WHAT IS MEDITATION?
Simply, meditation is concentration. To replace our negative and imaginary thoughts with virtue and peace. When our mind is peaceful, we are free from worries and mental discomfort, and we can experience true happiness. If we train our mind to be peaceful, we will be happy all the time. Even in some of the most chaotic and inconvenient of situations. But if our mind is not peaceful, then even if we are having very pleasant external conditions we will not be happy. Therefore it’s important to train our mind through meditation.
In Buddhism, there are two main types of meditation: concentration or placement meditation (Samatha) and contemplation or insight meditation (vipassana). Concentration meditation is just that, concentrating on a single object of meditation for the duration of the meditation session. Contemplation, or sometimes called analytical meditation, is taking a dharma teaching or idea and analyzing it to discover its true meaning and for you to fully understand its teachings. Another aspect of contemplation meditation is analyzing your own self by observing the way you’re breathing, the movement of your abdomen as you breathe, the sounds and sensations your body makes, etc.
THE OBJECTS OF MEDITATION
Throughout this meditation course, we will be discussing several methods of meditation. Knowing and practicing different methods will help you find the best method that suites your needs and abilities. Among the many different objects of meditation, the most common are concentrations on the breath, body, visualization, and chanting. We will mainly focus on meditation of the breath in this course.
The objective of meditation is to train our mind to be calm and peaceful, even during hectic and inconvenient situations. We can train our mind to be peaceful by practicing concentration on only one object. Our habitual mind races with hundreds and thousands of thoughts a day. It never stops, it never slows down, and never takes a break. It is always on, always feeding you with feelings of regret of past mistakes and worries of things in the future that has not happened yet. So we must train our mind to stop thinking about the past that we can’t change and worrying about the future that hasn’t happened yet, and focus only on the present moment. If we are constantly thinking about things we wish we did or said differently in a particular situation or fantasizing about the unknown future, we will never be able to enjoy our precious life in the present moment.
By meditating on a single object, we help train our mind to fight off all the wandering thoughts and delusions and to only concentrate on one thing. Meditating on a single object will help us get rid of our thoughts and fantasies of the past and future, and concentrate on enjoying our present moments. When we are able to do this, it will help us in situations and moments of anger or frustration where we would normally react negatively or emotionally, and instead be able to take a moment to objectively think about what’s going on and react accordingly and correctly.
PREPARING FOR MEDITATION
Like anything we do in our daily lives, we must prepare for it. Before we go to work, we must shower, brush our teeth, and eat breakfast. Before we cook, we get all the ingredients ready and wash our vegetables. Before planting trees and flowers, we must get the ground ready and clear any rocks and weeds. Likewise, meditation also has preparatory practices before we can start to ensure we have the best possible meditation sessions.
Cleaning the area
Before we sit down and meditate it is helpful to ensure our area is clean where we will be meditating. A clean environment helps make the mind clear and fresh. Also (if you’re Buddhist), we want to invite by invoking the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, out of respect, we want to make sure our room is clean and tidy beforehand.
Setting up a shrine or area of meditation
If possible (if you are practicing Buddhism) we should set up a shrine with representations of the Buddha. We can place a statue or a picture of the Buddha and some incense in the center, to his right some fresh fruit, and to his left some fresh flowers. Otherwise, having an area where you can sit comfortably without any disturbances will do. We have these objects to help put us in the mindset of practice and calmness. When we smell the incense and flowers, it helps calm our body. The fresh fruit can also help put us in the mindset of tranquility and peace.
The meditation posture
If at all possible, sit on the floor on a cushion or large pillow. If you are unable to sit on the floor, sitting in a chair is also acceptable. There are seven points to help us with our meditation posture.
- Sit cross-legged in the Lotus or semi-Lotus position.
- Keep your back straight. Gently lift your arms and reach over your head as high as you can go and gently bring your hands down to your lap. This is the best way to get your back straight and comfortable without tensing or tightening it.
- Keep your shoulders back. You can raise your shoulders to your ears and then roll them back so your shoulder blades move downward. This will help guide your upper body from slouching.
- Your hands should rest just below the navel, with the palms open and the right hand on top of the left hand, and the two thumbs gently touching. You can also rest your hands, palms down, on your knees.
- The neck should be held tall while lightly tilting your head down at a 45 degree angle.
- Your eyes should be gently semi-closed, only able to see a few inches in front of you. You can also completely close your eyes, as long as you don’t fall asleep!
- The position of your mouth and tongue; you can either keep your mouth completely closed or slightly open (the size of one grain of rice). Your tongue should be naturally rested or lightly touching the roof of your mouth (just behind the area where the gums meet the upper front teeth.
Calming the mind
Before we begin our actual meditation, it’s recommended that we start with a few “pre-meditation” practices. Once we sit down, take a few deep breaths, just to settle the breath and get it back to breathing naturally and slowly. You can also recite a prayer or mantra to help calm the mind and get rid of some of your wandering thoughts. A few example mantras and prayers are listed at the end of this section. After a few minutes of settling in your posture and breathing, it’s time to begin meditating.
How to meditate
Meditation is not entirely easy, nor is it difficult, but it does take practice and diligence in order to be able to enjoy the fruits of a successful meditation practice. It’s very important to have a set schedule everyday for meditation. Whether it’s 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes – dedicating time for meditation everyday will get you much closer to a calm and peaceful mind versus meditating once or twice a week.
There’s a misconception that meditation is strictly about having an empty mind, that there are no thoughts allowed. This isn’t true. It’s true that the end goal of meditation is to have the least amount of thoughts possible or no thoughts at all, but in the beginning, we’ll soon recognize that having a thoughtless mind is almost impossible.
So for now, the goal isn’t to have no thoughts, but it’s to be able to recognize and acknowledge when thoughts do arise. It’s habit that we naturally entertain and exaggerate our thoughts. We go with it and add to its imaginary story. When we meditate, it’s okay to have a thought arise, but when it does, we need to be able to recognize that we are thinking so that the thought will naturally disappear and we can continue on with our meditation.
Do not be discouraged if you find yourself thinking. Be proud! Being able to recognize that you are thinking or entertaining a thought is a great accomplishment. You are telling your mind, “I know you are trying to distract me with your ideas, but I will let you go.” Once you recognize and acknowledge the thought, it will naturally go away. It knows you do not want it and so it will run. At first you might catch yourself thinking a lot, maybe even for the whole time. Again, being able to recognize this is an accomplishment, not a failure! Over time, with patience and practice, these thoughts will be less and less, until eventually you will have no thoughts at all and be able to enjoy the quietness and tranquility of the mind.
Meditation is not a hobby. You can’t pick it up and play whenever you are bored. It is a disciplined practice that requires your full attention and determination. We won’t become meditation masters overnight or even months. It will take years of dedicated practice to be able to fully master the methods and techniques. Even then, meditation is a lifelong practice. This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the fruits of meditation in the very beginning. It might take a few weeks or months, but we will be able to see and feel the benefits of meditation early on. You will be able to recognize negative and improper thoughts quickly when in difficult situations. You might notice less anger and impatience within yourself and with others that are causing the difficult situations. Meditation will help you be more mindful of your surroundings and present moment, and be able to think deeply and clearly of things before you say and do them in order to create the most positive outcome possible. Benefits like these are some of the main reasons people start a meditation practice. But with a true Buddhist meditation practice, we will be able to contemplate on teachings and sutras and penetrate them deeply to understand their true meanings. Concentrating on these teachings will give us wisdom, and with this wisdom we get one step closer to full realization and enlightenment.
PRAYERS AND MANTRAS
Generating bodhicitta (an enlightened mind)
Through the virtues I collect by giving and the other perfections,
May I become a Buddha for the benefit of all beings. (3x)
Generating the four immeasurables
May everyone be happy, May everyone be free from misery,
May no one ever be separated from their happiness,
May everyone have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.
Dedication prayer
Through the virtues I have collected
By practicing the stages of the path,
May all living beings find the opportunity to practice in the same way.
May everyone experience the happiness of humans and gods,
And quickly attain enlightenment so that samsara is finally extinguished.
Six-syllable mantra
Om Mani Padme Hum (21x or 108x)
Universal Mantra
Om Ah Hum (3x, 7x, 100x, or more)