How to Meditate

People who want to meditate often think that it must be a complicated practice. Meditators do not need a Buddhist or a Hindu teacher, or a fancy yoga mat, clothing, or statues. Meditation is simply the training of the mind. The goal is to sit quietly, experience anythoughts as they come, and observe them, like an audience into your own mind.

This may sound very New-Agey or very bizarre, if you're not accustomed to this kind of idea. At the heart of sitting practice, however, is the basic idea that we are over-stressed, over-booked, and too busy with life matters to really experience who we are, deep down. When people decide to meditate, you're getting rid of the busy-ness in everyday life, even if it's just for three or five or ten or twenty minutes. That "busy-ness" needlessly clouds our judgment. We think we need to be productive, or busy, or over-booked in order to be whole.

But we are already whole, just as we are, deep down inside. Meditation helps you access that wholeness. Serenity, calmness, peace-you won't find that in meditation! So many books tell readers that ultimate peace can be found through meditation. Maybe. Maybe not. If you think that sitting in silence and observing your thoughts for a certain amount of time every day will bring everlasting peace, though, please remember: meditation is not a formula. You don't accrue brownie points, and once you achieve a certain number, peace and enlightenment will come. This isn't a rewards program.

So then why meditate, people may wonder? In Buddhism, practitioners meditate to uncover the natural great perfection within us. We're covered in layers, like an onion, and peeling those layers back is the function of sitting quietly, examining our thoughts, and just being. "Just being" can be very threatening in Western culture. We are conditioned to always move, always strive, always gain more and more, but there comes a time when all of this striving and acquisition feels hollow. That's the perfection inside whispering to us. And this is what drives beginners to learn more about how to meditate.

There are hundreds of books on bookshelves telling people how to meditate. Unlike those books, which cost money and give one-size-fits-all instructions on how to find silence and peace, consider these steps:

Find a quiet place. No electronics, no distractions. Complete quiet.

Sit in a relaxing position. Meditators do not need to sit in a "right" position. Be comfortable.

Make sure the temperature is right.

Pick a focal point and stare at it. Breathe in your nose and out your mouth.

Notice. Just notice the thoughts that come and go.You don't need to make your thoughts disappear, or name your thoughts, or do anything to them. Just give them the attention they want.

This is the beginner's way to start to meditate. It tkes no special book. No skills. No classes or readings or learnings. You just meditate and clearn your mind and watch what comes along.

Namaste.