Meditation at
The Buddhavihara Temple

A Beginners Guide to Meditation

This page is made out of the leaflet(s) we give to pepople who come to our meditation classes at Eastfield House. Whereas it is perfectly possible to learn meditation out of books, or off the internet, and then continue to practice by yourself at home, it is not the best way, and this page will not teach you how to meditate. It is meant simply as a back-up to the teaching. By far the best way to learn is in a class, and if you are reading this at a great distance from Staffordshire, we urge you to find a local class. Of course if you do live within a reasonable distance we hope that you will come and join us.

We hope these guidance notes will help you in your practice, both in class at Eastfield House or elsewhere, and at home.

Coming for the first time to a meditation class at Eastfield House means you have taken the first step along the (very long) path which leads ultimately to enlightenment, and in the shorter term can bring you inner peace. It is said the second step is the hardest ~ having the commitment to come back the second time!

We hope you will come back, and continue to reap the benefits your meditation practice can bring to you. Undoubtedly the discipline of attending a class is a great help in developing your practice, but in order to gain greatest benefit you need to learn to be able to sit by yourself, at home, on a daily basis.

Class times are shown on the Courses page. The Monday & Thursday classes are the same: try to stick to one or the other, or both, as the classes develop you will get used to the dynamics of your group.

If you come a class please arrive a little before 7.00 pm, to join the monks doing evening chanting ~ an excellent preparation for your class. Indeed you are welcome to come any evening at 6 o’clock to listen to the chanting and join the monks in a 1/2 hour meditation practice.

The structure of a class is that after a short introductory talk by the teacher* (who you should come to regard as your meditation master) we will sit for a while, gradually extending the period of sitting, and then do some walking meditation (meditation isn’t all about sitting cross-legged on the floor) followed by a shorter period of sitting. After that we relax, have a cup of tea and talk. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask, either the teacher or one of the other class members may have a simple answer to a seemingly difficult problem that is hampering your progress.

From time to time your teacher may ask you to have a one-one reporting session with him where you can discuss your personal progress along the path.

* Your teacher at our meditation classes is Ajahn, so called because Ajahn is the Thai word for ‘Teacher’

Sitting

The traditional sitting meditation posture is as shown in this illustration.

It has to be said this isn’t a position that comes naturally to western bodies, particularly those of ‘more mature years’

If you can sit in a full lotus, do so, but equally, don’t force yourself into any position that causes extreme discomfort, as it will prevent you from applying full concentration to your practice. This doesn’t mean you should surround yourself with fully cushioned luxury, as you will then tend to fall asleep instead of concentrating! Like most things Buddhist, the middle way is best. Ask, or watch some of the other class members about alternative sitting positions.

If you need to sit on a chair, please say so, and don’t be embarrassed at doing so.

The most important thing is that, however you sit, you should feel you have good contact with the ground, and that your body & head should feel balanced. Try to imagine a vertical string running up your spine and out through the top of your head.

Where & when to sit. This of course applies to your meditation at home.

You should try to find somewhere away from the mainstream bustle of everyday living ~ often not an easy place to find in a modern home. You may wish to mark out your space in some way, even if only by keeping a mat and/or cushions just for your meditation. Some people construct a smaller version of our quite elaborate shrine room: on the other hand, zen meditators sit facing a blank wall. It really is up to you to find somewhere that suits both yourself and the rest of the household.  If you are alone in the house, you should turn on your telephone answering machine ~ and certainly switch your mobile phone off .

When to do your practice depends on your lifestyle and personal preferences. Some people like to get up early to do a practice before starting the day: others like to use meditation time as a distinct break between the working day and leisure time. Do try, as far as possible to set a regular time, but don’t get too hung up on it. Feeling you have to sit to meditate simply because the clock says so is not conducive to good practice. However don’t use this as an excuse to put it off until tomorrow, because, as the saying goes ‘tomorrow never comes’

How long to sit for? For a complete beginner 15 minutes can seem like a lifetime! Again, it isn’t good to force yourself to sit for too long a time just because you have told yourself you can stick it out. To begin with, better to sit for a shorter period you feel comfortable with, and increase your time gradually.

You should however aim for some fixed time, however long or short rather than sitting until you feel you have had enough. This is rather aimless, and the chances are you will reach this ‘had enough’ point sooner rather than later.

So how do you know when to stop? Don’t keep opening your eyes to have a peek at the clock ~ it will break your concentration. You should have some way of handing the timekeeping issue over to some external agency, leaving your mind free to concentrate on the practice. Some people find they have a built in inner clock that can time fairly accurately, and if you are one of those, you are very fortunate.

One way is to use a kitchen timer, but make sure you get one with a gentle ‘ping’ rather than a raucous alarm bell.

If you sit in a room with a CD player, there are numerous CDs on the market that consist of tracks of various lengths of silence marked at beginning and end by a bell sound, very similar to the one that Ajahn uses. Just Google ’Meditation Timer’ to find out where to get them from.

If you practice in a room with a computer, a number of websites offer (usually free) downloads of timing programmes. A good one is ‘BuddhaBell, available from www.harmonicsystems.net

 
The Purpose of Meditation
Even the smallest movement of your mouse over the picture will cause it to distort. Let the mouse go still and the disturbances fade away ~ just like your mind going still

The meditation we teach at Eastfield House is called Vipassanā, or Insight Meditation. Its purpose is to realise and recognise the ultimate truth about ourselves and the world about us

Before you can  do this, you first have to learn to clear the mind of all the everyday rubbish that clutters it up…...…’What must I do at work tomorrow…..what do I need to get from Sainsbury’s on the way home….mustn’t forget to feed the cat….’and so on.

Think about a lake, with the wind creating waves on the surface. The wind drops, and the waves die out until it suddenly seems that the water surface has vanished, and instead you are looking right into the reflected image.

It’s a bit like that: the water surface is your mind, the ripples on the surface are caused by the thoughts that flit through your head, and if you can stop them the mind becomes calm and you can see right into it.

The problem is that just like the water the mind is so easily disturbed. Even the realisation that you have made your mind still is often enough to disturb it again! You will get these random thoughts unless you concentrate on something really simple ~ and what could be simpler than your breathing? This is called Anapanasati, or Mindful Breathing. Your teacher will explain the technique of mindful breathing to you ~ the purpose of this guide is o give you some supplementary information rather than to teach the meditation itself………….

Like:  don’t worry if the everyday thoughts keep coming back. They will….again and again. Just try to concentrate on your breathing as your teacher tells you.

But then don’t concentrate too hard as, just like riding a bike, if you try too hard with furious concentration you will fall off! Just try to concentrate and relax at the same time.

Which brings us to:
Walking Meditation

Mindful Walking

By now you will have done a bit of walking practice. It is important to realise what you are doing ~ by being aware of what you should not be doing.

You are not issuing instructions for your legs to follow. If you do this you will end up like Wallace wearing The Wrong Trousers…..’Right goes thus—clump. Left goes thus—clump. ’Right goes thus—clump...etc in jerky movements.

What you should be doing is walking normally and paying full attention to what your feet are doing, exactly at the instant when they are doing it: not before, not after, but exactly in the moment. Think of a big cat stalking its prey ~ slowly but with a fluid movement, and that’s how you should walk.

You will be able to tell when your mind wanders off the subject, as you will almost certainly start to loose your balance.

And finally ~ standing still with your eyes shut without wobbling is quite hard. Walking with your eyes shut is even harder, so, keep your eyes open when walking.
In general:

Don’t be too ambitious by trying to do too much too soon. If you tell yourself you are going to crack meditation very quickly by sitting for an hour twice a day, for a month ~ you won’t. It’s a bit like learning to run a marathon. Lots of people, many of whom cannot be said to be particularly athletic, have learned to run 26 miles, but not all in one go ~ they start off with maybe only a few hundred yards, and when that seems easy, they gradually increase the distance.

Meditation has also been likened to playing a musical instrument ~ the instrument being your mind. To begin with the results aren’t very good, painful even, but if you practice a little and often, you become more skilful and the results are more melodious.

Accept the fact that success won’t come overnight. Don’t fall into the trap of telling yourself that you can’t do it because its too hard, because it isn’t, and you can. All you have to do is just sit down and do it, today…..and tomorrow…...and the day after……., etc  Simple really, but in other ways, so hard.

Often the hardest thing, particularly when sitting, is to learn to strike a balance between relaxing and nodding off!

If you are too tense your practice won’t work, and if you are too relaxed it certainly won,t work as you will fall asleep.

It is not necessary to develop concentration to the point of excluding everything else except the breath. Rather than to create a trance, the purpose here is to allow you to notice the workings of the mind, and to bring a measure of peaceful clarity into it. The entire process ~ gathering your attention, noticing the breath, noticing that the mind has wandered, and re-establishing your attention ~ develops mindfulness, patience and insightful understanding.

So don't be put off by apparent 'failure' ~ simply begin again. Continuing in this way allows the mind eventually to calm down.

If you get very restless or agitated, just relax. Practise being at peace with yourself, listening to ~ without necessarily believing in ~ the voices of the mind. If you feel drowsy, then put more care and attention into your body and posture. Refining your attention or pursuing tranquillity at such times will only make matters worse!