Re-training your mind
I wasn't happy. I wasn't coping. All the situations in my life seemed
designed to challenge me and put me off balance. There had to be a better
way to live.
Meditation gave me a way out. I persisted with it because I needed it. I
wanted to do more than just survive. Surely, there could be more love, more
joy, more celebration. Meditation helped me find these life-giving qualities
and led me down a path of self-discovery.
Your need may not be as urgent as mine, but if you are prepared to give
meditation a go, I know that you will be rewarded.
(Greer
Alicia)
Meditation
Buddhists perform a variety of meditation exercises aimed primarily at
developing mental discipline.
These exercises encourage a more integrated way of being.
Strictly speaking, they are not 'meditation' because meditation is a condition,
not an exercise.
You can sit
cross-legged all day and not meditate at all.
The purpose of the exercises is to re-train the mind.
We have been conditioned since birth to
see things in a certain way.
This
perspective is usually limiting and flawed, and
features a strong cultural bias.
Self discipline
'Self discipline' is an odd term. It is almost a
koan.
You are not disciplining the 'self'. How could you?
You are your 'self'.
Our aim is to adopt/practice ways of cultivating mental order and
compassion.
Nothing is being imposed. There is no resistance.
You do it because you want to.
Not forcing
We are not aiming to
force anything. There is no tension, holding or
fixity.
The purpose of re-training your mind is to acquire new ways of working with the
mind
and to shed existing habits.
Emotional
balance is important. Our emotions need to be harnessed rather than
indulged.
Nothing can be pushed. This is not about
willpower. It is about awareness and
patience.
Beginners mind
If you approach meditation exercises with a preconceived idea of what
they are about and how
meditation operates, then you will flounder.
A beginners mind is essential.
We want to cultivate awareness and presence, and remove the internal chatter.
Having a
fixed idea of things is not a good way to start any endeavour.
Concentration and meditation
Concentration and meditation are essentially opposites.
Concentration sees one solitary thing, whilst meditation sees the whole.
Perversely, many of the training methods designed to cultivate 'meditation'
employ concentration as a way into seeing.
You concentrate on breath, an object, body sensations, a sound, chanting.
By being with the
immediate happening you find yourself increasingly present.
Eventually, the concentration is unnecessary. You are in the here and now. You
are meditating.
It is not enough to simply sit or simply concentrate.
All exercises and methods are mere stepping stones on the way to the
eternal
present.
Medicate or meditate?
Many illnesses cannot be treated.
You may become upset and feel despair but it will not change your situation for
the better.
Drawing attention to yourself or giving in to sadness will not help you.
If you have an illness or physical pain, your mind will be drawn to the source
of the discomfort.
You will experience an emotional reaction and your thoughts may race. This can
lead to anxiety or panic.
Meditation exercises can help put the pain in perspective.
Instead of being the focus, your pain is treated akin to a naughty child. It may
be irritating but it does not demand your complete attention.
You learn to incorporate the pain into your moment. You feel it, but it is no
more important than anything else.
Yes, the pain is still there, but you do not allow it to bother you. It does not
matter.
Emotional composure is essential for this.
Self-hypnosis
We do not encourage our students to hypnotise themselves. Self-hypnosis
is not meditation.
Our aim is to awaken the mind, to free it from its habits and problems.
The danger with self-hypnosis is that the person performing the hypnosis is
still fundamentally flawed.
Lacking the clarity of meditation, any action they choose to take will stem from
a confused perspective.
This is not desirable.
Contemplation
'Contemplation'
is often included under the heading of 'meditation' but is not the same thing at
all.
Deep consideration of a topic is very useful. It can help you to see things
differently.
Koan require thorough, thoughtful consideration.
Deliberately and consciously working through a subject can yield unexpected
insights.
Contemplation still involves thought. Hence, whilst it is a valid exercise, it
is not meditation itself.
Remember: a method is only a means, not the meditation itself. It is through
practicing the method skilfully that you reach the perfection of that pure state
of total presence, which is the real meditation.
(Sogyal
Rinpoche)
Exercises
Here is a smattering of exercises/approaches we have come across:
Listen to/feel your breath
Count your breaths from 1-10. Start again as soon as your mind wanders
See an object in the 'real' world, then close your eyes and picture it in your head
Starting from the head, work slowly down through your body, relaxing every part of you
Walk very slowly, peeling and placing the foot as mindfully as you can
Focus on an object such as a flower. When your mind wanders, bring it back. Again and again.
There are countless other ways to re-train the mind.
Buddhists,
Zen Buddhists and zen adepts are all typically
quite skilled at this sort of work.
Just be careful not to mistake the menu for the food. The exercise itself is not
meditation.
Page created 1 December 1998