Meditation Easily

Dharmachari Seven

Bird perches on head of one of seven white resin statues on poles in Nice, 1/10/09. By Catalan artist Jaume Plensa in 2007, the statues in the shape of Buddha or a scribe light the night of changing colors representing the continents (AP/Lionel Cironneau).

Whether you're perched on a beam or a bird is perched on your bean, a meditative attitude will help. Take a deep breath, and let it go. Take two more to cleanse your emotionally frazzled nerve endings. Then focus.

Focus on the naturally occurring breath. That means, Don't breathe. Let the breath breathe. The body does it all by itself. Just observe. Practice letting go of control. Don't make it regular. Observe what it is. As the mind calms, the breath calms. There's no need to "calm" it.

You're practicing anapana sati (awareness of in-and-out breathing). You can intend that the breath be calm, but don't intervene. The breath only mirrors the mind. As you unclench, as you let go, as you observe without intervention, the breath naturally calms. You enter serenity the way a boat enters a harbor downstream on a large river.

As you focus, as you let go of everything but the breath as it reveals itself at the tip of your nostrils or upper lip (the "touching point"), you become tranquil.

This is Samatha meditation, the way to Samadhi (right concentration), a factor of the Noble Eightfold Path. A light arises known as the nimitta (counterpart sign). Stay with the breath. The light will soon replace the breath. The "light of wisdom" is a literal light corresponding to a mind purified by concentration.

A well concentrated (pacified, collected, and intensified) mind is useful for insight. It's indispensable for insight (vipassana). The mind turned toward ultimate materiality (rupa, "the particles of perception") and mentality (nama, "the constituents of consciousness") is able to see them only because of this intensification and purity. Concentration is precious, and it begins with the gentle and continuous awareness of the naturally occurring breath.

For more details, a book is forthcoming on the process of meditative absorption by WQ editors. Stay posted.