Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [143]
Mindfulness practice is also an effective way of helping us deal with our feelings and develop our “emotional intelligence.” We become aware of our feelings as they arise in the moment; we experience them without suppressing or denying them. In this way, we have the space and perspective to choose how we can best relate to them. Meditation allows us to be more in touch with our feelings without being driven or controlled by them.
Many people say that meditation practice is what keeps them feeling balanced and sane. That’s because meditation helps us watch the mind, without clinging, beyond the bounds of desire and aversion. It is an exercise in, and an expression of, integration and centering. This is basic sanity. This is a natural remedy for the frustration and anxiety that is inherent in the scattered, fragmented lives so many of us lead. Tension, fear, and stress don’t come from outside. These are internal weather conditions we ourselves produce. Try to let go of everything for a moment. Take a deep breath. Relax. Become more receptive, permissive, aware. Soften up. Give yourself a break.
I travel a lot, and I find that meditation is a great way to get where I’m going. Let’s say the plane is winging at six hundred miles an hour high over the Atlantic. I stop, take a breath; smile, breathe out, and let go. Anybody can do this anywhere, for any amount of time, without believing in anything. The passenger next to me doesn’t even notice. No one knows what I am doing, and no one cares. But the Buddhas know, and I know, and we are in agreement. This is enough.
I find it quite natural to do instant One-Minute Meditations—which I amuse myself by calling quickies—twenty-five to one hundred times a day. My Dzogchen masters said, “Many quickies rather than few longies.” In this way we can keep our awareness fresh and vivid.
Meditation is not about duration, but about quality time. If it’s just for a brief moment, it’s almost like lighting a candle on an altar or seeing a shooting star. If it’s for half an hour, it can become a deep contemplative practice. If we’re distracted or harried, it helps us relax, calm down, and focus. If we’re overheated or speedy, it feels like a cool fresh breeze on a sweltering hike, helping us center and return to the present moment. If we’re bored, restless, full of doubt or uncertainty, it helps heighten and sharpen our awareness, clarify and stabilize the mind.
DO-IT-YOURSELF MEDITATION
People often ask me for specific guidelines on how to meditate. They sometimes want to know if they can teach themselves how to meditate. Since meditation is a fluid and open process, there are very few absolutes. However, there are some techniques and helpful hints that centuries of meditators have found useful.
SETTING UP CONDITIONS
CONDUCIVE TO MEDITATION
Accomplished meditation masters can meditate in the middle of a traffic island in Times Square, New York City, but even they usually prefer quiet and solitude. When you are first learning to meditate, and your mind still has a tremendous tendency to wander, it’s best to follow some general guidelines:
Find a peaceful place to meditate, where there are few external distractions, preferably a place without television, radios, children, or phones. As much as possible choose a spot where you feel emotionally comfortable and safe, far removed from stress and pressure. If you can’t look at your desk without feeling work-related anxieties, don’t try to meditate in your office. Make an effort to keep your environment as simple as possible. Zen students learn to meditate in rooms or gardens remarkable in their stark simplicity. Nature can often provide a suitable site. The Buddha meditated both by a river and under a tree. You might prefer a hilltop, a rooftop, or the shoreline on a sandy beach.
Try to keep the temperature comfortable and not overly warm. You want to stay cool, calm, and alert. A