Meditation


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	Meditation Notes by Red Kooga Regular sitting meditation practice is important. The mind settles more easily if sitting meditation has become a habit. Achieving this is probably the greatest difficulty I've encountered so I thought I'd offer a few suggestions on how to go about it: - 1) Setting aside a specific time. It is preferable to meditate at the same time each day, and better once a day than for long sessions once a week. Typically first thing in the morning after waking or just before sleep suit many. If waking and sleeping times often vary it might be an idea to regulate your sleeping pattern to aid practice (as well as your general health). 2) Using psychological triggers. The use of ritual can prepare the mind for meditation and allow it to return to wakeful consciousness after meditating more easily. Gentle stretching, burning incense and a short prayer are my favourite ways to punctuate sitting meditation. 3) Being practical. It won't do to set unrealistic goals then beat yourself up when you break your own regime. If what you are attempting requires a radical change in your lifestyle its unlikely you'll manage it unless you are very determined. Even then the strain (or revelation) from going too far too quickly can become a block in itself. 4) Accepting discomfort. Although meditation should be as natural as possible it is inevitable that discomfort will arise. This is natural too. The most common thing I hear from people who are attempting meditation for the first time is that they feel they can't meditate. The mind wanders endlessly and in frustration they abandon the whole thing. Usually they have the idea that meditation is about serenity, mindfulness and bliss. This is true, but in the same way that a physical workout is about getting fitter, not in being super fit to begin with. 5) Attending group meditation. Meeting others who meditate can be encouraging and informative, not to mention an extra incentive to keep quiet and just get on with it since you wouldn't want to disturb everyone. Some groups are plain awful, and this is surprisingly useful too. The spite, pretence, snobbery and lack of real meditation practice going on in some (most) of the Buddhist groups I've been to has taught me a lot about how not to go about things! Dao Is Open Site Map \| Walking Meditation \| Notes by: Seamus ‘Moose’ Ennis \| Notes by: Gerbil \| Notes by: Raymond Sigrist \| Notes by: Drahflow \| Notes by: Red Kooga \| Notes by: Sister Nona \| Notes by: Hazel \| Notes by: Tom \| Notes by: Nate \| \| Return Home \| Laozi's Dao De Jing \| Your Dao De Jing \| Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) \| Links \| Meditation \| Dao (Tao) is Open Forum \| Book List \| Other Stuff \|