Meditation
Basics – Theory and Practice
Steven J. Gold
spiritualessens@gmail.com
There is no substitute for
obtaining in-person meditation instruction from a teacher who is receiving
guidance through an established meditation tradition/lineage. However, for
those who do not have easy access for such instruction, I offer this little
self-help written version. There are many different meditation techniques and
variations to those techniques, but for the sake of brevity, I am limiting
these descriptions to one primary practice and slight variations to that
practice that I have learned through my yoga tradition and experimented with
over the years. This practice is generally categorized as a silent, internal,
receptive practice, as distinct from many other meditation and contemplation
practices that involve other elements, such as using external aids, chanting,
guided visualizations, etc. I believe this practice provides an excellent
foundation that can serve as a springboard for other practices, and can be
utilized with Sanskrit or Hebrew mantras or internal visualizations. The focus
here is on the utilization of mantras. However, if sounds, colors or images
come forward of their own accord during a meditation session, they may
certainly be worthwhile tools for focusing one’s inner attention.
Why Meditate? I always start my normal
meditation classes asking the members of the class to introduce themselves and
say something about their background and their interest in meditation. The most
common responses include that people want to learn to relax, de-stress, quiet
down their noisy minds. Meditation will do all of that and more. It will help
you address an inner call/yearning to connect with the spiritual essence that
resides within us all. When that inner essence is contacted and magnified, the
other benefits will follow, including becoming a more productive participant in
everyday life.
Posture. “Head, neck and trunk in a
straight line”. My spiritual father, Swami Rama, never tired of saying this.
There are a variety of seated positions that accomplish this. The most
important point is to get the body in a position with this basic alignment that
is comfortable, so that bodily discomfort is not creating a distraction. In
this form of meditation, the primary concern is to leave bodily awareness and
external sensation behind, which can only be accomplished if the body is
comfortable and not a cause for distraction. (Zen meditation is quite
different, where bodily and external sensory awareness is heightened. In
contrast, the traditional yoga meditation involves withdrawing awareness from
external sensation, freeing up this energy to focus within). It is also
emphasized in this traditional yoga practice that the aligned head, neck and
trunk need to be perpendicular to the ground, so lying down is not an option.
The question is often raised about “why not lying down?”. The simple answer is
that you would be prone to falling asleep. Another answer is that there is
something meditatively beneficial to having the body aligned perpendicular to
the ground. There are other yoga practices that employ the body lying down,
such as progressive relaxation exercises and yogic sleep (yoga nidra), but it
is not recommended for meditation. For those who can sit comfortably on a
cushion on the floor in one of the cross-legged yoga meditation postures, that
is recommended. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into the
variations on the cross-legged postures, but the most important point remains
for the body to be comfortable. Most people need a cushion of some height,
placed under the base of the spine (but not the legs) depending upon the physical
make-up of the person, to raise up the hips so that the lower back is
comfortably straightened without undue effort.
If sitting cross-legged is not comfortable, then sitting
in a firm chair is the next best choice. A second important aspect, even if seated
in a chair, is to do so in a manner in which the posture itself supports the
back, without the back leaning on anything else, like the back of the chair.
So, if utilizing a chair, sit forward, away from the back, and find a
comfortable posture with the head, neck and truck aligned. It is helpful for
the feet to be comfortably touching the ground with the soles planted on the
ground, for the thighs to be roughly parallel to the ground and the lower legs
to be roughly perpendicular to the ground. For short people whose feet dangle
from a normal chair, use cushions under the feet. For tall people whose height
prevents the thighs from being parallel to the ground and the lower legs from
being perpendicular to the ground at the same time, stretch the legs out in
front until the thighs are parallel to the ground and cross the legs at the
ankles, preferably right ankle over left. If for any reason it is not
comfortable to sit cross-legged on the ground or on a chair without external
support to the back, then use whatever support for the back that will make you
comfortable.
Concerning the arms, hands and fingers, there are various
positions that can be utilized, but again, the over-riding principle is for the
body to be comfortable and not a distraction. Hands palm down or palm up on the
thighs is fine. A variation involves touching the tips of the thumbs with the
tips of the index fingers, either palms up or down, resting on the thighs. A
traditional Buddhist position for the hands is with the right hand resting in
the palm of the left hand in the lap, palms facing up.
There are a few more subtle aspects to bodily positioning
worth noting. Concerning the head, there is something in yoga called the “chin
lock”. If someone asked you to slightly nod your head “yes”, the chin lock
would be the position of the head in the downward position of the nod, with the
chin just slightly pointing down and a little in. This little maneuver is very
beneficial. The jaw should be relaxed, with the lips lightly sealed, the teeth
comfortably separated, and the tongue gently touching the upper palate. There
is also something called the “anal lock”. This is described as slightly
squeezing in on the anal sphincter, which also accomplishes tightening up on
the perineum, the area between the anus and the genitals. Another method to
accomplish this perineal pressure is to employ the cross-legged position of
“siddhasana” whereby the heel of the left foot is positioned so that it is
applying pressure to the perineum, with the heel of the right foot placed on
top of the heel of the left foot. Sitting on a small additional cushion placed
at this region also provides this added pressure to the perineum.
Sense Withdrawal. As
discussed above, this meditation technique is designed to aid in withdrawing
the expenditure/dissipation of energy through the external senses, and redirect
this energy within, to aid in the unfoldment of inner dimensions. When
employing the senses in engagement with external phenomena, a great deal of
energy is involved. In this practice, the eyes are gently closed, thus easily
eliminating the sensory expenditure involved with sight. (There are other
techniques that involve keeping the eyes open, but that is beyond the scope of
this article). Some yoga schools employ the use of ear plugs or other
procedures to physically minimize the operation of external hearing. However,
it is easy enough to assure that you meditate in a quiet space not likely to
have intrusions of visual or auditory stimuli. (There are techniques employing the
use of external sound, either introduced from an independent source or uttered
by the meditator, but again, they are beyond the scope of this article). It is
also easy enough to select a space not prone to strong odors, minimizing
exposure to stimulating smells; and it is recommended that you meditate on an
empty stomach for many reasons, including that by doing so, there is little
chance of any lingering tastes in the mouth that may provide a distraction.
(There are practices that incorporate pleasing fragrances from burning incense
or aromatic oils, but they are also beyond the scope of this article. I do not
know of any practice that encourages meditating right after eating – the
digestion process can be distracting, and diverts energy that would otherwise
be available for the meditative process performed on an empty stomach).
Concerning touch, positioning of the body in a still, comfortable posture as
addressed above minimizes the sensations of touch.
It is worth noting that for
every external sensation, there is a corresponding internal sensation that may
be experienced during meditation and may help provide a point of inner focus.
For sight, there is inner light, colors, images, visions; for hearing, there is
inner sound and music; for taste, there is inner flavor such as a taste of
nectar/ambrosia; for smell, there is inner fragrance; and inner touch usually
takes the form of a sensation of inner heat, although other inner touch
sensations are possible. While these inner sensations may be pleasant and
assist with inner focus, they are not to be considered the goal of meditation,
but only guideposts and tools along the way.
Breathing. There are many significant
aspects to breathing as related to meditation. In the normal four-week course
on meditation that I teach, I spend one full two-hour session just on this
topic. For the sake of brevity here, I will emphasis the basics. Although there
are other techniques that promote exhaling through the mouth, this practice
emphasizes breathing only through the nostrils on both inhalation and
exhalation. So to accomplish nostril-only breathing, during this technique the
lips should remain gently sealed. Breathing should be at a comfortable and
natural pace, allowing the bodily intelligence and needs to set the rhythm. It
should be done diaphragmatically, coordinating the movement of the abdomen and
solar plexus area with the breath: the abdomen/solar plexus region gently expanding
during inhalation and gently contracting during exhalation. This is deep but
gentle breathing, utilizing the internal diaphragm muscle located in the lower
rib cage/solar plexus region, as distinct from utilizing expansion of the
chest. Only the lower portion of the rib cage should expand and contract just a
little to assure optimum use of the diaphragm and minimum use of the chest. There
should be no extended pauses between inhalation and exhalation, just a natural
continuous flow with that split second of suspension as it transitions from
inhalation to exhalation, like the waves of the ocean coming onto the beach,
turning, receding out, then turning and flowing in again. The breath should be
smooth through the duration of each inhalation and exhalation, without any
halting or jerkiness. Visualize with each inhalation that your body is like an
empty glass being filled with the breath, first pouring down to the bottom and
filling it up as it goes. Likewise, with each exhalation, the glass is emptied
first from the top (being pushed up and out from the bottom), with the last bit
of exhalation coming from the bottom. A slight variation is to visualize/sense a
circuit of energy flowing into the body and up the spine during inhalation, and
flowing out and down the front of the body during exhalation, creating a
circuit running up the spine and out through the nose and down the front of the
body, then up the spine again, and so on. A further visualization is to imagine
the release of stresses, toxins and obstructions with each exhalation, and
replacing those with nurturance, healing and well-being with each inhalation.
Focal Points for the Journey
Within. Once you are settled into your seated posture and have
closed your eyes, begin to focus on the breathing as described above. To assist
with establishing a comfortable breathing rhythm, first focus attention on the gentle expansion
and contraction of the abdomen/solar plexus region coordinated with the
inhalation and exhalation of the breath. Once a steady, comfortable rhythm is
established, move the focal point to the tip of the nose, and observe the
sensation of the breath as it moves in and out through the nostrils. This
process aids in relaxation and moving your awareness from bodily awareness to
breath awareness and the more subtle awareness of the life force (“prana” in
yoga, “ruach” in kabala) that rides with the breath.
Several hours of my normal
eight-hour meditation class focuses on the interplay between functions and
nature of the mind, states of consciousness and emotions, all as related to the
meditative journey within. Again for the sake of brevity here, I will discuss
just the basic points. The mind has many functions, one of which is to serve as
the seat of identity, of the sense of separate egoic self. This sense of
identity is capable of inner mobility, so to speak; it can move through the
various layers/levels that comprise the separate being. At the outermost layer,
we are a physical body and identify with that body. Next in is the
breath/pranic layer discussed above. Further in is the layer of lower mind,
followed by higher mind/intellect, followed by the innermost subtle layer of
spirituality beyond mind/breath/body. Our total identity includes all of these
layers and more – we are conscious beings composed of body, breath, mind,
emotion, and spirit.
In addition to the various functions
of the mind and layers of the being, there is also an interplay of our sense of
identity with emotional states and states of consciousness. The lower emotional
states relate to the lower heart tied to our most basic primal instinct of
self-preservation and its associated drives/needs for food, sleep and sensual
gratification (pursuit of pleasure, avoidance of pain). Higher emotional states
relate to the higher heart that is the source of spiritual yearning and Divine
Love, and the urge to express Beauty and Love.
There are four basic states of
consciousness: waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and the state beyond and
underlying all other states (in yoga called “turiya”, the fourth state). There
are also three transitional states of consciousness lying between the four
basic states: in between waking and dreaming is the state of
fantasy/imagination; in between dreaming and dreamless sleep is the state of
spiritual vision/prophecy; and in between dreamless sleep and the fourth state
is the state in yoga called yoga nidra/yogic sleep. These states are also described in kabala. Our sense of
identity is capable of shifting its focus between these various aspects of our
being. This meditation technique is designed to assist one in a journey within,
whereby the sense of identity locates these various inner aspects to one’s
being.
Once the attention is steadied
on the movement on the breath at the point at the tip of the nostrils, you are
ready to introduce a mantra, if you would like, either a breath-coordinated
mantra or otherwise, or continue the meditation without a mantra. You may also
move your focus of attention from the tip of the nostrils to either the “third
eye” point between and above the eyebrows (the center of the mind), or the
region of the heart (the center of the emotions). Moving your focus of
attention is similar to moving your sense of identity. The idea is to locate
the higher quiet mind or the higher quiet heart and rest your
attention/identity in one place or the other. The lower heart and lower mind
are very noisy and chatty, creating a seemingly never-ending
emotionally-charged inner soundtrack/dialogue that seems to never shut up. That
is what many people who come to mediation class ask about, how to quiet this
inner noise. By locating and maintaining the focus on the quiet higher inner
heart or quiet higher inner mind, or both, the chattering starts to cease or at
least recede into the background. Mantras are tools that aid in this process of
connecting with the quiet inner heart or mind, but if you are not comfortable
with utilizing a mantra, you can just continue to sit without utilizing one,
and just remain open to what may come up from within, hopefully connecting with
a place of inner peace and quiet. The image I often use is that of a hurricane:
the eye of the hurricane remains calm, even while the bustle surrounding it
continues. Meditation is about locating and remaining with our inner eye of
peace and serenity.
There are two basic techniques
in internalized mantra practice, by which the sounds are intoned only within,
without any externalized vocalizations. One technique involves coordination of
the intonation of the mantra sounds with the breath, and the other involves
rapid repetition of a mantra without breath coordination. Specific descriptions
of how to utilize mantras in either of these techniques is provided in the
book, Yoga and Judaism (first and
second editions), and in other articles on this blog and a sister blog,
yajcenter.blogspot.com (Yoga and Judaism Center). I particularly commend the
reader to a related article on this blog entitled “Universal Mantras – Adonai
Hineni and So hum”, which describes basic breath-coordinated practices of
particular potency utilizing a Hebrew mantra, and also a similar yoga/Sanskrit mantra.
At some point, the identity,
with or without the aid of a mantra/spiritual sound moves even further
within/beyond, to the place of the silent, subtle, spiritual realm that is the
origin of all – the origin of all sound, of the mind, of the heart and of all
internal and external phenomena. The Source of Creation of All is directly
perceived, a sense of the process whereby everything arises out of the realm of
the Absolute/Potentiality/Unmanifest into the realm of the
Relative/Actuality/Manifestation and then back again. The process of Creation,
Sustenance and Dissolution is beheld. Perhaps your sense of identity/self even
disappears for a while. This is what in yoga is called “samadhi” and what in
kabala is called “yichud” or “bitul”, where there is a merger/absorption of
individual identity with the Source of All. A profound sense of inner peace,
serenity, bliss, balance, equilibrium ensues.
Eventually, if you keep at it
long enough, this profound sense of inner peace attained through regular silent
seated meditation stays with you, and you can take it with you into the
external world of everyday activity. That is what is called “meditation in
action”. You will become a more centered, peaceful, yet dynamic and productive
participant and contributor to everyday life, and experience a deep sense of
fulfillment and existential meaning and purpose. So now we have come full
circle and have concluded with the answer to the question posed at the
beginning, “Why meditate?”
A Few Last Details. Recommended time: 20 to 30
minutes, twice a day, on an empty stomach; best first thing in the morning, and
either late afternoon before supper, or before bed-time. Locate a quiet place
in your residence for meditation sessions, and commit to doing your sessions
regularly. Meditation practice has a cumulative effect if done regularly. If
not done regularly, the effect is diminished. It is that simple. The above are
optimal conditions, but meditation can be done in a variety of less than
optimal settings, including on buses, trains, planes, airline terminals, etc.
Bon voyage!
