Buddhist Meditation: Principles and Practice

 Buddhist Meditation: Principles and Practice 

                                                                       

Basic Mindfulness Guided Meditations

Body Sensation Guided Meditation                                            Breathing Guided Meditation                                          

Hearing Guided Meditation                                                        Sense Perceptions Guided Meditation

    

 Guided Meditations for After a Meditation Foundation is Built

 

 Difficult Emotions Meditation                                                    Walking Guided Meditation

 

 Meditation on Emotions                                                              Metta Guided Meditation       

 

Introduction to the Practice of Buddhist Meditation

            Mindfulness is the foundation for everything that the Buddha taught.  Before we can do anything about changing our lives we must first see clearly what is going on.

                Imagine a room containing 20 people and every one of them is wearing a blindfold that leaves them in total darkness.  In addition, these people have had their blindfolds on for so long they do not even know that they are wearing them any longer.  What would things be like in that room?  People would be walking around, bumping into furniture and bumping into others and hurting themselves, probably getting angry, and lashing out at other people.  There would be great deal of unhappiness.  Now imagine that at some point you realize that you are wearing a blindfold and that you remove it.    Everything is now different for you—you can see what is happening, see your own behavior and the consequences of that behavior, get your bearings, and stop hurting yourself and others.  This is mindfulness—actually awakening from the darkness of our half-conscious state and seeing what is going on in our lives.  And the good news is that we can actually train ourselves to be much more mindful.        

                Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is present right here and right now.  It is a state of relaxed and alert attention to the present moment.  When we are being mindful, we are not lost in the thought stream, not worrying about the future and not chewing over the past.  We are in direct contact with what is real in this moment:  sounds and sights arising around us, bodily sensations, and the thoughts and emotions that are present.   

                Mindfulness is not an intellectual operation.  When we are in a mindful state we notice many things that we would otherwise miss.  Thinking can be very necessary and useful, but our compulsive and relentless thought stream can also blind us to what is right in front of us.  If while you are speaking to me I am thinking about what I want to say next, I will miss much of the meaning of what you have just said.  Listening mindfully means giving my full attention to your speech, simply being receptive and taking in what is being said without trying to pass judgment on it or manipulate it in any way. 

The four guided basic sitting meditations presented here—Breathing, Hearing, Body Sensations, and Sense Perceptions—give us the necessary foundation for learning how to work in a different and wiser way with difficulties that arise in life.  Each basic sitting meditation trains our ability to focus and be in touch with the present moment by asking us to place our attention on something very simple—such as the physical sensations of breathing—and then repeatedly bringing our attention back each time we are distracted by something else (usually thinking).  If we are distracted a thousand times but bring the attention back to our chosen focus a thousand times we are working well with the practice.  Each time we bring the attention back, we are strengthening the mind’s ability to focus and stay in contact with the present moment.

Over time, please make the effort to get acquainted with all four basic sitting meditations.  I recommend starting with at least 5 minutes of meditation if you are complete beginner, and working up to 10 to 20 minutes every day.  Twice a day is even better.  Decide before you start how long you are going to meditate and set a timer.  Using a timer relieves you of wondering how long you have been meditating.  It also prevents you from quitting because you are feeling bored or restless, which is good because we are training ourselves to learn how to open to, and be ok with, more and more parts of the human experience—including boredom, restlessness and so on.

You can also do very short “micro-meditations” during your regular daily activities.  For example, while standing in line at the grocery store you can take a few seconds to focus on your breathing or notice sounds arising in your environment.  This helps to be more grounded and present as you move through your day.

Once you become familiar and comfortable with the meditations you don’t need the voice guidance anymore, though you may still wish to use it from time to time as a change of pace.

If it seems like you are “not getting any better at meditation” you’re missing the point.  We’re not trying to get better at meditation, we’re trying to get better at life.  The place to look for progress is in your life off the meditation cushion.  If, for example, you are getting angry less often, and when you do get angry it washes through you sooner…   Well then, your meditation practice is working!

Once you have been meditating for a few weeks it’s time to try some of the meditations from the second group of four:  Walking, Emotions, Difficult Emotions, and Metta.

Walking Meditation is another basic mindfulness meditation.  It is a good alternative to the four basic mindfulness sitting meditations, particularly for people who have to sit a lot for their jobs.  It has the additional benefit of training us to move more mindfully in our day-to-day activities.  It works by using the physical sensations of walking as the primary object of attention, and repeatedly bringing the attention back to those sensations each time you are distracted.

The two meditations on emotion help us learn to “be with” our emotions in a wiser way, whether we are feeling anger, fear, anxiety, grief, sadness, or great joy.  Instead of either venting violently or repressing our emotions we can learn to open to experiencing them fully, accept and make peace with them, and not be swept away by them resulting in losing our ability to make wise choices.  Acquiring this skill is truly life changing.*  

Metta is a more active form of meditation that involves the silent repetition of what are called “metta phrases.”  This is a very powerful practice for increasing our ability to be caring and kind, even in situations in which our habit-driven reaction has been of harsh judgment and blame.  Metta is also called loving kindness meditation. 

 

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*Note 1:  The Meditation on Difficult Emotions can easily be modified to work with powerful desires pulling us to do something like eat a box of junk food or do something mean to a neighbor.  Just make the desire the primary object of attention after settling in with a minute or two of mindful breathing.  When we sit with desire in this way, we learn two things.  First, all desires go away all by themselves.  They may come back again later, but they will also leave again.  Second, we learn that it is ok for a desire to just be there, and that we don’t have to act on it or do anything at all about it.  This is huge because it means that we can consciously choose which desires to act on and which to leave alone.  This is the beginning of freedom.  

Note 2: For more information on Buddhist meditation practice please see Chapter 4 “Mindfulness and Meditation Teachings” in The Wisdom of the Buddha:  Using Mindfulness to Change Your Life, and also Chapter 7 “When Strong Emotions Arise,” and Chapter 13 “Metta:  Cultivating Our Ability to Be Caring”.  Chapters are available via email in electronic form upon request.                                                                

 

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