A basic understanding of meditation is that it:

• firstly calms our body and mind through slowing down our habituated reactions and then;
• allows us to develop insight to undo those habits and instead:

respond to life in a natural un-conditioned manner

The difference between a response and a reaction:

• A reaction is habitual, conditioned and automatic: unthought and immediate.
• A response is chosen from recognised and considered options: contemplated, which takes time.

Meditation in the Buddhist tradition largely falls into two kinds which are inseparable in practice. One practices both, beginning with calming the mind, through sitting and focussing on the bodily sensation and developing calm through breathing (this type of meditation is called Samatha (Pali) or śamatha (Sanskrit)) and is romanised as “Shamatha”).

At the same time – and increasingly as your mind calms – you use that calm mind to gain “insight” or increase your awareness of how your body and mind function (this type of meditation is called Vipassanā (Pali) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit) and is romanised as Vipassana).

In Shamatha the object of meditation is the breathing process and calming of body to begin – this is the most common and very effective as it joins body and mind at the same time as calming the mind. You can also use another internal or external object such as a candle or a visualisation of a Buddha or a mantra (repetition of words) – this is not really a good way forward however.

The Buddha taught “The Monk, putting mindfulness to the fore (being aware of or “watching”), breathes in aware of the breathe and calming the body, he breathes out aware of the breath and calming the body”.

If you are like most of us from the modern world this stage will take a long time!

This watching or paying attention to needs to be focussed enough to maintain and increase your concentration whilst not being so forced as to deny whatever else is happening in your body and mind. In particular one still notices the thoughts that inevitably arise in the mind and feelings and emotions (which you will notice generally arise in the body) but one tries not to “get caught up in them” or “lost in them”.

In practice this means that when the thought arises “Oh I have to go shopping later” you try to notice the thought then let it go, instead getting caught up in the usual tide of thoughts that follow “Oh I hate shopping. I must go though. We have no cheese. I want cheese on toast for dinner. I like cheese on toast”.

Instead, you notice the thought, let it go, then gently return your attention to the object of meditation. Don’t give yourself a hard time – at the beginning especially it is very hard not to get caught up in thoughts. The western mind is filled with guilt and self-criticism. Without being lazy, one must learn to accept with equanimity that this will happen, maintain enough discipline or “Shila” to keep going, and try not get caught up in chains of self -critical thought.

This process calms the mind, eventually staunches the flow of thoughts and you can reach a place of peace in your mind called calm-abiding or “Samadhi”, or “One-pointedness”. Thereafter the object of Shamatha changes.

It is important not to try too hard or you will actually end up hypnotising yourself into a kind of stupor or sloth or sleepiness instead of becoming more aware. Being a meditator is a personal journey and experience – no one can do it for you and neither can you “think yourself” or “discuss your way” into being a meditator. You have to sit – a lot.

Once calm abiding is established, and you have established at least the first four or eight bliss states or “Jhanas”, the Vipassana part of being a meditator takes full effect.

With this calm and one-pointed mind one can focus on bodily sensations, patterns of thinking, feeling, perceiving and the stories we tell ourselves about “who I am”. By seeing these for what they are we slowly unwind the habitual patterns that have accumulated in the subconscious mind over a lifetime and become fresh and free in our way of being and thinking.

We become what and who we really are – instead of the solid, habitual and conditioned set of reactions we are when we set out on this journey, we are awake to the moment and unprejudiced in every sense, seeing each moment in it’s perfect glory and with untold compassion.

These conditioned reactions you call “Me”, “I” and “Mine” are what Buddhists call “ego” and are a collection of habits of body, of perceiving, of feeling, of thinking and of storytelling.

These collections are called “heaps” or Skandhas” in Sanskrit.

Being a meditator is sometimes hard work and often boring. There is nothing in this world, however, that will give you greater control over your life than being in control of your mind: then it becomes a “tool to serve you” rather than a “wild tiger dragging you from here to there”, as the Tibetan Masters like to say.

The only way to learn about meditation is to do it.

just find a comfortable place to sit and relax. Take three deep breathes. Say “I shall relax”. Breathe naturally, noticing the breath and the sensations in your body as you breath. Relax, with every breath develop calm and a sense of being happy in your body. Start there then join the forums and join the discussion to learn more.

The most important aspect of meditation is what it does to you when you are not meditating!

Meditation changes you. When you change, so does the world around you. There is an important part of the puzzle that  has nothing to do with formal “sitting” meditation practice. This is Buddhist ethics called the “Brahmavihara” or “four immeasurables”.

For those unfamiliar with the term (probably you if you are reading this introduction), the Bramaivihara are:

• Metta/Maitri: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is “the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy.”
• Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person’s sufferings will diminish; compassion is the “wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering.”
• Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, “is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings.”
• Upekkha/Upeksha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means “not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind – not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation.

- from Wikipedia.com

The Four Immeasurables are an intimate part of the path of being a meditator. They feed – and are fed by – one’s personal meditation practice symbiotically.

Meditation “practice” is practice. The Four Immeasurables are the real thing.

They are a reflection of the quality of that practice, in terms of “off-the-cushion” change. That means how you manifest in the real world – the things you think, say and do. In promoting the attitudes they embody in one’s life one will enjoy a less troubled and more peaceful mind and environment and thus place oneself in a position to get the most out of one’s on-the-cushion time.

Tibetain teachers place great value on these qualities and also on conscious thought and reflection of such matters as another form of meditation – rather than only relying on Shamatha (calm-abiding) and Vipassana (insight) meditation.

Source – Matthew, Meditation: Some basics for beginners

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Essential Summary of the book

• Sit down with leg crossed
• Sit with the backbone straight up till the head
• Close the eyes with little opening to prevent from falling asleep
• Held the right hand with the left palm
• Both tip of thumbs touching each other
• Take a three long breath in and out
• Important, always feel the air sensation flowing in and out of nostril
• Important, any positive or negative thoughts come, do not add it or subtract it, just see it as just the way it is
• Important, any positive or negative thoughts come, emotionally detach from it
• start by practicing for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, gradually increase

1) find somewhere quiet
2) sit on a firm base using cushions or whatever it takes so you sit with an upright back not supported by anything but your back muscles
3) breathe in paying attention to the sensations in your body and calming your body, breathe out paying attention to the sensations in your body and calming your body
4) when thoughts arise let them wash over you like the waves rolling up on a beach and let them slide back into the sea
5) do not follow trains of thought – always return attention to the sensations of your whole body as you breath
6) you will fail to achieve 5) – do not give yourself a hard time, when you notice you are thinking peacefully return attention to body sensations but do not try and force silence on your mind – let that emerge – as it will, naturally
7) do not judge or criticise your thoughts or your meditation – this is just ego bullshit
do this every day for at least half an hour. you spend that much time on physical hygiene so spend at least as much on this method of mental hygiene
9) do not cling to anything, nor reject anything ..
10) just “be” your body breathing