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Demonstration

distortedchilddistortedchild
edited February 2010 in Buddhism Basics
In my speech class we have to make up a demonstration speech. In which I would demonstrate and the class follow my lead.
I was hoping to demonstrate meditation.
Any advice?:)

Comments

  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    For a speach demonstration it might be difficult to accomplish for the class as most of it would be silent. What meditation technique are you thinking of demonstrating?
  • distortedchilddistortedchild
    edited February 2010
    I was thinking of teaching them how to; have good posture, sitting position.

    I was planning on a simple breathing meditation.
  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    That sounds very do-able. I would guess you will have them sit in their seats, I would recommend this sitting method as I would imagine most cannot sit in lotus and some might not even be able to kneel. Teaching a meditation will probably be very helpfull for you as well.

    Do you have any specific questions?
  • nibbutinibbuti
    edited February 2010
    Hi distortedchild

    i suggest you introduce Virtue & Universal Kindness for "grounding the mind in stability", and Breathing-Awareness for "liberating the mind".

    What is Virtue?
    The Five Virtues
    i won't kill and i'll respect all life. Thus one practises.
    i won't lie and i'll speak only according to facts. Thus one practises.
    i won't steal and i'll take only what is given. Thus one practises.
    i won't commit adultery and i'll respect society's ways. Thus one practises.
    i won't take intoxicating substances and i'll respect a clear mind. Thus one practises.
    This is Virtue. And what is Universal Kindness?

    Universal Kindness
    Now, visualize your face with a smile, as if you were looking in a mirror. A person in a happy mood can't become angry or harbor negative thoughts and feelings. Having visualized yourself in a happy frame of mind, now charge yourself with the thought:

    "May I be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may I live happily." One practises in this way. As you suffuse yourself with kindness, you become filled like a vessel, its contents ready to overflow in all directions. Next, visualize your living meditation teacher or another living revered person. See him or her in a happy frame of mind.
    "May my teacher be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress. May he/she live happily." One practises like this. Then think of other teachers, your parents or elders who are also living. See them in a happy frame of mind.
    "May all living persons who taught me be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may they live happily." Visualize the persons who are close to you smiling.
    "May my loved ones be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may they live happily." And so on.
    "May all family members be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may they live happily." One practises like this.
    "May my neighbours, colleages and aquaintances be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may they live happily." One practises like this.
    "May my foes and enemies be free from hostility, free from affliction, free from distress; may they live happily." One practises like this.
    Also, as one visualizes disliked persons, to each one mentally repeat:
    "I have no hostility towards him/her, may he/she also not have any hostility towards me. May he/she be happy!" One practises in this way.
    As one visualizes the persons of the different circles, one breaks the barrier which was caused by likes and dislikes, by attachment and hatred. Understand that all anger, hatred and distress is rooted in an existential fear, which is based on not-knowing. It is easier to have compassion for someone who is afraid, rather than for someone who is angry for no obvious reason, isn't it?
    When one is able to regard an enemy without ill will in this way, and with the same amount of good will that one has for a friend, metta then acquires a sublime impartiality. It elevates the mind upward and outward as if in a spiral movement of ever-widening circles and becomes all-encompassing.

    Even as a mother protects with her life
    Her child, her only child,
    So with a boundless heart
    Should one cherish all living beings.
    Thus, let all beings be
    free from enmity, affliction and anxiety,
    and live happily.
    - Buddha -
    This is Universal Kindness. And what is Breathing-Awareness?
    Awareness with In-&-Out Breathing

    "Now how is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit?
    "There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore.1 Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
    "Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.'2 He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.'3 He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'
    "He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication.'4 He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to mental fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming mental fabrication.'
    " He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in satisfying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out satisfying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in steadying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out steadying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in releasing the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out releasing the mind.'5
    "He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on dispassion [literally, fading].' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on dispassion.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on cessation.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on cessation.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on relinquishment.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on relinquishment.'
    "This is how mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit.
    - Buddha -
    With metta.
  • distortedchilddistortedchild
    edited February 2010
    Thank you. :)
  • ValtielValtiel Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Even though I don't consider meditation a religious practice at all, I know most people do. You're allowed to teach and have everyone take part in it? I'm surprised people aren't rioting. XD
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I was taught a meditation called the one breath meditation that is easy for new people to learn and gives a taste of meditation.


    Any posture pretty much...Breath in and out normally after an outbreath close your eyes and begin inhaling slowly and deeply. Focus on the nostrils sensation. As the in breath changes to the outbreath note the subtle place where this changes in the nostril sensation. Continue to follow the nostril sensation and note where the outbreath changes to the inbreath.

    First just do one breath but you can repeat it also. If you forget yourself slowly open your eyes and breath normally until you return to an average state of mind.
  • NamelessRiverNamelessRiver Veteran
    edited February 2010
    What about Tonglen?

    http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/tonglen1.php

    They can even do it for each other. You breath in the suffering ("I breath in that person's headache") and breath out relief ("I breath out a painkiller" ehehe, but in honest truth it can be anything. If it is something more solid and simple it might even be better :P)
  • BrotherBobBrotherBob
    edited February 2010
    http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:PuFp2W7-D5gJ:suestar.com/resources/breathing.pdf+breathing+in+and+breathing+out+meditation+thich+nhat+hanh&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShARBZGzkKyjpkF_ek4t7WrwI2bBx1X3xtOjkSDCpZJXUS3BQplqecHyV3GffEfyrQ1A4fccObN0oSJtAMqQxSLyINkw0gpVPpc89pFZdzP8XpOjUzbauLRrJAe0YYfv60qNDRL&sig=AHIEtbQlNPA8Yxv2Vhz0OzOcFKsaZKdY_Q

    http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Thich-Nhat-Hanhs-Meditation-Breathing-In-Breathing-Out
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