This article discusses basic meditation, not advanced techniques such as Kundalini. For that, you will need a qualified and experienced teacher. You will also probably need to have spent some time doing basic meditation.
Posture
For someone just beginning to meditate, there is a bewildering amount of material on how to go about it, much of which makes it unnecessarily difficult or mysterious. Many authors insist that certain postures need to be achieved and maintained; certain techniques of breathing, fixing the eyes, adjusting the tongue, hands, etc. Some claim that, unless you meditate in just the right way, you will not accomplish anything. This isn’t the case.
While it is true that established traditions do have specific postures and techniques, they aren’t necessarily required. In Japan, meditation is often done in a kneeling position, buttocks resting on the heels. This can be uncomfortable for Westerners unaccustomed to such a posture. In India, it is common to meditate either in the lotus position or the monk position – cross-legged, on the floor, with the feet either in the crook of the opposite knee (lotus), or with one foot pressing into the perineum (monk position or siddhasana). If you are able to assume these positions without discomfort, then by all means do so. If not, then don’t worry about it. You can still meditate.
The goal of basic meditation postures is to find an upright position you can maintain for the duration of the meditation, that will allow you to focus on your mental activity without being troubled unnecessarily by your body. You are upright in order, among other things, to avoid falling asleep. Your spine is kept straight in order to avoid any leaning or slouching. You need to be balanced, so that you are not using muscles to hold yourself in position – muscles that will grow increasingly tired as the meditation continues, and that will clamor for release. You also want to avoid uneven pressure anywhere, because that can also lead to discomfort and numbness.
You might want to try to attain the “authentic” postures of an established tradition, even though it is uncomfortable for you now. I suggest that in this case, you begin by considering this as a physical exercise, and don’t even try to meditate in that pose until you become quite comfortable with the it. You want to be physically comfortable – to forget about your body – while meditating. If your legs are going numb or your back is in spasms, the quality of your meditation will suffer.
You can meditate while sitting on a chair. I suggest a chair that is comfortable, without being very plush. The seat should be padded, but not so much that you sink far down into it. The height of the chair should be such that you can keep your feet flat on the floor. If this is a problem, you can use some sort of footrest (a telephone book might do), to help. Your spine should be straight up and down, not leaning in any direction. Your head should be as though balanced on the top of the spine, eyes facing forward, gaze slightly downward. Note that the head should be upright – only the eyes should be looking slightly downward. If you lean your head forward, this will put a strain on your neck.
It may help to shrug your shoulders, rotate your head around, and loosen up your muscles. You might also try rotating your trunk, to help loosen up your lower back. By keeping your feet flat on the floor, you are helping to support your body while using a minimum of muscles to do it.
Of course, you will always be using some muscles to keep your body upright. The goal is to use as little muscle effort as possible. Even so, in the beginning you are likely to find that certain muscles do get tired and even sore. Your body may need some time to get used to the new way of sitting. Check whether the tiredness is happening because you are somehow leaning or slouching. If so, correct your posture. A mirror might help, though you can generally tell by noting which muscles are getting tired.
In the beginning, you are probably not going to be able to sit in this position for very long before something starts to get tired or hurt. If you experience pain, I recommend that you stop. A mild sort of soreness may just mean you’re working a muscle harder than usual. Anything more could indicate that you need to take a break, or come back to it the next day. If you have orthopedic or other health issues, you may want to check with a health care professional to make sure nothing bad is happening.
Technique
The meditation technique I recommend is very simple. In fact, it is so simple as to seem no technique at all. In Buddhism it is called mindfulness. I prefer to use the motto made familiar by Baba Ram Dass – “Be Here Now.” I like this, because it sums up what the meditation is all about. Be here now.
Many will ask, “What kind of meditation is that? Where else would I be?” At first blush, this seems to be a fair question – until we examine where we are. You generally have a good idea where your physical body is, at least when you’re conscious. We commonly assume that “we” are wherever our bodies are. Without getting bogged down in philosophical discussions about “where” we are, or who “we” are, just consider that your mind spends very little time right here, right now. If you actually try this meditation, you will find out very quickly how easily your mind will wander around from topic to topic, wondering why you’re sitting there not “doing” something, wondering what’s for dinner, thinking about work or a loved one or the current situation in Tibet or how does that light go on and off in the refrigerator. About the only place your mind won’t go is here, now.
Sit in whatever posture you find comfortable and maintainable. Remove distractions. It is better if you can do this in a room separate from other activities, but this is often not possible. Do what you can. Ideally, you would be in a quiet environment. If there is distracting noise, you may find it useful to mask that noise with some noise of your own, such as a fan running quietly, or some very quiet, bland music.
Now, simply bring your consciousness to the present moment, to where you are sitting. That is all – nothing more. This sounds disappointingly simple. It is, in fact, incredibly difficult. The chances are very good that you will only be present in the moment for a second or two, before your mind wanders down some path and gets lost… if that happens, then simply bring yourself back to the moment here, now… until you find you’ve wandered once again.
To begin with, I suggest trying this for just a few minutes at a time, maybe five or so. This should give you an idea of how difficult it really is to bring your attention to the present moment, right where you are now.
Be gentle. Don’t force yourself. Especially, don’t try to force thoughts down, if you see them coming. Let them come, and let them go, without holding on to them or resisting them. Let them go without judging whether they are good thoughts or bad, profound or superficial, happy or sad or fearful. Gently return, each time you wander. When the time is up, stop.
You might find it useful to use some sort of timer that will chime when your set time has elapsed. I suggest not using a clock to look at, because then you’ll be watching the clock to see how much time is left.
Let experience guide you as to how much time to spend meditating. Forcing yourself to sit once your mind has become dulled by boredom or agitated by frustration only makes your experience more unpleasant. On the other hand, giving up too early, without making an effort, is self-defeating. Start out easy; work up gradually. Keep at it, but don’t try for any records. Ten minutes of quality meditation is better than an hour of frustrated struggling.
Pitfalls
When people talk about meditating, they often imagine mystical trips to far out places, other dimensions, conversations with deities or Ascended Masters or whatever. They want, at the very least, profound insights into the nature of reality, or into their own minds, psychic powers, something. They’re looking for something cosmic, mystical, world-shattering. And I’m offering nothing more than to be here, now.
There is a story that I’ve heard from several sources, about a student and his teacher. The student excitedly goes to his teacher one day and says, “Teacher, when I meditated today, I saw the angels who move the Sun in its course in the Heavens!” The teacher says, “When I was young, I, too, saw this. Keep on meditating, and it will go away.”
This story points out a major pitfall of meditation – distractions. You are likely to find plenty of distractions as you meditate. First, you may feel physically uncomfortable from sitting still for a period of time. All of a sudden things will itch, or an ache will appear. It is probably a good idea not to try to ignore any but the most insignificant of these annoyances. Scratch that itch. Adjust your posture to relieve that ache or numbness. Work to find your comfort zone. After a while, your body will learn this new trick and be more at ease with it.
Your mind is another story entirely. Chances are good that you will find this meditation boring. Your mind is likely to wander off at the slightest provocation – or none at all. You may find yourself having profound insights into things, feeling an urge to write down what must be a very important idea. Resist the temptation. For these few minutes, just do what you began to do – just be here now. Write the profound ideas down afterwards.
Some meditators have reported that they develop psychic powers or abilities. This sounds way cool, like something you’d want to happen. Again, it is a distraction.
There is a book called the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali. In this book, Patanjali discusses various meditative techniques that would let you develop psychic powers. If you meditate one way, you can become invisible; by meditating on another thing, you can know the past. And so on. Patanjali explains how to develop dozens of psychic powers. However, the goal of the book is not to help you develop these powers. Patanjali’s intent is to show you that you can accomplish these things, and then help you to forget about them and get down to the real purpose of meditation. According to Patanjali, the goal of meditation is moksha – liberation. Ultimately, all of these psychic powers are nothing more than baubles, little tricks that may amuse or entice a meditator, but that only serve to distract him from his goal of liberation.
Another pitfall of meditation is the feeling of not accomplishing anything. If you spend many days, weeks, months trying to “be here now”, you may feel disappointed that you haven’t actually spent much time here, now. You may feel you’ve failed miserably, that your mind has wandered all over creation and that you’ve been wasting your time.
What makes meditation successful is not accomplishing the goal of being here, now. It is the effort you spend on it. Think of it as a sort of jogging. When you jog, you’re not disappointed that you didn’t “get” anywhere, even though you spent many minutes running. The point of jogging isn’t to go somewhere, but to exert yourself for physical health. Similarly, when doing this meditation you may not feel you’ve succeeded in spending much time in the here and now; but by making the effort, you have made progress.
The journey’s destination is ever its beginning; but the meaning of the journey was in the going, not the arriving.