Meditation

The point of meditation is to be present, aware of the moment.  The technique of meditation is to allow yourself to begin again when the mind starts wandering.

Some suggest a “mountain posture”:

Sit comfortably in a chair or with the legs crossed on the floor.

Straighten the spine, imagining that it is stretching upwards.

Hold the head level.

Hold the palms either facing down on the thighs or facing up on the knees.

Let the eyes be as open or closed as you like.

You don’t have to sit to meditate.  You can also lie down, or stand up.  Some people even like to float in a swimming pool.  It’s your choice.

There are two basic types of meditation:  trying to think of nothing, and trying to keep the mind focused on an idea.  

The first of these, thinking of nothing, can be done as follows:

Feel where your breath happens (in your nostrils, or your chest, or abdomen), and try to focus just on your out-breath, letting the in-breath happen naturally.  You will probably have thoughts arise in your mind, so try to give them “bare attention,” just noticing them but not engaging them.  You can think of them like traffic that goes past your door.  If your mind wanders, gently redirect your attention to the out-breath.  The first time you try this meditation, give it five minutes, then work up to as long as you like.  Twenty to thirty minutes is considered a good amount of time for this type of meditation.

The second kind of meditation, trying to focus the mind on something specific, has many variations.  For instance, there are prayers, and mantras, and visualizations, among other types.

Here’s a prayer you can say to yourself, called “The Prayer of the Three Gems.”  The Gems, One-ness, the Path, and Community are within each of us, and this prayer is intended to guide us to realize this.  Just to be clear, One-ness is our unity with all things; the Path is the way of living a good life; and Community refers to the part of us that is part of a loving group (whether that’s family, friends, the AA group, or something else).

*Returning home, taking refuge in the One-ness within myself,*

*May I, together with all beings, come to see my true nature.*

*Returning home, taking refuge in the Path within myself,*

*May I, together with all beings, practice the wisdom of mindfulness, understanding, and love in my daily affairs.*

*Returning home, taking refuge within the Community within myself,*

*May I, together with all beings, create harmony with others*.

*I know these three gems are within my heart.  I promise to make them real in my life.*

There is a shorter version of this prayer:

“Buddha is me, I give up.  You do it.”  

You can also focus the mind on a specific virtue, such as Lovingkindness.  This is the feeling of accepting and abiding with reality, acting and reacting with compassion and love.  We can say a short prayer to cultivate this state of mind.

*May I be safe from harm and mental pain.*

*May I be happy and peaceful.*

*May my body be healthy and strong.*

*May I have ease of well-being in this life.*

We can meditate on individual lines.  For instance, we can repeat the first line of this prayer to help ourselves with troublesome thoughts, sending our minds lovingkindness and peace.  If we have emotional distress, we can repeat the second line.  If we have physical problems, repeating the third line of the prayer may help us find solace. Lastly, if we want to work on accepting life’s circumstances more generally, we can repeat the last line of the prayer to ourselves.  

These lines can be modified to suit your needs.  Some might say the prayer with substitutions:

*May I be at peace.*

*May I be happy.*

*May I be compassionate.*

*May I be humble.*

It’s okay to change the number of lines in the prayer, although four is usually considered the most you should use.  To extend this meditation, next direct the phrases to someone who has been a great help in your life; then to a good friend; next, someone you neither like nor dislike, but whom you will see in your daily life; then to someone who has caused you difficulty (but not great difficulty); to yourself again; and finally to all beings everywhere.  For each person/group, try to repeat the phrases the same number of times.

Another virtue besides lovingkindness is forgiveness, and there is a technique of meditating on that too.  

Begin by saying:

“If I have hurt anyone, knowingly or unknowingly, I ask their forgiveness.” 

Repeat this line a few times, and if someone specific comes up, say:

“I ask your forgiveness.”

Once comfortable with the above line, move on to the next line, which is:

“If anyone has hurt me, knowingly or unknowingly, I forgive them.”

Again, if specific people come to mind, offer them forgiveness.

Lastly, once comfortable with the above two lines, offer forgiveness to yourself, saying:

“For all the ways I have hurt myself, knowingly or unknowingly, I offer myself forgiveness.”  

Another virtue is sympathetic joy.  To cultivate this, simply think on others’ good fortune, and as specific instances come to mind, say:

“May your good fortune continue.”  

Compassion is another virtue that can be practiced in meditation.  Thinking of a phrase such as:

“May you be free of your pain,” or “May you be at ease in your suffering”,

Direct the phrase (or both phrases) to someone who is suffering.  To extend this meditation, direct the phrases next to yourself for a little while, then to someone who has been a great help in your life, then to a good friend.  Next, direct the phrases toward someone you neither like nor dislike; then, think of someone who has caused you difficulty (but not great difficulty), and finally direct the phrases toward all beings.  

Besides these virtues, one can think of visual images.

 For instance, imagine that it is a warm and sunny day, and you are a flake of stone, on the surface of a clear lake.  As you begin to sink, imagine the way you slip and swirl through the water.  Let yourself settle through the depths until you reach the bottom, where you are calmly aware of the lake above you.  Remain aware of the lake for as long as you like, then return to the surface.