Recently some friends asked me for some pointers about meditation, and here's what I said...
DISCLAIMER: I am nowhere near an expert and still have a shitload to learn. What I've written below are just a few things that have helped me get started.
First and foremost, I would begin familiarizing myself with meditation as a whole. There are a bunch of great books out there on the subject by authors such as Sogyal Rinpoche, Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hahn, Lama Surya Das, and HH the Dalai Lama. I like the book "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" by Sogyal Rinpoche (not to be confused with "The Tibetan Book of the Dead.") This book covers much, much more than meditation, but the section on meditation has been instrumental in the development of my practice. Those of us in the West have a lot of ideas about what meditation is supposed to be (i.e. that there is some result that we should aim for specifically), and this book is a great place to begin learning about true meditation. Plus, if you're interested in learning about reincarnation, samsara, and the bardo's, this book is invaluable in that regard. You will get a crash course in Buddhism, but this is not to be feared or judged, and the effortless way Rinpoche explains some very heady concepts will leave you thirsting for more. If you're anything like me, this book will change your life.
Here are some things that have helped me:
The use of a mantra. I'll chant the mantra of Padmasambhva (Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Siddhi Hum) or Avalokiteshvara (Om Mani Padme Hum). The Padmasambhva mantra is roughly the equivalent to the Catholic Hail Mary. It feels weird at first, but that is just your ego fucking with you. Stop judging and get over it. If you can do this, after a while all else will cease and you'll feel like you're in space. Again, I got this stuff from "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying."
Diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe through your mouth. You don't want your jaw to hang to the ground like you've just opened up an email and it was a video of a donkey show. Think mild sinus infection mouth breathing, not holy shit I can't believe people do that. We don't realize it, but often times we are not breathing properly. In order to take a fully restorative breath, we must breath from our stomach, not our chest. If you aren't quite sure what I'm talking about, lie on your back before you begin to meditate, and rest your right forearm at the top of your stomach below your rib cage. Watch your arm rise and fall, rise and fall. Your stomach will be pushing your arm out as you inhale. This is breathing from your diaphragm. This technique can be applied anywhere at any time, and for those of you who may suffer from anxiety/panic disorders, this technique is a hell of a tool to help you calm down.
Keep your eyes open. Contrary to popular belief, one should keep his/her eyes open and fixed upon an object/picture while meditating. Once again, I took the book's advice, and stare at a picture of Padmasambhva. His eyes are hypnotic, and at first I was a bit freaked out at the picture because he's pretty intense. But then I remembered he was a Buddha, and there is no hate there, only love.
Don't try to achieve anything. The most important part of meditation is showing up. At first, I began with 10 minutes in the morning, ten minutes at night, and have upped the time as I've grown more comfortable. The biggest thing you can try to remember when meditating is to practice non-grasping. Allow your thoughts to come and go, let them run through your mind like the waters of a mountain river runs over rocks. If you have a negative thought, acknowledge it, but don't latch onto it. Simply let the thought be born, and die. All thoughts return to the same place they were born: your mind. Eventually you will have moments when something truly magical happens, and you will want to prolong the feeling. The minute you try to do that is the minute you will lose it. Think of it like sex: when your girl says, "right there" she's not saying "go faster." Just keep doing what you're doing, because it's working.
You don't have to sit in full lotus postion. If you are flexible enough to chill in full lotus, then by all means, do it. Don't force it, though. A certain amount of uncomfortability is expected when you begin to meditate, but do not confuse uncomfortability and pain. If need be, you can use a chair; any book on meditation will cover this in depth. This is a mental workout, not necessarily a physical workout, although you may experience some soreness during the first few weeks as your body becomes accustomed to this position.
All of this is just a scratch on the surface, but I hope it may have helped in some way. The benefits to developing a daily meditation practice are massive, and after a month of consistent daily meditation you will feel like you are becoming a different person. You are. The mind is as vast and infinite as the universe itself, and the first time you get a little taste of this, you will experience a bliss most people believe to be a myth. The key is to carry that bliss into your life through mindful actions, speech, thoughts, etc. To learn more about that, see the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
You can, of course, add a bit of the sticky icky to your practice, but try to do it without herb first. I'm a huge proponent of cannabis use and the benefits of such a wonderful plant, but you don't need to be higher than a cat's back to go deep. Your brain will do that for you. If you must smoke, start out sober and smoke when you're done. If you have one of those blissful sessions I was talking about, smoking afterward is often a great way to carry over that state of mind, especially if combined with yoga.
Be well and good luck. Namaste.
-----
We're all on this rock floating through space together, stuck in one of an innumerable number of galaxies. We inhabit a miniscule portion of the infinite universe, and every time I pause to look up at the sky I am bewildered by how completely insignificant life is. But, this is why life is so precious. We're entering a period of solar activity that can, at any moment, wipe out all the electronics on earth, and plunge us back into the dark ages. To some, that is a most depressing thought. To me, it's the beauty of creation. It's never been more important to share and spread love than in this moment, right now, today. Bask in the light of the truth, and never forget that you are not alone; you will always have the stars. All you have to do is look up, and smile.
-----
"So, the teachings tell us, if we do not assume the fullest possible responsibility for ourselves now in this life, our suffering will go on not only for a few lives, but for thousands of lives to come." - Sogyal Rinpoche
I am glad to hear you are meditating regularly and one can see that in your delivery of this post. One thing i would like to note is that you are referencing mostly Tibetan Buddhism and practice, which is great and what 1st got me interested in the dharma.(Sogyal's book really hit home with me too and sparked my commitment to this path) But there is also a lot more traditions and methods out there that have helped me tremendously, especially as an American. Trungpa Rinpoche was pretty clear about spiritual materialism and the exoticism of Tibetan Buddhism can sometimes be a hindrance to secular Americans...but regardless tibetan techniques are good, profound, and do work!
ReplyDeleteI am going to link to this guy Daniel Ingram and his book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. I have been meditating off and on for approx 7 years (well i guess if you consider drawing mediation, which i do in some ways, i have been focusing attention for my whole life) and seriously meditating for a few years. When i came across mastering the core teachings of the buddha the heat got turned up in my meditation for serious...like the mystery was gone and i was finally clear about what meditations is and what the whole point of it is. Enlightenment is not a myth it is for real, we just generally have unrealistic/ exotic expectations of what it is. You can be enlightened in this lifetime and there are people who have done it, ingram being one of them. Ingram's book covers many basic techniques and ideas about meditation/buddhism, he has a bunch of book recommendations as well which is very helpful, and he also goes into the depths of the advanced practices. There is a new buddhism emerging in america and this guy is a piece of that. Personally the idea of a new buddhism emerging is exciting for me. Every time buddhism has came into a new region, buddhism has evolved and buddhism has evolved the region...very exciting, especially in relation to contemporary science and psychology.
Mastering the core teachings can be downloaded for free as a pdf here http://www.interactivebuddha.com/mctb.shtml. There is other good info on the site - explore it. There are also some good interviews and videos of him out there...google it.
continued...i also really like this site as well, http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/. it is filled with great interviews of contemporary teachers. For me it is exciting and easier to related to people that are with in my generation who have deep attainments.
ReplyDeleteI have also been reading this guy Adyashanti, and his approached is more non-conceptual pointing out instructions, which is essentially pointing out the the direct experience of mind, as words and concepts are just pointers not the actual experience. Some people have issues with this approach, but for me it is inspiring and i can feel the truth he is pointing at, and as long as we are clear about this, and dont prematurely think we are enlightened then it is good stuff and can put you in direct contact with the nature of mind and reality. I personally really liked his book The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment. I am reading emptiness dancing right now as well....i am a big reader but beware, no amount of reading will ever match direct experience.
http://www.adyashanti.org/index.php?file=teachings
and one other thing i would mention is that if you are serious about this path and feel it has benefited you then i would seriously consider joining a Sangha (Community of practitioners). We can do this on our own, but it easier and progress can be faster when practicing with others. Or if a Sangha is not available in southern indiana just meditating with others and discussing your practice with one another can be of serious benefit. Also...go on retreat! You wont regret it!
ok wow... being brief and concise was never my strong suit. but one last thing...I have smoked pot for a long time and i would say that as awesome as it is, it is a hindrance, so smoke less and meditate more, your mind will be stronger, more powerful, clearer, and you will realize that being in the heightened states of consciousness naturally is far more fascinating then being stoned. Drugs can only take us to the door (if even that far), eventually we need to let go of our dependence on them and walk through that door with out them...once you walk through the door then maybe you can come back to smoking but you will have a totally different relationship with it, one that serves you better. I could go into the whys of this but it isnt necessary...as Chogyam trungpa says how about just trying ordinary experience.
Fantastic, thanks Jon! It was you who first recommended Sogyal Rinpoche to me some years ago, and over the past year or so, I've been diving deeper and deeper into mediation and Buddhism. Thanks for the links, I'm going to go feed my brain now. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel you on smoking as well. Lately I've been feeling that smoking is a hindrance in many ways, and it's time for me to evolve past it. I want my experiences to be genuine, not manufactured. I have been trying to get involved with the local Sangha here, but it's not open very often, and when it is, I'm usually working. I know that I need it, and need a teacher. This dude Alex Lipton said something that I identified with last night on this awesome site called Mindbook.ws. He compared "waking up" with the Matrix, saying that in the first film, Neo sees the oracle, and ate the cookie. In the second film, he takes the cookie, but does not eat it. In the third film, he no longer needs the cookie. It's a stretch, I know, but I can identify with this in many ways. Also, his uncle, Dr. Bruce Lipton wrote a fascinating book called "The Biology of Belief." Check out his interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, they discuss some fascinating (and somewhat horrifying) stuff. http://vimeo.com/33636414 Rogan might not be your cup of tea, but you may get something out of the talk. There is also another site called Evolutionary Leaders http://www.evolutionaryleaders.net/ that is worth checking out. I feel as if we (humanity) are on the precipice of something BIG, an entire psychic shift in the way we perceive our reality and purpose here on earth. Maybe it's just hippie nonsense, but something inside of me is screaming otherwise. I'm very interested in learning about how Buddhism is evolving here in the West, and the benefits that I've seen in my own life from Buddhism thus far are quantifiable. I feel like it's what I've been looking for all along, and these feeling/ideas that I've had fleeting glimpses of in times past are slowly becoming my reality. It makes me smile because I feel like I've finally been let in on this remarkable secret, but truth of the matter is, it's not a secret at all; it's always been there, and it's there for everybody else, too. How fucking beautiful is that?!? :)
ReplyDelete