Meditation

First to say, I didn't get where I am today by not doing meditation. Not much of authority on it - but hope I can illuminate the subject a little by my own experiences.


First, to get a picture of what meditation is all about, here's a simple exercise: Just sit still in a comfortable position and for 30 seconds empty your mind of all thoughts.


Before I go on I would just like to say to those people who didn't do what was suggested there. You might like to ask yourself what aspect of your conditioned self is in charge here. Did you assume you knew the outcome? Did you decide it was beneath you? Or did you just think that you could get by without doing it and reading about it? Its an opportunity to observe yourself in what just happened when you sleepwalked past an opportunity to learn.


Of course, the exercise is designed to be impossible. Two things are going on here: the first is that it is impossible to stop one's thoughts as they just keep coming; second, meditation isn't a goal-oriented activity. The best way to approach meditation I have found is to do it in order to do it - nothing more. 


So thoughts will come whenever we meditate. Sometimes they seem to disappear completely when I enter what's best described as a "deeper" state. 


Here's an exercise (just 30 seconds again): Just sit still in a comfortable position and picture a stream with water flowing past. Notice there are leaves floating in the stream; follow them as they float past.


Now repeat the exercise but this time notice the leaves and let them float away out of vision. Notice the difference: 


We apply the same principle to our thoughts. For a minute this time, sit and let your thoughts come and just let them go. It will probably be difficult but as you persist it will become easier.


There are techniques we can apply: The two most commonly recommended are concentration on the breath and using a mantra.


Following the breath is a very common Buddhist technique. It involves following the breath in through the nose and into the body. As a start point (and the technique I always come back to) sit quietly and breathe in feeling the breath go through the nose and into the body; try to be aware of its progress all the way in. Then breathe out and count "one." Repeat this until you get to twelve and then start again at one. Notice two things happening. At some time your breathing will slow. Do not try for this just notice it. Then, inevitably, thoughts will intrude: you will find yourself thinking and not counting. Go back to the breath and start counting again - start at one, don't try to remember where you left off. How long should you do this for? I don't know. Twenty minutes is often quoted as a time to aim for but don't get too hung up about the time. Like every exercise it will "improve" with practice.


The other technique involves the repetition of a mantra. I have used two which are commonly available and the Transcendental Meditation mantra I was given but I gave my word not to give it to anybody else (although these mantras seem to be widely available on the internet).
From a Christian tradition we have the word Maranatha (which means the Lord is coming or with us). We use the first syllable as we breathe in, second as we breathe out, and so forth. Each syllable is silent, said just below the level of speaking it. And, if thoughts come or we stop the mantra, we just start again.


The Mantra of Compassion, OM MANE PADME HUM (pronounced Om Mani Paymay Hung) will be well-know to old hippies. It is said as a prayer for compassion* to all beings but can be said for any individuals. The whole mantra is said (just under audibility) on each breath in and out. If thoughts come or the mantra disappears, the we return to the mantra. For me, the added dimension of actively sending compassionate thoughts makes this particularly satisfying as an exercise.


Then, there are stricter Buddhist exercises that fit well in the process of observing ourselves. So as we meditate we look at the thoughts (but without getting attached to them) and as they pass we observe their nature. I used to think of putting a Post-It note on each thought to typify it; history, fear, projection (future), bodily sensations, feelings and so forth - which certainly helped them pass along. 


This also leads usefully into meditation on positives and negatives. I can sit with a passage of writing which highlights a positive quality in me that needs to be improved (which leads to a kind of positive stream of consciousness) or sit with a defect that has kept recurring and meditate on the reasons for this (concentrating on my part, not on anything external). This latter method involves some risk as it can lead to a negative stream of consciousness which can be difficult to come out of and have lasting effects - so probably best left until one is proficient with the positives.


*The mantra is so ingrained into the Tibetan way of Life that children learn to say it at around the same time as they learn to say mother. When Martin Scorcese was filming Kundun with Tibetan extras, he would call for quiet but then not get it as there was a humming going on. He discovered that the extras were reciting the mantra and it was just audible. Scorcese is supposed to have tried to keep it out until he realised that it would be authentic (although my money is on him having a bit more knowledge about Tibetan Buddhists before he started). Anyway, you can hear it clearly throughout the film