How to meditate

Introductory

Meditation isn’t exclusive to any religion; it’s a method of going deep into the natural state of self-awareness. Freeing oneself from minds, thoughts and concepts and rediscovering the self-awareness will be beneficial for one to understand the question “who I am?” and achieve an inner peace. This is the ultimate purpose of meditation, not to mention there are tremendous secular benefits it can bring such as relieving stresses, adjusting emotions and restoring the proper function of body, both mentally and physically.

The theory of meditation is human body, like everything in this world, is an energy field, it can sense, absorb and diffuse even a slight energy, whether it’s from itself or other energy field. To give some proofs, one can sense others whether he/she is at rage or amiable without the mind’s analytical participation (when you walk through someone, if you have enough concentration and awareness, you can sense his/her mood), one can also affect by emotions from other things and people (an orchestra, a movie or a people) and engender a resonance. When the energies function harmoniously, one can feel the inner ecstasy (distinguished from happiness) and peace, but when it disordered by mental or environmental distractions, it will result in misfortunes.

The preliminary goal for meditation is to restore the harmony in your energy field, but the ultimate purpose, as stated before, is to realize the true noumenon (thing-in-itself) and develop a constant self-awareness to this noumenon

Preparation

To meditate, you will need:

1.      Comfortable clothing and some blankets

2.      A quiet and relaxing environment

3.      Concentration

4.      Perseverance

Steps:

1.      Wear your comfortable clothing

2.      Find a quiet and relaxing environment where you wouldn’t be distracted and disturbed

3.      Persist to meditate every day.

4.      Lay out a blanket on the place for meditation, and sit down in whichever posture you are comfortable, but remember to sit up straight (the typical posture is sit with your leg crossed, lotus-style, but it’s not necessary). Bare-foot is recommended, because it can increase the contact with environment. Put the blankets on your legs if you feel cold. Put your hands on your knees, palms up and close your eyes, slightly incline your forehead.

5.      Begin with a deep breathe, inhale as deeply as you can, until you can feel the air in your chest, and exhale gently, like all the moods that made you uncomfortable will be exhaled out of you with the air.

6.      Focus on something. It can be your breathe, your heart beating or even some abstract position in the air, as long as it can concentrate your conscious.

7.      Gradually shift your concentration until you are not concentrating on anything, and you are not thinking anything. Make yourself totally clear, and no thoughts and emotions are troubling you.                  

                                                                                                                   Lotus-style

8.      Examine yourself and see if you can feel the internal emptiness and external environment (such as the air, try to feel its temperature and moisture). If you feel your sensitivity increase astonishingly, congratulations, you have successfully entered the state of meditation.

9.      Preserve this state, until you feel it’s the proper time to end the meditation.

Tips:

1.      Never force yourself on concentration and the shift of concentration, every action should be natural. If you found yourself hard to do so, wait to another day, but always remember to try it every day.

2.      If you feel there are thoughts and emotions strike into your mind, don’t oppose it, let it be and repeat step 6 and 7.

3.      Feeling asleep during meditation for a starter is normal and beneficial, because all of your energies are consumed by daily trifles (the thoughts and emotions made you struggle), when this occurred, just naturally fall in sleep. Clearing yourself is a long process, it doesn’t need to rush.

4.      When you are proficient in meditation, the environment will not restrain you, you can get deep into this state wherever and whenever, even when you are doing something else.