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Meditation (Awareness Training)
There are several ways or methods to practicing
meditation. The methods are not the meditation themselves.
The actual meditation is the awareness or mindfulness
of the thinking and letting go of the thoughts. You
become an observer of your own emotion, but
you’re not caught up in it. As an observer, you
simply watch the movement of the mind (thinking and feeling)
without judging, reacting, labeling, or interpreting it.
Slowly, the fluctuation in the mind begins to dissipate, and
this allows your mind to become still and totally relaxed. It gives you an opportunity to experience
the natural mental state (higher consciousness) without the
mental noise or chatter. You get to experience deep
inner peace and mental clarity.
To get to this natural state, we need to have something for
the mind to focus on. This is necessary because the ego mind
has the tendency to wander off in different directions (see
Figure 4. Movement of the Mind). To experience
stillness, you simply focus your attention on one thing.
The easiest way is to focus on your breathing – notice
the breath going in and out.
Sitting Meditation
Find a quiet environment. Sit comfortably on a chair with
your back straight and put your hands on your lap. Breathe
in deeply through your nose and breathe out slowly through
your mouth for a few times to relax your body. Once you’re
relaxed, close your eyes and simply pay attention to your
breath. Just notice the breath going in and out or notice
the rising and falling of your stomach. By paying attention
to the breath or body, the mind is able to keep focus on the
present moment. Should a thought arise, just pull your attention
back to the breath. Don’t try to control the pace of
your breathing, but just simply observe. Relax and enjoy the
movement of your breath.
Should your mind get distracted, you can use a reminding technique.
Don’t judge or try to interpret the thoughts. Just let
them disappear by pulling your focus back to the present moment.
The more you meditate, the more skillful you become at allowing
your mind to be at peace.
The Reminding Technique (Non-Judging Practice)
Since the mind is so quick to judge, we use this technique
to help the mind come back to the present moment when we’re
interacting with our 5 senses.
When you see something (sight sense), mentally tell yourself
“eyes.” This will remind you that it's just a
function of the eyes.
When you hear something (sound sense), mentally tell yourself
“ears" so you're aware that it's just a function
of the ears.
When you smell something (smell sense), mentally tell yourself
“nose" so you're aware that it's just a function
of the nose.
When you taste something (taste sense), mentally tell yourself
“tongue or mouth” so you're aware that it's just
a function of the tongue or mouth.
When you feel something on your body (touch sense), mentally
tell yourself “skin or body” so you're aware that
it's just a function of the sensory cells on skin or body.
By doing this exercise, it temporarily interrupts the mind
from its usual judging process so it can stay longer in the
present moment. At the same time we are creating awareness
for ourselves. Caution: When you do this
exercise, make sure you’re not harming yourself. If
something bad is happening to you, you must tend to it and
keep yourself safe from harm.
Walking Meditation
Walk normally as you do while being aware of your breath.
If you find it difficult to observe your breath while walking,
you can observe the movement of your body as the focus point.
You can use each foot step as your focus. Simply pay attention
to each step that you take and be with the movement. Should
a thought arise, just pull your attention back to the movement
of your feet (present moment). You can also use the reminding
technique as well to help you stay in the now.
Standing or Lying Down Meditation
You can meditate by standing still or lying down on the floor.
Use your breath as the focus point while you’re in either
position.
It doesn’t matter what method you use. Find
the one that you’re comfortable with and practice often.
Once you’re skillful at being aware, you’ll find
yourself being present (in this moment of NOW) at all times.
The Key to Meditation is Relaxation
When you practice meditation correctly,
you'll notice both mind and body are relaxed. If you notice
that the mind and body are tense then you must change your
approach. For some people, they will find meditation very
difficult to do because their state of mind is overactive
(too much fluctuation, see figure
4). If you're one of these people, it might be better
for you to do some physical exercise first (yoga, walking,
running, etc.). After you finish with the exercise, wait for
your heart rate to calm down back to normal then you can relax
and begin your meditation.
Click
to see Large Diagram of Higher Consciousness
Click
to see Large Diagram of Lower Consciousness
Obstacles to Practicing Meditation (Being Aware)
Some of you may fall asleep while doing
meditation. If this is the case then you should take plenty
of rest before you meditate. If you still tend to fall asleep
after plenty of rest then try walking meditation.
The biggest obstacle to being aware (practicing meditation)
is the mind itself (ego/lower consciousness). Normally, the
ego doesn’t observe itself, but mostly pays attention
to the input that comes through the 5 senses of sight, sound,
touch, taste and smell. Once it makes contact with the data
(people, object, situation), it begins to label it (assigns
a name). It then evaluates (judges) the data and generates
a positive or negative emotion (reaction) to what it sees,
hears, touches, tastes or smells. This process creates a fluctuation
in the mind (like vs. dislike). Another fluctuation has to
do with time. The mind keeps thinking of the past and future.
These 2 types of fluctuation are creating a struggle in the
mind, where it cannot experience inner peace. It keeps moving
up and down (from pleasure to displeasure) and left to right
(from past to future). It keeps thinking that happiness is
outside of itself so it pursues pleasure to get some relief.
But since all pleasures are temporary and do not last, eventually
the ego mind is back at being dissatisfied with itself. In
fact, the ego itself (lower consciousness) is discontentment,
but it doesn't realize that it's creating the
problem due to its own ignorance.
But there is a solution, and it lies in higher consciousness
or higher awareness itself. By being aware of what the ego
or low consciousness is doing, you’re no longer a victim
of it (free from fluctuation). This is not done
through force by controlling the ego, but rather through letting
go of the ego.
We’re so used to being in the ego state that we assume
this must be the norm. However, the ego is quite unstable
and experiences emotional roller coaster and inner conflict.
It generates a false sense of self by collecting data (contents
of the mind, (see
figures 2 & 3) through the 5 senses. These
life experiences are actually for learning so you can become
a better and wiser person. However, the ego misunderstands
this and claims the experiences as self (I am this
or I am that).
For example: The ego tells itself “I
am depressed.” However, the ego doesn’t realize
that the depression that it’s experiencing is self generated
as a reaction to the circumstances (people, object or situation).
It blames the circumstances or even itself for how it feels
so it’s stuck and caught up in its own depression.
Through being aware of the ego, we can change how we react
to the circumstances. By being an observer of your own depression,
you’re able to create a separation between you and the
feeling. In doing so, you’re not caught up in the depressed
feeling. Once you realize this state of separation, you’re
liberated from the negative thought. It’s not denying
how you feel, but being aware of the feeling and letting go
of it. When you truly let it go, you experience the feeling
of calmness and inner peace.
Everyone has the ability to do this. It simply takes attention
and focus to observe within. By noticing your breathing, you
become aware of the tension in your body and the current state
of your consciousness. If you were angry or nervous, your
breathing pattern would be different than when you are relaxed.
By training yourself to become aware, you’re able to
detect these differences. In that moment of detection, you
can let go of the anger or nervousness by relaxing your breathing
pattern.
Watching the Mind
The ego mind will resist while you’re watching its activity
during meditation. The ego can generate random thoughts and
will not stay present. The enemy of the ego is the present
moment of NOW. Observe the mind’s activity and
notice what it is thinking of – is it thinking of the
past or future? Every time you can recognize your own thought,
it helps you to stay in the NOW. Don’t follow the thought
or react to it, but simply observe. Be an observer without getting
involved with the thought. If you follow your thought, it will
feed the ego and it’ll keep going – jumping around
from thought to thought. Thus, you’ll be caught up in
the feeling (fluctuation) that the mind generates from its judging
process and memory. Break the cycle of thoughts by coming back
to the present moment of NOW.
Meditation is a skill so don’t get discourage if you don’t
experience calmness right away. With consistent practice, it
gets easier as you become more proficient at being aware and
letting go of your thought. You simply become awareness itself.
Higher awareness or higher consciousness is actually our natural
state (a state of mental clarity without fluctuation).
The Ego Gets Tricky
What ever you learn, the ego knows it too. The ego's purpose
is to control. To stop you from doing meditation, it can make
you fall asleep; it can generate pain or fear; it can cause
you to have self-doubt and question the validity of what you're
doing. However, when we are aware of its tactics, we can tame
the ego by letting go. When these feelings (pain, fear, laziness,
self-doubt, etc.) arise, we can just observe and not judge them.
When we can watch them without reacting to the feelings, they
will subside and disappear. When we react, it feeds the ego
and gives it momentum. When there's no reaction, it weakens
it and stops the ego from moving.
 
Question 4.
4. |
a. Did you meditate? How was it?
b. Was it easy to stay in the present moment? If not,
what was the obstacle?
c. Did you notice what the mind was thinking of while
meditating?
d. Did you notice any complaint from the mind? What
was it complaining about?
e. Were you able to pull your attention back to the
present moment?
Copy and add Question 4 to your "Awareness_Training"
file, then write the answers and save it on your computer.
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