What follows is a non-sectarian approach to sitting still. It could be considered preparation for meditation.
One: Breathing exercise for relaxation and focus; this exercise can be done seated in a chair. (The entire exercise takes approximately 5 minutes and can be done anywhere, from a quiet room to a busy airport.)
Posture: First, sit at the edge of the seat with your feet flat on the floor. Your hips should lean slightly forward so that your back is straight and your shoulders pulled back just a bit to avoid slouching. Place your hands palm down on your knees, with your thumb and index fingers touching gently. Close your eyes and then open them just enough to let light in and to see the floor immediately in front of you. It is important to sit up straight to avoid falling asleep or daydreaming.
Breathing: Breathe from your abdominal area, not from your chest; that is, let your belly relax and expand as you inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale through your nose.
Focus exercise: Inhale slowly a deep breath, upon releasing the breath, imagine silently saying the number: tennnnnnnnn. Take another deep breath, and upon exhaling, imagine saying the number: nine. Again, take another deep breath, and exhale the number eight, etc. down to zero. Once you reach zero, begin the process again starting with nine as your countdown number, and then again starting with eight as your countdown number, then seven and so on until zero. NOTE: if you lose track of the number, simply continue with wherever you imagine you left off.
PURPOSE: By focusing on counting the numbers backwards, you eliminate all other random thoughts that naturally occur in the brain and concentrate your attention on only the simple task at hand.
Once you have completed this exercise, remain seated in the upright posture and contemplate the following:
Through no intention of my own, my ears hear the sounds around me.
Through no intention of my own, my nose smells the scents of the space around me.
Through no intention of my own, my body feels the temperature of the room around me.
Through no intention of my own, my tongue rests in my mouth.
Through no intention of my own, thoughts naturally arise and disappear.
NOTE: the above exercise can be used to precede formal meditation periods as a means of settling down, relaxing and focusing the mind. It could be considered pre-meditation preparation.
Two: formal, seated meditation. You can use the exact same posture as explained above, but transfer it to a traditional cross-legged meditation posture. The main thing is to be seated upright and not to slouch. Slouching impairs correct breathing and induces sleepiness and daydreaming. Without becoming obsessed with correct posture, you should periodically “check” your posture from time to time while meditating to be sure that it hasn’t shifted. If it has, simply bring it back into alignment. Since correct sitting posture is difficult to learn from a book, it is best to have hands-on instruction when it comes to formal cross-legged zazen. Seek instruction.
Meditation is essentially panoramic awareness — all of the senses are awake and alert, through no volition of your own. If an airplane flies overhead, you hear it without personal intention; if a breeze passes through the open window, your body feels it without personal intention; if the scent of pine trees or flowers accompanies the breeze, you smell it without personal intention; if you see the shadow of a tree on the floor where you sit, you see it without any personal intention. All of these things occur through your senses, without any interference from you. This “panoramic awareness” is always present as long as your ego doesn’t interfere.
If, for example, the airplane flying overhead annoys you or makes you wish you were on it flying to the Bahamas, then you’ve entered the realm of the personal, subjective ego. Now you’re thinking, not meditating. No problem, simply return your focus to your posture and breathing. If the breeze coming through the window is hot and brings with it the stench of pollution from cars and trucks and it annoys you, disgusts you even, again, you’re in the realm of the thinking, discriminating narrative of the subjective ego. Just sit, breathe and be, awake and aware. Inevitably, such thoughts and others will arise during meditation periods: no problem! Let them come, but let them go! That’s the important part. Imagine, your stomach grumbles while sitting and you think, “I’m hungry.” No problem. But when you begin doing a mental inventory of your refrigerator and/or you start creating a shopping list in your head, now you’re thinking, not meditating. No problem: simply return your focus to your posture and breathing and continue. Practice.
For beginners, ten or fifteen minutes a day of meditation is a good way to start. It helps to create a daily schedule based around a daily routine rather than a time: for example, every morning just before breakfast. That way, it doesn’t matter what time you get up, just sit before you have breakfast; or, every day after you shower. Whatever is part of your daily routine simply add 10 minutes of meditation to it.
It has been said that meditation is like walking in a heavy fog as opposed to a downpour. In a heavy fog, you don’t realize you’re getting soaked until your clothes are saturated. Likewise, the personal changes that occur as a result of continued meditation are very subtle at first. So, it’s very important to not judge or have grand expectations. Just sit, and let meditation do its job. If you want to run a marathon, you have to train for it. If you want to understand your true nature, you have to witness for yourself how it moves from being to non-being and back, effortlessly. Sit, with panoramic awareness, and see for yourself.
