| Preparation
The best times are either first thing in the
morning, immediately you get up, before eating.
Or early evening, again before eating. But make
sure you are fully relaxed before beginning meditation.
Don’t try and go straight into it if you
are tired, stressed or distracted. It’s
better to take a short nap then use some ‘progressive
relaxation’ to calm the mind and body. You
can do this by closing your eyes and gradually
concentrating on each part of the body in turn
and saying to yourself – ‘I am relaxing
my toes, I am relaxing my feet…my legs…’
and so on up to the head. When you are in the
right relaxed state, then begin your meditation.
The Technique
There are two mainstream meditation techniques:
- awareness of the breath, as used by the Buddha,
and currently taught by Buddhists, amongst others
- repetition of a mantra, as used in TM (Transcendental
Meditation)
To simplify things, we are going to use the mantra
technique. Sit with your spine straight in a comfortable,
supportive chair. Close your eyes and begin silently
repeating the mantra: Aing...Aing…Aing…Aing…Aing…
You need to experiment getting the rhythm right,
so you feel comfortable with the mantra. It’s
a two-syllable word: Ay…ing. It’s
not necessary to co-ordinate the breath with the
mantra, although it can help. Become aware of
your in and out-breaths and say the mantra on
each out-breath. All this may seem a little mechanical
to begin with, but after some practice, it will
begin to flow.
Stay with this simple repetition of the mantra.
If you find your mind begins to wander or various
thoughts start to creep in (this is normal and
everyone experiences this, even longstanding meditators),
or you are drifting around, perhaps no longer
repeating the mantra, don’t let this put
you off. Simply, bring your awareness into this
experience, and begin repeating the mantra again.
One helpful technique is to think of the space
in front of your eyes like a clear, blank screen.
When you are meditating well, this screen remains
clear. When thoughts intrude, bring your awareness
into the experience and watch these distracting
thoughts move from left to right across your screen
until your screen becomes clear again - then begin
repeating the mantra.
When you have been repeating your mantra for
a time, you may become aware that you are no longer
repeating it and that your thoughts are completely
still. Don’t knock it. That’s why
we’re here! Repeating a mantra, or counting
the breath, is simply a means to an end: b-l-i-s-s
and ‘enlightenment’. Of course, you
could start with your mantra again at this point,
but why not just saviour this moment ‘at
the still point of the turning world’ and
stay with it for as long as it feels good.
How Long Should You Meditate
20 minutes is a good time once you feel comfortable
with your technique - and, of course, when it
feels good. But to begin with, try 5-10 minutes,
then increase to 15 minutes, then 20 minutes.
When you are ready to bring your meditation to
an end, say to yourself: ‘I am bringing
my meditation to an end’, then count slowly
to ten, open your eyes and come out of the meditation.
Later, when you become an experienced meditator,
you may wish to meditate for longer periods.
Happy meditating!
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