What is Meditation?

    
"To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things of the universe." - Dogen Zenji (1200-1253)

Meditation is very simple. Yet it requires time, energy, determination, and discipline. Most people think of meditation as a special, relaxed state of mind - one that we maintain for extended periods of time and, with practice, stray from only occasionally. Meditation, however, is quite another matter.

In meditation, we are aware of the frequent wandering of our mind and bring it back, over and over, to the movement of the breath, to the posture of the body, and to itself. We repeatedly return to body, mind, and breath. This activity, though simple, is not easy. It takes diligence to return again and again to what is taking place, without falling into distraction or agitation or mental dullness.

In meditation we learn to observe, without judgment, how our minds constantly go this way and that, lunging toward the things we want, and away from the things we loathe and fear. We also begin to see the pain and dissatisfaction that is none other than this leaning mind, and we return to this moment, where sanity, patience, confidence, and openness await - again and again, over and over. We learn to take care of the mind by observing it's dynamics without grabbing at, interfering with, or rejecting anything that comes up.

In meditation we begin seeing what we usually ignore - the vibrant Reality in which we all live, all the time - which is to say, right now. We begin to loosen our fixation on the thoughts that continually come up in our minds, like clouds of smoke or bubbles in a glass of champagne. In time we learn not to grasp at the ungraspable.

Meditation is also an expression of faith - not faith in what you believe or what you think, but faith in direct experience itself. Meditation expresses our confidence in our ability to see for ourselves the root of human suffering and our trust in our capacity to bring it to an end.

Thus meditation is not something you need to ponder. Meditation is something you do. But meditation is not a self-help program - a way to better ourselves so we can get what we want. Nor is it a way to relax before jumping back into busyness. It's not something to do once in a while, either, whenever you happen to feel like it. Meditation is a practice that saturates your life and in time can be brought into every activity. It is the transformation of mind from bondage to freedom.

In practicing meditation, we go nowhere other than right here where we now stand, where we now sit, where we now live and breathe. In meditation we return to where we already are - this shifting, changing ever-present now.

    - Excerpts from Steve Hagen's book "Meditation Now or Never".

Meditation Instruction

Sitting On the Earth - This pdf is is reprinted from Steve Hagen's book Meditation Now or Never, an introduction to the practice of meditation and a companion for those already practicing.

Here's a video from youtube.com showing basic beginning meditation instruction:



Here's an introduction to Zen meditation: