Buddhist
Meditation
Let
me state what it is not, first.
It is
not a commercial enterprise.
It is
not an institution of its own.
It is
goal oriented mental exercise.
The
goal is to gain freedom from conditional existence of body and mind
duality.
The
goal is not nothingness but unconditional existence of mental
accompaniments without any base or attachment to a material base.
Since
it lacks base, it is described as the true freedom without bondage or
attachment.
Mind
is a powerful source of energy, it cannot dissipate into thin air
after death of one existence to another.
There
is a continuum by attachment to another base of existence of numerous
types of beings in this world and many other worlds.
It is
not unique only to man and it exists in lower animal kingdom, too.
There
are levels of mind in higher spheres, too.
For
lack of better term they are described as celestial (Deva) beings.
Aliens are not Devas but a different kind of humanoids with different level of mental capacities.
While
Devas almost never associate with humans, aliens of humanoid kinds
try to make contact with similar types.
This universal mental existence cannot be described as the consciousness and unconsciousness.
The English word consciousness has no meaning in Dhamma context.
It is only for personal endowment and empowerment one practices meditation.
It is
not at all an easy task.
There
are over nine (9) levels of ascendancy of beings.
This transcendence can be upward or downward.
Usually
it is downwards to the base.
That
is how the nature of mind works.
One
needs to practice it over a long period of time, not in one or two
sessions.
One
needs a proper teacher with at least of 10 years of experience (with
all the ups and downs the master has gone through).
There
are only a few of them currently available.
Years
of practice does not stay put, if one breaks it for other means (like
trying to teach others at the expense of one’s own consolidation).
Some
ill conceived teachers try to impose that this state of mind can be
achieved “now and there” is asking for too much from a novice.
Simply said, asking for trouble.
As a preparation for meditation one has to go through the four abodes.
The
Metta, Karuna, Mudhita and Upekka are the basic prerequisites.
It is good to try with a master with at least 10 years of practice (with ups
and downs of the masters own realm) experience.
Do
not take it light.
It is
hard but with perseverance many levels can be achieved including good
relaxing techniques.
Best
starting point is Metta Meditation.
Then
gradually work with other techniques.
Vissudhi Magga has as many as 1000 methods.
Pick
the method that suits you and graduate into more esoteric methods.
10 to 20 minutes is a good start.
I am not a teacher of Meditation by nature.
The attempt here was to highlight its nature.
My earlier writings can be best ignored, now.
The purpose of the earlier writings was to prepare one for the ordeal.
Do not take it light, lest one gets into untold troubles which one has to live through oneself.
