What is meditation?
How do I meditate?
People tend to turn to meditation for relaxation and to de-stress. With this in mind, the principal meditation is that of concentration. Sometimes our minds may be going so helter-skelter that even a simple mental task seems daunting. In this case, taking our body out for some physical exercise, and then sitting down and reading a book out loud may help calm your mind.
When there is too much tension in the mind, it is not wise to try and tackle it head on. The issues may not be clear to you, but they will keep pushing themselves into your conscious mind. If you therefore concentrate on something that is not of high emotional value to you, then this seeks to block out the emotional noise that is creating tension.
If your mind runs to the stressful issue, which is presumably inevitable, turning you attention back to the chosen object of concentration reinforces the calming process. If the worrying issue is incessant, try ignoring it while still concentrating on the chosen focus. If this doesn’t work try something else. Even this trying is a concentration on trying and is therefore a help. Perhaps you might like to do some physically exercise rather than sitting like a buddha and watching your breath in some way (maybe on the rise and fall of belly). Is there something in the physical exercise that draws your attention and you enjoy focusing on it? Perhaps you just want to do something, and immerse yourself fully into it? Perhaps you just want to do something?
The idea of concentrating our attention for calm is like generating a powerful spotlight. Simply by turning our mind repeatedly to an object, the mind becomes stilled, and the awareness increases. With shades of grey, we reach a state where there is a sense of being very alert, yet relaxed or calm. Also, the mind is not excessively focused in a manic way on some issue. The mind is calm and quiet, and we have a relaxed awareness.
If you feel sufficiently calm and aware you might like to allow the spotlight to disperse its light in a spherical manner: opening your awareness to allow different aspects of the body-mind system to come and go freely in this expanded awareness.
After some time, and generally after it has already happened, you may realize that this state of relaxed and open awareness with mental and physically events passing untouched through it has given way to tension and particular mental or physical events pressing repeatedly on your consciousness. If you feel uncomfortable you may then like to make the consciousness choice to return to concentrating on a emotionally neutral object.
Meditation is the rhythm of moving back and forwards from a state of focused attention to a state of relaxed and open awareness. It is about being here-now, while choosing what to be here-now with. Sometimes the here-now is a little overwhelming. In this case choose a friend to be here-now with. If that is overwhelming just give-up and go with the flow. What ever you do and don’t do, you are in the here and now. This is reality. If you can’t find the truth, the truth will come and find you. It will set you free.
Meditation can seem confusing, and here are two areas that may prove to be a puzzle.
Firstly, sometimes we feel calm yet we are not particularly aware – something like day-dreaming. In this case you may find that if you decide to concentrate on something you can’t. Actually by doing so, this increases the awareness and brings us to an issue that we may have been avoiding by dulling our awareness (going to sleep to avoid a problem for example).
The second puzzle is that of what is the difference between concentration, attention, mind, and awareness. When it is said turn your attention towards something, is that the same as turning your mind towards it? Is this different to someone saying concentration on something? How does this fit with someone saying turn your awareness towards some object?
The confusion becomes cleared up by understanding that if you turn your mind towards something (lets say you chant a holy scripture), this concentrating your mind also concentrates your awareness. You become aware of what your mind is concentrating on. You become aware of the process of chanting, the sound of your voice, the way it makes your body feel, the way your mouth moves to create sound etc.
A person might say they feel so crazy they can’t seat down and read a complicated book. If they still want to read, they may be able to read a simple book. This focusing or concentrating the mind also focuses or concentrates the awareness. The result is an increase in relaxation or calm.
A person might feel so cuckoo that they can’t do their normal task of fixing rocket engines. If such a person is on mental sick-leave, such a person may be able to enjoy fixing car engines. This concentrating the body on a particular task also focuses or concentrates the awareness. The result is an increase in relaxation or calm.
How do I meditate?
People tend to turn to meditation for relaxation and to de-stress. With this in mind, the principal meditation is that of concentration. Sometimes our minds may be going so helter-skelter that even a simple mental task seems daunting. In this case, taking our body out for some physical exercise, and then sitting down and reading a book out loud may help calm your mind.
When there is too much tension in the mind, it is not wise to try and tackle it head on. The issues may not be clear to you, but they will keep pushing themselves into your conscious mind. If you therefore concentrate on something that is not of high emotional value to you, then this seeks to block out the emotional noise that is creating tension.
If your mind runs to the stressful issue, which is presumably inevitable, turning you attention back to the chosen object of concentration reinforces the calming process. If the worrying issue is incessant, try ignoring it while still concentrating on the chosen focus. If this doesn’t work try something else. Even this trying is a concentration on trying and is therefore a help. Perhaps you might like to do some physically exercise rather than sitting like a buddha and watching your breath in some way (maybe on the rise and fall of belly). Is there something in the physical exercise that draws your attention and you enjoy focusing on it? Perhaps you just want to do something, and immerse yourself fully into it? Perhaps you just want to do something?
The idea of concentrating our attention for calm is like generating a powerful spotlight. Simply by turning our mind repeatedly to an object, the mind becomes stilled, and the awareness increases. With shades of grey, we reach a state where there is a sense of being very alert, yet relaxed or calm. Also, the mind is not excessively focused in a manic way on some issue. The mind is calm and quiet, and we have a relaxed awareness.
If you feel sufficiently calm and aware you might like to allow the spotlight to disperse its light in a spherical manner: opening your awareness to allow different aspects of the body-mind system to come and go freely in this expanded awareness.
After some time, and generally after it has already happened, you may realize that this state of relaxed and open awareness with mental and physically events passing untouched through it has given way to tension and particular mental or physical events pressing repeatedly on your consciousness. If you feel uncomfortable you may then like to make the consciousness choice to return to concentrating on a emotionally neutral object.
Meditation is the rhythm of moving back and forwards from a state of focused attention to a state of relaxed and open awareness. It is about being here-now, while choosing what to be here-now with. Sometimes the here-now is a little overwhelming. In this case choose a friend to be here-now with. If that is overwhelming just give-up and go with the flow. What ever you do and don’t do, you are in the here and now. This is reality. If you can’t find the truth, the truth will come and find you. It will set you free.
Meditation can seem confusing, and here are two areas that may prove to be a puzzle.
Firstly, sometimes we feel calm yet we are not particularly aware – something like day-dreaming. In this case you may find that if you decide to concentrate on something you can’t. Actually by doing so, this increases the awareness and brings us to an issue that we may have been avoiding by dulling our awareness (going to sleep to avoid a problem for example).
The second puzzle is that of what is the difference between concentration, attention, mind, and awareness. When it is said turn your attention towards something, is that the same as turning your mind towards it? Is this different to someone saying concentration on something? How does this fit with someone saying turn your awareness towards some object?
The confusion becomes cleared up by understanding that if you turn your mind towards something (lets say you chant a holy scripture), this concentrating your mind also concentrates your awareness. You become aware of what your mind is concentrating on. You become aware of the process of chanting, the sound of your voice, the way it makes your body feel, the way your mouth moves to create sound etc.
A person might say they feel so crazy they can’t seat down and read a complicated book. If they still want to read, they may be able to read a simple book. This focusing or concentrating the mind also focuses or concentrates the awareness. The result is an increase in relaxation or calm.
A person might feel so cuckoo that they can’t do their normal task of fixing rocket engines. If such a person is on mental sick-leave, such a person may be able to enjoy fixing car engines. This concentrating the body on a particular task also focuses or concentrates the awareness. The result is an increase in relaxation or calm.
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