Meditation for Beginners

Many people assume that meditation for beginners is a tool to realize inner peace or relaxation. They assume it is a means to an end. And while meditation has countless mental and physical health benefits, if it is undertaken for these reasons it will probably not produce any of them.If meditation for beginners is treated as a means to an end, it will result in the same frustrations and discontent that led them to meditation in the first place. The reason? If desire and self centeredness is the root cause of our detachment from reality, of our discontent, then how does following another selfish desire (the desire to rid myself of such desires) lead to selfless experience of the now?

Let me elaborate a little more. If I meditate because I believe it will do something positive for me, this belief is a reflection and manifestation of my ego. I have an idea of myself. I have an idea of the world. These ideas have nothing to do with truth and reality, which is here and now and new and fresh. So when I try to experience the now by following my own perceptions and ideas of the past, I will only be following an illusion, an illusion I created.

True meditation is not a means to an end; it is the end and the means. It is the act of living in the now, without interpreting or analyzing according to our own dead constructs of reality. In order to meditate then, it is essential that ‘we’ are not present. It is essential that I have no motive, no goal or end in mind. It is essential that I meditate just to meditate. It is its own end.

This is easy to say, but to actually ‘be’ in the present without ‘you’ being in the present is much harder to accomplish. Most of us don’t realize the extent to which we construct our own perception of reality. Looking past that construct is exceedingly difficult if we don’t see that we’ve constructed it, and that it isn’t real.

Furthermore it requires the perception that our identities do not produce happiness. Once we perceive this fact in its glaring truth, our conscious associations become more obvious to us, and so too, their consequences in our lives. If we don’t see the we, by virtue of simply being who we have created ourselves to be, are causing our own pain and discontent in the world, than we will never be able to fully let go of our identities, and experience the beauty of mindful meditation.

And so, as we discussed in the last post, meditation for beginners must begin with the most basic element of life…breathing. Leave your ‘self’ behind, and simply observe the truth in front of you as it comes and goes, energizes and passes away.

Meditation for beginners typically starts with simple observation of, and control of, ones breathing. And while I am not a big supporter of adherence to meditation rules, breathing itself is fundamental to meditation, on occasion being one and the same.Regardless of whether we’re discussing mindfulness meditation or other forms of energy meditation like qigong, deep abdominal breathing is the starting point for two reasons. The first is because it’s the natural forgotten state of breathing from childhood, and the second because it’s a vehicle for reunion with the present.

Deep abdominal breathing, as opposed to upper chest breathing, is the natural forgotten method of breathing from childhood. If you watch a baby or young child sleeping, you’ll notice their chests don’t expand and contract, their bellies do. This is a source of energy and vitality, and one of the reasons children have so much energy when they’re awake. We can relearn this skill, and find our lost energy sources from childhood by practicing deep abdominal breathing.

The second reason meditation for beginners begins with breathing is because our breath is constantly changing, fluctuating, flowing in and out. It is not a stagnate state of being, but dynamic and immediate. By observing our breath, becoming fully aware of its inhalation and exhalation into the lower abdomen, we are reuniting with the present. Our breath is here now, and when we are aware of it, we are in the here and now. This is the basis of awareness, mindfulness and meditation.

Deep abdominal breathing should not be forced, but should be deep and long, within reason. And inhalation should be relatively close to exhalation in duration. One’s spine should be straight, shoulders upright, and atmosphere clean and conducive for relaxation. Nature and music may be a great help for some people. Other factors like hand position or leg position are inessential. Comfort is key, so long as your posture allows you to take a full long breath other factors needn’t be dogmatically observed.

Once this simple practice becomes second nature we begin to realize a great number of other health benefits. We experience higher energy levels, more relaxation and patience, lower blood pressure, faster healing, a stronger body, and a sharper mind. And while these are not our motivation, motivation being antithetical to true meditation as mentioned in meditation for beginners, it is hard to ignore and appreciate such positive results.

As much as I don’t believe in religious or spiritual dogma, I do recognize the need for guidance in realizing the truth in our own lives, as well as hidden potential. And once we have a start and begin to see for ourselves, our teachers and assumptions should be abandoned as our own guiding light takes over. Because when all is said and done, meditation for beginners and experts alike is not about a ‘thing’, it is about our own being and experience, something we alone can know and discover.

Ironically, meditation for beginners can be more harmful than beneficial if undertaken the wrong way. Most of us seek inner peace, beauty, happiness. And for most of us this desire is the root cause of discontent. Many religious leaders and teachers pass on traditional forms of meditation that does little but put the students mind into a new box. Because true meditation has no form, and it has no structure, when people ‘learn to meditate’ they typically wind up chasing a new desire, rather than find the peace they were searching for.That is not to say that there are not beneficial techniques or suggestions, like observing ones posture, not meditating while hungry, and doing so in a healthy and quiet environment. But it is to say that meditation is not a ‘thing’ with which to become good at, as if it is any other skill. Often times, beginners are at an advantage because they are not weighed down by worthless dogma or structured practice.

Meditation for beginners ought to look no different than anything else you do during the day. It ought however to feel different. Rather than eat your breakfast, you should taste your breakfast. You should smell the fragrance, listen to the sounds of rumination, and watch yourself as you are. And you should do all this without judgment. There is no right or wrong. There is only the truth of your experience. When you can taste your breakfast, I mean taste it as if it’s the first time you’ve eaten that thing, the first time you’ve eaten anything, than you are beginning to meditate.

Notice here I didn’t say anything about sitting under a tree with legs crossed and tuning out all external distractions. These are images at cross purposes with true self discovery and happiness. There is indeed a place in life for solitude and sitting quietly with oneself, but forced ‘meditative’ practice is not meditation. If you are forcing the thing, it winds up being a selfish action, an action emanating from your ego’s perception of good and bad, right and wrong. It comes from judgment.

True meditation is not judgment; it is the experience of life before the mind judges it. Before the mind ‘knows’ it. Many people misconceive this as detachment from reality. In actuality it is non-attachment, not to be confused with detachment. We leave behind the conscious and unconscious associations we’ve developed over a lifetime, we leave behind the ‘me’, and we experience the now. We don’t experience it as US Experiencing; there is only the experience, the smell, the taste, the sight, the thought. And there is beauty, and peace, and happiness.

Mindfulness, awareness of life in its fleetingness gives birth to selflessness and love. It opens avenues in the soul that we haven’t known since childhood. An innocence and an energy we all have and suppress is finally allowed to manifest itself again. And so today, for those of you out there looking for information on meditation for beginners, do yourself a favor, stop looking, and listen, look, taste, and feel. Start with breakfast.