Open your eyes to the sights of the forest, a cascade of colour and form …
Open your ears to the sounds of the forest, the sound of the wind in the trees ...
Open your ears to the sounds of the forest, the sound of the wind in the trees ...
Lesson 1.
All attention on sensation.
Initial Purpose of Meditation.
What is the purpose of this approach to meditation? What are we trying to achieve?
In the first instance, the purpose is Peace. Inner peace. To move towards inner peace, cultivate, learn the Path to Peace. So we could call it “peace meditation”. How do we do this?
First we choose a meditation object. Something to focus our attention on. Something to concentrate on. We need a clearly defined meditation object to bring some stability back into the mind. We need a stable foundation on which to build and develop our Peace.
The meditation object is usually sensation. The touch at feet, seat, hands, as a preliminary to ground our attention, back into our body. Then the sound and touch of the mantra, as we quietly recite it to ourselves. Or the touch of the breath, as it moves thru the nose or the rise and fall of the belly.
Why Sensation?
Why is sensation a good choice of meditation objects? Sensation is fundamentally different to thinking. It is a different way of using our consciousness.
The more we move towards sensation, the more we can move away from thinking, and vice versa. As we give more attention to sensation, the more we can reduce the insistence of thinking, and allow our mind some rest from unnecessary and unhelpful thought.
So we could say that our purpose in meditation is to put all of our attention on sensation. And not just some peripheral attention, while the mind continues its habit of wandering in thought. At least in the first instance.
Thus the initial or first instruction in meditation is –
“Put all your attention on the touch. Touch at feet and seat”. We can do this now, while I talk about focussing on touch.
What is the purpose of this approach to meditation? What are we trying to achieve?
In the first instance, the purpose is Peace. Inner peace. To move towards inner peace, cultivate, learn the Path to Peace. So we could call it “peace meditation”. How do we do this?
First we choose a meditation object. Something to focus our attention on. Something to concentrate on. We need a clearly defined meditation object to bring some stability back into the mind. We need a stable foundation on which to build and develop our Peace.
The meditation object is usually sensation. The touch at feet, seat, hands, as a preliminary to ground our attention, back into our body. Then the sound and touch of the mantra, as we quietly recite it to ourselves. Or the touch of the breath, as it moves thru the nose or the rise and fall of the belly.
Why Sensation?
Why is sensation a good choice of meditation objects? Sensation is fundamentally different to thinking. It is a different way of using our consciousness.
The more we move towards sensation, the more we can move away from thinking, and vice versa. As we give more attention to sensation, the more we can reduce the insistence of thinking, and allow our mind some rest from unnecessary and unhelpful thought.
So we could say that our purpose in meditation is to put all of our attention on sensation. And not just some peripheral attention, while the mind continues its habit of wandering in thought. At least in the first instance.
Thus the initial or first instruction in meditation is –
“Put all your attention on the touch. Touch at feet and seat”. We can do this now, while I talk about focussing on touch.
My webpage “Course in Meditation” describes how to
gain the full benefit of these Meditation Lessons
gain the full benefit of these Meditation Lessons
