What is one supposed to do while meditating?

You might want to pm @thorninmud specifically about zazen, which I understand to be different from the form of meditation that I practice (Vipassana or insight meditation). Gil Fronsdal has a great 6-part intro class online in mp3 format if you are ever interested in this type of meditation. Note: This is the type of “mindfulness meditation” that is the basis for Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR.

@tom_g I’m thinking @thorninmud can smell a Zen question and will come around.

That is, indeed, the question. If (and it will regularly( your mind wanders a mile down the road, simply observe it without comment or criticism. Then return to nothingness.

@gailcalled That’s what I was working on. I’m thinking some of this study will help me calm the troubled waters of my mind.

sniff, sniff

What makes meditation “meditation” is that it involves a disciplined application of attention. The actual way the attention is applied will vary from form to form, and most traditions have a range of practices that use attention in different ways. They can look quite different from each other, but invariably at their core there’s steady attention.

Attention is like the mind’s “light”, the faculty by which reality is revealed. Like light, it can be directed at various targets or allowed to spread diffusely. Like light, it can vary in intensity. The world you perceive will be shaped by the quality of attention shining on it.

When undisciplined, it tends to constantly jump from target to target, and its preferred targets are the mind’s stream of thoughts and chatter. In this mode, it ends up stitching together a fractured picture of reality composed of a collection of objects and overlaid by a haze of mental noise.

Newcomers to Zen meditation are typically given a breath meditation, so the “target” of the attention is the breath. This may involve counting the breaths (as a way of making sure the attention really is engaged with the breath) or may be just bare, unmediated attention to the breath (considerably harder). In any case, the task is to maintain a steady awareness, with the breath in the center of that field of awareness.

Here, you’re using the attention in “beam” mode. Like a spotlight directed at a performer on stage, the attention illuminates the breath brightly, leaving everything else relatively unattended to. You’ll be peripherally aware of other sensations and thoughts coming and going, but the more you lavish attention on the breath, the less assertive they’ll be.

Inevitably, though, the attention will get snagged by a passing thought or emotion and pulled away from the breath (which, let’s face it, isn’t a very engaging target). Here’s the key: as soon as you realize that this has happened, let the thought go and return to the breath. This will happen constantly in the beginning (and the “beginning” can last quite awhile). It can be really frustrating, but console yourself that this isn’t a situation where unbroken attention is “good” and frequent diversions are “bad”. The only thing that matters is your diligence in recognizing the diversions and bringing the attention back to task. The only failure is giving up.

Don’t neglect your posture in all this. Especially, keep the back and head erect, stretched up to your full (if modest) height. Open up the whole front surface of your trunk; make your chest and belly bloom forward; shoulders back, down and relaxed. Keep your eyes slightly open, but oriented downward.

This seems like a big “to do” list, but it all really boils down to this: lose yourself in the breath. Get fully absorbed in it. All the other stuff is just there to make that easier.

One more question, if I may, O Master Thorny? Is there a special way to breathe? In through the nose, down to the diaphragm, and out through the nose? or mouth?

Nose is best, barring congestion, of course.

The orthodoxy goes something like this: the breath should be powered from the belly, not the chest. Cycle the breath completely, so that the exhalation goes a little bit into “push” territory.

But the fact is that most of this stuff will take care of itself as a consequence of putting your attention on the breath. You may start your session with rapid, shallow, chesty breathing (all symptoms of anxiety), but as you relax into the steady attention your breath will slow, deepen, and move down into your belly all by itself.

So, since you’re already having to get used to a lot of new things here (on top of your usual stressors), maybe just let the breath find its own way. One less thing for you to worry about.

I’ll add a short post.

When I was learning meditation, I was taught to concentrate on the spot where my breath enters my nostrils.

Quick tip on following the breath – you might find instructions about “following without controlling” the breath. That is, you are supposed to “breathe normally”. I found that early on when I was attempting to merely follow the breath, I would invariably control it and find that something as automatic as breathing was becoming something I couldn’t stop being conscious of, which would lead me to “schedule” breaths. After much struggle with this, I spoke with a meditation instructor who said that I might want to try to let go of my idea of wanting the breath to be “natural”. Just be ok with the fact that I might be controlling it a bit (or a lot). I found that there was actually something to learn from the experience of controlling the breath. Allowing that to happen also worked to actually allow myself to periodically stop controlling the breath, which says a lot (to me) about how I can struggle my way into exactly the thing I was trying to avoid in the first place. So, in a way, I allowed my focus to be on the attachment to this “natural” breath, which allowed me to explore all of the anxiety and frustration that comes with such an activity.

Anyway, my rambling will probably only make sense if you have any trouble with the breath and keeping it “natural”.

Meditate I suppose…

Think of having a balloon in your belly. When you inhale, the balloon expands; when you exhale it collapses. That’s called….yay…belly breathing. it’s easiest to do initially while lying on your back. It’s operatic breathing and counterintuitive to the shallow breathing that we tend to do normally.

While lying on your back, put a hand on your belly and inhale. Your belly should expand or rise. As you exhale, the belly deflates.

You can then do that easily while sitting. It is useful to try anywhere but behind the wheel of your car. INnstead of reading magazines or fretting while waiting to see my doctor, i do the breathing. It gives me a lower set of B/P numbers.

Don’t worry about nostrils or mouth for the moment.

Mastering the skill called “notice and return”.