Please help with meditation plan

justme

Hi everyone,

I'm rather new to Buddhism, and I am interested in the practical, day-to-day aspects of practice. I understand the basics about right-speech, right-action, etc. But I am also interested in meditation, as I repeatedly read from different sources that it is central to the practice of Buddhism (even for laity like me.) As a result, I've discovered there are more forms of meditation than I can possibly track.

I want to start meditating daily. I haven't lived up to this. Lately, I've only been meditating every few days by focusing my breathing for twenty minutes. I happy to say it's getting easier, but I'm still not quite satisfied. I need more practice!

I also want to avoid redundancy. I fear that doing the same type of meditation every day will bore me and discourage progress. So I need your help! I want to meditate every day, at least 2-3 different ways per week. Do you have any suggestions regarding what other types of meditation may be suitable for beginners? Also, how do you stay motivated?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

jinzang

You're supposed to get bored. If meditation stays fresh, exciting, and interesting, it's not doing the job it's supposed to do. I suggest you talk to an experienced meditation instructor.

FoibleFull

What Jinzang said. Yup.

Mountains

Hi Justme

What Jinzang said is true. Are you perhaps the person I met the other evening?? If so, try to get hold of the book I mentioned (Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zin). There are lots of other good books on meditation and on Buddhism in simple terms out there.

Mtns (Roanoke!)

Deshy

justme wrote: »

Do you have any suggestions regarding what other types of meditation may be suitable for beginners? Also, how do you stay motivated?

You can try metta meditation and walking meditation for variety.

Meditation is not "supposed to be boring". It should not be taken as a duty that you have to fulfill everyday. It should be taken as a way of being. So, if you spend the rest of your day in complete chaos, mental chatter and disturbance then it will be very difficult to sit down and calm your mind during meditation and meditation will become a tasteless deliberate effort.

Instead, try to think of your entire day as a meditation. Reduce your mental chatter, be more mindful of the present moment and live simply by the five precepts. It is important specifically for a beginner as a beginner usually tries to gain some amount of samadhi (attentive stillness) and reduce the mental chatter rather than have vipassana. Before insights happen, it is required to calm your mind first. So any form of meditation which helps you collect and calm your thoughts and quieten your mind is useful practice at this stage.

It is advisable to look at the bigger picture not just the 2-3 hours a day you sit. How you send the rest of the day affects the 2-3 hours you sit in most cases. If you turn meditation and mindfulness as a way of being then sitting will become something you look forward to.. eventually.

Having said that, it will be better to read books on meditation and talk to a teacher as well. And keep practicing. Things will fall into place gradually

This series is good

Deshy

In fact everytime I listen to that series I learn something new

Dazzle

Hi Justme,

I would suggest that you try to find an offline Buddhist meditation class if possible.

Ten to twenty minutes twice daily is fine if you are just starting to meditate, don't try to make the sessions too long to begin with.

The YouTube meditation video series with Ajahn Jayasaro suggested by Deshy is a good place to start.

Additionally, here is a link for metta (loving kindness) meditation.

http://www.buddhanet.net/metta.htm


Kind regards,

Dazzle




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pegembara

This is a very useful instruction for beginner's

http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm

pearl

justme wrote: »

I also want to avoid redundancy. I fear that doing the same type of meditation every day will bore me and discourage progress. So I need your help! I want to meditate every day, at least 2-3 different ways per week.

You can do breathing meditation every day if you want.

Or, you could start with breathing meditation and then do analytical meditation. Alternating breathing and walking meditation is good too.

Looking for progress is like watching grass grow. Changes are happening, but we can't discern them right away.