meditation

Hi Everyone,

If you want to try meditating with mindfulness meditation, you can earn a lot of E.C. by writing a little about your experience every day for a week.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. It is important to try to follow the directions of a good meditation instructor as well as you can. Ideally, you should refer to the instructions from our guest meditation instructor.

If you miss the visiting meditation instructor, you can learn the mindfulness meditation technique if you view this video by the Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, below. You should tell check in with me before you start to make sure you understand what you are supposed to do. (See also the attached handout from Jude Robison.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RZy-uITowY (7:39)

The Sakyong is the teacher who leads the Shambhala lineage of Buddhism, so he is the teacher of the teachers who direct Shambhala Centers all around the world, including the Philadelphia Shambhala Center. However, this technique requires no system of belief to work. The Sakyong has also written best-selling books on meditation and appeared on Oprah.

2. Meditate consistently for at least a week (every day) or for a few weeks (every other day), and then write down a few sentences after every time you meditate. Most people need at least 10-15 minutes a day to feel the benefits. When you are writing, just be honest and say what you notice, if anything. Most people have a somewhat zigzag experience just as people have good and bad days with, e.g. running or biking etc. (It’s okay to be unable to meditate sometimes due to fatigue or sickness etc. You can make up for it the next day.)

3. Every time that you practice, write a few sentences about what you notice that changes. For most people, there will be subtle changes and gradual changes.

4. Hand in a hard copy any day up until the last day of classes this semester.

ADVICE: If you have only 10 minutes in the morning or evening, you could try to practice mindfulness meditation before sleep for 10 minutes and then 10 minutes when you wake up. For most people, the best and clearest time to meditate with the mindfulness technique is before you have breakfast, especially if you have a good quiet place to be undisturbed. You can feel less self-conscious and more relaxed that way.

It will help if you put away or turn off all devices so you have a small block of time that is truly yours. You could think of this time as a gift to yourself. If you have screens around you distracting you while you try to meditate, it is unlikely that you will be able to feel the benefits of meditation.

Even as a beginner in meditation, you may notice more relaxation (stress reduction), mental clarity, focus, memory, concentration (nondistraction), better posture, coordination, prioritization skills, more appreciation of little things, less reactivity to stressors (people who get on your nerves may not have the same impact as usual). Some people notice better sleep, vivid dreams, and so on. In the long run, one can develop a stronger ability to experience happiness in the present moment. Many other beneficial things may happen.

Please remember to follow the mindfulness meditation instructions. If you don’t follow the instructions, you may not get the benefits of meditating. You wouldn’t believe that you were weight training for strength if you had no weights. So don’t imagine meditating will help you if you just zone out in a chair. It should be a fairly relaxed activity, but it is not just zoning out. You are training your mind to be present with yourself, your experience of the now, which is your life. The more at home you can be with yourself, the better you can feel about everything else. The idea is not that suddenly everything is great, but one can gradually learn to be more mindful, aware, clear and present. From the simplest of good things, just appreciating being alive, many more good things can follow.

If you are a creative person, it is possible that more creative parts of your consciousness will open up for you. This could be very dramatic for some people. Like working with your dreams, this practice can open many surprising and powerful places in your consciousness as a creative person. It will probably also make you more aware of your own feelings. Most people have far more creative abilities than they use.

This fundamental practice is used in many kinds of meditation paths. It is also used in business, industry, sports, and so on. People who want to keep meditating seriously should find a local meditation center and/or instructor. Sometimes there is a student meditation group at TU. You might want to look for it, or you can start your own! Colleges and universities sometimes offer courses in meditation at recreation centers, gyms, etc., and sometimes there are classes for credit that go into more depth.

Please email me with questions if you have any! Dr. Lee PS: If you are a runner, and if you have a meditation practice going well, you can try running with the mind of meditation. Then please view the instructions here by the Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mwk5uM62h8 (6:28)