[wantedLOX]

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone woud be able to offer me a little help or guidance with meditation please?

My current practice is to meditate morning and evening and I am slowly increasing the time, I am currently at about 10 minutes per session.

I think I am doing the right thing by concentrating on my breathing and counting to 10 breaths before starting again.

I'm sure that I will improve with practice but I am currently struggling to focus my mind. I'm sure that there should be more to meditation than sitting in the dark trying not to think about things that are bothering me!

Could anyone point me in the direction of a good article about meditation for beginners? Does anyone have any tips about things that worked well for them when they started out meditating?

I would be grateful for any tips! Thanks for your time...

Fee

[GenrieAB]

Hi Fee,

I'm not sure why you are sitting in the dark to meditate! I think its important to be as relaxed as possible when meditating, and not have too many expectations.

When I first began meditating and noticed that my mind was wandering away from the breath , I found it helpful to say mentally "thinking" and bring my awareness gently back with the breath again.


you will find a thread on meditation in our Study Links forum
.
http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...356-Meditation

I recommend that you watch the Ajahn Jayasaro Buddhist meditation video series which is linked in the thread.

with kind wishes,

Aloka

[M1zdL0hh]

I think I am doing the right thing by concentrating on my breathing and counting to 10 breaths before starting again.

I'm sure that I will improve with practice but I am currently struggling to focus my mind. I'm sure that there should be more to meditation than sitting in the dark trying not to think about things that are bothering me!

hi Fee

it is nice to light a candle

apart from that, all that we are doing is watching breathing (until the body & mind de-stress and start to feel contentedly at peace)

if the things that are bothering are important things, meditation will bring them to the surface & give you the opportunity to work on a solution

but if the bothering things are trivial matters, gently let them go & gently return to training the mind in present awareness

warm regards

element

[jhkjurter]

Thanks for the link Aloka-D, I'm sorry it hadn't occured to me to look in the study links section!

[BarBoss]

Thanks for the link Aloka-D, I'm sorry it hadn't occured to me to look in the study links section!

No problem Fee !

[Caursedus]

Element, thanks for the advice. I do normally light candles in the evening, I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply that I was sat there in the pitch dark!

I'm afraid that the bothering things are currently a mad and rather random selection. I don't even seem to stay with one thing very long my mind just flits and flits...

I guess I just need practice and patience. I am certain that my mind can't get any less focused, so progress is the only option!

[investmentonlinev2006x]

I like this article

Sitting silently just start seeing the breath, feeling the breath. The breath going in is the first point. Then for a moment when the breath is in it stops -- a very small moment it is -- for a split second it stops; that is the second point to watch. Then the breath turns and goes out; this is the third point to watch. Then again when the breath is completely out, for a split second it stops; that is the fourth point to watch. Then the breath starts coming in again... this is the circle of breath.

If you can watch all these four points you will be surprised, amazed at the miracle of such a simple process -- because mind is not involved. Watching is not a quality of the mind; watching is the quality of the soul, of consciousness; watching is not a mental process at all. When you watch, the mind stops, ceases to be. Yes, in the beginning many times you will forget and the mind will come in and start playing its old games. But whenever you remember that you had forgotten, there is no need to feel repentant, guilty -- just go back to watching, again and again go back to watching your breath. Slowly slowly, less and less mind interferes.

And when you can watch your breath for forty-eight minutes as a continuum. You will be surprised -- just forty-eight minutes -- because you will think that it is not very difficult... just forty-eight minutes! It it is very difficult. Forty-eight seconds and you will have fallen victim to the mind many times. Try it with a watch in front of you; in the beginning you cannot be watchful for sixty seconds. In just sixty seconds, that is one minute, you will fall asleep many times, you will forget all about watching -- the watch and the watching will both be forgotten.
Some idea will take you far far away; then suddenly you will realize... you will look at the watch and ten seconds have passed. For ten seconds you were not watching. But slowly slowly -- it is a knack; it is not a practice, it is a knack -- slowly slowly you imbibe it, because those few moments when you are watchful are of such exquisite beauty, of such tremendous joy, of such incredible ecstasy, that once you have tasted those few moments you would like to come back again and again -- not for any other motive, just for the sheer joy of being there, present to the breath.

[antiggill]

I like this article

Hi Pegembara,

When you post quotes could you give the author, the title of the article/text and a URL link please ? (see Code of Conduct no 3)

Thank you.

with kind wishes,

Aloka

[finasteride]

Could anyone point me in the direction of a good article about meditation for beginners? Does anyone have any tips about things that worked well for them when they started out meditating?

When I first began meditation, three things were very helpful: a string of beads (whether a necklace or bracelet or whatever), a particular time of day set aside specifically for this practice, and a good posture.

Counting to ten is a common method I've read about and practiced, but it was a difficult method for me. I found using beads to be easier because counting was mental chatter which was very distracting. What I did was to move one bead along the string for every breath, usually considering the time between the exhale and the inhale as the transition. Furthermore, having the tool be a physical aid, rather than a mental aid (such as counting), made it easier to notice when my attention fell away from them - in my case, it was too easy for counting to transition into mental proliferation and daydreaming, while using these physical sensations (beads & breath, then later just the breath) were much easier - and more relaxing.

Setting up a specific time is also very useful. If you set it according to a place in your daily rhythm ("before breakfast", "after dinner", and so forth), rather than a specific clock time, it might be easier to maintain the habit.

Posture is essential; being able to relax the body is very important as eventually you'll want to sit for longer lengths of time. I use a meditation bench, but many have the hip flexibility to use zafu cushions, or even various lotus postures. The key thing is to make sure your knees are below your hips, and that your back is properly erect. A good posture should basically let your body hang on the skeleton without muscle tension. Remember to relax your facial muscles and jaw, and keep your tongue gently touching the roof of your mouth so saliva doesn't pool up all the time. Sometimes, it helps to smile.

(One more thing is that diaphragmatic breathing is much better than chest-breathing; abdominal breathing is usually advised, but I find that it leads to drowsiness fairly often. Understanding the difference between these styles of breathing may be too much at first, but I just wanted to mention it.)

[Tam04xa]

Thank you for the lovely article Pegembara!

[LfYaRf1S]

Daverupa, thank you for the help! I will look out for some beads, I think they will work for me...

I will be taking your advice about posture and time of day too. Thank you for taking the time to help me!

Fee

[jokilewqs]

You should set the purpose first. What is your purpose to do the meditation? If you just do it without purpose, you would not know what to do, where to go, which is the right way. It is something like you sail your boat to the ocean without your targeted place, how could you know which is the right way? So, the purpose is important.

The meditation can be done for two purposes, i.e. (a) development of mindfulness, i.e. to make your mind peaceful, clam and happy, and (b) development on awareness (Sati) in order to create wisdom, i.e. knowing the truth of your body and mind.

If you intend to do for purpose (a), the key is ‘happiness’. If you are happy on doing anything, you will be able to concentrate doing it with boring regardless how long the time pass. For example, if you like reading a favorite book, during reading it you will not feel boring for reading and you can read it for many hours continuously.

If you intend to do for (b) purpose, you have to separate aggregates, e.g. body and mind. Your body sit and breath-in and breath-out, your mind is aware of your body. Your mind is not your body, and your body is not your mind. If your body moves, your mind is aware of its movement. If your body feel painful, such feeling is not your body and not your mind. If you feel muddled, such feeling is not your body and not your mind. By doing this, you will see that your body has to move all the times, be suffered and not-self. Your mind changes all the times, be suffered, and not-self.

For (b) purpose, it does not matter whether or not your mind is peaceful. Because the (b) purpose is not to adjust it to be peaceful. The (b) purpose is to know the truth of its conditions, so we have to let it be as it is. If we make it peaceful or decorate it, we will not be able to see the truth.

Moreover, the length of period of doing is not the most important. The quality of your doing during such time us more important than the length of period of doing. If the length of period is the most important, the one who spent most time will have to achieve the goal. But it is not the case in real life. The quality of doing is more important. So you need to study, understand and have clear purpose and correct way before you sail to the ocean.

[Dpkefsuf]

Thank you for your advice ngodngam,

Meditating certainly does make me happy. I've also noticed that it makes me feel centred and calm afterwards. I still have very little control over my mind as it flits from topic to topic, but I am accepting that and hoping that the more I practice the more I will improve.

Fee

[jinnsamys]

I am new to Buddhism, but not meditation. I believe that, no matter the source, meditation has the same goal - to reach a state of openness.

For the longest time, I had trouble clearing my mind of extra thoughts and worries. I used to try CDs of recorded guided meditations, but still found my head wandered off and worried about upcoming issues or events or, well, anything outside of meditation.

I mentioned this to a friend who usually led our meditations and he gave me a set of beads made from bodhi tree seeds. He said to just hold the necklace and pull a bead with my thumb for every inhalation and every exhalation. It gave me a focus point. This was about 10 years ago and I have used it ever since. I have just been told that the necklace is a Tibetan Prayer Bead necklace. I was very happy about that. My friend has since passed away, but I think he knew something about me that I did not. No, he was not a buddhist, but a baptist. But maybe in his heart, he was both.

The point, try some physical repetition to help focus you out of your busy mind. Also, realize there is no wrong way to meditate, even if you stray now and then.