6. Assume a passive and detached attitude to any thoughts that appear.
It is a natural part of meditation for thoughts to arise spontaneously, but their subject and content are of no significance to the process and they should be passively disregarded.
When a thought pops up, simply acknowledge the fact of its appearance without engaging with it. Then gently return to repeating your chosen sound.
There is a popular misconception that meditation is about making one's mind blank, but this is not so. In fact, it is impossible to make the mind blank. The human brain is a bio-computer of epic capacity and creativity. Thinking is what it does and this happens auto-
matically.
Meditation gets around this by introducing a decoy (in this case, the repeated sound) so as to reduce the spontaneous eruption of thoughts to a minimum.
Focusing the attention on this simple repetition reduces mental activity in the same way that a bone will calm the antics of a restless dog. However, just as a dog will eventually tire of its bone, the mind will eventually turn away from the sound it has been given and thoughts will begin to return. When this happens, the meditator simply picks up the sound and gives it back to the mind, and continues to do this, whenever a thought appears, throughout the period of meditation.
7. Do not worry about how well you are doing.
There is no need to be concerned about such things as whether you are sitting correctly or getting the sound right, or about anything else. As long as you continue to repeat the sound and passively disregard all thoughts, the meditation will take care of itself.
8. Continue for 15 or 20 minutes (or longer if you are ill and feel that it helps).
9. Do not stand immediately on completion.
Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing the normal flow of thoughts to resume. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising.
10. Practise this technique once or, ideally, twice daily.
It is best to avoid times when your stomach is full and when you are under the influence of stimulants. Good times are before breakfast and before an evening meal.
The extent of the benefits that accrue from meditation are directly related to the frequency of practice. They are cumulative and they increase exponentially. Meditating twice each day will deliver more than twice the benefits of meditating once.
This commitment is not as onerous as it might at first appear, because most meditators find that the time spent meditating is amply repaid in the form of increased efficiency and enhanced enjoyment of life during the rest of the day, as well as in more refreshing sleep at night.
11. Trust the process.
If you follow the instructions set out here, your meditation will gradually begin to produce beneficial effects.
For much of the time, and especially in the beginning, it may appear that nothing much is happening, as with a tree in winter, but be assured that the meditative process continues to have an effect even when there is no tangible evidence for this. If you surrender your doubts, keep practising and trust the process, your patience will eventually be rewarded: 'spring' will arrive and your meditation will bear fruit.
If you do not eventually notice any benefits, this may be because they have crept up on you gradually. In this case, continue to practise the technique for a month or two and then stop suddenly for a few days, and you will be reminded how you felt before you started meditating!
12. Re-read the instructions above - particularly sections 6, 7 and 11- several times during the first few weeks of practising the technique, and periodically thereafter.
Further Information
Whilst the technique outlined above is all that is needed in order to practise and experience the benefits of meditation, there may be those who would prefer a more detailed course of formal instruction. In this case, I recommend the Learn to Meditate Kit by clinical psychologist Dr Patricia Carrington, which comprises four audio tapes and a comprehensive instruction manual.
Anyone wishing to delve still deeper into the theory of meditation will find an often confusing mass of information available. The internet is awash with material on this subject, and new books and articles continue to appear to add to the hundreds already in circulation. However, much of this material is coloured by the ideological and cultural backgrounds of its authors, who frequently add unnecessary features and layers of meaning.
For an objective and scientific, yet eminently readable
examination of meditation, I recommend Dr Carrington's The Book of Meditation (Element 1998).
Both the above titles can be obtained from Amazon but, if purchasing the kit secondhand, make sure that you get all four tapes and the manual.
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