When you meditate, are you supposed to think about something or are you supposed to clear your mind?

Question

And what exactly is meditation?

Answer 1

I'm not sure, but I'd guess that you're supposed to think about clearing your mind.

Answer 2

in meditation you aren't supposed to try to do anything. Don't stress yourself out, thinking you need some kind of technique. Meditation is different for everyone. If you want to concetrate on something when you start meditation, become aware of your breath flowing in and out. maybe repeat one word over and over again. Some people like to keep their eyes open, and focus on a calming visual aide. Experiment, but remember not to push yourself too hard. If you meditation starts to become hard or stressful, stop and give yourself a break before you try again.
There are lots of resources on the internet to help you with ideas.

Good luck!

Answer 3

There are different ways of meditating, but it definitely is a clearing of the mind, giving us a break from the pitter-patter that goes on there all day. Some do this by focusing on one object, like the breath flowing in and out of your body. Or you can focus on the heart rate (see the site below on heart rhythem meditation). I'm currently taking one of the local seminars, and thoroughly enjoying it.

Good luck, enjoy, and Namaste! :)

http://www.appliedmeditation.org/

Answer 4

I like to think of meditation as attempting to control your mind so that you are able to focus on one thought and eventually, with much practice, trying not to exist at all. More advanced meditation attempts to cease thought altogether, but if you are just beginning I suggest starting with something as simple as controlling your speech. In your daily activities, only speak when it is necessary, and when you do speak try to think of the simpliest and most accurate way of saying it. In this way, you begin to control your mind.

If you prefer to jump into a more formal meditation practice, assume a comfortable position, focus on a thought, your breathing, a mantra, or an image. The purpose of any of these things is to distract your mind from things like cramps, iching and other discomforts which will inevitable arise while sitting in one place for a length of time.

Answer 5

When you meditate you have to say some made up word over and over. You start thinking about the word like what it means. After a while you stop saying the word but you dont notice. You are in this zone type of thing, then you remember the word, and then you come out of the zone thing. It helps you to concentrate and if your having problems.
hope i helped.

Answer 6

It depends on the kind of meditaiton you're doing, there is some ways of meditation that rely on focusing on certain things or ideas, and there are others (like mos buddhist ones) which even if in the begining you can focus on something particular, their ultimate goal is to clear your mind of thoughts

Answer 7

Meditation is like going to the gym, for the mind. Or, as someone once put it, meditation is 'going home'.

The objective of meditation is to achieve 'quiet mind', such that the 'silent watcher' behind your thoughts can experience reality, unmediated by the senses and by interpretation.

Answer 8

You meditate when it is a good time for you not to be disturbed. Meditation is like reviving your body, mind and spirit. Its like having quite time to yourself. You clear your mind and consintrate on a sound that most of time comes from you (this helps you to clear your mind). More research and you will be on your way.

Answer 9

you are supposed to clear your mind from any thought, and whenever you have one, you are supposed to "let it flow away" so that your mind is still and free of thoughts... sometimes, in meditation, practicants try to achieve this by endlesly repeating one entrancing phrase (which they call mantra), so that by concentrating on it they can eliminate all other thoughts and finally achieve the state of not thinking...

what is meditation is a question I do not know how to answer as I am not knowledgeable enough in the matter... thanks for your understanding...

Answer 10

The whole aim of meditation is,
1. to calm your mind, and
2. to focus the mind on one thing.

The mind of a normal person is like an uncontrolled monkey jumping from one thought to another. To process all these thoughts a lot of body energy is used. Thus if your mind cease to process thoughts you will be saving a lot of body energy which can be used to cure a lot of ailments in your body. That is why a person who continues to meditate regularly even gets a nice body complexion.

Anapana or concentration on the breath is the best form of meditation.

If you sit down and close your eyes you will notice that your mind is jumping from one thought to another. Even though you want to concentrate on your breath you will find other thoughts also coming in between.

In learning to meditate you must first learn to calm your mind. You do this by following every thought that comes into you mind. You must be like a Manager of a Hotel who stands at the entrance and observes the customers coming in. Without getting attached to the thoughts try to observe them. You will find that a thought comes in and that it goes nowhere and another thought follows it - try following that too - with same results. This way you will find that your thoughts gradually subside. Do not try to force out your thoughts.

Of course do not expect results in one or two days. Practise it for at least 40 minutes every day for at least 2 months you find that you have 'killed' your train of thoughts. I have practised for 1 1/2 years and still vagrant thoughts come in.

Thereafter start concentrating on your breath. Notice the breath coming in and going out. You should not concentrate only on the tip of your nose. Notice the breath coming in and thereafter your lungs getting filled and then gradually exhaling the breath.

After you finish that for the day start to think of a person or several persons whom you hate most. Having those people in mind start to think in a compassionate manner "may he be healthy, may he be happy, may he go up in life, may he live long". Keep on doing this for about 10 minutes a day for a few months you will find that you do not get angry even when you have to get angry.

You should be able to get some guidance from the following sites,

1. http://www.dhamma.org/vipassan.htm/ http://www.meditationexpert.com/ and click on the free articles on yoga meditation - it includes articles on all types of meditations including christian and muslim meditation.

Answer 11

You can concentrate on your breathing, slowly through your nose. If you think of a random thought, don't stop the pace of your breathing, acknowledge the thought and let it go (car honking, to-do list, etc.) Over time you will become better at this, but don't try to clear your mind, because you will be actively engaged in the process.

I hope this helps