Question from a reader --
Hi Sebastian.After listening to your podcast appearance recently, I've become interested in meditation. I tried it a few times, but I'd like to read some more about it, to get myself into the mood and excited about it (I need that with things I want to do). But I don't like the new age or old-age religious stuff.Do you have any recommended books that focus on the focussing and the void, not on the new age chakra stuff?Thanks!S.
Actually, sadly, no.
Interestingly, I've also never read a book that gives a good starting primer on martial arts.
It's one of those activities that book learning, I think, won't give you too much. You just sit there and observe your breath. That's it. That's really the whole thing. But a few guidelines --
1. It more-or-less sucks when you start. It's not one of those things where you do it once and you see the benefits. No, you wind up sitting there and nothing is really happening, and you probably get bored or anxious, and then the timer ends. The benefits are life changing after some time passes, but are not obvious when you start.
2. That means that, sadly, if you're starting -- you're taking a leap of faith. You're saying, "Ok, a lot of other people say meditation is really worthwhile, I can see how it could be worthwhile, and people pretty consistently say you've just got to stick with it and keep at it for a while" -- and so you start, committing to doing it daily for, I don't know, at least a month?
3. Doing it every day is key. Five minutes is enough. Set an alarm, go for it.
4. What you do when you're meditating is you sit there, relax, and put your concentration on a single thing. The easiest is to close your eyes and focus on your breath, just simply the inhaling and exhaling. That's the whole thing, and you could just start there and figure the whole rest of it out with practice. But,
5. You'll find out very quickly that your mind wanders. When it does, just gently re-focus on your breath. The key is not to get upset or feel stupid. It took me quite a long time of doing it to realize not to even get upset at all, not to even "catch myself" -- but rather to just get back into it.
6. It was either Brian Sharp or Leo Babauta who explained to me a useful rule about meditation in Shizuoka -- if you want to quit, just acknowledge it and get back to meditating. If you want to quit, acknowledge it and get back to it. If you want to quit a third time, quit.
7. I recommend, when you're new to it, to meditate when you're close to peak state. Early in the morning, have all your energy, feeling good, etc. Another easy time is between sets at the gym to rest -- it seems like the physical activity makes it easier and less likely to be restless, at least for me. I think there's also gains to meditating when exhausted, tired, ill, etc, but don't start like that. It's totally unnecessary.
8. If you get the opportunity to, sit down with someone who has meditated for a while, ask them how they do it, and have them walk you through it in person. It's a very learned-through-doing type thing.
Beyond that, you just do it. You'll figure it out pretty quickly if you simply do it.
You can't really do it wrong. You decide you'll do it for at least a month, and do it ideally daily. You sit down, concentrate on a single thing, and when your concentration drifts and wavers, then you re-concentration. From this, many gains come.
Let me know how your experience goes, eh?