7 ms·

A Simple Guide to Meditation

134 points by MichaelAO 11y ago

rdudekul 11y ago
I practice a form of meditation called Passage Meditation. Though simple, Passage Meditation is definitely not easy. However the results I have seen from myself and others, makes it an extremely beneficial practice. Here is a free online course for those interested in it. http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-course-introduction.html http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-cour...
- slowmotiony 11y ago
  It would be nice if you elaborated on those results.
leke 11y ago
A while back, I was looking for a guide to meditation and found this to be really helpful: http://www.meditationmojo.com/ http://www.meditationmojo.com/
cnp 11y ago
Just got back from a meditation gathering from meetup.com and all I have to say is WOW. Powerful, and highly recommended. Start with 3 min a day right when you wake up (before food, cigarette, anything at all) and then go from there.
- masterminding 11y ago
  That's what I've been doing lately, as soon as I wake I focus on my breathing for a few minutes.
- tomjen3 11y ago
  I tried meditation for a month, all it did was bore me and make me fall asleep.
  - cnp 11y ago
    It can be hard, but the benefits are immeasurable; keep with it.
  - kseistrup 11y ago
    In meditation, mental states and thoughts will play out that are never or rarely allowed to play out. If you are ever so slightly sleep deprived, chances are that sleep will sneak into your meditation. Just watch what comes up in meditation, and act accordingly.
fierycatnet 11y ago
For those who are interested in advanced meditation and pushing the limits, I can recommend book "Focused and Fearless". Covers very powerful techniques. I went from unable to sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour of effortless deep meditation within a week. YMMV.
- cko 11y ago
  http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm I'm definitely going to check out that book. I heard about the author from above site. What are your experiences so far?
  - fierycatnet 11y ago
    Jhanic states mostly. Proper meditation gave me a new perspective on Zen and Buddhism as a whole. I've studied it extensively before and disregarded meditation as being superfluous. I was really wrong. It helped tremendously with understanding esoteric parts of Buddhism. The first experience that got me 'hooked' or rather made me realize that it's not hogwash, is the arousal of piti. The warm sensation in solar plexus that came out of no where after long breath meditation concentration and it turned into waves with each breath-in. It's hard to describe but it's unmistakable when you start getting better at meditation. That book covers everything. Make no mistake, it's not easy. For whatever reason I got lucky with being able to tune in to deeper meditation, some people struggle for weeks and months to get there. I did Zazen previously on and off and this never got me anywhere. Anapanasati meditation is what will get you to jhanas. From then on, as some scriptures say, the real path to Buddhism begins. Even if you are not into Buddhism, the pay off is still tremendous. Here is the practical and measurable result of proper deep meditation: ability to calm your mind and achieve total equanimity with virtually no thoughts, just pure awareness and tranquility that lets you sit for hours if you wish to, with zero desire to even move an inch, just sitting still. The ability to exercise your brain like that is pretty huge. In the long term and consistent practice it's beneficial to overall well being.
- nstart 11y ago
  Sadly, I never made it to advanced meditation. 10 minutes in and I fall asleep. Used to do that in the shower right after I got home from sports/training. Meditate for 10 minutes under a very light stream of water. The results from doing that for nearly 6 years serves me well every single day
cko 11y ago
Meditation is one of those things that people think they're talking about the same thing when actually they're not. It's not just one thing - different religions and traditions have completely different approaches. Sure, there are some key concepts common to all like "awareness" and "mindfulness" - but awareness and mindfulness of what? Christians might "meditate" on a passage in the Bible. Theravada Buddhists have the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. There are Zen koans. I have no idea on other forms but I imagine there are way more. Even among Theravada Buddhist meditation instructors there are clear disagreements on what the experience should be, how concentrated the mind should be, etc. For example, for something as simple as a pull-up there are questions like: what muscles are being worked? What is the proper form? Pronated or supinated grip? What pace and why? If I read an article on any subject I expect to see lots of footnotes. Meditation is something way more subtle than doing pull-ups, yet most guides seem to assume that there is one concrete definition in the learner's mind. Where did the prescribed method come from? What is the goal? To just put instructions or information about any subject without mentioning background or citing any sources is strange to me - is meditation so new, obscure, or insignificant a subject that it doesn't warrant a little more rigor? TLDR: meditation is a bigger subject than most people reslize.
- ggreer 11y ago
  One reason meditation is so varied is that it's unlike most skills. You can't learn it by watching someone else, and teachers can't see if you're doing it wrong. Progress is only made through trial, error, and dialogue. This is quite different from any physical activity, where visual feedback makes errors obvious. To borrow an analogy from Sam Harris: Imagine if looking at the stars required building your own telescope. Nobody could ever see someone else's telescope, or even the images from it. They could only listen to each others' descriptions. This would make research much harder and much less rigorous. But the stars would be no less beautiful. That's the state of meditation today.
- Matumio 11y ago
  What is the goal? In my understanding it's to get rid of all this goal-seeking business for a moment. Which is a beautiful contradiction and the reason why you don't need a lot of literature in order to practice. If you try hard to do it right, you're doing it wrong.
scorpioxy 11y ago
Here's my issue with meditation. There's no guide to what progress should look like. As in, everything I read says you shouldn't have any expectations and to just do it and there's a lot of benefit in it. I get that, I've been doing it for over a year now regularly but how can I know if it has any effects whatsoever? Since I suspect there might be other techniques than focusing on the breath or body scans, I try to follow different guided meditations. After my session, i feel relaxed and my mind slow but efficient. Like getting up after a good nap. But so does working out at the gym, sort of. Over there, however, you can directly see progress. With meditation... Perhaps I am looking at this in the wrong way?
- jamesfisher 11y ago
  I really like Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha[1]. He spends a lot of time describing different "maps", which are models of progression. (He talks about many other things too. It's more than just a meditation guide.) [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusually/dp/1904658407 http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusua...
- mbrock 11y ago
  If you want a "runged ladder" of some kind of progress, try the four levels of jhana. There are lots of published guides, for example "Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English", various works of Shaila Catherine, etc.
- fierycatnet 11y ago
  There are measurable results in meditation, you just need to know what they are and the proper technique to get there. The problem with meditation is that it's not being taught right, plus there are many variations of it. If you are seriously looking to incorporate meditation in your daily life then get "Focused and Fearless" book and follow all instructions and exercises as they are taught. You will see measurable results.
- ryanjshaw 11y ago
  Hopefully this doesn't seem an obvious response, but to my mind there seems to be at least two schools of thought regarding meditation. These schools are not mutually exclusive, FWIW. One school seems to see meditation as an end to itself, the other as a tool towards some other end. I can't speak to the former, but for the latter - one approach you could follow is to identify experts who have written on the area of improvement and who prescribe meditation as a tool. For example, if you're using meditation to improve willpower, then a book on willpower will help you identify whether your meditation techniques are improving your willpower [1]. [1] For example, "The Willpower Instinct" (K. McGonigal) discusses the use of meditation to improve willpower, as well as the 'state of the art' on the subject, so it provides you with some tools you can use to evaluate whether you're making improvements or not
tugberkk 11y ago
Well, @cko is definitely right; and there are many kinds of meditation techniques. But for one, without getting into too much detail, there is Zazen (without koans), where you are trying to "just be"; and think nothing. Just be, do not cling to any other ideas or thoughts, and when you realize you are thinking, stop it. Just be.
JonnieCache 11y ago
Here's a more complete beginners guide: Mindfulness in plain english. I believe its something of a classic. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html Scroll down for the ToC.
- nabla9 11y ago
  Yes. This probably the best meditation book for secular beginners.
- draven 11y ago
  I'm currently reading it (kindle edition.) Highly recommended. The style makes it easy to read (I'm not a native english speaker), it's very down to earth in its tone and addresses potential problems as it goes.
Kiro 11y ago
> Close your eyes and take one breath in through the nose and one breath out through the nose. Should I take this literally? I have a condition which makes it very hard for me to breath through my nose. Is it a requirement?
- hobolobo 11y ago
  It doesn't have to be the nose. You can use the rise and fall of your stomach as your focus. It is merely a point that allows you to notice when you've become distracted.
- simongray 11y ago
  It's not a requirement. The reason many vipassana guides say to breath through your nose is because most people can easily feel the air at the tip of nose and it gives them a clear point of focus. You can breath through your mouth too. Some people prefer focusing on air coming into the stomach instead. When I have a cold or some other build-up in my nose, I just breath through the mouth, no problem.
- bluejellybean 11y ago
  Nope, don't worry about it :) Don't get hung up on the minor detail. It's super easy to do with meditation but unless you are following a very specific style, it's just not important.
simongray 11y ago
Definitely check out Sam Harris' book "Waking Up" (the atheist guy). It was a great introduction to meditation for me.
- crusso 11y ago
  I really enjoyed that book and Harris' approach to meditation. Since Harris is a neuroscientist and an atheist, there's no mysticism in the book. No talk about "feeling the energy". In addition to the meditation information, he also goes into some neurological theory of thought generation in the hemispheres of the brain that I found quite fascinating. [edited for clarity]
chnx 11y ago
When I first started meditating I found the book The Relaxation Response helpful. It has a one page guide to activating the parasympathetic nervous system and is non-spiritual in its application.
zafka 11y ago
My favorite guide to meditation is: Being nobody Going nowhere by ayya khema This subject also highlights how irrational i am. I still remember how beneficial meditation was for me when I practiced it. But getting back into the practice ..... sigh
- crusso 11y ago
  It's like exercise. The benefits are pretty obvious and enjoyable when you're doing it, but putting forth the effort isn't always easy. I actually try to combine the two practices. I have an exercise bike and I meditate while I'm riding it.
kitwalker12 11y ago
I found a helpful primer to meditation and associated benefits in a good book by Dan Harris - "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works" Mainly he decouples the practice from the spiritual part of it. so you can go in without expecting a monk to come out the other side.

134 points by MichaelAO 11y ago

I practice a form of meditation called Passage Meditation. Though simple, Passage Meditation is definitely not easy. However the results I have seen from myself and others, makes it an extremely beneficial practice. Here is a free online course for those interested in it. http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-course-introduction.html http://www.easwaran.org/introductory-passage-meditation-cour...

slowmotiony 11y ago
It would be nice if you elaborated on those results.

leke 11y ago

A while back, I was looking for a guide to meditation and found this to be really helpful: http://www.meditationmojo.com/ http://www.meditationmojo.com/

cnp 11y ago

Just got back from a meditation gathering from meetup.com and all I have to say is WOW. Powerful, and highly recommended. Start with 3 min a day right when you wake up (before food, cigarette, anything at all) and then go from there.

masterminding 11y ago
That's what I've been doing lately, as soon as I wake I focus on my breathing for a few minutes.
tomjen3 11y ago
I tried meditation for a month, all it did was bore me and make me fall asleep.
- cnp 11y ago
  It can be hard, but the benefits are immeasurable; keep with it.
- kseistrup 11y ago
  In meditation, mental states and thoughts will play out that are never or rarely allowed to play out. If you are ever so slightly sleep deprived, chances are that sleep will sneak into your meditation. Just watch what comes up in meditation, and act accordingly.

fierycatnet 11y ago

For those who are interested in advanced meditation and pushing the limits, I can recommend book "Focused and Fearless". Covers very powerful techniques. I went from unable to sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour of effortless deep meditation within a week. YMMV.

cko 11y ago
http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm I'm definitely going to check out that book. I heard about the author from above site. What are your experiences so far?
- fierycatnet 11y ago
  Jhanic states mostly. Proper meditation gave me a new perspective on Zen and Buddhism as a whole. I've studied it extensively before and disregarded meditation as being superfluous. I was really wrong. It helped tremendously with understanding esoteric parts of Buddhism. The first experience that got me 'hooked' or rather made me realize that it's not hogwash, is the arousal of piti. The warm sensation in solar plexus that came out of no where after long breath meditation concentration and it turned into waves with each breath-in. It's hard to describe but it's unmistakable when you start getting better at meditation. That book covers everything. Make no mistake, it's not easy. For whatever reason I got lucky with being able to tune in to deeper meditation, some people struggle for weeks and months to get there. I did Zazen previously on and off and this never got me anywhere. Anapanasati meditation is what will get you to jhanas. From then on, as some scriptures say, the real path to Buddhism begins. Even if you are not into Buddhism, the pay off is still tremendous. Here is the practical and measurable result of proper deep meditation: ability to calm your mind and achieve total equanimity with virtually no thoughts, just pure awareness and tranquility that lets you sit for hours if you wish to, with zero desire to even move an inch, just sitting still. The ability to exercise your brain like that is pretty huge. In the long term and consistent practice it's beneficial to overall well being.
nstart 11y ago
Sadly, I never made it to advanced meditation. 10 minutes in and I fall asleep. Used to do that in the shower right after I got home from sports/training. Meditate for 10 minutes under a very light stream of water. The results from doing that for nearly 6 years serves me well every single day

cko 11y ago

Meditation is one of those things that people think they're talking about the same thing when actually they're not. It's not just one thing - different religions and traditions have completely different approaches. Sure, there are some key concepts common to all like "awareness" and "mindfulness" - but awareness and mindfulness of what? Christians might "meditate" on a passage in the Bible. Theravada Buddhists have the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. There are Zen koans. I have no idea on other forms but I imagine there are way more. Even among Theravada Buddhist meditation instructors there are clear disagreements on what the experience should be, how concentrated the mind should be, etc. For example, for something as simple as a pull-up there are questions like: what muscles are being worked? What is the proper form? Pronated or supinated grip? What pace and why? If I read an article on any subject I expect to see lots of footnotes. Meditation is something way more subtle than doing pull-ups, yet most guides seem to assume that there is one concrete definition in the learner's mind. Where did the prescribed method come from? What is the goal? To just put instructions or information about any subject without mentioning background or citing any sources is strange to me - is meditation so new, obscure, or insignificant a subject that it doesn't warrant a little more rigor? TLDR: meditation is a bigger subject than most people reslize.

ggreer 11y ago
One reason meditation is so varied is that it's unlike most skills. You can't learn it by watching someone else, and teachers can't see if you're doing it wrong. Progress is only made through trial, error, and dialogue. This is quite different from any physical activity, where visual feedback makes errors obvious. To borrow an analogy from Sam Harris: Imagine if looking at the stars required building your own telescope. Nobody could ever see someone else's telescope, or even the images from it. They could only listen to each others' descriptions. This would make research much harder and much less rigorous. But the stars would be no less beautiful. That's the state of meditation today.
Matumio 11y ago
What is the goal? In my understanding it's to get rid of all this goal-seeking business for a moment. Which is a beautiful contradiction and the reason why you don't need a lot of literature in order to practice. If you try hard to do it right, you're doing it wrong.

scorpioxy 11y ago

Here's my issue with meditation. There's no guide to what progress should look like. As in, everything I read says you shouldn't have any expectations and to just do it and there's a lot of benefit in it. I get that, I've been doing it for over a year now regularly but how can I know if it has any effects whatsoever? Since I suspect there might be other techniques than focusing on the breath or body scans, I try to follow different guided meditations. After my session, i feel relaxed and my mind slow but efficient. Like getting up after a good nap. But so does working out at the gym, sort of. Over there, however, you can directly see progress. With meditation... Perhaps I am looking at this in the wrong way?

jamesfisher 11y ago
I really like Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha[1]. He spends a lot of time describing different "maps", which are models of progression. (He talks about many other things too. It's more than just a meditation guide.) [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusually/dp/1904658407 http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Core-Teachings-Buddha-Unusua...
mbrock 11y ago
If you want a "runged ladder" of some kind of progress, try the four levels of jhana. There are lots of published guides, for example "Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English", various works of Shaila Catherine, etc.
fierycatnet 11y ago
There are measurable results in meditation, you just need to know what they are and the proper technique to get there. The problem with meditation is that it's not being taught right, plus there are many variations of it. If you are seriously looking to incorporate meditation in your daily life then get "Focused and Fearless" book and follow all instructions and exercises as they are taught. You will see measurable results.
ryanjshaw 11y ago
Hopefully this doesn't seem an obvious response, but to my mind there seems to be at least two schools of thought regarding meditation. These schools are not mutually exclusive, FWIW. One school seems to see meditation as an end to itself, the other as a tool towards some other end. I can't speak to the former, but for the latter - one approach you could follow is to identify experts who have written on the area of improvement and who prescribe meditation as a tool. For example, if you're using meditation to improve willpower, then a book on willpower will help you identify whether your meditation techniques are improving your willpower [1]. [1] For example, "The Willpower Instinct" (K. McGonigal) discusses the use of meditation to improve willpower, as well as the 'state of the art' on the subject, so it provides you with some tools you can use to evaluate whether you're making improvements or not

tugberkk 11y ago

Well, @cko is definitely right; and there are many kinds of meditation techniques. But for one, without getting into too much detail, there is Zazen (without koans), where you are trying to "just be"; and think nothing. Just be, do not cling to any other ideas or thoughts, and when you realize you are thinking, stop it. Just be.

JonnieCache 11y ago

Here's a more complete beginners guide: Mindfulness in plain english. I believe its something of a classic. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html Scroll down for the ToC.

nabla9 11y ago
Yes. This probably the best meditation book for secular beginners.
draven 11y ago
I'm currently reading it (kindle edition.) Highly recommended. The style makes it easy to read (I'm not a native english speaker), it's very down to earth in its tone and addresses potential problems as it goes.

Kiro 11y ago

> Close your eyes and take one breath in through the nose and one breath out through the nose. Should I take this literally? I have a condition which makes it very hard for me to breath through my nose. Is it a requirement?

hobolobo 11y ago
It doesn't have to be the nose. You can use the rise and fall of your stomach as your focus. It is merely a point that allows you to notice when you've become distracted.
simongray 11y ago
It's not a requirement. The reason many vipassana guides say to breath through your nose is because most people can easily feel the air at the tip of nose and it gives them a clear point of focus. You can breath through your mouth too. Some people prefer focusing on air coming into the stomach instead. When I have a cold or some other build-up in my nose, I just breath through the mouth, no problem.
bluejellybean 11y ago
Nope, don't worry about it :) Don't get hung up on the minor detail. It's super easy to do with meditation but unless you are following a very specific style, it's just not important.

simongray 11y ago

Definitely check out Sam Harris' book "Waking Up" (the atheist guy). It was a great introduction to meditation for me.

crusso 11y ago
I really enjoyed that book and Harris' approach to meditation. Since Harris is a neuroscientist and an atheist, there's no mysticism in the book. No talk about "feeling the energy". In addition to the meditation information, he also goes into some neurological theory of thought generation in the hemispheres of the brain that I found quite fascinating. [edited for clarity]

chnx 11y ago

When I first started meditating I found the book The Relaxation Response helpful. It has a one page guide to activating the parasympathetic nervous system and is non-spiritual in its application.

zafka 11y ago

My favorite guide to meditation is: Being nobody Going nowhere by ayya khema This subject also highlights how irrational i am. I still remember how beneficial meditation was for me when I practiced it. But getting back into the practice ..... sigh

crusso 11y ago
It's like exercise. The benefits are pretty obvious and enjoyable when you're doing it, but putting forth the effort isn't always easy. I actually try to combine the two practices. I have an exercise bike and I meditate while I'm riding it.

kitwalker12 11y ago

I found a helpful primer to meditation and associated benefits in a good book by Dan Harris - "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works" Mainly he decouples the practice from the spiritual part of it. so you can go in without expecting a monk to come out the other side.