How to Meditate

You are never more essentially, more deeply, yourself than when you are still.

- Eckhart Tolle, from A New Earth

Meditation is easy to learn. In this article, I will introduce you to a method that has been around for thousands of years and has been used by millions of people all over the world.

There may be a lot of different types of meditation, but they all have essentially the same purpose: to facilitate the realization of oneness with the universe. This oneness is enlightenment. Enlightenment isn’t only for Zen masters, though. It’s for everyone.

If your reason for learning meditation is not to experience enlightenment, that’s okay, too. Meditation has a lot of other positive benefits and they are all valid reasons to practice.

It is important to be open-minded when starting a meditation practice. As spiritual teacher Adyashanti put it in his book True Meditation, “The most important thing is that we come to meditation with an open attitude that’s not colored by the past, by what we’ve heard about meditation through culture, through the media, or through our various spiritual and religious traditions. We need to approach the notion of meditation in a way that is fresh and innocent”.

So, if you are ready, let’s get started.

Step 1

Sit in a comfortable position. You can either sit on the floor or in a chair. The important thing is that your posture is straight. You don’t want to fall asleep, so a pose that keeps you alert is best.

Step 2

Put your hands on your knees or lap. You can have them facing down or up; whatever you like.

Step 3

Close your eyes, and relax into the pose. Aim for a balance between resting your body and keeping your spine straight; not tense, but not loose, either.

Step 4

Breathe in and out through your nose. Begin to slow the pace until you achieve a very relaxed and comfortable pattern to your breathing.

Step 5

Pay attention to your body. Notice any areas of tension and let the tension go, let it relax. Listen to the sound of your breath coming in and out. Start to listen to the sounds around you. As you listen, just let everything be as it is. Listen to your internal dialogue in the same way. Take the role of a passive listener, not involved in your thoughts, not identified with them, but just observing them as if from a distance.

Step 6

Continue this practice of listening deeply for as long as you like. The audio file at the bottom of this article has one bell ring at the beginning and one at the 10 minute mark. You can use it if you want to do a 10 minute meditation. Start with the first ring, and when the bell rings the second time, slowly open your eyes. It is sometimes a good idea to sit for a bit and notice any new sensations, emotions, or thoughts that have come up as a result of your practice.

If your mind is busy with thoughts the whole time, this is entirely normal. In fact, one of the things you can learn from meditation is the degree to which you have almost no control over your thoughts. They come and go whether we try to stop them or not.

You also might wonder if you are “doing it right”. Don’t worry about this too much. Just keep meditating and you will start to know for yourself. One thing that might put your mind at ease is reading books or listening to audio from spiritual teachers. I have found that just listening to them helps my meditation a lot.

The most important thing in meditation is to let things be as they are. As Indian sage Ramana Maharshi said, “Let what comes come; let what goes go. Find out what remains”.

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