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Filed in Calm Abiding (shamatha), Vajrayana
The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation
Lama Surya Das explores the common roots of various Buddhist meditative practices.
Guided Meditation: Simply Being
Sit comfortably, perhaps close your eyes, or lower your gaze. Take a deep breath or two and relax. Breathe slowly and let it all go. Release the tension and relax a little more.
Stop doing and settle back into just being. Let things settle without your direction or intercession. Let go. Wherever things fall is okay for now. Open to the wisdom of allowing, of inclusive acceptance. This is the inner secret to natural meditation.
Don’t get lost. Stay right here, at home and at ease. Befriend yourself; familiarize yourself with your own fundamental presence. Let awareness be uninterrupted by techniques or concepts.
If and when you feel lost, distracted, spaced out, or sleepy, get in touch with your breath. Watch the breath, observe the inhalation and exhalation as they effortlessly occur. Feel the breath moving in and out, anchoring you in the present moment while you again let everything go, without judgment, evaluation, or interference.
Opening gradually to the effortlessness of pure presence, turn your attention inward. All we seek can be found within. This is the process and practice of inner freedom.
Being Buddha, enjoy the buoyant peace, harmony, and delight of natural meditation.
Image: Red Lotus. © Mia Muratori.
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what will you concentrate on when you stop breathing?...not breath not life come to my mind but you come out with such a wonderful essay...thank you very much
Dear Lama Surya Das,
I have always found your readings inspiring. In this article I recognized the method of meditation that I use - Vipassana. But there are so many other possibilities - ways of incorporating other methods and techniques. It hardly matters to me what the source is. I find that putting names on the techniques limiting - including "Vipassana". But in the confusion (for me) of all these possibilities I have settled on one - for now. I love the Dharma and find most of it (if not all) present in just the breath. Impermanence is at the top of my list.
One of the joys of sitting meditation is being able to bring the Dharma into my daily life. The more I practice, the more I remember, and the less reactive and more peaceful I am.
Thank you for this article on meditation. It supports my motivation to sit.
Ila
As a Zen practitioner for 12 years, and a meditator in the Theravaden tradition for 3, I wince when I hear others gently berate one or the other of the practices. It is sincerely true that there are many Buddhist paths, or just spiritual paths in general, that differ in ways of guiding us, have a common meaning (perhaps with different words), and have a similar goal, if there were such a thing. To be openhearted to all that is includes these differences and similarities and acceptance that we can reach via many pathways.