Wisdommeditation - part two: Basic meditation techniques

The purpose of this meditation technique is to set up a perfect habit for the brain. Instead of leaving the brain free to think, we now bring the brain to a state of constant awareness through the habit of observation and listening: that habit is actually the only aim of the meditation technique. Happiness and joy, as well as other miraculous findings to be enjoyed by the practitioner, rest with this noble nature and perfect habit from which there are almost unlimited benefits.

The first beneficial gain of the technique is the efficient relief of stress and worry, the peaceful mind being able to control emotions generated by the thinking process and develop the habit of enjoying happiness when the brain rests in calmness.

1. Meditation in sitting posture

In various meditation techniques, the sitting meditation is basic and essential but we should not spend too much time during the day for meditation practice. We will consider the sitting meditation only as a special case which cannot be replaced by other techniques. In the sitting meditation, it is mandatory to note related facts, such as the time of the day for meditation, the duration of time for each session, the kind of clothing, the place and particularly the preparation of the mind’s state before the session.

As to the spirit of meditation:  It is preferential to make a vow “I pledge to keep on training myself to gain a habit to live in the state of an aware mind, not allowing free thinking to destroy my spiritual life or to shadow my clairvoyant world of awareness. This habit is the great joy for me and even for mankind.”

As to clothing: Wear comfortable clothing that does not cause any discomfort while meditating.

As to place : any place but if possible it is recommended to practice in a quiet atmosphere in nature since the calmness of the nature will help the practitioner achieve 50% of the result! In fact, the basic characteristic of natural calmness and the awareness state are really the one thing indispensable for meditation.

As to the time of day for meditation: It is not necessary to fix a time because in so doing it would be contrary to the spirit of meditation which is natural and comfortable. Thus, if we set up a fixed time for meditation we could easily come up with formalism, which, in reality, is not to enjoy meditation. It should be kept in mind that, in practicing meditation, a pure and noble habit is being trained to enjoy the happiness inside when thinking does not freely flow in the mind. In brief, whenever we feel a need or an enthusiasm we can start meditating in a sitting posture. We can even enjoy a short meditation session in a sitting posture while working in the office!

As to duration of meditation: up to your choice with a minimum 5 minutes or longer, but not too long since we can drop ourselves into a state of neither thoughtlessness nor awareness!

As to sitting posture: any posture, lotus or semi-lotus or sitting in a chair; when sitting in a chair, both feet must rest on the floor. The back and head must be straight up to ease blood circulation and respiration; the lips should be closed with the tongue touching the upper part of the mouth to prevent saliva from getting dry. For a good start, it is preferential to give a gentle massage to the face, ears and eyes with both hands to release tension and promote comfort. In case we sit on a flat floor it is suggested to use a cushion.

The observation target while meditating in sitting posture: Using the respiration is the easiest and most efficient method! After preparation as above, slightly close the eyes (or open ¼), direct the eyes toward the nose and bring the attention to the in-out movements of the respiration. When breathing in, we follow the in-movement and when breathing out, we follow the out-movement. If this awareness is lacking, we cannot consider the respiration as a meditation practice: we normally breathe round the clock without paying attention to the respiration, and that is not meditation!

To render this awareness constantly permanent, the practitioner can follow the respiration by counting its cycles. A cycle of respiration in and out shall be counted as one. Count from 1 to 20 cycles and back to one again. This counting technique should last for at least 5 minutes for each meditation session.

How to breathe: breathe gently, the breath being a little longer than normal to allow more oxygen to get in, seeking better health after “working long hours without true respiration”. Many respiration alternatives can be envisaged but we ought not to forget to keep an eye on the respiration process in its in-out movements. For example, we can notice the respiration being short or long, its noise big or low; we can adjust the respiration so as to gradually diminish it for a better observation and attentive listening. An alarm clock can be used for timing the wanted meditation duration; but when we are used to it, the alarm clock will serve no purpose!

2. Meditation while observing the thought

At the basic level, we can make use of the thinking process as the observation target that is to observe the inner world making it a habit to bring the vision or the attention to the inside of the brain.

Again, this technique of meditation can be implemented by various postures: sitting, lying, standing, walking, strolling or even while working. This can be performed in any circumstance while we are calm. This is an extremely marvelous habit which many practitioners have successfully achieved, and it has become an essential habit. As many youngsters have stated “while watching and observing the thinking process in any instant of the day we are enjoying a true life and working in a happy atmosphere, full of  peace and contentment and if ever we happen to omit it for one day, we will feel uneasy and uncomfortable”.This is in fact an enjoyable result of this technique of meditation through observing the thoughts.

Up to the present, most of those who have practiced this technique, ranging from as young as 13 years of age to as old as 77 years of age, in this country as well as overseas, have achieved great success. This is actually joyful news to everybody.

The technique of meditation by observing the thoughts consists of the following:

Only observe and clearly “know” whether or not any thought comes up in the mind!  If meditating in a sitting posture, we loosely close our eyes and concentrate toward the midpoint between brows, then observe as if we are searching for a certain image in a “black hole”. We should be aware that we are observing something or those we have already lost the observation action. If we have lost our observation we must come back to it. For a start, we will observe the thoughts at the midpoint between brows. If we notice the presence of any thought or any image, then we should be aware of their presence or their disappearance. A simple but essential keynote is that we must know whether there exists any thought or not: if it is present in the mind, we know its presence, and if it is not present we know its non existence. Should there be a presence of any thought, then we just pay attention to that thought or that image only, we will not do anything else. If there is not any  thought present, then we just keep on observing this point, waiting for a thought or an image to appear, as if  we were watching a dark screen : if any picture appears we will watch the picture but if nothing appears, then just watch the black screen!

Constantly identify the appearance of any thought and keep our attention on the present moment.

In other meditation postures such as meditation while working, studying, reading, talking… we also pay attention to watch if there appears any thought or image. If so, then we know clearly its presence and draw our attention back to the work we are doing, to the current reality.

Before going to sleep, we close our eyes and check if there exists a thought or any image in our mind.

If so, then just watch it as if we were watching a movie of thoughts, since any thought is just a shadow of the past that persists in the mind due to our silent acceptance ; it is like we are, or another person is doing an important and sustained activity in reality . In other words we cannot tell the difference between life and awareness. Awareness is an invisible, ever existing entity, while life is a continuous stream, with no beginning or end, of all forms including thoughts, notions, writings, meanings, philosophy value…. We should not therefore count on that streamline since we truly own the invisible, everlasting and omnipresent existence of awareness.

3. Meditation while working

We can even apply this meditation while working. When working we should clearly realize we are doing a particular task and should bring full attention to this work. During which time, if any thought arises we should “know” that the thought is now drawing our attention to its side. Upon noticing that, we again bring our attention from the thought to the current job. For example, when we are doing manicurist work for a customer but a certain thought comes to our mind; we must realize it and draw the attention to the manicurist work without getting drowned in the thinking stream. This is actually our attention struggling between the thinking mechanism and awareness. In so practicing we will train ourselves to gain the habit of 100% mindfulness on the work being done: we must know we are concentrating on the work. When we lose attention due to the arising of a certain thought, then we will realize that the attention to the work has been lost and we must get the attention back. We will gain the habit to observe, to concentrate and we will gradually be able to master our attention. In a short period of time, this habit will supply us with indescribable joy and happiness!

4. Meditation while doing physical exercises, leisurely walking

Meditating while leisurely walking is to be aware of the way we are walking. While strolling around, we bring our attention to the steps (clearly aware that we are observing the steps), then switch the attention from the steps to the attention to the breath, noticing the breath being long or short, light or heavy. Then we switch again our attention to the surrounding area. In so practicing we will gain the habit to monitor actively the observation in the state of awareness that is to know what is going on.

5. Meditation while speaking in public

This meditation technique is also based on observation, listening and clearly knowing what we and the other partner are speaking. Carefully listen with no judgment to our partner’s statements; Do not judge ourselves or our partner, either. We should be constantly aware and watching if any thought arises to bring the attention back to the conversation; that is, during speech, we must know if any thought arises to shift 100% of the attention back to the subject being discussed or to the reality of the speech.

If we do not do so, the thought will lead us out of the subject, out of the reality and we will be embarrassed before the audience. If we can keep our awareness, our speech will automatically be fluent and eloquent. Remember that contentedly satisfied eloquence comes from awareness, not from thinking. The awareness will supply us with adequate eloquence which can conquer the audience who will gain interest while listening to our speech.

Temporary conclusion

Some years ago, many people told me: “We became vegetarian and practiced meditation for many years, at least ten years with different masters, we understand what Buddha nature is and keep longing for the true spiritual experience, but in vain. However we have committed ourselves to a spiritual cultivation and waited for enlightenment but many times we become discontented.”

Particularly a 16-year-old student practitioner Nguyễn đức Luận with Buddhist name Duy Nguyện, together with his parents, who had come to the USA to learn how to meditate with me, raised this question: “When we practice this meditation, how long will it take to experience the enlightenment? If it takes a long time, then youngsters like us can not follow!”

I answered: “As a matter of fact, there is nothing to experience in terms of enlightenment. The purpose of meditation is not to prove a noble aim. The important truth in practicing meditation is to achieve the only practical aim: gaining the habit that is totally beneficial both in our physical and spiritual lives. Thus, it is essential to do the meditation exercise frequently in order that the habit becomes refined, and with this purely holy habit, the practitioner will enjoy a stable and endless happiness inside. This habit will develop a perfect life of wisdom. It will also bring you luck and peace of mind”.

Duy Nguyện then shouted merrily since he had now realized that the question became rather easy: shift the meditation aim to get enlightenment to a much simpler purpose to gain a good habit promoting human positiveness to develop. Duy Nguyện has decided to make the effort to practice meditation, since it will bring about an immediate result, the formation of the awareness habit, and will wash away the thinking habit, “this is in fact the habit I like because it is beneficial to my current life and my academic study!”

In brief, the meditation method outlined here has no aim to attain enlightenment but merely to formulate a habit to promote and master the awareness in the brain/mind whose mechanism is to freely conduct the thinking process, without causing disturbance and mental suffering. From this habit, the practitioner shall have all joy, true happiness and a more stable morale. Part there: Some supplementary methods to widen and deepen into wisdom space