, because I've been meaning to write this in an orderly manner, plays a post with instructions for meditation, for anyone interested. Going to be long, so prepare yourself a cup of tea.
What is meditation
This question is difficult to answer. Or maybe just me it seems to me. Meditation is so much that is not easy to explain in words. People often have the impression that it is "as a relaxation technique or something" and, of course, so is. But it is much more. Meditation is the tool that exercises our minds and shaped to deal with life differently. Gotama say that all our problems were due to a fundamental error of perception, which caused us to have unrealistic desires (I hope I die, I hope I do not find with any known in the bus, hopefully not ever get sick ...).
As one does not get rid of these desires of the overnight, Gotama "created" a training system that he called the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the continuous cultivation of the mind - "bhavana" - in general sense (to be more generous, trying to do good things to try hard not to get carried away by feelings chung, etc.), and in which meditation - "samadhi" - plays a fundamental role, being more intensive training, which, through the development of attention and concentration, we will gradually discover the secrets of the mind and understanding how problems arise and we finally be able to get rid of them.
Although meditation is part of a very objective way with a "high" (liberation from suffering), this does not mean to limit it. The practice of meditation, if done well, is always positive, and you do not believe nothing that an Indian said 2500 years ago and pray to the Dalai Lama or haircuts or eat potatoes to practice. It is there for everyone who wants to try him keep an eye.
Bids
The first step in starting to meditate is a good posture. One can meditate sitting, standing, lying and walking. Of these four positions, the most common are sitting meditation and walking meditation.
standing meditation is very convenient because most people can not stand still for long periods of time. However, on the website of my friend Hugo you have
good indications on how to try the standing meditation.
lying
Meditation is a roll for you sleepy and focus worse. I almost always sleep or just in a drowsy state in which I do not hear anything. It can mean sitting hurts you, or when you go to sleep.
Walking meditation has many variations, but basically it is usually follow a path previously marked line (which you see clearly the start and end) and travel from one place to another continuously, stopping a few seconds at a time you change direction. In
esta página del monasterio Amaravati tenéis más detalles sobre cómo practicarla*.
Meditación sentada: postura
Por último, la meditación sentada es la que más suelo practicar. Más que nada, porque ir de un lado para otro en mi pasillo es complicado durante el día (porque toda la familia lo usa para pasar de un sitio a otro) y peligroso durante la noche (porque mi familia se puede asustar al oír ruidos extraños). Lo más normal durante la meditación sentada es sentarse con las piernas cruzadas. Como la estabilidad de la postura es muy importante (si quieres meditar más de half an hour, constantly swinging
be not to fall is very heavy), it is essential that both knees are resting on the ground, making a tripod with the ass. As we are not flat (and not all are teachers of yoga), it is difficult to achieve without some degree of elevation **. For this we use pads (the zafus very nice, they are tough and are resistant form), but also valid normal cushions, coats folded over themselves, rolled towels, pillows, bent, etc.. Culaquier thing that allows us to lift and relax your legs and support your knees on the ground without getting hurt much serve.
As to how cruzar las piernas, se puede hacer de varias maneras. Los más guays se sientan en
loto completo , que consiste en poner los dos pies sobre el muslo de la pierna contraria (
así ). Los menos guays se sientan en
medio loto , que (lo habéis adivinado) es
así . Los pringaos, como yo y muchos otros que nos duelen las rodillas solo de pensar en el loto completo, nos sentamos en lo que llaman
postura birmana (no preguntéis).
Para los que tengáis algún tipo de lesión lumbar/rotular/etc. o simplemente no queráis tiraros al cojín (aunque si no tenéis problemas médicos, I advise you, it becomes very comfortable over time), you can use chairs (both feet flat and your back straight, preferably without relying on the support, or a cushion to keep it straight and prevent you fall back and fall asleep) or
the benches to sit in seiza
(which is a very common Japanese position there.)
Once seated, either way, the following is overburdening the back. Imagine leaving a string of your neck and pulls you up, as if you were a puppet. Stretch and everything you can, then relax (but keep your back straight!). There is only to maintain a slight tension on the back for not falling, but the rest of the back and neck should be relaxed.
usually also recommend lowering the chin slightly to stretch the neck either, but I always back me up to relax your back and keep it forced me not usually help.
hands do them as you see fit. It is important, yes, they are relaxed, like the rest of the body. But beyond that, any alternative is valid: in the lap, together, apart, face down on his knees, backs of knees, etc..
eyes can close them or leave them slightly ajar, as pleases you. Like everything else, the idea is to relax the eyelids and also the tension around the eyeballs: some will be half-closed eyes, others are completely closed. You can also open them and notice a particular point in the ground about 2 meters away, but I do not like much (except for a while).
To assure that all details of the position are well caught, it is worth to spend the first few minutes of sitting stability check, back, neck and head are place, and the whole body, except the parties responsible for maintaining posture (especially the lower back), is relaxed. For example, if you notice blood in the legs, and relajadlas centraos them. If the voltage is because the support is not correct, move until it is. And so on, id doing a sweep through the body until everything is in order. This helps relax the mind and meditation is a nice start, and also can be a meditation practice in itself, if aplicáis what I'll explain later.
At first, the position will be a little awkward, especially if you go to meditate 30 minutes followed, but not deseperéis eventually becomes easier. Seek cushion height combinations, bending the legs, etc. While some discomfort is good to see some things, is not embarrassed or anything, so do not become the macho if not needed (this also can be applied to me, lol).
What do
The second question I'm most people do, after "Tell me what is above that of Buddhism, I am very interested (and who has a movie , you know) is "And you, what do you do when you meditate?". Once explained the basics of posture, I can say what I always answer:
I attend inspiration. I attend expiration. If there is a thought, I look at it and "let go." If I get distracted, come back to do before.
And so on. But going by parts: I told you that meditation is to develop attention and concentration so that, little by little, we can go free of our suffering. How is this done? The first step is to take an object of meditation, on which to focus our attention. Objects of meditation are many and varied, but most usually common breathing and body (and the "mind", but that's for later, I think).
If we take the breath as an object, it is to meet every breath and every breath. For that, we focus on a sense that tells us that breathing is occurring, as the air in and out of the nose, chest / belly moving, or the general feeling of body breathing. Observe how the breath changes over time, how it changes your perception of it, what happens when we focus on it, etc.
If we take the body as object, we can sweep I've mentioned before (go mentally reviewing all parts of the body, noting how to sit, relax ...) or just feel the whole body, and observe what happens to him: if there is pain or pleasure, come from, how those feelings, etc.
is important to remember that just have to see what appears, and not judge, reject it, think about it ... just watch and see what happens.
distraéis
If you (and believe me, you will do), simply return to your object of meditation. Remember that now is not the time to solve the problems of the world, or to remember what you said Andrea, you're so angry yesterday, or think about what you do for dinner. Do not culpéis, no returns and I give him frustréis because you can not sustain attention. Happens even in the best families. Nor frustréis you if you can not judge you stop, I've been meditating 4 years and sometimes, when I was confused, I say, "Shit!" (But only sometimes, haha).
simple case of lack of attention, you can "anchor" to the mind using a mantra (such as "bud-dho" mentally say "bud" to inspire and "dho" to breathe) or counting breaths (1 when you breathe, you breathe 1, 2 when you breathe ... and to 6, and again from 1). You can also change the subject meditation.
If the distraction is very strong (a strong pain or a recurring thought), and are not able to release it, you can take it as an object, and just watch (do not involucréis, do not give him round to thinking it is, just see what happens). You learn a lot of pain doing this, but do not be masochistic and leave it if it's a serious pain. Another thing you can do with the pain is to focus attention elsewhere in the body that is more enjoyable. If not, you can go away for a walk or something.
With time and practice, your mind will calm down. And I stress, eventually and practice. The first thing one learns to meditate is patience. Patience. It take time to see results, but do not be discouraged, as it says Javier, my karate teacher, " This is like love. Over the years, and children, comes ."
As your ability to return to the meditation object gets better, you will realize that you are more able to "let go" obsessive thoughts and painful feelings. In doing so, you'll see what they naturally do when not constantly nourished. This will give you an idea of \u200b\u200bhow the mind works, and give them new ideas and tools for investigation. In addition, more concentrated, you can explore the subtleties of your object of meditation and deeper into details before you saw not. The emergence of perceptions, their training, our reaction to feelings, etc.
Tips
Patience. Patience. Patience. A lot of patience, really. Remember what they said the AC-DC
"
It's a long way to the top, if you want to rock n roll !" ("It's a long way to the top, if you want rock n roll.") Fortunately or unfortunately we are, there is no fast track for this: many of our problems stem in dynamics and mental patterns that are deeply entrenched, so get rid of them takes time. However, I think is the best method to do so.
meditate much
If you decide to start meditating continuously (which would be fine), you have to think about the frequency and duration of the sit / walk. In terms of frequency, much will depend on how busy is your life (not the same being a high school student to have three kids and a job from 8 to 8) and spend long as you want. That depends on you. With meditation, the more the better, but that does not mean that we neglect our romantic relationships, our work or our life in general.
Regarding duration, I recommend that you begin with about 30 minutes per sitting. If you want to put him comfortable and see more cane, later. But forzéis the machine. Also your time availability greatly influences: there will be days that you can meditate 40 minutes, others will not have either for 10 minutes ... we must be flexible. However, in my experience, are qualitatively sitting longer than the shortest, I spent a long time meditating 30 minutes, and when I passed 60, my concentration increased significantly, now I try to meditate more than 60 minutes from time to time, and also notice the difference. Simply, the mind takes time focusing, so sitting longer guarantees more concentration. But even if you can not spend frustréis 60 minutes to sit down. Sometimes we are too busy, and there are days that I can not meditate. The monks often say that it is better to sit 10 minutes daily, 60 once a week, so be it in mind when you have a day very busy and only you can sit 5 minutes.
Anyway, it does recommend that if you want that meditation has a greater effect lasting in your life that just a few minutes of relaxation, practiquéis with some frequency. If not daily, every two or three days. Less, progress is barely noticed.
Another important thing is that, in addition to sitting, mantengáis observation that spirit throughout the day: how reaccionáis to what happens in your life, how it changes your perception of the world, etc. This is pretty complicated, but it is as important as sitting meditation (and you used when you are bundled and can not spend time sitting meditation).
Finally
I wrote this post telling you what I think is best for someone who wants to start meditating. I know many of you ask me you are not "Buddhist" and you will not roll-sectarian religious espiritualoide-comecerebros. However, as I learned to meditate in this tradition, all I can teach you meditation is taught by the Buddha. So sorry if I've written here does not correspond to your expectations or you think too much, "Buddhist" for your taste, but I do not know to approach it differently. Take what you like and discard the rest.
addition, much of what's here writing comes from my humble experience of taking only 4 years meditating. If you want to dig deeper or not you Fiais lot from me (which would include), I leave some interesting links the end of this post. If you have any questions, do not you think twice and ask me.
If you want other opinions, a good site I visit often
Theravada Forest, where kindly answer your questions on any topic. Also there you will find many articles related to meditation, which probably explains all this much better than me.
Recommended links
Conducting a solitary
Zen practice of Koro Kaisan Miles (English)
The observer from Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Contemplating the body or, Thanissaro Bhikkhu
videos on meditation, Ajahn Jayasaro (English)
De-perception of Thanissaro Bhikkhu Sutta
Satipatthana Sutta, the canonical text
* My friend David tells me you can also comment that walking meditation while you stroll quietly through the city, park, mount, etc. Just keep the spirit of observation as you walk, to experience what happens all the time and not miss the thoughts. **
Thai Monks are a variant of this position and put one leg over the other. Thus, stability is given by the twin lying on the ground, and do not require any lifting. I also find this position unstable after a while, but I've seen While many people meditate well, so it should be a matter of taste.
