A Little Information and History about Meditating
Meditation is many things to many people. Some think it is a religious experience. Some think it is a cult. And some, including your author are aware of its benefits to better health. I will try to summarize the technique and benefits of meditation as completely as I can in this post.
Meditation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports), which range from techniques designed to promote relaxation, contacting spiritual guides, building internal energy (chi, ki, prana, etc.), receiving psychic visions, getting closer to a god, seeing past lives, taking astral journeys, and so forth, to more technical exercises targeted at developing compassion, love, patience, generosity, forgiveness and more far-reaching goals such as effortless sustained single-pointed concentration,[3] single-pointed analysis,[4] and an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any and all of life’s activities. Thus, it is essential to be specific about the type of meditation practice under investigation.
The type of meditation I and my wife have practiced for the past 36 years is called Transcendental Meditation or TM for short. The benefits we have gained include more energy, better mental focus and a very deep feeling of relaxation and release of tension. It requires two 20 minute sessions each day and should be a major requirement in our schedule. Unfortunately like many things good for us, we sometimes forget to do it.
The basic exercise begins with sitting comfortably in a chair for approximately twenty minutes without thinking of anything. This sounds very simple but if you try it, you will find that it requires regular practice to accomplish this seemly simple chore. Try it and you will agree that with our busy schedule and life styles, being able to sit quietly without thinking of anything, is not that easy.
How does Meditation work?
Your twenty minute exercise begins with sitting in a comfortable chair. You may rest your arms at your side or on the arms of the chair for the most comfortable position is most important. If you spend most of your time shifting around to gain comfort, you are wasting time. So….get comfortable. For your first attempt I would suggest that you be alone with the TV and/or radio turned off. As you gain experience at meditating, you will be able to do it even in the most distracting environment, but for now, keep it quiet and peaceful.
After you have become comfortable in your chair, relax and close your eyes. Sit there for a few minutes or until your body has begun to relax. While sitting there, you will be distracted by your environment with sounds and movements. As these distractions enter your mind, do not linger on them nor try to force them from your thoughts.
At this point a practitioner of TM would begin to mentally repeating his/her mantra or special sound given to him/her by their teacher. A mantra is a sound or word which does not represent anything known or visual. If you think of the word elephant, you will create a picture in your mind of that animal. If you think of the word car, the same thing happens. A mantra is basically used to fill your mind with something which does not represent any recognizable image or thought.
The mantras only function is to help you concentrate on nothing!
What you use as a mantra is entirely up to you but as you try to create your own mantra, keep these things in mind-
1. Mantras are usually short (one to two syllables).
2. Calming letters (E, D, J, L, M, O) are better than the more explosive letters (B, K, P, T).
3. Mantras are not spoken outwardly but are repeated in your mind.
4. A mantra should not bring up an image.
5. A very popular mantra is the syllable “ahmmmm”. Notice when you think the syllable, an image is not generated, unless it is a picture of a monk sitting in a full lotus position on the floor. If this does come to mind, then you need to find another mantra. Other possibilities could be “Dah,Wah, Sha”.
Now that you have created your own mantra, I will begin our next post with instructions on how to use it and possibly gain the benefits of the exercise.
Disclaimer from your author:
Many people have not tried meditation for they believe that it is an Eastern religion and to those people I would like to say, “Meditation is a simple exercise in gaining relaxation and better concentration and is in no way connected to any religious belief. I have practiced it for half of my life and I still consider myself a devout Christian”.
Check back to our next post for we will start our exercise in meditation.
Thanks, I’m new to your blog but I’m really enjoying it. Those from a Christian background such as myself who might be wary of this sort of thing might want to check out Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline”, he writes well about practices of solitude, silence, and meditation. Some of them are a little more focused on specifics than your specific mediation exercise here, but its good to remember that there is plenty of Christian precedent for stillness and quiet focus.
As a come-back trumpeter, I’m finding that some “easy” to play pieces like Flow Studies do a lot to regulate my breathing and I feel much more centered after focusing on long, in-tune notes. I’m reaping the physical benefits as well as improving my playing. And sometimes, if all I have for practice time is the end of a long day after my kids have worn me out and finally gone to sleep, I need moments of stillness and calm before I can even pick up my horn.
Thanks agan!
Luke
Thank you for your comments and I was wondering how close your picture was to the real thing? 🙂
Comeback players are becoming a very popular niche and I hope you can gain some helpful information for some of our earlier posts on the subject.
Kids can be tiring but they are also the best gifts we will ever receive.
Practice when you can and stay cool!
There are some who will agree with you but most have not tried it.
I’m confused to what you had in mind with your statement “And some, including your author are aware of its benefits to better …”
I’m sure meditating could help with your concentration.