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Chapter 5

 

How to Create a Life of Happiness with Meditation

 

What is meditation?

 

Here are some interpretations and definitions we found on the web:

  • Meditation- continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature; "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge”.

 

  • A mental technique, meditation helps to focus and calm the mind, creating a restful state of physical being.

 

  • Is a focusing of the mind? The object of focus is often the breath, but may also be an object or an image. Meditators may also silently chant a mantra-a simple word or phrase-to help clear the mind and enhance mental clarity.

 

  • Sitting meditation is a traditional practice at the heart of Ch'an Buddhism. It brings about a deeper awareness of the mind and body through understanding our attachments and desires which can help make our lives more contented. Meditation also helps develops concentration and calmness of the mind.

 

  • In Chinese: Neigong "Inner exercise." Thought, reflection, and contemplation in order to train the mind, focus the awareness and cultivate the spirit.

 

  • The practice of quiet contemplation. Usually done by an individual sitting down and working on emptying her mind and just being present.

 

  • Mental, stress-relieving exercises used to draw body, mind, and spirit into a single focus, in order to enhance the quality of life. Daily meditation practices help to promote a healthier outlook on life and can facilitate healing in the sick. Certain kinds of meditation practices -- Buddhist or Jewish mystical or Hindu or Christian -- many of them are done in remote monasteries and you remove yourself from the world. There are two major flavours to meditation, two major categories of it. One is the kind where you try and make yourself quiet -- by going in a cave, or closing your eyes and ears and saying something over and over and over again to shut the world out. It makes you very peaceful, but the problem is that when you're done, you leave the cave or you stop meditating and you go back to drive on the freeway or to the supermarket, and there you are again, and you get upset again easily. (Jack Kornfield)

 

  • Meditation is a delightful and spontaneous thing to do. It is the continual act of making friends with yourself, you cannot just contain that friendship within you: you must have some outlet, which is your relationship with the world. (Arthur Janov)

The common element in each of these thoughts about meditation is; if we use our minds in the correct way and think positively the result will be; peace, self control power, silence and happiness.  

The crucial question to ask yourself when contemplating meditation is:

What is my aim and objective?

Why am I doing this?

To experience peace and happiness is not that difficult. We can all relate to those times when we have really been happy.

The next question is:

Do I want the experience of happiness or do I want constant happiness. Happiness which is a way of life?

To answer this you need to ponder on the question: Who am I?

The latter is much more difficult but at the same time much more rewarding. To achieve this I need more than just a mediation technique. As Kornfield said, there has to be more to meditation than an experience that is lost the minute you remove yourself from the meditation position. For us the whole aim of meditation is for peace and happiness to be a way of life. To be able to remain peaceful and happy in practical situations which are very testing and where it is not easy to maintain my peace and happiness. In other words, for us, meditation has to bring benefit to our daily lives otherwise why do it.

We have written and digested enough words. There is only one way to proceed. Let’s practice a meditation for a couple of minutes.

 

Find somewhere comfortable to sit. Some find it possible and comfortable to sit cross legged on the floor or in a chair, whereas we find it easier to sit conventionally in a comfortable chair. Put on some soothing background music, preferably without words, and look forward avoiding any distracting materials. We prefer to meditate with our eyes open, but close them if you feel more comfortable.

Now just sit quietly and allow your thoughts to appear. Don’t give them any credence just let them appear and disappear. Gradually as they become less and less turn your attention inwards and start to explore your inner world………Move your attention to the middle of your forehead……….  A light shining in the middle of your forehead, a small sparkling light like a star…….. as you concentrate on this feel the stillness, quietness and peace around you and within you…………Concentrate on this feeling of peace…….. just think to yourself…….. I am peace…………I am peace………….. my natural state is one of peace………   feel content and peaceful………..I am experiencing my natural state, peace.

Now just sit quietly and enjoy the experience of peace, quietness and contentedness.

 

You may or may not have had a good experience,  it doesn’t matter, everything comes from practice. If possible practice this every morning and evening. Find some time after you get up and before you leave the house for work. And if possible in the evening after supper. But beware we are usually tired in the evening so it is easy to move from meditation practice to sleep. Don’t be hard on yourself, at this stage learning the discipline of giving yourself  5 to 10 minutes at the beginning and end of the day are more important. As you practice more so you will gain the feelings of peace, contentment and happiness easily and more naturally.

 

Enjoy.

 

Next: Happiness Starts with your Thoughts