Make sure you are in a place that is relatively quiet and will probably remain free from distractions. You can give yourself a post-hypnotic suggestion, however, that any sound you hear will cause you to go deeper into meditation.
You also want the temperature to be fairly moderate. You can also practice noting and then letting go of bodily sensations, such as heat or cold, if the need arises.
Smells are important too. Some people like to burn a little incense, but don’t burn too much because smoke is toxic. If there is some bad smell in the environment, this may make it difficult to concentrate, so try to avoid such a place if possible.
As for lighting, you should dim the lighting first by turning off the lights and shutting the drapes, then by closing your eyes. You can also wrap a scarf around your head and pull it down over your eyes if that helps.
Concerning your sense of touch, you want to wear loose, soft clothing, but if some mild discomfort arises from your sitting position, you can just make a mental note of that, saying something like “discomfort,” and then let it go.
Position
First, close your lips and put your tongue gently on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Breathe gently through your nose without trying to control it. If it helps, you may sit on the edge of a chair with your back very straight and feet flat on the floor, your hands clasped together in your lap.
Another position is to sit cross-legged on the floor. If you’re flexible and won’t hurt your ankles or knees, then feel free to sit in the lotus posture used in yoga, also called padma asana.
In either of these cross-legged positions, if your back is not straight, then it’s acceptable to use a cushion underneath you until your back is straight.
It’s possible to stand for meditation. One position from Tai Chi is sometimes known as “holding the ball.” Place your feet shoulder-width apart with the toes slightly turned inwards. Sit back on your heels a bit and bend the knees. Then put your arms in front of you as if holding a beach ball a little wider than your chest. Point the palms of your hands to your third eye. With practice, the body will become very motionless, even when tired, and the joints will seem to lock in place. The complete Tai Chi form of movements is, of course, an excellent moving meditation. There are others, such as White Crane Chi Gong, etc.
Follow Breath
Place your awareness on the feeling of the breath going in and out of your nostrils. If your mind wanders to other thoughts or concerns just gently bring it back to awareness of the breath.
This is the primary method taught in Buddhism. Breath is a symbol of your life because you can go without food or water for various periods of time, but most people can’t live long without air.
Mantra
Instead of following the breath, which may be difficult for beginners to remain focused on, then the beginner can opt for repeating a mantra. “Om” is considered by both Hindus and Buddhists to represent the unstruck sound, which was present before the creation of the universe, and it is the release of the infinite power contained in this sound that gave birth to and sustains everything in the universe.
This sound is sometimes spelled “Aum” to call attention to the correspondence with Hindu cosmology where “A” equals initiating the sound and is representative of Brahma creating the universe. “U” equals sustaining the universe and represents Vishnu preserving the form of the universe. “M” equals destroying the universe and is used to indicate Shiva destroying the world at the end of time. Other mantras are possible.
My first mantra was “Ananda,” which means tranquility. You can also create your own mantras out of something simple, such as “relax” or some variation of it like “I’m relaxed” or “relaxing.”
How you say the mantra is also important. You don’t want to scream it to yourself, aloud or silently. You want to think it softly and move it into the background so that one day you can release it as you would a crutch that is no longer needed.
Counting
It’s said that unwanted thoughts usually come into your meditation when you are between inhaling and exhaling. If you often encounter this, then counting mentally as you breathe may thwart that. Say “one” to yourself on the inhale, “two” on the exhale and “three” when you’re resting before the next inhale.
Transfer of Consciousness
This is just a fancy way of saying to meditate while lying down. It’s called transfer of consciousness because of the belief that at the time of death, your spirit can be directed to leave out of the top of the head where it will then have a good chance of leading to a good incarnation or of becoming immortal. It is believed that one’s spirit also may variously be transferred into mountains, or other parts of nature.
Beads may be used to count repetitions of mantra. After a single repetition, the thumb climbs over one of the beads. The long strand usually has 108 beads. The first one hundred are there for counting; the last eight are for when your mind wandered and so aren’t really counted.
There is also one larger bead that you can feel when your eyes are closed that lets you know that you have completed the cycle. If you’re going to do more than a few hundred repetitions, there is another bead to be held in the other hand that has only 12 beads for each animal and year in the Asian zodiac.
After completing a round on the long strand of 108 beads, then your thumb climbs over one bead to indicate completing the first 108. Then you start counting on the long strand again, repeating the process as necessary.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning a Japanese Zen meditation story about a new monk who told the teacher that he was not able to sit with unfocused gaze. The master’s reply was that the novice was much better than himself. The meaning is that the techniques of meditation are not in and of themselves evidence of unity with the absolute. Most people have found the techniques of meditation easy but lasting unity has remained elusive.
