Buddhist Meditation
When
you read books about meditation, or often when meditation
is is presented by different groups, much of the emphasis
falls on the techniques. In the West, people tend to be
very interested in the "technology" of
meditation. However, by far the most important feature of meditation
is not technique, but the way of being, the spirit, which is
callled the "posture", a posture which is not so
much physical, but more to do with spirit or attitude.
It is
well to recognize that when you start on a meditation practice,
you are entering a totally different dimension of reality.
Normally in life we put a great deal of effort into achieving
things, and there is a lot of struggle involved, whereas
meditation is just the opposite, it is a break from how
we normally operate. Meditation is simply a question of
being, of melting, like a piece of butter left in the sun.
It has nothing to do with whether or not you "know" anything about it, in fact,
each time you practice meditation it should be fresh, as if
it were happening for the very first time. You just quietly
sit, your body still, your speech silent, your mind at ease,
and allow thoughts to come and go, without letting them play
havoc on you.
If you need something to do,
then watch the breathing. This is a very simple process.
When you are breathing out, know that you are breathing
out. When you breath in, know that you are breathing in,
without supplying any kind of extra commentary or internalized
mental gossip, but just identifying with the breath. That
very simple process of mindfulness processes your thoughts
and emotions, and then, like an old skin being shed, something
is peeled off and freed. Usually people tend to relax the
body by concentrating on different parts. Real relaxation
comes when you relax from within, for then everything else
will ease itself out quite naturally. When you begin to practice,
you center yourself, in touch with your "soft spot",
and just remain there. You need not focus on anything in particular
to begin with. Just be spacious, and allow thoughts and emotions
to settle. If you do so, then later, when you use a method
such as watching the breath, your attention will more easily
be on your breathing.
There is no particular point
on the breath on which you need to focus, it is simply
the process of breathing. Twenty-five percent of your attention
is on the breath, and seventy-five percent is relaxed.
Try to actually identify with the breathing, rather than
just watching it. You may choose an object, like a flower,
for example, to focus upon. Sometimes you are taught to
visualize a light on the forehead, or in the heart. Sometimes
a sound or a mantra can be used. But at the beginning it
is best to simply be spacious, like the sky. Think of yourself
as the sky, holding the whole universe. When you sit, let
things settle and allow all your discordant self with its
ungenuineness and unnaturalness to disolve, out of that
rises your real being. You experience an aspect of yourself
which is more genuine and more authentic-the "real" you.
As you go deeper, you begin to discover and connect with your
fundamental goodness. The whole point of meditation is to get
used to the that aspect which you have forgotten.
In Tibetan "meditation" means "getting
used to". Getting used to what? to your true nature, your
Buddha nature. This is why, in the highest teaching of Buddhism,
Dzogchen, you are told to "rest in the nature of mind".
You just quietly sit and let all thoughts and concepts dissolve.
It is like when the clouds dissolve or the mist evaporates,
to reveal the clear sky and the sun shining down. When everything
dissolves like this, you begin to experience your true nature,
to "live". Then you know it, and at that moment,
you feel really good. It is unlike any other feeling of well
being that you might have experienced. This is a real and genuine
goodness, in which you feel a deep sense of peace, contentment
and confidence about yourself. It is good to meditate when
you feel inspired. Early mornings can bring that inspiration,
as the best moments of the mind are early in the day, when
the mind is calmer and fresher (the time traditionaly recommended
is before dawn). It is more appropriate to sit when you are
inspired, for not only is it easier then as you are in a better
frame of mind for meditation, but you will also be more encouraged
by the very practice that you do. This in turn will bring more
confidence in the practice, and later on you will be able to
practice when you are not inspired.
There is no need to meditate
for a long time: just remain quietly until you are a little
open and able to connect with your heart essence. That is
the main point. After that, some integration, or meditation
in action. Once your mindfulness has been awakened by your
meditation, your mind is calm and your perception a little
more coherent. Then, whatever you do, you are present,
right there. As in the famous Zen master's saying: "When I eat, I eat; when
I sleep, I sleep". Whatever you do, you are fully present
in the act. Even washing dishes, if it is done one-pointedly,
can be very energizing, freeing, cleansing. You are more peaceful,
so you are more "you". You assume the "Universal
You".
One of the fundamental points
of the spiritual journey is to persevere along the path.
Though one's meditation may be good one day and and not
so good the next, like changes in scenery, essentially
it is not the experiences, good or bad which count so much,
but rather that when you persevere, the real practice rubs
off on you and comes through both good and bad. Good and
bad are simply apparations, just as there may be good or
bad weather, yet the sky is always unchanging. If you persevere
and have that sky like attitude of spaciousness, without
being perturbed by emotions and experiences, you will develop
stability and the real profoundness of meditation will
take effect. You will find that gradually and almost unnoticed,
your attitude begins to change. You do not hold on to things
as solidly as before, or grasp at them so strongly, and
though crisis will still happen, you can handle them a
bit better with more humor and ease. You will even be able
to laugh at difficulties a little, since there is more space
between you and them, and you are freer of yourself. Things
become less solid, slightly ridiculous, and you become more
light-hearted.
