New Age Pondering: Meditation (part 4)

Meditation provides a way of learning how to let go. As we sit, the self we've been trying to construct and make into a nice, neat package continues to unravel

John Welwood

The following meditation techniques are particularly effective in the modern world. Anyone can use and benefit from them. They are watching the breath, using an object, and reciting a mantra.

The first method is very ancient and found in all schools of Buddhism. It is to rest your attention lightly and mindfully on the breath. The breath, or prana in Sanskrit, is said to be the vehicle of the mind because it is prana that makes our mind move. So when you calm the mind by working skillfully with the breath you are simultaneously and automatically taming and training the mind.

Haven't we all experienced how relaxing it can be when life becomes stressful to be alone for a few minutes and just breath in and out? Even such a simple exercise can help us a great deal.

So when you meditate, breathe naturally, just as you always do. Focus your awareness lightly on the out-breath. When you breathe out, just flow out with the out-breath. Each time you breathe out you are letting go and releasing all your grasping. Imagine your breath dissolving into the all pervading expanse of truth.

Each time you breath out and before you breath in again you will find there to be a natural gap as the grasping dissolves. Rest in that gap, in that open space, and when naturally you breathe in, don't focus especially on the in-breath, but go on resting your mind in the gap that is opened up.

When you are practicing, its important not to get involved in mental commentary, analysis, or internal gossip. Do not mistake the running commentary in your mind---now I'm breathing in, now I'm breathing out---for mindfulness.

What is important is pure presence.

Don't concentrate too much on the breath. Give it about 25 percent of your attention with the other 75 percent quietly and spaciously relaxed.

As you become more mindful of your breathing, you will find that you become more and more present. Gather all your scattered aspects back into yourself and become whole.

Rather than watching the breath, let yourself gradually identify with it as if you were becoming it. Slowly, the breath, the breather, and the breathing become one. Duality and separation dissolve.

You will find that this very simple process of mindfulness filters your thoughts and emotions. Then, as if you were shedding an old skin something is peeled off and freed.

Some people, however, are not relaxed or at ease with watching the breathing. They find it almost claustrophobic. For them, the next technique might be more helpful.

The second method, which many people find useful is to rest the mind lightly on an object. You can use an object of natural beauty that invokes a special feeling of inspiration for you, such as a flower or crystal, but something that embodies the truth, such as an image of Buddha, the Christ, or particularly, your master is even more powerful.

Your master is your living link with the truth, and because of your personal connection to your master, just seeing his or her face connects you to the inspiration and truth of your own nature.

Lightly set your attention on the object then leave your mind quietly at peace.

The third technique, used a great deal in Tibetan Buddhism, and also in Sufism, Orthodox Christianity, and Hinduism is uniting the mind with the sound of a mantra.

The definition of mantra is that which protects the mind, that which protects the mind from negativity, or that which protects you from your own mind is called mantra.

When you are nervous, disoriented, or emotionally fragile, chanting or reciting a mantra inspiringly can change the state of your mind completely by transforming its energy or atmosphere.

How is this possible? Mantra is the essence of sound and the embodiment of the truth in the form of sound. Each symbol is impregnated with spiritual power, condenses a spiritual truth, and vibrates the blessing of the speech of the Buddhas.

It is also said that the mind rides on the subtle energy of the breath, the prana which moves through and purifies the subtle channels of the body. So when you chant a mantra, you are charging your breath and energy with the energy of the mantra and so working directly on your mind and subtle body.

The mantra Soyar Rinpoche recommends to his students is om ah hung benza guru pema siddhi hung, which is the mantra of Padmasambhava, the mantra of all the Buddhas, masters, and realized beings, and so uniquely powerful for peace, for healing, for transformation, and for protection in this violent, chaotic age.