nilambu: why and how to meditate

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How and why meditate?

Why meditate?

At the Washington National Cathedral’s spirituality conference in February 2005, Sharon Salzberg noted that medical science has been studying the neurophysiologic benefits of meditation with MRIs and brain wave studies. As one of the foremost meditation teachers in the US, she fretted that they’d put her in one of those machines and find the wrong parts of her brain activated. She got a good laugh at that. With alpha, theta and beta wave increases, science documents what the ancients observed for centuries: People who meditate enjoy calm and focus as well as improved creativity and increased ability to vividly imagine.

Meditation frees the mind from turbulent desires, emotions and thoughts. The mental muscles that contort, strain, tense as they judge, rationalize and defend all relax. A time set apart to meditate also can bring unconscious thoughts into conscious awareness. Salzberg stresses that if you learn nothing else from a meditation practice, you learn that you can begin again. In meditation, you begin again all the time, and in doing so, you experience renewal that permeates your life. For me, that sense of renewal is the best reason to meditate.

How do you sit for meditation?

Many postures are available for sitting meditation. Walking meditation produces wonders as well but is a subject for another note. (I walked the labyrinth on the floor of the Cathedral for the first time this past weekend). Some believe that the purpose of yoga is to prepare the body to sit; others come to meditation thru yoga as meditation is the 7th limb of yoga, dhyana. However you come to meditation, any pose you pick must comfortable enough for your body to relax.

In order of difficulty, several sitting poses are -

Friendship pose maitryasana
Sit on edge of chair with hip, spine, neck and head in one line. Feet flat on floor. Hands rest on thighs.
Adamantine pose vajrasana
Kneel and sit on a bench that is 5-8” off the floor and which is tilted forward. (Adamantine means unyielding or hard and brilliant, as in a diamond)
Easy pose sukasana
Sit with the legs crossed and folded in front of you. Sides of feet rest on floor. Knees point toward ceiling at 20 or 30 degree angle. (Called Indian style when I was in Kindergarten, but probably no longer called that).
Auspicious pose swastikasana
Sit in a tighter cross legged and rest the feet not on the floor but on the back of the opposite calf. Heels should be about 4” apart. Knees rest flat on floor.
Accomplished pose siddhasana
Hard to describe and hard to do.
Lotus Pose padmasana
Also hard to describe, but more commonly known.

If you can’t sit because of illness or pain, you can lie down. I recommend lying on your back, with the soles of your feet on the floor (or bed) and knees up toward the ceiling. Place your palms on your belly, below your navel and gently interlock your fingers.

How do you meditate?

Meditation is prolonged concentration. You can concentrate on a sound (or mantra or prayer beads) or an image (icon or a candle) or a passage of writing (or scripture). Or you can simply focus on your breath.

As your mind wanders (and it will), once you notice that meandering simply bring your attention back to your point of focus. Be neutral and non-judgmental toward your distractions. Simply begin again. See the analogy quoted below about the quality of the mind in meditation.

Some recommend that if you are feeling sluggish to place your palms up either in your lap or on your knees or thighs. And if you are feeling hyper to place your palms down and on your lap, knees or thighs.

Also, before I sit down on my mat alone, I often jot down my list of things to do. I found that if I don’t do this, all the things I’d not done would pop into my head during my meditation, and then I would worry I’d not remember them later. And the train would be off away from my object of focus. I keep a pad of paper nearby, so I can jot thoughts down and let them go. Thoughts will arise. Some thoughts are easier to let go if I know they are safely written down.

Start with a short time. For beginners, 3 minutes can seem like an eternity. Add minutes and work up to 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes. Some meditate 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night. Some do a prolonged single session. Others combine their meditation with a practice of prayer or journaling. Some meditate every day; some when they remember to do so. The more you meditate, the more the people in your life will notice that you do.

Why be still in meditation?

Stillness in the body helps to bring stillness in the mind. I don’t view this as an absolute proscription. If you are in a room with others, be considerate and respectful that any movement disrupts their concentration. A foot asleep is a distraction for you and should be addressed – just do so as unobtrusively as possible. Even if you alone, still try not to move. .

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