaming
or fantasising. However, meditation (dhyana) is not any of these.
Meditation
is primarily concerned with quieting the mind.
We all have a degree of suffering as a result of various desires not turning
out in the way we expect, or events not happening how we believe they should.
These include the obvious physical necessities of food and clothing as well as
such enjoyable things as a good reputation, a feeling of belonging and making a
difference, the sound of pleasant and reassuring words and the comforting touch
of a loved one. Some forms of suffering, such as the hunger of an extremely
impoverished person, are more obvious than others.
In one way or another we all, one way or another,
hunger uncontrollably for things we feel we do not possess and think are not
available to us. Thus when we talk about the true purpose of meditation we are
sometimes talking about getting comfort, contentment, or something else we
don't have; sometimes we're seeking relief from perturbation, and sometimes
about getting insight and wisdom (enlightenment), an attainment that enables us
to fulfil not only our own aims but also those of all others.
Meditation
is a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of conscious
awareness, a state of being that is totally different from our hitherto usual
waking state. It is the means for fathoming all the
levels of ourselves and finally experiencing the centre core of consciousness
within. Meditation is not a religion; it is spiritual, it is philosophy, it is
psychology, and it is a science, which means that the process of meditation
follows particular orders, has definite principles, and produces results that
can be verified.
From childhood onward, we have been educated only to
examine and verify things in the external world. But very few of us have been taught
how to look within, to examine within, and to verify within. As a result we
stumble around in a fog, trying to get to know others while we remain strangers
to ourselves. This lack of self-understanding is one of the main reasons our
relationships don’t seem to work, and why confusion, disappointment and
resentment so often prevail in our life.
Very little of the mind is cultivated by our formal
educational system. The part of the mind that dreams and sleeps—the vast realm
of the unconscious which is the reservoir of all our experiences—remains
unexplored, undiscovered, and unknown; it is not subject to any discipline.
It is true that mind inhabits the whole body, but not
the whole of the mind is in the body – not by a long shot. Except for the
practice of meditation, there is no method to truly develop influence over the
totality of either body or mind. And we certainly never get to know anything of
ourselves beyond what we've slapped together in ego and now call our
“personality”. It's comes as a shock to the system when, through meditation, we
discover that our personality, and whatever else we think we are, is not what
we are at all.
So, if you're still wedded to the idea that you are
your personality, your career, your body shape, your values, principles and
beliefs, I respectfully suggest that meditation is not for you – not yet
anyway. If, however, you've discovered that none of the above are working for
you, and that everything you've based on what you think you are is going down
the toilet, please read on. I may have something for you......
The
goal of meditation is to go beyond the mind and experience the hidden
subtleties of our essential nature—which is described as peace, happiness, and
bliss. Without meditation we certainly have almost no
chance of ever experiencing pure, unadorned, uncritical awareness, which is as
close as we can get to what we really are, and in which what we are not, and
everything else, arises and falls away again.
As anyone who has tried to meditate knows, the
mind itself is the biggest obstacle standing between ourselves and this
awareness. The mind is undisciplined and unruly, and it resists any attempts to
discipline it or to guide it on a particular path. The mind has a mind of its
own and, make no mistake about this, will generate enough dissatisfaction and
dis-ease to kill your spirit and maybe even your body. Mind will not willingly give
up being right about itself, or anything IT considers itself to be. That is why
many people sit for meditation but experience only fantasies, daydreams, or
hallucinations. They don’t attain the stillness that distinguishes getting free
of the mind and engaging with the genuine experience of living at a deeper
level.
We are taught, or pick up from the examples of others,
especially our closest family, how to move and behave in the outer world, but
we are never taught to examine whether what our exemplars are doing is actually
working for them. Nor do we objectively examine how to be calm and examine
what's going on, and what is within ourselves.
It is basic to meditation that we learn to unsophisticatedly
be with what we are. So why does this get missed? Why is that so difficult? You'd
think it would be so easy just to be what we are! But the fact is that relatively
few people ever get to experience that.
When we learn to do this through
meditation, we attain the highest of all joys that can ever be experienced by a
human being – simple awareness. All the other joys (and sufferings) in the
world are momentary, but the awareness in meditation is immense and
everlasting. You are tapping into that which is eternal. It is the only
permanent reality. And guess what? It’s what you are.
This is not an exaggeration; it is a truth supported
by the long line of sages, both those who renounced the world and attained
truth, and those who continue living in the world yet, at the core of their
being, remain unruffled and unperturbed by it.
Meditation is a practical means for calming yourself,
for letting go of your biases, your filters and your blind spots and seeing
what is, openly and clearly. It is a way of training the mind so that you do
not get distracted and caught up in, and identify with its endless churning of
separating thoughts, ideas, concepts, beliefs and opinions.
Meditation teaches you to systematically explore your
inner dimensions. It is a system of willful commitment, not commandment. It is
intentional, not incidental or accidental.
You are committing to yourself, to
your path, and to the goal of knowing and connecting with all through knowing
yourself. Learning to be calm and still need not become a mystical ceremony or
religious ritual; it is a universal practical requirement of the human body and
mind, and as such deserves to be part of your daily habits.
It is critical to
understand is that while the primary preference of any meditation may be a
state of stillness free of mental disturbance, the best METHOD to get there is
NOT by trying to think of nothing. I tried that; it does not and will never
work – “Hallelujah! I'm free of thought” is a thought!
I’ve lost count of the number of people who tell me
that they can’t meditate because they can’t stop thinking during meditation. I
tell them that it is perfectly normal to have thoughts during meditation, and
that it is an indication that they are alive, aware and human which is, after
all, the whole point of living, isn't it?
Worrying about thinking while you're meditating is
just ANOTHER mind-generated distraction to worry pointlessly about. It might be
helpful for you to consider that your mind is not your best friend, especially
where you want to try something that excludes it. Tragically, some people
give up trying to meditate because of this misleading idea that they have to
stop thinking. You cannot do it. Try it now. Go on, that thought you're
thinking right now – yes, that one --- stop it. Go on, stop it. And that
thought – stop that, too!
We cannot stop a thought arising. Thoughts just pop
out of – nowhere. Well, ACTUALLY out of the soup of thoughts we swim in. Fifty thousand
of them each day, and they’re just the ones that get past your security
screens. Pop! Another one. Pop! Even when we're asleep --- pop! Trying to stop
thoughts is like wading into the surf and trying to quell the waves with your
bare hands.
I know. I’ve tried it.
In meditation it helps to step back from whatever is
going on and to shift your perspective from inside the thoughts themselves to outwardly
witnessing or noticing the thoughts (or feelings or events) that are arising in
the space of your wider awareness.
In meditation we learn to identify with our
core of self awareness (the Atman), rather than with our
thoughts. It's a simple matter of shifting the focus point of our attention. We
do that by identifying the present thoughts and feelings as things we have, not what we are. There are these thoughts
and feelings going on in my space at the moment, and at the same time there is
Me – quite separate. Thoughts and feelings – not me. I Am the awareness of those thoughts etc. If
you do this successfully, something very interesting might happen quite quickly.
The goal of meditation is not to destroy or even disappear
the mind. Your mind may not have grown into your best friend, but it isn’t your
enemy. You cannot live for more than a few minutes without your mind. Our
problems have arisen because we've allowed a Mind with significant deficiencies
– the office messenger -- to run the whole company while we've gone out on the
world's longest lunchbreak.
The goal of meditation, as I understand it, is to find
out what I am, to transcend the mind, busting it back to the mailroom, and
taking back the reins of CEO, and once again experience directly the Oneness of
What I Am with the Universe – something beyond thought, or thinking or
imagining, and certainly beyond words.
We have experienced that before, you know, but we were
too young at the time to remember it now, so getting enlightened is the
greatest homecoming of all time, returning to oneness with The Source so that
we can consciously experience it for the first time.
In general, people begin to take up a meditation
practice because they suspect that there is more to life than what they're
experiencing at the moment. True?
The best way to begin is to familiarise yourself with
some of the different types of meditation to see which ones resonate with you.
Here are a few of the more common styles that are great for starting out…….
Breath-Awareness Meditation
Meditation is very simple. It is simply attending
– being present and available to whatever is going on in the moment. Which
means you don't have to be in any special place, dressed in any special
garments, or chanting any mantras. If any of those things help you attend the
moment, go for it. But they’re not obligatory. Meditation is actually so easy
it's almost laughable. All you do is notice. Notice what? It doesn't matter.
Just notice – something or nothing.. Whatever you're aware of in this moment,
just notice it.
That's all.
Could anything be simpler? Maybe that’s the problem
for some people. It can’t be that easy!
That’s your mind; minds create and thrive on complexity as a way of staying in
charge (This is too much for you. You
need me.) Minds abhor simplicity, haven’t you noticed? I remember an old joke
from my childhood – “A camel is a child’s pony designed by a human mind.”
There would hardly be a person on the planet still
breathing for whom simply being available is not possible. Just because so few
people make themselves fully available doesn’t mean it’s not possible for them.
Even while deep in a coma my daughter, while not directly available to us, was ever-present
and available to her experience. She knew when someone was doing her hair or
painting her toenails. She also knew when a nurse was coming to suction her
lungs; she clamped her jaw shut and her whole body arched backwards in protest.
Since you're not in a coma, you can begin now by
simply noticing your breath entering and leaving your body, and then if a
thought comes, notice that. Be open to it—and just let it pass on through in
its own time, then you can come back to the breath. Let go of any temptation to
measure or control this simple noticing.
Our habitual (normal) response is to react to our
thoughts, all 50,000 + of them every day. We notice particular ones and chase
after them, jumping on board and wrestling them. This keeps us ever distracted
from unadorned reality and full of busy-ness in a sea of confusion that leads
to dis-ease and exhaustion. Meditation teaches you to attend to what is taking
place within behind/beyond the noise, without reacting to it, without getting tangled
up in any way, without engaging with anything in particular. This makes all the
difference. It brings you freedom from being towed around by the mind and its
considerations, compulsions, identifications, meanderings and convulsions. And
in this freedom you begin to get a sense of who/what you are, distinct from
your distracting mental turmoil. And you get happier – naturally.
You are not your turmoil (or your happiness for that
matter). There is all that stuff, and there is you, simply and uncritically
aware of it all. Stuff is no longer “my” stuff; it is just stuff. And you are
merely the uninvolved witnesser. You experience inner joy and contentment, you
experience relief and inner relaxation, and you find a respite from your kneejerk
reactions to tumult in your life. Tumult is tumult: suffering about it is optional.
You have given yourself an inner vacation.
This inner vacation, however, is not meant to be a
retreat from the world. It is rather a new way of being totally alive in it
without becoming a victim to its imposed
rules and man-made mores. There is you, and there is what you're experiencing.
Alive to all of it, but as a detached observer. Objective; no longer
subjective, unless you want that experience for a while. But even while you
jump on board the bucking bull, you are aware there is still “Me” and “The
experience I'm having”-- two distinct ways of being. You can actually enjoy any
suffering the experience might bring. And then there's the wisdom that comes as
a blessing.
This new way of “creatively being with” is the
foundation for finding inner peace.
You’re always invited to apply the
principle of attending in your worldly activities, so that you can apply
yourself in the world more effectively. Through practicing meditation you can
learn to be spaciously open to what comes before you in your daily life and
give it your full, clear-eyed attention without breaking stride or getting
thrown off balance. Meditation is very beneficial to building resilience.
Ordinarily, we react externally to the experiences
that come before us in much the same way that we react internally to the thoughts
we entertain. If someone says something negative to us, we too readily become
angry or depressed. If we lose something, buttons get pressed that threaten to
throw us off-centre and emotionally upset. To an unschooled mind our mood
depends on what comes before us and, as a result, our life can be, at least at
times, utterly at the mercy at the twists and turns of fate.
How often do we mechanistically react before we
intervene and give ourselves a chance to fully experience and examine what we
are reacting to? In default mode we immediately interpret what we see or hear
according to our pre-programmed expectations, fears, beliefs, prejudices, or
resistances. And that’s the way it stays because Mind (which is in charge at
such times) is Right!!
Because of its inherent nature, characteristics and
purpose, the heavy-handed human mind when left to its own devices can not see
anything clearly as it simply is. Its interpretations jump in first, distorting
the view, and not giving us a chance to see the clear reality of the thing.
Mind short-circuits the experience, and thus limits us to a limited menu of
conditioned reactions instead of responding to a situation openly and
creatively.
The casualties of choosing to live life this way are
freedom and happiness.
But if we apply the principle and practice of
awareness and meditation to experiences as they come before us, we can more
fully attend to what is taking place, uncluttered by the detritus of years of
avoiding, misrepresenting and rejecting raw experience. We can attend to our
initial reactions without reacting to our reactions – eg.: “Oh, look how
threatened I feel by that.” Be simply aware and allow your habitual
reactions flow through you. Then notice and allow following spontaneous
responses to also arise.
Dealing with your reactions in this way creates space
for you to get to know the workings of your mind and freedom to more awarefully
select a course of action that is more helpful in that particular situation.
Once you get used to it, this self-examination can
happen quite quickly.
Breath Awareness
At the outset, breath-awareness meditation is a simple
practice of finding a comfortable place, closing your eyes, and orienting your
attention into your body inhaling and exhaling your breath. Just watch. Don’t
interfere, don’t try to imagine anything, or change anything for now. Feel into
the process as it’s actually happening and get intimate with how this part of
your body works. This can happen for 10 seconds, 10 minutes or longer. It
depends on what's happening at the time.
You've heard, I'm sure, the admonition, Just stop
and take a deep breath. There's a good reason for this old chestnut – when
we're stressed, we often unconsciously stop breathing. Have you noticed? Breath
Awareness is reminding ourselves to keep breathing, take in a little more air
(life) than we’re giving ourselves in the shallows, shifting our attention
momentarily away from whatever is stressing us, and focusing lightly on the
actual sensations of breathing,
Breath awareness is an effective way to establish
greater mind-body connection and to reduce stress. This type of meditation can
be your preferred meditation practice each day and it is also highly useful
during moments of tension in the workplace and at home. By simply turning your
attention to your breath, you'll find that tensions begin to dissolve and
problems become more opaque, all on their own accord.
Breath awareness can last anywhere from several hours
to two or three seconds. And you don't have to go to some temple to do it – it
can be done in an open space or on a crowded bus – wherever you are, whenever
you are. And it is a fantastic way to gently bring you back from the dead past
or the imagined future to the here and now.
Guided Meditation
Guided meditations have become increasingly popular
since the '70's and '80's. A guided meditation is led by someone else, either
in person or via a recording, that will usually (although, not always) have a
theme and relaxing sounds or music playing in the background. Guided
meditations are generally meant to be conducted in quiet areas away from noisy
distractions, and may run anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on the
purpose or theme, They come in a range of purposes and in all styles—including
relaxing, healing, manifesting, and going within to find your essential self
and purpose. Because guided meditations are led by another person, this style of
meditation is great for beginners and those who may struggle with sitting still
or lying down for more than just a few minutes at a time. They are also
beneficial if you would like to enhance your existing practice or focus your
energy and attention on a specific outcome.
See if there are any guided meditations being offered
in your community where you can go to meditate with like-minded individuals.
Many yoga studios, community centres and wellness clinics offer guided
meditation classes, which can be a great way to ease into your meditation
practice. Alternatively, you can purchase guided meditation recordings at
health food stores, wellness clinics and online.
Visualisation Meditation
Meditative visualisation is a powerful way to use the
mind to influence the body and can also be an empowering way to underpin and
fuel the processes of physical, mental and spiritual healing, and to manifest
desired outcomes in your life.
Quantum physicists have discovered that what we place
our attention on grows stronger and what we take our attention away from will
begin to diminish. The unconscious mind is extremely powerful and it works very
well with imagery – a lot more effectively and powerfully than with logic and
reason. We can all listen to lectures and read books about creating a new
reality for ourselves, but the chances of igniting a bonfire therefrom are
minimal. In the hands of a skilled facilitator of visualising meditation,
however, the chances of sparks being created are almost 100 percent because it
is the participant who brings his/her own raw personal experiences to the
moment, and who does the work. Meditation is spiritual DIY.
One common visualisation practice is centred around
health. By visualising your body-mind as being healthy, vibrant, and
energised—or grounded, peaceful, and calm—you can begin to elicit these things
both mentally, emotionally and physically.
Another approach is using visual imagery for creative
purposes. By constructing an image in your mind of what your life might look
like in the process of accomplishing a goal and really seeing yourself
having already achieved it is a way to begin living in ways that
support the manifestation of your desired outcome. Life’s goodies (and its
baddies) tend to go wherever they’re attracted -- have you never heard of
victim wail How come this shit always
happens to me? Visualisation puts you in a frame of being that is attractive
to what you desire. A side benefit is that you get to discover a lot about
yourself that you never realised before.
To meditate using visual imagery, practice the
following:
1.
Identify your desired outcome. For
example, do you wish to feel more grounded and at peace in your mind and
emotions? Or would you like to envision your physical body as being healthy,
vibrant, and strong? Or are you longing to create art, write poetry, be in a
new relationship, or travel abroad?
2.
Take your invest-igation to the next
level. Once you’ve identified precisely what you want, ask youyrself – When I get this, what will it give me? And
keep asking this question until you get an answer that vibrates within you. The
purpose of this line of questioning is to get at what you’re really after.
3.
Create internal representations of what you
want looks, sounds, and feels like. Make each one as real, as multi-sensory and
as compelling as possible.
Don't be afraid to add to
or modify your visions. When I first started this kind of work I was exhorted
to create one vision and stick to it. I found this to be a big mistake, perhaps
because my vision is always bound to be limited, creating limiting expectations
of what “should” be. (Well, if that isn't ego, what is?) I've found that the
Creator doesn't like “oughts” or “shoulds”. Colin & Gail introduced me to a
rider to add to each visualisation – “this or something better”. I felt the
relaxation instantly, and the moment I relax and let go of something, the flow
of possibility surges immediately. Because we always have a limited view of our
possibilities and of our life journey, “shoulds” and “oughts” and any other
preconceptions block the natural flow of evolution. We really need to get out
of our own road. What we're trying to do here is not to create the whole journey
in every detail and set it in concrete, but to launch a dynamic beginning that
will, of itself, grow with the rest of a universe that supports, nurtures and
sustains it.
4.
Enter into a meditative state by relaxing
and taking some deep breaths and then bring the images into your awareness.
Associate yourself into the picture by stepping inside it and feeling it as if
it is already happening. Imagine what it feels like “from the inside”, and go
with that feeling. If the vision changes, let it and explore in that direction.
Allow your vision to grow with you as you bring it to realisation.
If at any stage during
these meditations, you become aware of negative thoughts or “down” feelings,
stop and take note. These may be signposts of viruses in your inner programming
that prevent you from getting all that you want.
Acknowledge the existence of
each negative. Welcome its having revealed itself. Explore each one until you
can identify it. Then create space for it, and ask it to help you get what you
want.
5.
When it's time to come out of meditation,
simply allow the image to fade off into the distance and relinquish any
attachment to outcome. I have found this step to be absolutely crucial.
Colin said more than once “You cannot truly have anything that you're not
prepared to NOT have.” He understood better than anyone I knew until then the
limiting, strangling effect of attachment. Attachment presupposes separation –
the very opposite of the purpose of meditating, which is to Integrate. When we
let go of any attachment to outcome, we allow ourselves to integrate with
possibility. What we are seeking is already integral to us, and our ability to
manifest it is utterly dependent upon our connection with that which we're
bringing forth. Let go of anything that you feel is separating you from… Perhaps
a few moments specifically meditating the difference between “attachment” and
“One-ness” may help you here. There are no right or wrong answers: just take
what you get, when you get it.
The creative principle
here is “The seeing IS the movement”. Whenever you get the tiniest flash
of insight, pause and just be with it. Take a deep breath, breathe in the
here/now thoughts and feelings and allow every “got-it” to infuse through you.
Let the integration then be taken care of in the normal course of your daily
living. Life knows how to do this – let it.
Just get out of your own
way!
6.
Meditate in this fashion anywhere from 10
to 15 minutes each day.
Japa or Mantra-Based
Meditation
Japa meditation is a mantra-based meditation path
that is one of the oldest, most revered classical techniques known today. The
word “mantra” translates to “mind vehicle” or “mind
instrument”. Japa meditation has the practitioner repeating a word or
phrase for the duration of the meditation, with the mantra being the focal
point throughout. One such mantra is that centred on the sound -- “om”.
It's important to repeat the mantra aloud. This form
of meditation uses the healing power of vibration, and the mantra has been
fashioned to create the best vibrations for everyone's healing.
During the practice, whenever you drift away from the
mantra to other thoughts, sounds, or physical sensations, you simply guide your
attention gently back to the mantra. Think of it as a dance back and forth
between mantra and thought.
Some mantras have a specific meaning or a particular
resonance when they are vocalised, and
it’s said that by repeating a mantra, you are connecting to the energetic
essence of its intention.
Other mantras purposely have no meaning and are
designed to help access deeper levels of silence. In this approach, eventually
the mantra and thoughts will cancel one another out. When this happens, you
fall into silence as your conscious awareness transcends the busyness of the
mind and reaches higher vibrational- frequency levels of consciousness.
Popular styles of mantra-based meditation can be
easily learned in person or online.
Loving-Kindness or Metta Meditation
Metta meditation, also known as Loving-Kindness
meditation, is designed to cultivate four qualities of love: friendliness (Metta),
compassion (Karuna), appreciative joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkha). The
quality of Metta, or friendliness, is expressed as a genuine compassion
sent out with the intention of surrounding ourselves and others with loving
kindness, often imagined in the form of a coloured aura. With all that is going
on in the world today, Metta meditation is a worthwhile practice for
each of us to spend some time in each day.
This style of meditation also works well as an
entrance point for the practice of forgiveness and can be a powerful tool for lessening
the charge of negative emotions we have toward those who have wronged us.
Another variation will have you think silently to
yourself, “May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well. May I
be peaceful and at ease. May I be truly happy.” You would then bring
someone else into your mind (someone you love and/or someone who you are
feeling challenged by) and say silently, "May you be filled with
loving kindness. May you be well. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be
truly happy.” You may then bring all of humanity into your awareness
and send the same intention out to the collective—to all sentient beings, “May
we be filled with loving kindness. May we be well. May we be peaceful and at
ease. May we be truly happy.”
Once you have done this meditation a few times and you
remember the process, you can begin to do the meditation on your own without
listening to the audio file. Choose whatever language you prefer to use and
practice this meditation for a period of time to see how it resonates with you.
So, from here onward......
Once you’ve tried a few different types of meditation,
you will have a better idea of what resonates with you more and less. The most
important thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong meditation.
You may find that some meditations work in better in certain particular circumstances.
Keep in mind always that just as many
questions lead to the same answer and many rivers lead to the same ocean, many
paths also lead to the same destination. The beautiful freedom of life is that
we get to choose our own paths – yes, plural. Anyone who tells you there is
only “one way” should be held in serious suspicion.
As you’re beginning, keep it simple and just feel out
some different techniques. When you find one that is effective and that you
enjoy, the next step is to set aside 15 to 20 minutes each day to cultivate
your meditation practice. From there, tend to your practice each day until it
becomes a new habit and you will experience life-changing benefits.
And they may not always be ones that you expect. But
observe – you will real-ise their perfection – in time.
