Basic and beginning of Meditation
Meditation
-By Lalit Adhikari
Basic and beginning of meditation:
We should try to meditate at-least 20 minutes or longer everyday. Don't get bothered if you are not able to do it everyday. Just do it as many days as you can.
Meditation is a very powerful technology for self-transformation and you can hardly do justice to them.
I RECOMMEND YOU TO DO MEDITATION IN DIRECT GUIDANCE OF SOMEONE WHO IS A MASTER IN THIS FIELD. MOST PROBABLY, YOU CAN EASILY FIND SOMEONE IN YOUR AREA. BUT REMEMBER A MEDITATION TEACHER NEED NOT TO BE A GURU LIKE FIGURE WHOM YOU MUST SUBMIT.
A meditation teacher can be like a coach or a spiritual buddy.
Lets me first tell you the benefits of meditation:
1. Development of self-discipline: The ability to keep commitment and personal character.
2. An abiding state of concentration: Any skill or knowledge you want to learn or improve, will require concentration.
3. Cultivation of insight: Deep spiritual wisdom. Purification of consciousness.
We will start with "Mantra" meditation. Practices of mantra are there in all spiritual religions all over the world.
Mantra could be done in various ways. Classical practices involves choosing a sound or short sequence of sound and repeating them over and over either silently or out loud.
To some particular sound chosen is of great importance and certain sounds may be suitable to certain individuals and to some it doesn't matter at all.
You just effortlessly let the repetition of sound have an effect on consciousness.
There are various theories why mantras work. It can be looked upon as a very simple and powerful way to calm the mind much of the wandering of the mind specially internal dialogue. Internal dialogue is kind of internal conversation we have with ourselves in our mind.
As soon as you sit quietly and meditate, you will see how much distraction is caused by these internal conversation.
The mantra rhythm sets up a regular pattern. In this mantra exercise you have a choice either you can say that silently in your mind or out loud. Also you can choose the mantra i give you or any other in any language you like.
The particular mantras I introduce here are:
"HARE RAM..HARE RAM...RAM RAM HARE HARE...
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA...KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE..."
Or
"Om"
These are popular mantra in Indian Hindu religion.
Sit in a position comfortable to you, if you want to sit on the floor, its fine. Or you can sit on a chair, posture is very important in meditation, it should be upright to bring alertness and also be very relaxed to bring settlement.
Sit with your eyes closed, if you feel sleepy than open your eyes and maintain a soft focus in-front of you.
After you sit down, take a moment to let your body settle down in the posture.
When you begin to chant you will notice your mind begin to wander. It will become involved with different ideas, thoughts, fantasies and judgement. It may also become preoccupied with feelings that come up in the body. As soon as you realize that you had been caught up in a feeling or body sensation, gently return your attention to the mantra. Focus on sound or the actual moment of your lips, if enchanting out loud.
Accept the fact that inevitably the mind is going to wander for a while but as you keep bringing it back and as you practice on a regular basis you will find that more and more you will become enchanted involved with the rhythm of the mantra and less and less involved with the different preoccupations of the body and the mind.
Repeat the mantra for at-least 10 minutes. Use alarm clock instead of watching your clock again and again.
After the meditation period, sit silently for a while and the after effects. With regular practice you will begin to feel a deep peace. When you get up from the meditation, see if you can preserve that sense of peace and carry it into your daily activity. The transition between the sitting practice and the activities of life, the moment when you actually gets up from the former meditation is very important. Try to keep the meditative state. There is absolutely no reason why the focused, settled state that develops in meditation has to disappear just because your body is moving and you are responding to life's situations.
Now sit and practice the mantra.
Meditation is a very powerful technology for self-transformation and you can hardly do justice to them.
I RECOMMEND YOU TO DO MEDITATION IN DIRECT GUIDANCE OF SOMEONE WHO IS A MASTER IN THIS FIELD. MOST PROBABLY, YOU CAN EASILY FIND SOMEONE IN YOUR AREA. BUT REMEMBER A MEDITATION TEACHER NEED NOT TO BE A GURU LIKE FIGURE WHOM YOU MUST SUBMIT.
A meditation teacher can be like a coach or a spiritual buddy.
Lets me first tell you the benefits of meditation:
1. Development of self-discipline: The ability to keep commitment and personal character.
2. An abiding state of concentration: Any skill or knowledge you want to learn or improve, will require concentration.
3. Cultivation of insight: Deep spiritual wisdom. Purification of consciousness.
We will start with "Mantra" meditation. Practices of mantra are there in all spiritual religions all over the world.
Mantra could be done in various ways. Classical practices involves choosing a sound or short sequence of sound and repeating them over and over either silently or out loud.
To some particular sound chosen is of great importance and certain sounds may be suitable to certain individuals and to some it doesn't matter at all.
You just effortlessly let the repetition of sound have an effect on consciousness.
There are various theories why mantras work. It can be looked upon as a very simple and powerful way to calm the mind much of the wandering of the mind specially internal dialogue. Internal dialogue is kind of internal conversation we have with ourselves in our mind.
As soon as you sit quietly and meditate, you will see how much distraction is caused by these internal conversation.
The mantra rhythm sets up a regular pattern. In this mantra exercise you have a choice either you can say that silently in your mind or out loud. Also you can choose the mantra i give you or any other in any language you like.
The particular mantras I introduce here are:
"HARE RAM..HARE RAM...RAM RAM HARE HARE...
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA...KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE..."
Or
"Om"
These are popular mantra in Indian Hindu religion.
Sit in a position comfortable to you, if you want to sit on the floor, its fine. Or you can sit on a chair, posture is very important in meditation, it should be upright to bring alertness and also be very relaxed to bring settlement.
Sit with your eyes closed, if you feel sleepy than open your eyes and maintain a soft focus in-front of you.
After you sit down, take a moment to let your body settle down in the posture.
When you begin to chant you will notice your mind begin to wander. It will become involved with different ideas, thoughts, fantasies and judgement. It may also become preoccupied with feelings that come up in the body. As soon as you realize that you had been caught up in a feeling or body sensation, gently return your attention to the mantra. Focus on sound or the actual moment of your lips, if enchanting out loud.
Accept the fact that inevitably the mind is going to wander for a while but as you keep bringing it back and as you practice on a regular basis you will find that more and more you will become enchanted involved with the rhythm of the mantra and less and less involved with the different preoccupations of the body and the mind.
Repeat the mantra for at-least 10 minutes. Use alarm clock instead of watching your clock again and again.
After the meditation period, sit silently for a while and the after effects. With regular practice you will begin to feel a deep peace. When you get up from the meditation, see if you can preserve that sense of peace and carry it into your daily activity. The transition between the sitting practice and the activities of life, the moment when you actually gets up from the former meditation is very important. Try to keep the meditative state. There is absolutely no reason why the focused, settled state that develops in meditation has to disappear just because your body is moving and you are responding to life's situations.
Now sit and practice the mantra.
