Quote from OncoTip: Meditation

Meditation is a good technique to help with stress reduction and pain management. It is an easy technique to learn and to reap the full benefits, you perform meditation once or twice a day for 10-20 minutes. It can be practiced in a variety of places including work, home and in the hospital. Meditation originated in the Eastern religions and was used for calming and focusing the mind. There are many ways to practice meditation and each individual develops their own style and preferences.

Extracted from OncoTip: Meditation

There are free books available to those interested in learning Buddhism meditation at Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre.

If you wish to learn Buddhism meditation, please check out on meditation classes conducted at the Amitabha Buddhist Centre.

Please click here to learn Walking Meditation.

Buddhism Meditation taught by Venerable Sangye Khadro

• Meditation On The Breath
• What is Mindfulness?
• How to Practise Mindfulness?
• The Seven-Point Posture For Meditation
• Using A Chair

Begin by sitting in the Seven-Point Posture, and relax your body. Let your breathing be natural; let your breath flow in and out in a natural rhythm.

Have a positive motivation for mediation, e.g. "I am going to do this meditation in order to benefit myself and others." Decide that for the duration of the session you will keep your attention on the object of concentration in order to fulfill this purpose. (As for the duration of the session, beginners should start off by meditating for 10-15 minutes. You can gradually increase the length of your meditation session as your practice improves.)

Now focus on the object of concentration : the tips of your nostrils, where you can feel a slight sensation as the breath enters and leaves your body. Keep your mind, your attention at this place, on this sensation, for each inhalation and exhalation of your breath. Bring your mind back to this place each time it wanders away.

Counting in order to keep your mind concentrated, it is helpful to count your breaths. Each full inhalation and exhalation of the breath counts as one. Count up to ten breaths, then start again at one. If your mind wanders in the middle of counting up to ten, go back and start again at one. Keep counting your breaths in rounds of ten, and bringing the mind back to the breath each time it wanders away.

It is normal for thoughts to arise in your mind. Just let them come and let them go. Don抰 be bothered by them. Learn to keep your concentration on your breath and ignore the thoughts, in the same way that you would ignore outside sounds when you are concentrating on reading or studying a book, or watching TV. It may be helpful to think of your mind as being like the sky, and thoughts like clouds. Clouds come and go in the sky - they are not permanent, they do not stay long. In the same way, thoughts come and go in the clear space of our mind. If we can just ignore them, not let ourselves be bothered by them or caught up thinking them, they will disappear on their own.

Be content to stay in the present. Accept whatever frame of mind you are in and whatever arises in your mind, good or bad. Be free of expectation, clinging and frustration. Have no wish to be somewhere else, to be doing something else, or even to feel some other way. Be content, just as you are.

When you have finished meditating, mentally dedicate the merit, or positive energy, of doing the meditation to the benefit of yourself and others.

The word mindfulness can mean different things to different people. Here, it means awareness, being aware of what is happening in each moment. Often we are not aware, not mindful. For example, while doing something ordinary like riding the bus to work or washing the dishes, our mind may be somewhere else, lost in past memories or fantasizing about the future. Our body is in one place doing something, but our mind is somewhere else, doing something else. We are not aware of the present, not aware of what our body or our mind are doing. This is lack of mindfulness, and it can be dangerous - if you are not mindful when driving a car or operating a machine, you could have an accident!

In the practice of meditation, mindfulness is important. We need to be mindful, or aware, of what our body is doing, what our mind is doing. Otherwise, we might fall asleep without realizing it, or lose our concentration on the object of meditation, e.g. the breath, and get caught up thinking about other things such as our work, family, or future plans. In meditation, we need to keep our mind focused or concentrated on the object of the meditation, and bring the mind back to that object each time it wanders away. Mindfulness plays an essential role in this - it enables us to know whether or not our mind really is concentrated.

Also, mindfulness enables us to detect the rise of disturbing or negative states of mind, such as anger or irritation, worry or anxiety, attachment or desire, pride or jealousy. If any of these arise in our mind, they disturb the mind and can lead us to behave in unskillful ways that are harmful to others as well as to ourselves. With mindfulness, we will be able to notice these when they arise, and then we can do something about them so that they do not take control of our mind, and out lives!

While practising a meditation such as the meditation on the breath, our mind naturally becomes more quiet and clear, making it easier to be aware of what is happening in our mind: thoughts, emotions, mental images, etc.. We will also become more aware of sensations in our body: feelings of heat, cold, hunger, pain, twitching or itching, etc.. These are all normal occurrences, and we should maintain a neutral attitude towards them, neither liking nor disliking any of them. Nor should we allow our mind to become distracted by or involved in them such that we lose our focus on our breathing. We should bring the mind back to the breath each time it becomes distracted to another experience. In this way we develop concentration as well as mindfulness, or awareness.

Another method for developing mindfulness is to make mental "notes" as to the nature of what occurs in our mind while we are meditating. This involves having one part of your mind play the role of a spy. Most of your mind should be focused on the object of meditation - the breath - but one small part of your mind, like a corner of your mind, should be on the lookout for other things that happen in your mind, such as thoughts, feelings, etc.. For example, if the thought of a friend or relative may arise in your mind, you make the mental note "thinking about my friends" or even just "thinking". If a feeling or emotion arises in your mind you label it: "feeling irritated" or "feeling restless" or "feeling sad" or "feeling bored". If there is a strong sensation in your body that you become aware of, label it : "feeling pain" or "feeling hot" or "feeling hungry". After making the mental label, let go of the other experience and bring your mind back to the breathing. These thoughts, ! feelings and sensations are impermanent - they come and go in the mind and do not remain for long. If we can simply notice them, then "let go" or ignore them and carry on with our meditation, concentrating on the breath, they will go away by themselves.

• Legs :
  Cross the legs in whatever way is most comfortable. It is also OK to meditate sitting in a chair, provided you keep your back straight.
  
  
• Arms :
  Let your hands rest on your lap, with the right on top of the left, palms facing upwards and fingers aligned. The tips of the thumbs touch, forming a triangle above your hands. Relax your shoulders and keep you arms slightly away from your sides.
  
  
• Back :
  Keep your back very straight, as if your vertebrae were like a stack of coins.
  
  
• Eyes :
  It is best to keep the eyes slightly open, with gaze directed downwards.
  
  
• Jaw :
  Keep your jaw relaxed, teeth slightly apart, lips together.
  
  
• Tongue :
  Place the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the upper teeth.
  
  
• Head :
  Your chin and head should be bent slightly downward.