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Spiritual Practices
Meditation
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Contents
Meditation with Jack Kornfield
Really, there’s nothing to it…Just sit down and breathe…
Then follow your breath with your conscious awareness…- NOW… do this some more…and some more…
- and redirect your attention…and redirect again…
- notice your distraction and then return to your breathing …
- SEE!…It’s very simple...all it takes is practice...
lots and lots of practice and sometimes a little guidance…
but mostly practice being with breathing.
Don't complicate it...just sit, sit naturally, sit, quietly sit, sit, sit, sit....
That's my view of it but here is what the "experts" say about it...
Jack Kornfield
The Art of Meditation
- The following mediations are traditional and simple practices for awakening
- a clear mind and open heart. The art of meditation teaches us to relax and
- remain alert in the midst of the problems and the joys of life. It allows us to rest
- in the moment with ease and respond to life with compassion.
- To begin meditation, select a quiet time and place. Be seated on a cushion or chair,
- taking an erect yet relaxed posture. Let yourself sit upright with the quiet dignity
- of a queen or king. Close your eyes gently and begin by bringing a full, present
- attention to whatever you feel within you and around you. Let your mind be spacious
- and your heart be kind and soft.
- As you sit, feel the sensations of your body. Then notice what sounds and feelings,
- thoughts and expectations are present. Allow them all to come and go, to rise and fall
- like the waves of the ocean. Be aware of the waves and rest seated in the midst of them.
- Allow yourself to become more and more still.
- In the center of all these waves, feel your breathing, your life-breath. Let your
- attention feel the in-and-out breathing wherever you notice it, as coolness or tingling
- in the nose or throat, as a rising and falling of your chest or abdomen. Relax and
- softly rest your attention on each breath, feeling the movement in a steady easy way.
- Let the breath breathe itself in any rhythm, long or short, soft or deep. As you feel
- each breath, concentrate and settle into movement. Let all other sounds and sensations,
- thoughts and feelings continue to come and go like waves in the background.
- After a few breaths, your attention may be carried away by one of the waves of thoughts
- or memories, by body sensations or sounds. Whenever you notice you have been
- carried away for a time, acknowledge the wave that has done so by softly giving it a
- name such as "planning," "remembering," "itching," "restless." Then let it pass and
- gently return to the breath. Some waves will take a long time to pass, others will be short.
- Certain thoughts or feelings will be painful, others will be pleasurable. Whatever they
- are, let them be.
- At some sittings you will be able to return to your breath easily. At other times in
- your meditation you will mostly be aware of body sensations or of plans or thoughts.
- Either way is fine. No matter what you experience, be aware of it, let it come and go,
- and rest at ease in the midst of it all. After you have sat for twenty or thirty minutes
- in this way, open your eyes and look around you before you get up. Then as you move
- try to allow the same spirit of awareness to go with you into the activities of your day.
- The art of meditation is simple but not always easy. It thrives on practice and a kind
- and spacious heart. If you do this simple practice of sitting with awareness everyday,
- you will gradually grow in centeredness and understanding…
From the book
Buddha's Little Instruction Book by Jack Kornfield
Establishing a Daily Meditation
First select a suitable space
for your regular meditation. It can be wherever you can sit easily with minimal
disturbance: a corner of your bedroom or any other quiet spot in your home.
Place a meditation cushion or chair there for your use. Arrange what is around
so that you are reminded of your meditative purpose, so that it feels like a
sacred and peaceful space. You may wish to make a simple altar with a flower or
sacred image, or place your favorite spiritual books there for a few moments of
inspiring reading. Let yourself enjoy creating this space for yourself.
Then select a regular time for practice that
suits your schedule and temperament. If you are a morning person, experiment
with a sitting before breakfast. If evening fits your temperament or schedule
better, try that first. Begin with sitting ten or twenty minutes at a time.
Later you can sit longer or more frequently. Daily meditation can become like
bathing or toothbrushing. It can bring a regular cleansing and calming to your
heart and mind.
Find a posture on the chair of cushion in
which you can easily sit erect without being rigid. Let your body be firmly
planted on the earth, your hands resting easily, your heart soft, your eyes
closed gently. At first feel your body and consciously soften any obvious
tension. Let go of any habitual thoughts or plans. Bring your attention to feel
the sensations of your breathing. Take a few deep breaths to sense where you can
feel the breath most easily, as coolness or tingling in the nostrils or throat,
as movement of the chest, or rise and fall of the belly. Then let your breath be
natural. Feel the sensations of your natural breathing very carefully, relaxing
into each breath as you feel it, noticing how the soft sensations of breathing
come and go with the changing breath.
After a few breath your mind will probably
wander. When you notice this, no matter how long or short a time you have been
away, simply come back to the next breath. Before you return, you can mindfully
acknowledge where you have gone with a soft work in the back of your mind, such
as "thinking," "wandering," "hearing,"
"itching." After softly and silently naming to yourself where your
attention has been, gently and directly return to feel the next breath. Later on
in your mediation you will be able to work with the places your mind wanders to,
but for initial training, one of work of acknowledgement and a simple return to
the breath is best.
As you sit, let the breath change rhythms
naturally, allowing it to be short, long, fast, slow, rough, or easy. Calm
yourself by relaxing into the breath. When your breath becomes soft, let your
attention become gentle and careful, as soft as the breath itself.
Like training a puppy, gently bring yourself
back a thousand times. Over weeks and months of this practice your will
gradually learn to calm and center yourself using the breath. There will be many
cycles in this process, stormy days alternating with clear days. Just stay with
it. As you do, listening deeply, you will find the breath helping to connect and
quiet your whole body and mind.
Working with the breath is an excellent
foundation for the other meditations presented in this book. After developing
some calm and skills, and connecting with your breath, you can then extend your
range of meditation to include healing and awareness of all the levels of your
body and mind. You will discover how awareness of your breath can serve as a
steady basis for all you do.
~
Rob Campbell's Meditation Page
- Interlude: An Internet Retreat
- http://www.teleport.com/~interlud/index.html
- Guide to Meditation
- http://www.nashville.net/~kaldari/meditate.html
- How to Meditate
- http://www.oocities.org/RodeoDrive/1415/medit.html#Contents
- Shambala Meditation
- http://www.shambhala.org/
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