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Jain Meditation - A Practical Guide For Beginners

 

By Chitrabhanuji

 

Place : First, find a quiet corner in your house where you can meditate. Make it a plain and simple place with a little fresh air and very little noise. Pick a spot where you feel relaxed and comfortable. To avoid distractions many people just use a simple wall in their meditation spot. Or you may want to place a beautiful picture there, or a graceful vase with a single flower, or another inspiring image. Any arrangement or painting should be symmetrical and peace-giving. Modern paintings which are distorted or very stimulating may be good at other times, but not during meditation. The picture reflects on the brain cells and they pick up what is in front of you. That is why the statues in temples are so beautiful and peaceful, with serene faces and sweet smiles. They create an atmosphere of peace, as you should do in choosing your place of meditation.

Time : Next, select one special time each day for your meditation. It may be in the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening; it does not matter what time of the day as long as you have time for yourself and no other duties to perform just then so that you will not be disturbed. If you are busy with other things when you meditate, your mind will be loaded or bombarded with all your obligations. So make a peaceful time for yourself. Decide that you are entitled to twenty-four minutes a day just for you. Aren't you entitled to allow yourself one minute of peace each hour of the day? If you feel that it is absolutely impossible for you to find twenty-four minutes in a day, this does not suggest that meditation is not for you, but that meditation is a necessity for you. If our priorities are so arranged that you cannot carve out a brief period each day to come to yourself, your priorities need reordering.

You may give the rest of the day to your family, your friends, your business or your work, but give the gift of this time for meditation to yourself. It is a time to be with yourself. Forget about what you gain or don't gain. This thought itself creates tension and there can be no attention when there is tension. Give freely to yourself this gift of time and remind yourself that for these twenty-four minutes you have nothing to do. These are a few minutes of leisure and pleasure, simply to feel what you feel inside.

If you choose the same time every day to meditate, your body will gradually adjust to this new schedule. If you enjoy a cup of coffee every day at three o'clock, then you will begin to feel sleepy as that time approaches. Your body is reminding you to have your coffee. Our bodies' actions are nothing but a series of habits. It will adjust itself to any new habit we form. Nothing is impossible. Some things may be difficult and may take time, but with awareness and persistence, any new pattern can be formed. Then your body will be your friend and it will even remind you each day that your time for meditation has arrived.

Posture : Now that we have a pleasant place and the right time for meditation; the next thing that we need is a good posture. If you can sit in the lotus pose, that is excellent, but do not feel embarrassed or inadequate if you cannot.

You may feel the need to sit in a chair or on the floor with your back against a wall, or you may even try lying down. The two main things to remember in the posture you choose are to have your back straight and to be relaxed and comfortable.

You will notice when someone becomes very angry or passionate, their breath is very rapid and shallow. In depression and emotional disturbances we see quick and jagged breathing. But when you are in meditation or thinking a beautiful thought, you feel calmness and the breath is very slow and deep.

Experiencing this, we realise how important the breath is to our mind and thinking, to our peace and calm. When we breathe properly, we don't have fatigue or depression. The body will receive the proper oxygen supply and flow of blood, and disease will not be able to take root. To enjoy proper breathing, we must have a good posture.

Beginning Meditation : Calming down and observing yourself and your breathing : Now you have selected a quiet spot, a peaceful time and a relaxing posture for your meditation. Next close your eyes and watch yourself. See yourself with your mental eye. You may think, "What should I do with myself?" Then you may feel silly and think " What am I doing here? Why am I sitting here like this, doing nothing?" You will think of all the projects and chores that you did not finish - the bank, the groceries, the party, the job, the appointment - all will come to your mind now. It is natural because your mind is always engaged in some activity. If you have nothing else to do you turn on the radio and begin chewing gum. People go to the seashore and into the mountains, to nature's most serene and beautiful spots, carrying their radios and chewing their gum. You may know what to do with people and things, but you do not know what to do with yourself.

First, just sit and let your own thoughts come. What kinds of thoughts appear? How many kinds are there? What fancies and silly notions come to mind? See what tendencies and instincts are hidden in you. The first step is to sit and watch, to discover the habits and tendencies of your body. Watch as a neutral observer. Don't think of anything as bad or good, as right or wrong; stay judgement-free. Remember any adjective that any person has used for you is not here now. If someone has said you are ugly, leave it behind you. If someone has said he or she does not like you, let it go for now. Begin to see that you are beautiful. Begin to feel a pleasant feeling within yourself. Let this feeling come over your face. Visualise yourself sitting for meditation with a pleasant peaceful expression.

You may now see all of your needs arise. Ask yourself, "Why do I have them? What are my desires? How do they manifest themselves?" From these questions you gain insight. Is there some pain which is disturbing you in your subconscious? Unnoticed or unnecessary nervous actions, like tapping your foot or biting a fingernail or smoking a cigarette, reveal your discontent or pain.

Because of anger and hatred, frustration and resentment, we become tense and ugly. Through meditation we are rebuilding ourselves. We bring the power of our mind to build new cells in our face and our whole body. If you watch your face in meditation for one year making it happy and smiling and presenting a good image to yourself in your inner eye, then a change will come in you and everyone will notice it. People will wonder what cosmetic you are using, but the real cosmetic is meditation. You will change yourself if you believe in yourself.

In life, what you conceive you receive. What you think, you become. Now our life is out of control because we feel sorry for ourselves and do not sincerely want to take steps to change. We only wish we could change. But a wish has no strength, no backbone. A wish is wishy-washy. We must use our will instead. Don't allow any doubt to counteract your will. Otherwise one thought will simply cancel another and you will go nowhere. A negative thought is a weed that can spoil the garden of your heart and mind.

Next direct each part of your body to relax, working upward slowly from your toes to your head. Make your jaw relaxed as you sit. We release any tension because the tension that we store in our bodies makes us unattractive and drives away our friends. Friendly faces are beautiful because they are natural and sweet smiling. No one notices whether their features are well shaped or in proportion because love flows from them. Now in meditation you are creating a new face and a new feeling. After you relax your jaw, relax your whole face, around the eyes and mouth and in your cheeks, taking away all frowns, grimaces and scowls.

Now you become calm and concentrate on your breath. Breathe only through your nose, not your mouth. Watch your breathing and, without controlling it, see how the breath comes and goes.

Our breath comes and goes in three levels, as you can observe. First it comes into the chest area; this is the shallowest part. Then the ribs expand as we draw air deeper into our body. Finally the diaphragm expands, causing the stomach to distend. Be aware of each of these three parts of your breathing as you sit down in meditation. Feel your body filling with fresh energy as you inhale. Then allow the breath to go out of your body and feel that you are removing any tension or fatigue or negativity as you exhale. In this way you rejuvenate yourself with every breath.

Spend the first two or three days observing these bodily needs and tendencies. Take your time with yourself. This is not a race or contest. After this period you will be ready for the second phase of this practice - bringing the mind to one-pointedness.

Developing One-Pointedness : Sit and watch inside until you feel comfortable, quiet and calm. With your eyes still closed, imagine a beautiful flame in the centre of your brow. It is a clear yellow-white flame sprouting upwards. It is exactly at the centre of your brow. See it there.

If this is easy for you to see, make this practice part of your meditation and continue to do it every day. Some people find this visual imagery very difficult. If you do not see the flame, or if it will not come easily into your imagination, then light a real candle and set it at eye level in front of you. This is best to do in a darkened room. The background behind the candle should be very plain. Sit and watch the candle for two minutes. Now close your eyes and visualise the beautiful flame coming in the centre of your brow. Relax and bring it inside you. If you have difficulty, open your eyes and look at the candle for a short while again. Do this two or three times for a few moments each time, but no more than that. Be very careful not to strain or overexert your eyes.

The candle is a beautiful symbol of ourselves. The wax is like our body. The flame is our real Self, our soul or spirit. What happens if we turn a candle upside down? We see that the flame turns upward. The flame will never remain down no matter what you do to the flame. The wax melts but the flame moves upward. Though our body ages, we remain the same. Visualise this symbol. Don't identify with the changes in the colour of your hair or wrinkles in your skin. We can slow this process down, but we can never stop it. Nature must work on our body; it is the nature of the body, and the nature of nature. The body is only the circumference, like the candle melting and changing its size and shape. At the centre it is you, which, like the flame, does not change.

For the first week, relaxation and concentration are your lessons. Relax your body, watching its needs. Observe your mind's vagaries and fancies. Then concentrate on this flame, remembering its deep meaning. This meditation will give you an understanding of your centre. With an understanding of your centre, you will then learn how to command the circumference.

Extracted from: Realise What You Are : The Dynamics of Jain Meditation, By Chitrabhanu, Jain Publishing Company, 1978, Freemont, California.

 

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