Thread: What is meditation?

Without a doubt meditation is the most important practice in Buddhism. Through it one can realize their True-Self. Quite amazing, considering that it's incredibly simple to do, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

Sitting meditation involves sitting cross-legged, preferably in the ful- or half-lotus position. One could also sit in a chair. Next, you just breathe in and out, focusing all your attention on your breath. Sounds easy? Try it. Chances are if you're new at it you'll get bored quick, be distracted by thoughts or sounds, think it's useless and so on.

Does this prove that meditation is stupid? No. It just shows how out of control our minds are. Obviously if you did try this then you really wanted to sit down and meditate, but your mind wouldn't allow you. Meditation is all about becoming deeply acquainted with your mind, but most of us are not. If you were then you may be lucky enough to get a glimpse into your real Self. You'd also realize how deceptive the mind can be and how useless the majority of our thoughts are.

When the mind is totally unattached and free from distractions it rests in a state of bliss. This should be obvious... when we are angry the mind is bent and twisted. When we are experiencing pleasure our mind is excited, but still bent. We feel the pleasure, but we don't want the feeling to disappear, but it will and therefore, suffering is the flip side of pleasure. The pleasure will soon disappear. It has to. That's the way the world is. So... that's the way the mind acts... it's a roller coaster of pleasure and pain that everyone experiences on an ongoing basis.

The Buddha found the Middle Path, where the mind is totally erect and unagitated. It rests peacefully regardless of what is happening outside the body. That's the ultimate goal in Buddhism and it can only be achieved through meditation, by learning how the mind works. A mind that is erect is not bent, grasping for pleasure or twisting from pain. If a mind dwells in this position then how can it suffer? It can't. However, to speak about these things as I am and to actually do it are two different things. Meditation can be difficult and requires a great sense of discipline, but in a world where happiness is the most valued thing what could be more important?

I think meditation is one of the coolest thing the human mind can do.

You sit there and clear ur head of all the crap of the day and get intouch with ur human psyche or ur sub-consious. Its very peaceful.

Do you meditate everyday? I find it hard to keep doing it everyday. I'm trying, but certain days you just feel like doing something else. However, I've had some really great insights during some of my meditation and if I've been meditating for long enough I feel pretty centered and focused. I have a lot room for development...it's just a matter of sticking to it and you do benefit from it, because it helps calm you down...I'm sure there are even more health benefits to it. The sole purpose of it is to gain insight into the mind and the nature of things, but you do benefit in other ways...sort of side effects of meditation.

BTW here are some good e-books on meditation...for anyone who wants a more thorough look into it.

http://www.buddhanet.net/ebooks_m.htm

i read somewhere that there are numerous ways on how to meditate! there is no need to cross your legs and sit there.. you can lie down on your back and concentrate on your breathing.. and when you feel concentrated enough, you must imagine that you're lighter than the air and that you're flying!! that your body weight is reducing and reducing.. after 10 minutes of meditation like this, you'll feel much more energised, and you'll feel happier too!! i've tried it a week ago, and believe me, it works!!
now, i'm meditating almost every day and have no regrets or anything! it's still hard to concentrate and to keep those sounds out of my head, but i'm getting used to it!

I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying meditation.

Ultimately, one should be meditating when they are conducting any act...from sitting, standing, walking, lying down...all the time. Buddhist monks need to be totally mindful. They must always be watching the mind and see how thoughts arise and disappear. However, in sitting meditation it's easier to do that...especially if you're away from distractions. However, incorporating mindfulness in all daily actions is, I believe, more difficult, because it's easy to get caught up what you're doing and forget to be mindful. For instance, if someone pisses you off it's easier to get caught in your emotions and get mad than it is to be mindful and just what your feelings, thoughts and emotions without reacting.

But yeah...meditation shouldn't be confined to just sitting meditation, but it's usually the way people are introduced to it.

I've tried meditation on a few occastions I don't find it difficult to meditate either. That is how I have developed my own calming/relaxing technique when I get nervous, upset, depressed, etc. I like the effects that meditation can bring, I'll try that laying down/floating technique tonight! thank you all for your words and information!

i don't want to sound ignorant, but i probably will anyway, lol

from your description of meditation, it sounds like it's just a highly focused state of mind....

now i've got some mental exercises i do if i want to forget something, or relax, or block out thoughts... is that the same as meditation?? or do you have to be holding still??

an example of this would be like the last time i accidently cut myself (accident prone, stainless steel pencil, you figure it out) rather than be distracted through the entire class i just blocked the pain (don't know why, it was a bad one though), i spent 5 minutes doing laps (track, in phys. ed.) and with every footfall i squared 2... so it was like 1...2...4...8...16...32...64...128...256...512...1 024...2048...4196...8392...163
84...32768... and so on... normally around the 130 thousand number i lose it, sometimes as early as the 65 thousand number....

now i don't hold with the 'bent' thought process idea..... but the whole focus and relax thing reminded me of this and i was wondering if this was the same thing... the worst process to do is when you're trying to forget something, especially since you have to remember it to know which memory you're trying to forget

i used to meditate twice or three times a week when i did kung fu. It was really great actually, but i rarely have the state of mind to commit to doing it anymore.
I know it's not really meditation, but i've found other things that i can do to clear my mind - things like running where you can get into a rythm and not have to think about what you're doing

Like rap, which requires no original thought what soever.

how long do people normally meditate for? like 3 minutes? an hour? half an hour?

Originally posted by prometheous100@Dec 8 2003, 06:54 AM
from your description of meditation, it sounds like it's just a highly focused state of mind....

Well, a highly developed mind is a very focused mind. There was an experiment where a monk was meditating and a person shot a gun near him and the monk didn't even flinch...they even hooked up monitors to his brain and showed that he was able to block it out and not have it effect him. He acquired a single-pointed mindfulness. Not easy, but it shows you the potential of the mind...concencration is key to meditation. Someone asked a Buddhist monk on her death bed to sum up Buddhism in one word and she simply said "Attention". Paying attention through concentration sets the foundation for wisdom. It's the only way to really know and see how the mind works....rather than just reading what other people say about it from books.

Yes, meditation leads to a highly focused mind, but through that concentration grows wisdom.

Originally posted by dilatedhank@Dec 9 2003, 02:14 AM
how long do people normally meditate for? like 3 minutes? an hour? half an hour?

I think 15 minutes is good. As you get more comfortable with it go for 30 minutes. I've done it for an hour before.

The biggest challenges are...

...boredom.
...sleepiness.
...lack of consistency (not doing it everyday).
...doubt (thinking it's pointless).

My biggest problem is lack of consistency. I don't meditate on a consistent basis...especially now that I have a full time job, but that's probably the most important thing. You have to do it everyday for it to be beneficial.

can it be beneficial the first time you do it?

Originally posted by ur angel@Dec 14 2003, 05:32 PM
can it be beneficial the first time you do it?

If you go out on a ice rink and skate once will you benefit from it? Probably not. However, if you skate everyday after school will you benefit from it? Yes. Meditation is about training the mind and any training needs repetition. Meditating is training the mind to become focused. Unless the mind was out of control then there would be no need to train it, but the whole thrusting force behind meditation is trying to understand this mind that we feel we can't control.

I'd like to emphasis that I'm not an expert on meditation. I don't even practice it on a regular basis...mostly due to my schedule. However, I still wanted to bring meditation to people's attention, because I have acquired certain insights during meditation and I don't doubt its benefits, but it isn't an easy practice. It does take a certain amount of effort to take it up properly. However, you lose nothing from trying it and experimenting with it, but if you really wish to seriously take it up then you'll benefit from getting directions from someone who has been properly trained in meditation.

Meditation can even be harmful if not practiced carefully. For instance, someone might have self-esteem issues and they might think that meditating will somehow solve these problems (I've read stories like that). The problem here is that the person has some preconcieved ideas of what meditation should be doing for them. Such an approach is wrong. If you think about it as some magic bullet to solve all your problems then you are approaching it incorrectly. Again, I'm not an expert and still learning about meditation, but just wanted to bring it to people's attention and I'll try and answer people's questions as best as I can, but don't take what I say as final.

can you give me any tips on staying focused? My mind always starts to wonder, ive been trying to do it but i dont think im getting anywhere with it, i cant just sit there and concentrate on my breathing. Any tips?