I'm having trouble meditating, are there any sites with instructions on how to develop meditation skills?

Question

I've always had trouble meditating, but I've never had any kind of actual instruction. I'm pretty sure that there is more to it than just sitting there. Is there an online source that can teach me step by step how to do it?

Answer 1

Here is a good way to start

Sit in a comfortable position, with a straight spine, and the eyes either closed, or out of focus.

This is a good one to teach our mind to concentrate, called the twenty-four second meditation. It involves picturing numbers made up of dots as shown on large digital displays. We commence by picturing the digits 24. When we can clearly visualise each dot which makes each of the two digits two and four, then we move to 23, and 22. The concentration on the dots helps to eliminate other thoughts from the mind, and with a little practice over a few days, we are able to move from 24 down through all the digits to 0. If another thought enters our mind during this process, then we must start again. This is why it takes a few days before we are able to succeed Once we can succeed then we are achieving an alpha state of mind, which is relaxed, and free of the linear thought process. This is the state of mind required for deep meditation, which we discuss later.

http://dgwa1.fortunecity.com/mind/fastrack119.html

Answer 2

Meditation means doing nothing. Just sit close your eyes and do no try to concentrate. See once the favourite disciple Anand of Lord Buddha asked the same question. Buddha did not answer his question but on the contrary told him to fetch water from a near by small pond. After his return, lord asked him to explain as to why it took him so long to bring water. Anand told him that when he went to the pond, the water of the pond was quite dirty as a bullock cart had just passed through it. He had to wait for the water to become clear. Lord said to clean the water he had done any thing, Anand replied that no because if he had tried anything, it would had become more dirty. Lord said that the brain also functions in a similar manner, the more you try it control it the more disturbed it is. If you leave it as it is then it becomes crystal clear on its own accord. So simply sit down, close your eyes and be free.

Answer 3

Try These exercises.......

THE MEDITATION OF BREATH COUNTING



Start by placing yourself in a comfortable position so that you will get as few distracting signals as possible. The god (sitting upright in a chair with you hands on either your knees or on the arms of the chair) or earth postures (lyng flat on your back) are best for the first few sessions. Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Now simply count each out breath. Count "one" for the first breath, "two" for the second and so on up to four and then start over with one again. Allow no other thoughts to intrude and if the mind should wander, gently but firmly direct it back to the counting.

One permissible variation is to include an "and" on the in breath. Do not make any attempt to control or alter the breathing in any way, simply allow it to be. Practice until you can keep this up for a whole hour with no distracting thoughts.

THE MEDITATION OF THE BUBBLE



From the god posture , picture yourself sitting quietly and comfortably on the bottom of a clear lake. You know how slowly large bubbles rest through water. Each thought, feeling, perception, etc., is pictured as a bubble rising into the place you can observe, passing through and out of the space. It takes between five and eight seconds to complete the process. When you have a thought or feeling, you simply observe it for the time period until it passes out of your visual space. Then you wait for the next one and observe it for the same time period and so on. You do not explore, follow-up, or associate to a bubble, just observe it.

Do not be thrown off if the same "bubble" rises several times. If you just go on this will pass and do not be bewildered if you cannot see the connection between he bubbles of the source of your thoughts. If you simply stay with the discipline long enough, most confusing connections will clear up. If your mind seems to go blank, shy, blank makes a fine bubble.

Practice until can perform this exercise for a full hour.


RISING SMOKE



For those who find the idea of sitting at the bottom of a lake unsympathetic or disturbing, they can picture themselves on a warm, windless day on the prairie watching large separate puffs of smoke rise from a campfire as if it were an Indian signal fire.


THE MEDITATION OF THE THOUSAND-PETAL LOTUS



The symbol of the lotus with a thousand petals is widely used in Eastern Mysticism. It is a symbolic rendition of the idea that everything is connected to everything else and nothing is really separated or isolated from the rest of the universe.

A word, idea, or image is chosen by you to be the center of the lotus for this exercise. Once you have chosen a word, get comfortable, contemplate it, and wait. Presently your first association to it comes to you. You look at the two words connected by the first "petal path" and regard them for three or four seconds. You either understand the reason for the association or you do not. In either case, you do nothing more than regard the center, the path and the association for the three or four seconds then you return to the center word and wait for the nest association and repeat the procedure and so forth


THOUGHTS ARE LOGS


Another variation of the bubble meditation is theTibetan "Thoughts Are Logs" discipline. In this, you picture yourself sitting on the bank of a gentle river. From time to time logs come floating down the river; you follow the same procedure with the logs as with the bubbles.

Answer 4

i was raised buddhist and this is what i was taught when i began meditating...... you can start by quietly taking three deep breaths on 1,2, and 3.... then breath regularly inhaling on 10 exhaling on 9 until you reach one..... it sounds simple but it takes a while to be able to focus your mind for that long without letting your thoughts trail..

if you are Buddhist there are many different forms of meditation you should look into when you learn to focus your mind a little better...


when you begin meditating set an alarm with soft music... nothing to abrupt... for 10 min... then 15 min .. and continually increasing as it becomes easier for you....

i am a muslim now but at times i meditate this way still to focus my mind.... it's a great thing to do to relieve stress

i hope this helps
peace and blessings

EDIT: also remember to make sure you are in a place that is helpful to what you are doing... sit on a pillow... make sure there is nothing with bright colors or a lot of designs in front of you.. also NEVER cross your ankle bones... it becomes painful and distracting very quickly....

Answer 5

ah I see part of your problem. you are trying to do the far Eastern type of meditation . in which you try to join with the nothingness of the universe.
Doesn't work to well with most Westerners as we are used to doing something active even with just our minds.
There should be a on line site that can explain the difference between th two and how to do them.
doing Meditation from a book is harder to do as some of the finer points are missing and you have no one to help you correct any mistakes.Also you will have the tendency to try for instant gratification. it is to be taken in small steps.

Answer 6

Are you looking for information on how to meditate on GOD. if so see on net; syda.org the guru gurumayi chidvilasananda they have meditation centers all over the world and Gurumayi has Gods power to baptize with spirit,which is neccessary for deeper meditation. this is called siddha yoga meditation,you can practice these techniques and still follow a "religion" if you choose. on the net order the book "meditation"

Answer 7

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

I think your basic problem is focusing your 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 nearly 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/
2. 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 8

In meditation, I attempt to have no thoughts or visualizations. When the mind focuses attention upon them, the stillness and silence of reality is neglected.

Answer 9

Meditate on the word of God.

Answer 10

when you meditate are you relaxed or are all the days troubles on your mind??? try soothing music...try one glass of wine first. take a bubble bath...get nice and relaxed. burn lavender...its calming. you also should be somewhat tired.