Free Online Meditation Course
(Meditation without Religion)

22 Day Meditation Course
(Meditation without Religion)

 

 

Welcome to this easy to follow meditation course!

It's as simple as following day to day.  You can go all out and meditate 10 hours per day. You might sit 5 minutes once a day. Or 5 times for 5 minutes each day. As we say in Thailand, "Up to you!"

You might want to light incense.  You might want to sit or stand or lie down. Up to you.

If you want to read more about what it's all about, who "i" am, or other info - read below...


Short Description of Meditation Course:

This short e-book meditation course is for anyone. You don't have to sit in a certain posture. You don't have to fold your legs in back of your head. It isn't Yoga. It isn't Yogi. It isn't Yoda. It's just sitting. If you can't sit, you can stand. If you can't stand you can walk. If you can't do any of those you can lie down on your back. If you can't do this, can you lie on your side?

It's that flexible. Like I said, it’s for "anyone”.

 

Why did you decide to create this course?

In 1997 I began to meditate. I didn’t start because of any religious practice. I was not religious. I didn’t have a belief in any "ism" (Buddhism, Catholicism, Deism, Theism, Christianity, Muslimism, Hinduism). None of those or any other. I was not anti- any of these religions, but I found that I was more of a "free thinker" so to speak. Not believing in a certain God and yet not at all sure there isn't one. Anyway... moving on.

So, I sat and focused on the sensations of my breath.
I watched it go in.
I watched it go out.

I sat in an empty bedroom on the floor on the rug.  Though I hadn't followed Buddhism and it's beliefs I had read some books about it. I had read some books on meditation.  I had read a book on Vipassana.  I had read some by Buddhadassa Bhikku and Ajahn Chah in Thailand. I read many things and it seemed that when "authorities" started talking about meditation they had many rules about what one had to do and not do during it. They were concerned about posture, length of time sitting, knowing all the vocabulary pertaining to it, and many other things that I wasn't at all concerned with.

In my life I try things.  I keep what works and throw out what doesn't.  Life in the USA is quite stressful at times and I decided to try meditation to see if I might gain some peace... some calm... some relaxation when it was called for... I wanted some way to relax when upset.  Relax when worried.  Relax when anxious.  I wanted some way to remain calm in the face of anxieties.

I found it and yet with it came a different set of issues...

If you are looking for what I was looking for, meaning, some peace of mind... you may well find it here in this simple meditation course. Some of you may find more. Some of you may go someplace in your consciousness that is unexpected... in fact, some of you may find something deeper... something not at all peaceful and yet wonderfully, blissfully heaven like... and you'll understand what I mean when I say "not at all peaceful"...

In my own journey I began by meditating for about 10 months in total. Not straight through of course. I sat a few times a week. Sometimes 5 times. Sometimes 3. Sometimes 7. Sometimes 10.

At some point began a revolutionary change occurring inside the mind. At the time, I was in the USA and I hadn't the slightest idea what it meant... I asked Thai Buddhist monks there in America and wasn't given any good answers to my questions about what process was going on. It was only after I moved here to Thailand that I began to understand what was happening... The abbot of a western style Buddhist temple here in Thailand as well as some monks there told me that I was experiencing what they called, "Jhana". Apparently there were 4-8 levels of Jhana.

Jhanas as defined by Buddhists are very tightly defined states of consciousness that have certain qualities that are best left to Buddhist monks to describe. Sometime after meeting with the Abbot to tell him of my meditative experiences I gave a lengthy written description of some of the states of consciousness I entered to a layperson, a student of Buddhism, a friend.

My friend came to the conclusion that the states were not Jhana because he hadn’t the experience or wisdom to know the difference. Is Jhana necessary for enlightenment? Who’s to say. They are unique (bizarre) states of consciousness that are indescribable with words. If you’re lucky enough to experience any of the states, even the first Jhana you’ll realize that you felt something that was nothing like your ordinary states of consciousness. They’re rather magical states, for lack of a better term.

Continuing the story… The abbot of the temple (Wat Pah Nanachat) asked me to stay and "continue" the process there at the temple for as long as I wished. He said that the monks staying at the temple were all trying to reach the various states of Jhana I’d had, and that I was welcome to stay and continue...

Well, after some thought I decided not to stay.  I came to Thailand for the answers about what the states were, but I was not ready to enter into those states again.  Jhana and the road to nirvana are filled with fulfilling and blissful experiences. Even though I chose not to continue or to complete the journey right now, I know that someday I will sit again and see where it all leads.  Even though I stopped meditation years ago, the process continues inside...

Meditation at the level of Jhana is an all or nothing process... it will create an incredible amount of turmoil inside you if you are one of the ones that gets there... Turmoil arises when you are faced with a decision about "going the whole way" or not. Conflict arises between the you that you were before the process began and the you that you are now (or are not now, might be more accurate).

The ego slowly dissolves... wants, desires, 'needs', go away gently... unnoticed sometimes... the process is sometimes very slow about something or sometimes happens in large jumps... what was important one day becomes nothing as it's let go... non-attachment and the realization that things are impermanent, non-self, not worth attaching to - comes naturally as a result of the state of mind that is present. It is not because it is "Buddhist" or Hindu or anything else. It is the natural state of the mind after meditation at or around the Jhana state.

Those looking for "magical" or other worldly experiences may interpret the experiences he/she has during this course as just that. Others will interpret it in the name of their religion.  Others will not experience anything. And, as I said, some may experience something that is so beyond words that they couldn’t possibly even attempt to explain the experience in words.  For me, I believe that anything I've ever written about the Jhana states is so tremendously incomplete that I can say it is totally inaccurate. To write something and put into words the feeling of the state is so ludicrous that I should never attempt it and yet I'm drawn to tell someone about it so that I can share the experience on some level with anyone.

I could say so much more, and then, what's the point? I'd only be talking around the actual feeling and experiences and it's such a worthless pursuit.

I will tell you what I did. I'll outline it in this meditation course.  I think that what has occurred in me can happen within ANYONE. I'm not special. I simply did a few things consistently.  Then the process visited me. I didn't do something so wonderful that I earned it... what I did was not difficult. I don't think you need to be some place special. You don't need to be someone special either.

You don't need to do things exactly as I tell you I did them. You don't need to follow books on exactly how to meditate. You just need to


do


that's it - just do, and see if life changes. If not, go back to whatever you were doing before.

If you do find that something has happened... some process begins for you that is similar or even vaguely similar to what I describe in this book would you please write me an email and let me know what happened for you?  It may be a long process. There are monks that spend 40+ years meditating. Here’s a secret, it doesn’t take that long if you don’t add the extra fluff of religion on top of the experience.  Religion adds additional challenges to “getting there”. In fact I think that the reason there are thousands of monks in Thailand that have not had Jhana yet is because they have the fluff of Buddhism coloring their experience, piling layers of unnecessary rules and tradition on top of the process.

Why meditate?

The photo at the beginning of this e-book wasn’t chosen just because it’s picturesque. It’s a beautiful place in southern Thailand, very close to large caves and a freshwater spring one can kayak through at one’s leisure but there’s a special reason I picked that image.

That pool of fresh water is special. It is special because it’s a bit like our consciousness. If you try hard you might be able to see very small waves or ripples on the right side of the top of the water. They’re very slight. They might not really even be there, I’m not sure. The surface of the water is like the surface of your consciousness. The part that you are aware of. When it ripples – when it is interacting with the world around you it’s obvious and you’ll have ripples. The surface ripples are what you are usually aware of. When you think, listen, speak, shout, engage in something physical or stressful the waves are created.

With meditation that all stops. Your mind can be totally still, unmoving. It’s very possible. It’s happened to many others that have meditated. When the surface of the mind calms and becomes still we start to see and feel what is underneath. We wouldn’t know there is anything much underneath our consciousness except what we can see from the surface.

This pool is just like that. You can see into the water maybe a foot or at the most a meter deep. If you stumbled on this pool while walking through the woods you might guess it was about 2 meters (6+ feet) deep. I guessed that when I first saw it, and actually for the first few times I saw it.

Another way your consciousness is similar to this pool is because there is more to it than you might imagine. If you are studying your own consciousness without meditation you can see that you have a waking state, a sleeping state, and maybe daydream states and dreaming states while you sleep. That’s about all we know about ourselves upon first inspection.

This pool, like your mind has another dimension to it that you don’t realize. Would you believe me if I told you a 10-story building would go underwater if we dropped it into this pool?

What about a 50 story building?

Yes, it’s true… this pool is deeper than 500 feet. It’s actually 200+ meters deep! That’s over 600 feet deep. There is little to give the secret away until someone explores it by diving down deep and seeing how far it goes.

Your consciousness is just like this. It’s deep. Really deep. It might make this hole in the ground with water seem like a pothole it’s so deep and filled with things to discover.

Meditation is a process of discovery. It’s like you’re exploring something that has never been seen before. In truth, it hasn’t. It’s you. It’s all that is under your consciousness. Some people believe that under our surface consciousness is a universal-consciousness. I can’t agree or disagree with that, but it’s an interesting way to look at things. People that meditate in a simple way by focusing on the breath until the mind stops and then just experiencing a non-moving mind tend to have similar experiences but they are never the same, they are unique to the person.

Even so, they’re similar enough that when we share them with each other – we can usually identify similar feelings and say we’ve experienced that too. I’ve never met anyone that shared all of the experiences I’ve had and nor have I met two people that explained Jhana levels or other experiences in the exact same way. We all interpret the experience differently at least.

I guess I feel a need to prepare you a little bit for what you’ll experience if you happen to be a ‘natural’ and quickly progress through quieting the mind and having it stop. Once it stops the most amazing things happen. I’ll not describe them much in these pages but I’ll share a few things as I can’t usually keep the cat in the bag for long.

 

Day 1:   Sit. Observe.

 

Let go of ANY expectations about what will happen as you meditate.

I'll repeat that... don't think that you will have some experience of heaven... nirvana. Don't think that you will have an empty mind. Don't think that you will stop thought today. Don't think anything. If you are attached in any way to the idea that you are going to "get" something from sitting today, let it go. The reason for this is that the focus during every time you sit and meditate is just doing it.  That’s it. If you’re sitting, you’re doing it and that is the goal for the day, nothing else.

If you are concerned about getting something every time or ANY time you meditate you'll be disappointed. If you're disappointed you'll not continue.

Find a place to meditate for this course. Try to sit in same place for this course. Find a place that is quiet. A place where you cannot hear a TV or music or dogs barking or people talking or cars driving by is best. This might be very difficult for you. You may need to go somewhere to find a place to meditate. You may need to find a meditation group listed in your local paper. Finding a quiet place is at first very important because many distractions can prove too much to handle and you may stop meditation as soon as you start.

You'll need to find a place that is at a pleasant temperature - not too hot - not too cold. Air blowing directly on you is not conducive to meditation.

Find a place free of or relatively free of insects that will be flying around you, landing on you, biting you, etc.

At first these things can greatly distract you. Later they may not matter at all.

Before I meditate I usually drink some unsweetened tea or coffee to ensure that my mouth won't be salivating too much as I sit and meditate. To me it is disturbing to swallow endlessly as I meditate. The bitter tea or coffee always does the trick for me. It's not necessary and strict Buddhists don't drink anything with caffeine, but I’m not "Buddhist" and anything is permissible. Do it if you like.

I also used to burn sandalwood incense sticks in front of me on the floor. I'm not sure why except that I was able to smell it and more easily focus on my breath. I also found that watching the smoke come off it was relaxing. Sometimes if my mind would not quiet and the ‘circus of thought’ was in full swing I'd open my eyes and watch the smoke curl and it served as a good focal point to relax me on occasion. Up to you...

Once you've found a quiet place that you can sit undisturbed for up to an hour you'll need to find a comfortable place to sit. Now, you'll be sitting for 5 minutes, or 50 minutes later (maybe, again, up to you) so you'll need to find a posture that works for you.

The easiest for me was to sit cross-legged with my right foot on top of the crease created by my left calf and thigh. In Thai or Indian writings this is almost a half-lotus position. (See picture). If your back is straight you'll probably have less pain and be able to sit for a longer period.

There is no reason to sit any longer than an hour. For myself the longest I ever sat was 2 hours. I usually sat 30-40 minutes.

So, your back should be straight. Put your hands in your lap. Your fingers will naturally curl inward if you are relaxed so just let them do that.

You are trying to find a comfortable posture in which you can remain alert, not get sleepy, and not fall over when you are relaxed... and yet you should be as relaxed as possible.

You will not find a painless position at first, though you can try if you wish. You can sit on a pillow or meditation cushion. I've tried soft pillows and they seem too soft - they tend to throw off my balance and once I really relax I tend to be leaning or compensating for them by tensing up certain muscle groups. You can lean back against a wall, a couch, a bed, anything to help support your back if you have back pain.

If you are limber you might want to try the full lotus or the half-lotus positions as they are very stable and some people can meditate for hours and hours without too much discomfort.

So, practice finding a posture and sitting with your eyes closed.

There will be many things going on in your mind... in your body. Your body will be trying to adjust to the position that it is in. You may feel pain. You may feel hot. You may feel cold.

Your breathing may be fast. Or it may be slow.

Your mind may be filled with thoughts. So many thoughts that you can't possibly focus on any one thought in particular. You may feel an emotion. You may have questions forming. Just watch the "circus" inside your head and body.

This is the first step. Watch all the turmoil your body and mind is experiencing even as you relax sitting in one spot with your eyes closed. Why is there turmoil when you are doing nothing really, just sitting...?

Meditation is watching this mind circus... as you watch it you will notice many things. You will look at feelings. Physical sensations. Fear. Love. Thoughts. You will understand more about memories and what part they play in your thoughts. You may be watching your thoughts, hearing them for the first time and in a different way.

Do you hear them or see them or both?  Do you feel them?

The first part of this meditation course is focusing on just watching everything going on. Watch! Don't take part... just watch and focus on the various things. See how your "attention" to something can isolate it from everything else going on. Also see how things link together. One thought provides a springboard for a chain of linked thoughts that might end up going completely away from the original thought.

It is this attention (watching) that you'll later use to focus on breathing as you watch it come into and exit the body. So for the first day - sit as long as you feel like - maybe 20 minutes and watch. Do nothing more. You can change position if your legs are hurting, your foot is hurting, your back is hurting... but before you change position - watch the discomfort - the pain for a just a little while.

What is pain? What is discomfort? What are it's qualities?

Think of yourself as a scientist or a student. You are a student of your consciousness. Of your body and mind. You are going to see what makes YOU tick. You’re going to learn a LOT about yourself in 22 days. Keeping a short journal might be something you’ll enjoy looking back on in a few weeks or months. I have journal entries I wrote 10 years ago that still have the power to put me back in that place as if it’s happening now.

So, do that if you feel inclined – keep a short journal after each meditation session about what you experienced.

Ok, that's Day 1 of your Meditation Course...

come back tomorrow

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namaste...
:)

 

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Some of the "Good Luck Amulets" and other Buddha - Buddhist amulets and accessories for sale
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Day 2:  Observe Physical Sensations

 

Don't worry if day 2 does is not the day after day 1. No matter... Sometimes you'll feel like it and sometimes you won't. But, assuming you feel like it today...

Get yourself a cup of unsweetened tea or coffee if you drink it - or something else bitter. Swish it around in your mouth. I used to suck on a tea bag because I could usually find a used on in the sink… In a minute I was ready to go! Haha – I know it seems silly, but whatever works for you – use it.

Find the same room and spot that you were in for day 1. Sit down and find that comfortable position... It's OK to move around for the first few minutes until it feels comfortable enough. The first few minutes - maybe 2 or maybe 20 - depending on you - is for calming the physical and emotional body... It really is easier for you to sit for a longer period of time if you keep a straight spine and neck. Though a straight spine doesn’t mean vertically straight and perfect. You might lean forward a little – I always do. No matter, find a position you can hold for 20-30 minutes.

Close your eyes and focus on the physical sensations your body is producing. Look at the pain that you feel. Is it in your foot? Adjust it. Is it in your back? Watch the pain for a second and notice what pain is… pain is a firing of some neurons in your brain telling you that some part of the body is uncomfortable. If you watch the brain do this – focus on the pain – the uncomfortable feeling then what happens? Anything? Does the pain lessen or grow worse? Stay same? Over time notice this… does it change from time to time or from session to session? We think of pain as a constant thing… is it?

I won’t tell you what happens to me because your experience may be different and I don’t want you to think that your experience is in any way inferior to mine… (nor superior! Ha-ha).

So just sit and watch the body… If you were ‘ready’ to sit then the body is more cooperative… the circus might be toned down a bit… but if you weren’t ready to sit the circus can be in full-swing. If you notice before you sit that you are frazzled and cannot relax at all – maybe meditation at that time isn’t the best time. Just go lay down and relax. The un-ready mind will throw countless thoughts out there – and the body will manifest various things – that will inhibit your meditation session. If you constantly sit when you’re not ready you may stop meditation because you don’t progress… Everyone needs to see some progress to continue – or what’s the point?

During your sitting and watching the body you may notice various things… pain, hot, cold, anxiety, muscles stretching, your nose whistling, excess saliva and swallowing, earache, headache, stomach ache, restroom urges, fast breathing, irregular breathing, your pulse moving your body, you may hear your heartbeat… many, many things can be observed…

As you first sit down – each time – notice the physical sensations your body produces… if you focus on them what happens? The first part of sitting for me is always to 1.) Get comfortable 2.) Focus on relaxing and listening to body and mind and then when I’m sufficiently relaxed I can go forward…

So, that’s it – for second day of this Meditation Course – just focus on the various physical sensations that are produced and notice what happens to them when they are focused on. In what ways do they change?

:)

 

Day 3:  Observing the Breath

 

Don't worry if day 3 is not the day after day 2. No matter…

Last time you focused on the physical sensations present as you sat. On this day 3 try focusing completely on the breath.

There are a couple physical things going on in your body all the time – one is the breath. It’s a great subject to focus on and the basis of this meditation course.

When you watch the breath there are many things to notice…

The pace of breathing… the consistency of the pace of breathing – does it always stay same as you sit?

The smoothness of the breath – or the irregularity of it…

The depth or shallowness of breath… and, does it change over time or is each breath a carbon copy of the last?

Where do you feel the breath? Your nose? Your throat? Your mouth? Your lungs?
Your stomach? Do you notice your diaphragm muscle beneath your ribs contracting and relaxing to enable you to breath?

Usually people keep their mouths closed and breath through the nose – but if you have a cold or a nasal condition that prohibits you from doing so then breathing through the mouth is fine… however, your mouth may become very dry with sitting a long time.

So watch your breath… at what point does it enter and exit the body? What physical sensation does it produce? Where exactly is that sensation? Some of us feel it at the tip of the nose… some further up the nose… where do you feel it?

:)

 

 

Day 4:  Observe the Breath at Tip of Nostrils

 

Last time you focused on all the sensations present with the breath. Today you will do the same, but add something more… The breath is the focus of this meditation course. Really, only two things are needed for great changes to take place inside the individual… a focus on the breath and mindfulness during the day when not meditating.

Start your usual sitting session with getting comfortable in your sitting posture and watch all the things going on with your body and mind… Try to relax and calm the mind down…

Notice the physical sensations going on…

Notice the breath.

Watch the breath.

Notice where the breath enters and leaves the body at the nose.

Try to narrow down your focus to just a small place in the nose where the breath can be felt entering and leaving the body.

It is this tiny area of focus that is important to meditation.

Once you find the spot to focus on, do so.

Your mind will likely still be filled with other thoughts and you may occasionally feel your body crying out for attention – a cramp, some back pain, some foot pain, muscle pain…

And that is what is going to happen… it is supposed to happen… so you’ll know that, at this point, you’re on the right track. You’re doing what you need to be doing…

Focus on the breath at that small point in your nose. Watch that spot for the entire in-breath and the entire out-breath.

Can you do it for one complete breath? Try… Does something else – some bit of mind-candy interrupt and stop you from focusing? Yes, of course!

As you notice that the attention of your mind has switched from the breath to whatever other thought interrupted, re-focus on the breath at that small spot in your nose.

That is all… That is the major effort of meditation in this style. Focus on the breath – your entire attention is on the breath for the in- and out- breaths. When a thought interrupts, you simply note that your attention has changed, and change it back to re-focus on the breathing. Over and over and over and over you must do this.

Do not get angry at yourself… it’s not a competition to do it correctly… It is quite impossible for anyone to focus on the breath with complete attention soon after starting meditation. Even after meditating a year or so – almost daily, you will probably find that it takes some time each time you sit before your mind is quiet enough to focus only on the breath. Your mind will STILL interrupt with thoughts about pain, some emotional issue, some memory from years ago… but, the point is – just keep re-focusing on the breath.

Eventually you will reach a point where you can watch in full attention one entire breath without interruption.

When you do that, and it may take a week, it may take a month… it may take 3 months. But, when you do that – one major stumbling block has been lifted…

The next “goal” would be to be able to count 10 full breaths in complete attention – in succession one after another. This goal may take a year or 3 years, or if you are lucky it may take a month. Everyone is different…

:)

 

Day 5:  Observe Breath. Observe the Present Moment.

 

Last time you focused on the breath. Today you will do the same. In fact, for the rest of the course you will do the same… The breath is the focus of this meditation course. Really, only two things are needed for great changes to take place inside the consciousness… a focus on the breath and mindfulness during the day when not meditating.

Start your usual sitting session with getting comfortable in your sitting posture and watch all the things going on with your body and mind… Try to relax and calm the mind down… this is usually done by ‘letting go’. Let go of anything bothering you. It will be there later, just tell it ‘never-mind’ right now and let it go.

Notice the physical sensations going on… pain? Discomfort? Emotions? Tired?

Again, find the place at the tip of your nose or the spot where your upper lip meets your nose. The same spot you focused on yesterday, or if you couldn’t find it – find it now and focus on it.

It is this tiny area of focus that is important to meditation.

Once you find the spot to focus on, do so.

Your mind will likely still be filled with other thoughts and you may occasionally feel your body crying out for attention – a cramp, some back pain, some foot pain, muscle pain…

Focus on the breath at that small point in your nose. Watch that spot with your mind, with your attention. Observe it for the entire in-breath and the entire out-breath.
See if you can focus – entirely focus ONLY on that one in- and out- breath.

When you find your attention has shifted from the breath to whatever other thought interrupted, re-focus on the breath at that small spot in your nose.

For this entire session focus on the breath. When your mind wanders, re-focus on the breath. That is the major effort of this meditation. And you will need to do it many, many times to be able to concentrate for one full breath. It seems like it would be easy to focus your mind entirely on something so simple. It is not. It is deceptively difficult!

When you are finished with your sitting session there is something else to do today, and everyday from this point forward. It has to do with “mindfulness”. To be mindful means to be aware. Specifically, being aware of the present. Not the past or future, the present.

In the present is where we are living. Every moment that goes by we are only living in the present. We can only experience what is real in the present. The past is filled with memories which are selective, incomplete, sometimes even false… The future is filled with unknowns even more than the past. The present is all we have in which to “know” reality. In which to watch our consciousness and see what it’s doing in the present.

When you find yourself living in the present you are empowered to act in a way that can instantly change everything.

Catching yourself aware of the present moment is sometimes tricky. When you play a game or when you play a sport… do something active… garden or rake or shovel or climb a ladder. During these times you are IN the present. Your mind consciousness, your mind is focused just on that experience.

When you are playing a game – you ARE the game. There is little intruding thought about the past or future… But, when we are quiet the mind sifts through it’s mind candy and tosses some out for our thought processes to chew on a bit. If we don’t have external mind candy like the TV, radio, computer, conversation, book, magazine, Ipods, cell phone, etc… then the mind will regurgitate some of it’s own for you to analyze and replay in your mind.  The mind is a candy producer. It produces thoughts about the future and past constantly that are entirely unnecessary, but that fill each and every one of our minds with trash to keep our minds active.  Though our bodies don’t like to be active all the time we’re awake, our minds do!

The mind isn’t used to being quiet so what it does is relive the past or play out the future in scenarios that may or may not happen. The mind is a recorder of the past and an odds-maker and analyst of the future.

But, neither of those is where meditation is. Meditation and mindfulness is NOW. It is exactly this moment.

Try to be aware of the present moment as you go through your day. Catch yourself realizing that THIS is the present moment.

See how many times you can do this. At first it will be hard, you’ll forget many times – whole days or a week will pass!

Think up creative ways to remind yourself to notice the present moment.

:)

 

Day 6:  Observe Present Moment while Meditating

 

How did you do with the mindfulness exercise?

I really believe that mindfulness is half the equation when meditating. It may come about naturally as a result of meditation, even if you don’t purposefully practice it - not sure. I used the two together so I cannot say.

But, try them together. When you are sitting and watching the breath you are in the present moment. You are being mindful of the present. When you stop meditating and are going through your day, your work… try to notice the present moment at times. Catch yourself thinking about the future, the past. Bring yourself into the present.

I set my watch alarm to sound every 15 minutes. When it went off I was mindful. So, I was mindful 4 times per hour at minimum. After that I noticed that I was becoming mindful much more throughout the day.

This meditation course separated by days is only for the sake of presenting a clear way of going about things. Feel free to take what you’ve learned in the past 6 days of lessons and apply it whenever you like. There is no need to follow each day exactly as prescribed here. Some days you can focus on physical sensations. Some days concentration on the breath might come easily… do it then! Remember that the point is that you eventually are able to focus on the breathing – giving your entire attention to the breathing over 10-30 minutes or more.

You should begin to lengthen your periods of mindfulness during the day also. Each time you become mindful of the present – see how long you can extend this state. You can be mindful of repetitive tasks easily… washing dishes, eating, gardening, or some other activity.

The goals then are to lengthen your period of mindfulness of breath while meditating and lengthening your periods of mindfulness of the present moment during the day when not meditating.

If you can do so – the level of peace… of equanimity so to speak, that comes to you is so beyond words… it’s as if heaven has reached down and showered your consciousness with magic dust for that time…

:)

 

 

Day 7:  Observe the Body. Observe Pain.

 

Sit and watch the thought-circus. If there is pain - watch the pain. Don't change position - just watch the pain. What is pain? If you focus on it does it change? Does it worsen? Does it get less? Does the sensation rise and fall? How does pain make you pay attention to it? By rising and falling? If you must change position - change, don't give too much thought to it, just change. Don't call it a good change or a bad change.

Throughout your meditation you can eliminate judging everything you do as OK or not OK. Everything is OK. More rightly, everything is neither OK nor not OK. There is no right or wrong way.  Everything is as it is.

Buddhadassa Bhikku, a meditation master from Thailand – and rather rebellious Buddhist monk really enjoyed this saying. “It is as it is…” or, “Just as it is.” Here is a concrete mold by an artist at Wat Suan Mokkh in Chaiya, Thailand depicting the saying in Thai language.

Continue to watch pain until it is gone. If it doesn't go - no matter, it will go sufficiently enough that you can continue this course. It may take a month! I never sat too long if the pain was too intense. What’s the point? Meditation shouldn’t be suffering. Take some aspirin before you meditate… I did on occasion and it was a welcome relief and didn’t interfere with the meditation at all (that I know of)…

If after 1 month you are still having debilitating pain then change your meditation position to something more relaxing - lie on your back or on your side on a hard surface or hard cushion. Don’t lay on your bed because likely you've conditioned your mind to assume it's OK to sleep if you're in your bed. You're not sleeping - you're meditating.

So, just watch the circus go on until your body starts to calm down. You can try focusing on the breath at different times when you first sit down but when you first start meditating – for the first few weeks and even months it will take some time for the body and mind to calm down. You’ll see though that the mind comes to a period where it’s slowing down the rate of mind-candy it’s churning out. Try then to focus on the breath. It will be easier. It’s a losing battle before that point and no point doing it. Up to you though… maybe someone told you that attempting to focus on your breathing even at that point is “the way” to do it… no matter, and up to you…

As the mind quiets and you can focus on the breath a bit do you notice that you have a sense of feeling in your arms, legs, chest, hands, neck? Do you actually feel the parts of your body as you’re sitting there absolutely still? Look at that occasionally and ask yourself. Maybe at some point you won’t feel much. Maybe you won’t feel anything. Maybe at some point your entire body will be numb to any awareness of feeling… Or, maybe you always feel your body?

How long were you able to sustain attention on your breathing today?

Don’t be discouraged… I knew a Buddhist monk here in Thailand that had come from England. He was ordained as a monk and for 3 years he followed the strict regimen of a Buddhist monk at a forest temple in Northeastern Thailand. He confided to me that he was able to focus on breathing for “no longer than 3 minutes”.

I personally think that the monks have a harder time than the rest of us might. I think that when we add religion to the equation we might have a much harder time progressing through meditation. Why, you might ask?

Buddhists have hundreds of rules and beliefs about meditation and what it means. HUNDREDS. Rules about what to focus on. How long to focus on it. When you’ve experienced this, then do this to reach this level… They have a hierarchy of steps and levels to attain. There is an order that must be followed. There are strict positions to be followed. There are scripts to be studied, abbots to be consulted… all about the meditation practice.

The Buddha that originally sat and attained enlightenment didn’t come with all this fluff. There was very little of the rules in place and he was free to experiment on his own to find what worked. He was a student of his own mind. You should be too. He simply sat and focused on the breath.

I think we can do the same. In fact, I’m sure we can…

:)

 

Day 8:  Three Levels of Knowledge

 

Sit and watch the show… the thought parade, thought circus. If there is pain watch it. When the pain eases focus on relaxing. Feel each part of your body and ensure that it is relaxed. Are you comfortable? Can you sit like this for another 30 minutes if you chose to?

When the mind has calmed and the body is comfortable, then watch the breath. Your eyes are closed and you are focusing on - paying attention to the breath - the air of the breath entering your nostrils and exiting your nostrils. Can you focus right there on that small space and watch the sensations as the breath comes in and the breath goes out?

Each day or each week it might get a little easier to focus on the breath... you may find that you can focus your full attention the breath for 1 or 2 breaths as time goes on. The mind is quite serious about taking you away from attention though and progress may be slow going. The mind has been creating things for you to think about since you were born.

I wonder if the natural state of the brain is to be quiet, to be focused... some will tell you that it IS. There are many authorities about these things - and none is more credible than any other.

Listen, but don't believe...

I like to think that there are a few levels of knowledge... I like to live my life by the 1st level. Though as always, "up to you", I'll throw it out there...

The 3rd level of knowledge is that which we hear from 3rd parties... from books, magazines, radio, TV, computer, and other people we don't know directly or that haven't earned our trust over years of association...

The 2nd level of knowledge is that which is told to you by people you love and trust. Some people believe this knowledge, they base their lives on it... Sometimes people trust this level better than the 1st level.

The 1st level of knowledge is knowledge that is experienced directly and first-hand by the individual. Caution must be taken to thoroughly examine each situation to ensure that real knowledge has taken place... and for this, wisdom is essential. One event does not mean that the truth has been found. Repeat "testing" or experiencing is required...

Meditation falls within the 1st level of knowledge... however, with all that people who are meditating are reading and finding on the internet and hearing from others... the knowledge gets tainted by knowledge levels 2 and 3. A person may believe that he/she is getting level 1 knowledge when in fact it's been tainted heavily by reading about and listening to others about meditation and what should happen, what will happen, what must happen... If the person is one that believes level 2 and 3 knowledge routinely, then he/she is likely to have experiences during meditation that lean toward these other areas of knowledge...

If a person does not have pre-conceived ideas about what is going to happen or the order in which steps must happen or the goals or ideals that go along with meditation then one is going to have a more natural experience of it.

I believe that - and yet I could be completely wrong... I do know that when I came to meditation I was skeptical about everything I had read and heard through level 2 and 3 channels... I didn't give much or any credence to it at all... in about 10 months I was having experiences that were similar and yet different from some people that either claimed to have been enlightened or individuals that were said to be enlightened by many other people...

I am not enlightened, or if I am I am not aware of having reached the point... it would depend on how enlightenment is defined I think... I don't have a definition of it I’m comfortable with, nor am I sure it exists...

I reached a point where my entire life changed... my ego dissolved... and I had surreal experiences that cannot be put into any kind of words that could describe them... and that was 10 years ago... but the person I was back then didn't allow it to go further... I stopped meditation and piled on the ego-building activities out of fear that a "runaway train" had been started...

Well, I was able to build up the ego to a point... and yet there is a part of the mind or self or consciousness that has been changed or added or opened up or whatever words or
phrase one chooses to use to describe it... maybe I'll attempt to explain somewhat more later in this course,

or maybe not...

:)

 

Day 9:  Focusing Entirely on 1 Breath. Then 2, 3, 10

 

Sit. Watch the thought parade go on until it starts to die down.

If you haven't sat as long as 20 minutes yet, try it soon. There are different things that happen the more that you sit... the longer you sit - up to a certain point. Like I said, I rarely went beyond 1 hour of continuous sitting.

I don't think there's a point really to sitting for 4 hours unless you’re in the later stages when the process is going so strongly that it’s not really a conscious decision to sit for so long, it just happens… it’s almost decided FOR you… the body just continues to sit because there’s no desire or want for anything different… no reason to get up…

For some reason I never went much beyond an hour because it just wasn’t planned to go for longer than that. I didn’t see the point in 2+ hours of sitting. Many meditators do it, and monks can sit for hours on end. To me there’s no point, but, up to you. If you have the time, sit all day if you like.

I can see where at that point you might sit there for 2 days and it would be just because you did... not any conscious decision to do it as a goal or something.

Focus on pain if pain is there. Focus on relaxation once pain gone. Watch the breath come in and out. Feel it... don't visually watch it. Just focus on the quality of the breath. All the factors that involve breathing... and then focus only on the point where the breath enters and exits your nostrils. If you are a mouth-breather or if you are sick - I think it's fine too - just focus wherever you feel the breath enter and exit the body.

If you can focus for 1 breath try 2. If 2, 3. If you can get to 5 or 8 that is a nice place to be. You should be quite relaxed and free of most thoughts and interruptions at that point...

The entire "goal" if you want one, is to focus on breath and count 1-10 breaths in TOTAL awareness without having a thought distract you or break your attention and concentration on the breath.

If you reach the point of being able to focus on 10 consecutive breaths you will then be able to go much further and concentrate on 100 breaths with some ease. The first 10 are pretty elusive... :) If you can get to 1 you are doing very well because even 1 is incredibly hard to attend to for the few seconds of no thought required.

After that point you may be experiencing what some call “Jhana”… there are strange happenings when in these states. I hesitate to tell you what happened to me because you may then project the experiences as goals for yourself or feel incomplete if you don’t experience what I did… I did not experience many physical things like some other meditators, especially meditators that followed the “Kundalini” line of thought… I didn’t read much about Kundalini and wasn’t expecting to get anything Kundalini-like, but I did have some similar experiences.

The strange happenings the may or may not occur during meditation that I think are ‘normal’ and not cause for alarm, include but are not limited to:

Sensations
- Slow breathing.
- Very, very slow, shallow breathing for extended times.
- Stopped breathing… the breath may become so shallow that you believe it has stopped.
- Numbness in your hands… not feeling your hands… but, unlike pins and needles of “falling asleep”. If you wiggle your fingers or move your hand in this state you can feel things – though the feelings are a bit muted… not quite as sharp.
- Numbness like above in arms, legs, feet, chest, body.
- A feeling as if there was no body to confine consciousness.
- A feeling of fatness or expanded body, head, mind, consciousness.
- A feeling of greatly expanded consciousness whereby one might feel consciousness fill the room or expand to room size or world-size, universe-size dimensions…
- A feeling of being at “one” with everything. To not see any distinction between anything and your own consciousness…
- A feeling as if your face, skull, forehead, brain, everything responsible for concentration is focused so intensely that the shape of the parts mentioned is forming a point… like an arrow or like your entire face is transforming into a pointy stalactite type shape moving forward into this shape… it was entirely shocking to me the first time it happened, but beyond that point I had the most incredible uninterruptible concentration on whatever subject I chose.
- During waking hours – at anytime, not just while meditating, one may begin to feel meditative like states. Walking around, upon waking, while eating… one may become aware of a blissful, alive, mindful state that is accompanied by a “light” feeling – the body is light or absent… and the mind is just experiencing without naming in human terms using the stored memory about what it is experiencing.


Mental Activity / Changes
- A belief begins to surface that things are not opposite… there are no dichotomies… there is no right and wrong… there isn’t any judging… things just “are” as they are… and it’s OK… it’s “correct” or the way that it “should be”…
- A gradual loss of importance or meaning associated with physical ‘things’ or material things.
- A gradual loss of importance or human importance to other things that were important prior to meditating… (work, friends, talking, general conversation, love, sex, responsibilities…
- Things that were humanly seen as “beautiful” or ugly don’t seem as either… they just are…
- There may be a feeling of intense emotion – as if love was pouring forth from your very soul… an extremely blissful, ecstatic state in which you experience such pure joy that it is the most incredible state you’ve ever imagined… and more so than you could have ever imagined…
- There may be periods of no conversation for days at a time… weeks… months…
- Conversation is ‘known’ to be not-needed. You might feel there’s no point in speaking.
- You may meet someone and ‘know’ or feel that you know about them… their personality, their true drives or motivations… this may happen within seconds of knowing them…
- While meditating, or later, while going through your day, you may hear a noise – a dog bark, a plane pass overhead… and you may ‘know’ or feel that the sound was / is you… because you are not separate from anything… it was you that you heard… and the dog is you that is looking at you and you are it… and etc… everything is inter-linked… interlaced… interwoven… and it’s all as it ‘should be’ for whatever reason…

Hmm, that’s all I can come up with as I sit here thinking about it. There are many, many experiences that occur that just aren’t remembered well… the above happened many times and so were easy to remember though not easy to explain.

So, you may have some of the above or you may not… your experience may be entirely different, more animated or more subdued… no matter… don’t get caught in the experience… just let it happen and when nothing is going on – focus on the breathing with all your attention.

 

Day 10:  30 Minutes, and Finding a Rhythm or Schedule

 

Sit and watch the circus. When the circus calms down to just a few acts then focus on the breath.

Maybe by now your body will be able to get comfortable sitting as you meditate... maybe not. It took me a month before my back could take it. There was nearly always pain of some sort though. Eventually on some days I started to lean my back against something -a wall, a pillar, a couch, or a bed and that helped quite a bit. Jhana doesn't care what you're doing at the time it comes... it is like heaven touching you and you could be walking down the street or standing on your head I think... make yourself comfortable.

See if you can go for 30 minutes sitting this time. Spend the first part of every meditation session watching your body - the physical sensations. The emotional... the thought parade... Some days you may decide that there are other things to be doing - and not meditating. No matter. Go do them. Only meditate when you are ready to meditate. Don't make meditation a chore... something that you beat yourself up over if you miss it. It's a gift, it's not a chore...

Many times I sat and if I reached 20 minutes or so of not feeling calmed down, relaxed, and able to focus a bit then I simply got up and went about doing other things. I didn't berate myself for the inability to complete it that day - I didn't care - I just went about other things. If you're ready that day, you're ready. If not, no worries... maybe you'll feel like it in 2 hours. Maybe you won't feel like it for 2 days. Really, no matter. As far as I can see there is no regression if you don’t meditate on a regular schedule…

There’s no good reason to insist that you do it daily… At first – the first couple weeks I did it nearly everyday. Though it was never a “must do”. There were times I went 3 days without meditating… a week…

As time goes on you may want to start meditating outside of sitting down in your meditation spot. You might be on a plane, a bus, a train, in a place where you have a free 10 minutes or 5 minutes and you decide to focus on your breath… yes… either that or mindfulness would be good practice… I think that the more you meditate and the more you practice mindfulness, no matter the external circumstances, the more quickly you will progress…

Towards what though is the question that I haven’t satisfactorily answered for myself…

I guess it needs said here that if you are just looking for a simple way to relax and free the mind of distractions then perhaps you should only be doing the meditation without the mindfulness during the day. The mindfulness is a powerful part of this and a part that may lead to Jhana states… and that is something for you to decide whether you want to pursue or not… Read something about Jhana. Read something about enlightenment. Read something about the state of the ego in a person that has entered Jhana many times… be sure that you want to become similar because it is a very serious undertaking…

For the individual it is a remarkable thing. For the individual with responsibilities of family or other things… it can be devastating. The pull of the process when Jhana type experiences start occurring is nothing to be played with really… it is intent on changing the individual radically… and once it starts it sort of has it’s way with you whether you want it or not… it did with me…

I was able to slow it down a bit – and yet it is always there, pulling me to finish what was started… and I will finish someday… perhaps someday soon… I haven’t meditated regularly for over 9 years now since I spent time in Jhana and yet the part of my psyche that it changed is still there and regularly makes it’s self known with blissful tastes of heaven-like tranquility and being in the moment (the present)… I never know when, it will just come…

So, be sure you want to go the distance if you start… as it may progress with you faster than it did with me….

:)

 

Day 11:  Intentionally Slow Breathing to Enter Jhana

 

Sit and watch the thoughts parade through your mind like ropes that branch off and connect to new ropes. For me, thoughts are like sound clips that are visual. I watch them as they branch off and go different directions. With my attention I can follow them and see what new thought pops up or I can re-focus on something until my mind gives up running around.

Watch physical and emotional sensations that arise. Watch thoughts as they come up. When settled a bit watch the breath.

If you find that you are very relaxed and able to watch a few breaths in succession you may want to try something that I noticed happened to me after I reached this point. I noticed that my breathing noticeably changed and became very shallow and slow during some parts of the meditation. So slow that I could hardly believe I was getting enough air to continue sitting there conscious. I actually felt fear about it - some anxiety that crept up as I realized that my air intake was now 1/3-1/6th what it was before...

Anyway, you can try to do it yourself through a conscious effort and reach the same state... it may not happen every time you want it to - but I was able to do it sometimes and it enhanced my ability to focus on breathing and also facilitated the start of the Jhana state.

What I did was this… when I had sat at least 15-20 minutes and the mind was pretty calm with only a random thought coming up to break my concentration on the breath I just slowed my breath intake down to be very shallow and slow. I watched to see if the sensation of being out of breath – or needing more oxygen came up. Sometimes it did and I changed back to regular breathing. No problem. Don’t get upset. Don’t put any expectations on your experience. Just try. If it works and you’re able to continue with the shallow breath and slow breathing rate – then do so.

I sometimes would enter a different state shortly after doing this… sometimes not – sometimes I hovered between entering the state and not. When this happened and I had even a thought that I’d like to go into the state – the state disappeared… sometimes it did not return for that session… other times the chance to enter the state would come again – but if I ‘wanted’ the state – it would go away… that is consistent with just about every experience that I had during meditation. If I wanted it – on whatever level…. It would go away. If I was experiencing a different state- and was in the middle of it – the midst of it – and I had the slightest idea that I wanted to KEEP the state or remain in it – it would usually go away.

On the other hand… if you are ambivalent about the experiences – as I usually was, the states and experiences seem to come one after the other… at the point when I decided to stop meditation because the ‘process’ was going much too fast for me the process came even stronger… yes, when I didn’t want it at all – it got much stronger… I started to have long periods of this feeling of “one-ness” with all that exists… just walking around I’d be in the present moment for hours at a time and in another world so to speak… yet fully able to respond to people and hear what others are saying… but there was this peace… this calm inside that was unlike anything I’ve ever read about or since heard about… but of course words are not the thing (J. Krishnamurti)… There was a complete absence of the old person that used to exist… there was an immense understanding of all that is… on a level that is impossible to describe…

OK, back to slowing down the breathing –

Now, please don't think that you should be able to experience anything like this by day 11. I think it took me a month before I noticed my breathing was slowing down naturally and another 2 months to decide to try to slow it down myself to see what happened. But, I don't know how fast you will progress... if you are progressing very quickly - perhaps you are a student of meditation of some other form in the past and now you are progressing quite rapidly with this simple course... I don't know - so I'll throw it out to you and if you can use it - use it - if not, it's not something that you should be expecting anytime soon. :)

So, watch the breath.

Find ways to make yourself mindful of the present moment if you decide you want to progress deeply into this…

:)

 

Day 12:  Don’t Scratch

 

Sit and watch the circus until it fades away...

Try sitting outside somewhere when you meditate. On a sidewalk… on the porch… in a tree house? I’ve gone to many temples here in Thailand to try to find a very quiet place to meditate and it’s been hard to find somewhere even in Thailand! Caves are the quietest places but there are snakes, spiders, centipedes, bats, and dogs that think they own the cave to deal with. Once you find a quiet place you’ll be glad you did! I used to sit in the guest bedroom and before I went to sleep it was quiet enough for an hour. That’s all you need – someplace quiet for an hour.

If you are itchy at any time try not scratching the itch. Yes, it’s torture of some sort. But, it is torture that will teach you something about the arising and cessation of sensation.

I would sometimes meditate in my garage when I lived in Florida. Yes it was hot. Yes it was filled with mosquitoes in the evening. Yes, there were spiders in my garage.

I would sit up off the ground on the pad of an old un-used Jacuzzi left there from the owners of the house before me. I would meditate there and hear a mosquito in my ear and not move away or swat at it. I would feel something crawling on me and sometimes not look to see what it was. I would feel the itch of the mosquito bite and sometimes feel the mosquito land. The mosquitoes are BIG in Florida. I cannot feel the small mosquitoes here in Thailand when they land, but in Florida – occasionally I felt them.

Watching pain until it just goes away is one thing – there are some pains you’d want to stop watching and want to start fixing after a minute or so. But, with itches they are great because there is no NEED to scratch them, to rub them. But, the feeling they produce in the mind is that something MUST be done immediately. Often times when I was concentrating ON the itch – I’d have little problem just watching it and not scratching it… but, if I went back to focusing on breath and forgot just for an instant that I was watching the itch –not touching it – sometimes I would unconsciously just scratch it! It’s amazing how the mind can just order the body to do something as a reaction and it takes place quickly and efficiently. I used to be quite surprised that I had just scratched something sometimes…

If you are sitting in a hot place… and the sweat is running down your back, stomach, leg, arm, face, neck, etc… it will tickle. It may tickle enough that you think you’ll go insane… just one drop of sweat has that power. Watch the feeling. It won’t kill you… and you’ll learn more about the arising and cessation of sensation…

:)

Day 13:  Breathing In, Breathing Out

 

Sit and watch the mind circus.

If you are still having quite a bit of trouble focusing on the breath and only the breath you might try this…

I tried it for a while and it was a little bit helpful, but I soon discarded it after my concentration started coming more easily because it is a bit of extra that I think takes away from attention to the tiny part of the nose that is feeling the sensations of the breath entering and leaving the nose…

This came from a book by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is/was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk over 80 years old. He has many books and they are good reading on mindfulness if you’d care to read some of them. I believe the name of the book I read was “Present Moment, Wonderful Moment” or something like that…

He had many exercises for helping one stay focused on the breath… he did the exercises during the day and during meditation.

It is simply to say this in your mind with each inhalation: Breathing in, I notice the breath.

And this with each exhalation: Breathing out, I relax.

Or something to this effect. Now this can help you focus and may help you to get past the hump of not being able to focus at all… but, I believe that thinking of a sentence each time you breath in and out takes the focus off the sensation of just the breath on your nose and also opens a doorway for other thoughts to come into your mind easily since you’re using words in your thoughts and the words are from memory – and you really want to quiet your memory.
I used short phrases like this for a couple weeks when I first started and they did help. But, I quickly discarded them when the mind calmed enough that I didn’t need them.

Try it and see if it helps you…
:)

Day 14:  No Rules.

 

Sit and watch the circus go on for a while… five minutes… 15 minutes, whatever it takes before it slows and allows you some quietness of mind… your mind will likely not be very quiet at this point if you are new to meditation and haven’t done this much. By ‘quiet’ I mean that you will have less thoughts bombarding you at any given moment… you might be able to focus on one complete breath with full mindfulness or full attention and focus or you may not.

There aren’t any benchmarks to go by… no standards that you should be living up to. No accomplishments. Just sit for a while when you feel like sitting and eventually, at some point, your mind will quiet enough that you can focus on your breathing for longer periods of time.

Again, if you can think of meditation as a reward for having gone through another busy and stress-filled day it will be so much better for you and easier for you to continue it.

Today as you sit and after the mind calms down… you’re able to be mindful of your breathing without too many distractions… try opening your eyes. Just look at whatever is directly in front of you and lower than your eyes so you’re not straining the muscles in your eyes to look. Pick a spot that is void of anything interesting like text or something that would provoke a lot of thought – a book, a soccer ball on the floor, a broom, etc. Pick a spot on the wall or on the floor – the rug, wood, whatever. And continue to focus on your breath.

Most that meditate suggest that you close your eyes as you so… but, there aren’t any hard rules. I found that I could still maintain concentration with my eyes open for long periods of time – but that sometimes I felt a need to blink or that my eyes were drying quickly. If you have air blowing on your face you may notice that your eyes dry out and you’re constantly blinking which may or may not distract you from focusing on the breath.

As you sit, you may see things… patterns or visions of things that the mind creates… the mind will take something very boring – like a rug, and make some mind-candy for you to keep the mind churning. You may see simple things or complicated things – just return to the focus on your breath and see if you can count some breaths in full attention.

For some reason I can do this rather easily. At this point I can be standing at the top of a mountain I visit often and looking out over the limestone karsts and I’ll snap into a period of time fully in the present. It’s really nice when that happens.

Ok, that’s day 14.

:)

 

Day 15:  Meditation Course

 

Sit and see what the mind presents to you.

What do your thoughts look like? Sound like?

Re-examine the nature of your thoughts. Watch them and listen to them and see what they are.

Are they real? Where do they come from? How long do they last? Can one thought continue indefinitely or do others interrupt? Do all thoughts grow from the one before or do some just pop up without a prior to spawn it?

Do thoughts compete for attention… are there more than one of them sometimes at the same time that are trying to get you to pay attention to them?

Are thoughts only visual? Only heard? Seen and heard? Seen sometimes and heard other times? Or, are they felt?

Do any thoughts make you feel something physically?

What happens when you notice you are giving some attention to a thought and you change your focus to be on breathing? Does the same thought come again? Does it change a little bit to make it more interesting or present a different angle so you’ll follow it again?

The mind is very, very, very crafty… The mind knows how to get you to think. That’s what it’s programmed to do – keep you busy with thoughts. If you’re able to notice that you are following a stray thought, and bring your attention back to the breath, the mind might change the thought just a little bit to make it more enticing and get you to follow it again – or, it might change the thought all together… it is quite amazing to watch the process.

Meditation is to stop that process… gradually slow it and then STOP it completely. By  training the attention to keep returning to your breathing you are becoming the master of your mind. You are going to be able to watch the thought process later and be much more in control of it. First you need to stop the thought process.

There is a state in which there is no thought. None. There is no thought, there is no you, there is no mind… the part of the mind that you used to think of as ‘you’ can stop and you will experience an absence of ego… of self. You can do this… I don’t believe it’s out of reach for you… it is not something out of reach for anyone that simply follows the process: Watch breath. Pay attention to breath – count them to see can you extend attention on the breath. Once you can get to 8-10 or 15 breaths in complete mindfulness then you can stop counting the breaths and even focusing on the breath because the mind is blank. If you notice thoughts coming again, re-start focusing on the breath until you again have a blank mind.

So, focusing on the breath is not the entire point of meditation. It’s a tool. Once the mind stops you can continue to focus on the breath and refine the focus that exists. Your focus might become so sharply defined that it is like your head is coming to a point in front of your face – your entire energy is focused on one very small point. It’s something to feel that I’ll tell you.  You may choose to always focus on the breath – up to you. Some Buddhist teachers claim that it’s necessary to stay in mindfulness of breath for 100-500 breaths at a time in order to go further. It is not as I’ve never done such a thing. Never more than 100 or so breaths. But, some believe so. Try and see what you think.

The experiences that happen after this point (the mind stopping) are sometimes heavenly… but always radically different from anything you’ve ever experienced in your thought-filled life. There is something beyond thought… something deeper than a 200 meter freshwater pool in southern Thailand.

Your consciousness.

Meditation and mindfulness during your non-meditative hours will reveal it to you…

:)

 

Day 16:  Emotions. Attachment.

 

What are emotions?

One thing that meditation will do over time is get you to notice that you are thinking thoughts all the time. When you are walking around conscious during the day your mind is presenting thought after thought to you… and emotions are rising and falling with some of those thoughts.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to be absolutely in control of all your emotions?

See if you can notice when you are angry sometimes. Anger is one of the easiest emotions to notice and become mindful of because hopefully it isn’t often, and it is a very strong emotion that is easy to watch.

What happens when you’re angry?

Usually there is an expectation that hasn’t been met… You didn’t get something that you wanted, needed, thought you were going to get, etc.

A child becomes angry when you take away some candy from her because she was expecting to be able to continue eating that candy and the expectation was no longer being met. Adults can become angry for any number of things… the computer that you’re using locks up and doesn’t allow you to type, use the mouse, or get to the start button to close it down. You become angry because the expectation that you had about being able to use the computer uninterrupted has just ended. Expectations are illusions. We think of them as fact… and yet they are full of falseness.

A couple things that Buddhism teaches that seem to go along well with meditation and the states that come with it is that we should not become “attached” to anything. We shouldn’t become attached to: ideas, friends, money, computers, gadgets, papers, reading, music, cds, watches, jewelry, or even the ones that we love… Now that isn’t saying that we don’t have good feelings for those that we love… but we should not become ATTACHED – which is different.

Attachment is about expectation… expectation that something will continue to give us pleasure for eternity. It’s easy to see that gadgets and other material items will not give us pleasure forever… they become scratched, lose their color, get lost, lose their value, get destroyed, etc.

Why attachment to people is not such a good thing is a bit harder to explain…

People do not consistently do what we want them to or expect them to do. We like people because we have expectations about their behavior and that it will continue to bring us pleasure or take away pain… But, people are full of changes. Look at how much one person’s life changes over the course of a lifetime… how many 80 year olds have had the same best friend for the past 70 years? First of all many have died… Second of all, they all change drastically over the course of a lifetime. The person you know now and love now – your girlfriend or boyfriend will change too. It’s inevitable. It’s life. Meditation helps you to see life as it really is…
Attachment to anything is not going to bring happiness… it’s temporary at best. Meditation helps you to lose attachment for things… in some cases the change is drastic and fast – as you notice the truth of those words, attachment to everything begins die away… you become disenchanted with everything that you were attached to in the past…

Your anger and other emotions that were dependent on things you had expectations about in the past will slowly die away also.

Your innate good nature does not go away though!

You may “become love” if that’s possible for you to imagine… you may develop such an equanimity as a result of meditation and disenchantment that you are full of joy and in a supreme state of peace that cannot be shaken.

There is a state where NOTHING has the power to cause you pain… pain which used to be caused by thought… attachment… it is a heavenly state that words cannot do justice and so I’ll stop with that…

It is available to you… and to you, and you and to you too…

:)