There's basically nothing complicated about meditation. You just need to sit down, calm down, pay attention inside yourself and focus your consciousness. Why, you ask, are there so many books written about meditation, including this one? Why not limit yourself to giving instructions?
Let's say you're going on a car trip to a picturesque place. It's enough to sketch out your route and follow it; you'll probably get to your destination safely through a few routes. However, you will have much more fun on this trip if you stock up on a tourist guide that lists all the sights on your route. In addition, you will feel much safer if you bring a guide to troubleshooting your car that may well arise on the road. You may want to change the route originally chosen to see the sights that are out of the way. You may even want to change your original route completely or use another means of transportation!
Meditation can also be seen as a journey, and the book you hold in your hands as a tourist guide. This chapter is a general description of the upcoming trip. It lists the routes to your destination, the basic skills you need to master, and the roundabout routes you should avoid.
Meditation: This is much easier than you might think
Meditation is nothing more than a way to focus your attention on a particular object - in general, something quite simple, such as a word or phrase, a candle flame or a geometric figure, or your own breath. In everyday life, your brain continuously processes a huge variety of signals resulting from touch, visual perception, emotions and thoughts. By meditating, it's as if you're narrowing your perception, limiting the stimuli that bombard your nervous system and calming your brain.
If you want to get an idea of what meditation is as quickly as possible and feel the "taste of meditation", follow the instructions below:
1. Choose a quiet, relaxed place and sit comfortably with your back straight (but don't strain yourself too much).
If you are drowning in your favorite chair, choose a stiffer seat.
2. Take a few deep breaths and exhalations, close your eyes and relax as much as possible.
If you can't relax, refer to Chapter 6.
3. Choose a word or phrase that has some special (personal or spiritual) meaning for you.
Here are just a few examples: "There is nothing but love", "Don't worry, be happy", "Believe in God".
4. Start breathing through your nose (if you can) and, as you breathe, repeat the word or phrase you choose quietly to yourself.
You can whisper the word or phrase, speak it silently (with just your lips), or repeat it mentally. If something distracts you, go back to repeating the word or phrase.
Alternatively, you can simply watch your breath (as air enters and leaves your nostrils), returning to it if something distracts you from this activity.
5. Continue this meditation for five minutes or more; then slowly get up off your chair and return to your normal activities.
How do you feel? Didn't you find it a little strange to repeat the same thing to yourself or to watch your breath? Didn't you find it difficult to keep your concentration high? Were there any other words or phrases in your head? If you did, don't give it too much importance. As a result of regular practice and with the help of the advice in this book, you will surely learn this simple skill.
Of course, you can spend many years - very fruitful and exciting - to master all sorts of subtleties and tricks of meditation. However, I'm in a hurry to please you: the basic method of meditation is actually quite simple, and to master it (and get the real benefit from its practical application), you do not need to become an expert meditation.
Beginning of a journey into the world of meditation
There is no doubt that you have chosen this book because you want to get something more out of life: more peace of mind, more energy, more well-being, more meaning, more happiness, more joy. You've probably heard a lot about meditation and you've been wondering how it can affect your life. Returning to our metaphor of traveling into the world of meditation, we can say that by meditating, you are moving from the state you are in at the moment to the state you would like to be in.
Without being a stranger to romance and adventure, I see mastering the art of meditation as climbing to the top. You have seen pictures of mountains. Being at the foot of the mountain, you see its top only in those short moments when it is not covered by clouds. But the only way to reach the top is to move stubbornly and persistently, step by step, overcoming or bypassing the obstacles encountered on the way.