BUDDHIST PRACTICE: MEDITATION 2

My first attempt

I had received a basic instruction from an online group that I had just joined, along with an email of encouragement and assistance from my friend who had first suggested meditation to me. I decided to give meditation a shot.

I chose a time when my teenage son was occupied with his studies in his bedroom, and sat on the carpet of my own bedroom floor, printed out instructions in hand. Reading through, I assembled my legs appropriately in Half Lotus, and laid the papers aside ready to begin.

I had learned a lot about breathing from my pranayama practice in yoga, and bringing attention to my breath did not seem to go against my attitude of not wishing to get involved with my outer mind. I therefore sat and began to concentrate on my breath, as instructed. I had read somewhere about counting the breaths and how most people find it very difficult to manage to reach ten without their mind wandering along and throwing a few abstract thoughts in their view. Having experienced deep levels of concentration with my work, this was not such a problem for me as for most. However, I did have a little interruption from my think mind garbling on about what to do once I reached ten, how to keep an eye on the time so I made sure I gave it at least five minutes, reminding me to sit erect and not slump, etc. I was also interrupted by a pigeon taking a bath in the water tub outside my door, which gave me the giggles for a short while.

Soon, I recognized that my breath had fallen into a beautiful rhythm, peaceful and slow, deep and easy. This relaxation was interrupted by an awareness of a white circle in front of me. It was as if a dim torch was being shone towards me, the light not reaching me, but at the level of my eyes. Recalling that it was in the pituitary region that I had been told was a possible focus point for meditation, I stopped concentrating on my breath, and paid attention to the alternative focus point. By concentrating on this dim disc, I found that my minor sinus headache vanished. I was so pleased to find a new headache cure, that I stopped the meditation session shortly afterwards. It had been as if my body had fallen to sleep, with only my breath and mind moving.

I decided that if meditation could both sleep away my body into relaxation and calm a sinus headache, it must be worth taking up regularly.