So where to start?

meh_

I've been watching quite a few dhamma talks on the internet recently, and have been meditating for a few days now. I agree with a lot of the teachings, but have my personal doubts about others. I'm a little confused with regard to the interpretation of various ideas - as different teachers seem to have different ideas themselves. Sometimes rebirth is viewed in a literal sense, sometimes as a metaphor. I don't want to misunderstand something by mistake.

Finding a teacher or a sangha is not really an option at the moment - but I feel very drawn to the ideas behind Buddhism. I would go as far as to say that I feel embarrassed, as I've never been particularly spiritual before - but I would like to explore this further. Where should I start?

lobster

you could start with meditation
http://www.lorinroche.com/meditation-faq/meditationfaq.html
read a few books . . .
http://blpusa.com/category/buddhism-in-every-step/page/5
watch some more youtube
or how about a bit of discomfort?

:wave:

fivebells

Firstly, you don't need to worry about the different interpretations of the scripture at this stage because the basic skills and their purposes are the same across all Buddhist traditions and (reasonable) teachers. Also, no reasonable Buddhist teacher will force you to adopt a belief you find unacceptable for some reason.

You need to start with ethical behavior in daily life and concentration practice in meditation. If you would like some more pointers on how to do this, let us know.

meh_

What do you mean by discomfort, lobster?

At the moment I follow the breath and try, probably too hard, to just let everything be and observe it. Is this the right approach for the moment? Obviously I get distracted a lot, given that I'm a beginner - but I just try and bring my attention back to the breath.

fivebells - With regard to ethics, largely speaking my behaviour conforms to the five precepts, but I recognise that I'm very selfish, and I am starting to see the effect this has on other people. What can I do to make myself more empathetic/compassionate toward others?

Jeffrey

That sounds good on the meditation. Let everything be with a light touch. I have meditated 13 years now and I still get distracted a lot. The mind that can have successes or failures in meditation can never have the former without the latter. There is a bigger mind that IS peace rather than finds peace.

lobster

meh_ said:

What do you mean by discomfort, lobster?

What you want discomfort . . . I have been trying to avoid it . . .
OK
http://zenhabits.net/discomfort/

meh_

That was a great article lobster - I'm certainly going to try that out!

I really enjoy meditating, but I don't want to overdo it for a short period of time, and then get burned out and stop doing it. Do you think a single 20 minute session a day is a good place to start?

lamaramadingdong

Start right where you are. Don't worry about any doubts that you may have. You will find much more to doubt/question as you delve deeper. Pema Chodron is a good author (I think) for a beginner- she explains things well and encourages people to start where they are, wherever that may be.
Good luck, don't be afraid to ask questions on this forum and try things out for yourself.
Namste.

Jeffrey

I think 20 minutes is a great start. If you do it whole heartedly it could be even a practice from a long time from being a beginner.

The problem with doing meditation every day for a month and then giving up is that it's like you are a beginner every time you restart, but only in some ways. It is never too late for dharma.

meh_

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies.

I had a couple of small questions regarding my current meditation practice. Firstly - toward the end of my meditation periods my breathing becomes very shallow - I don't feel out of breath, but my breaths are really really short and slow. I tend to feel a little light headed - is this a problem?

Also - Posture-wise, I cannot sit in full, half or any sort of lotus positions. I currently sit in a chair, upright with my feet flat on the ground. Is it acceptable to just sit cross legged?

Jeffrey

Your breathing should just be normal breaths in my style medition. If they get out of sink say to yourself that you are not meditating any more. There are other breathing methods out there such as pranayama breathing, but I don't do those.

fivebells

Just make the breath as comfortable as possible. Slow and shallow is fine.

Sitting in a chair is fine, too. I do. Works great.

lobster

I currently sit in a chair, upright with my feet flat on the ground. Is it acceptable to just sit cross legged?

Both are fine.
http://aromeditation.org/getting-down-to-earth.html

I had a couple of small questions regarding my current meditation practice. Firstly - toward the end of my meditation periods my breathing becomes very shallow - I don't feel out of breath, but my breaths are really really short and slow. I tend to feel a little light headed - is this a problem?

It could be a temp problem, as your breathing pattern is being changed by sitting. Why? It sounds like a contraction or tightening. Personally if this happened and I wanted a quick solution I would add some chanting. The long term solution is a 'meditation diary' and just sit with it.

Patr

To the OP, start with the four foundations of Buddhism (look it up on the net).
Strongly recommend one not to touch rebirth, Emptiness and other advanced topics until one has understood the basic teachings. The Adhidharma (advanced) should only be studied once you have a firmer foundation.

Take your time, the Tripitaka, initial collection of the Buddhas teachings is about 20 times the volume of the Bible. What more the Mahayana Sutras.

Invincible_summer

@meh_ - The spiritual path a lifelong process, so don't worry about not "getting it" at the beginning.

There are always different interpretations of ideas out there - this goes for all religions. Hell, that's why there *are* different religions. As another user on here said (I apologize to whoever it may be that I can't remember their name and that I'm very roughly paraphrasing), you probably won't agree with 100% of anything anyway; don't spend all your time looking for that "perfect" thing that you agree with 100%. Just go with what feels 80% right for you at this stage of your path. It may change later and that's okay too.

Regarding meditation - I find that my breath shallows when I'm in a fairly relaxed state. It's fine. Just notice that it's shallow and keep on meditating. It doesn't matter if your breaths are deep or shallow, so long as they're natural.

Sabre

The Buddha often said the path begins with making our morality blameless. Not just good or acceptable, but perfect. So the precepts, I think these are very important and something you can already do without being a skilled meditation. In fact, it is morality that leads to being better in meditation. If there is any place to start, it's there.