Concentration Meditation Techniques:
These are probably the most common and well know of all the meditations and often meditation is defined by these kinds of meditations exclusively. They are closely related to the Insight Meditation Techniques, with the difference being that Insight Meditation Techniques utilize the active application of intelligence and discernment, while the Concentration Meditation techniques use the power of focused attention to a greater degree. To some extent these meditations lay the groundwork for the Insight Meditations which need a high degree of concentration as a prerequisite to being effective.
1. Breath Meditation Technique (Zazen):
The heart of Zen Meditation is Zazen, the meditation of the Buddha. In this meditation, awareness and concentration are brought to the breathing process to help build mastery over the mind and free the system from dualistic thinking.
To practice Zazen one takes a seated posture and then begins to count the flow of one’s breath. Counting each inhalation and exhalation starting from one to ten. So, an inhalation is one, the next exhalation is two, and so forth. When one reaches the count of ten, one returns to one and starts counting again. This helps focus the mind and prevents it from drifting endlessly from one thought to another.
As one develops one’s ability to count undistracted from one to ten, one starts to count each breath cycle, instead of the inhalation and exhalation separately. So now one counts an inhalation and exhalation as one, the next complete breath as two and so forth till one reaches ten. After reaching ten, one returns to one and repeats the meditation.
In the advanced form of Zazen, one simply becomes the breath. In this form counting is dropped altogether and only keen awareness of the breath is maintained. One should not progress to this level until one has mastered the previous two.
Zazen breath meditation helps develop the power of focused concentration and creates a serene, peaceful mind capable of penetrating the veil of dualistic thinking.
2. Another breath based meditation is Vipassana:
In Vipassana one extends one’s awareness from one’s breath, to the body and the sensations that rise and fall within it. The objective being to have insight into the workings of the mind through self-observation. This form of meditation is also called Insight Meditation as it helps one develop insight into the true nature of things.
3. Object Concentration Meditation Technique:
There are many meditations that utilize an external object as a focus point for the mind. Zazen and Vipassana belong in this sections as well, but due to their widespread use I mentioned them separately.
The objects of focus can be anything from a point on the ceiling, to a flower, to external sounds in the environment. These meditations all develop focus, concentration, self knowledge, calmness and the witnessing consciousness. Their ultimate objective, though, is to have the meditator finally drop the object of concentration and encounter the non-dual nature of Reality directly.
Some examples of these meditations are Sound Awareness Meditation Technique and candle flame gazing (Trataka). Both these meditation utilize the sense modalities to accomplish the goals of concentration meditation.
Summary:
So you see from above that there are many types of concentration meditation techniques. This allows one to choose a type that is most suitable for their personality and disposition. The best way to discover the enormous benefits of meditation is to jump in and participate. What are you waiting for?
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Before we go into the numbers it is important to clarify exactly what type of meditation we are talking about here. There are many schools of meditation, each with their own techniques and methods.
Here, we are referring to the meditations that are done being mostly physically still. So this would include zen meditation (zazen), vipassana, insight meditation, jyana yoga, the Silent Mind (SM) Meditations, and meditations that utilize an object for concentration (3rd eye meditation, mantra meditation, visualization, sound, trataka (candle flame gazing), 3 step rhythmic breath (3srb) meditation or similar variation of breath meditation, etc).
The other types of meditations involving dance (shiva tandava - dance of death), Osho’s meditations (kundalini, dynamic, etc), laya yoga meditations, and other such meditations have specific time requirements to work their magic and I am not referring to them in this discussion. So, now on to the numbers.
The minimum time one should aim to set aside for daily meditation is 20 minutes. Why 20 minutes of meditation? From my experience I can say that 20 minutes daily proved to be very effective. On its own everything just start to transform. Others, over time, have also probably found that this amount of time has worked well for bringing about positive changes in themselves and so the number has become the de facto standard for a starting practice.
The next stage is 30 minutes, 2 times daily. On my trip to Zen Mountain Monastery for their Zazen Training program, 30 minutes was the minimum time requirement for any zazen session. Also, interestingly at Zen Mountain Monastery, you could request to be struck with a cane on your shoulders (at special acupressure points) to help you stay awake, drain emotional junk out of your system or as an aid to go deeper. This is called keisaku and it can work as an alternative technique for you if you don’t have long hair like our Yogi friend above. So work your way up to 30 minutes of meditation, and try to do that twice daily if possible.
Finally, you should build up to 1 hour of steady meditation practice everyday. For extracting the maximum benefit from a meditation program this is the golden number.
To get to the experience of “Big Mind” as Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki describes the detached state, or the “Big Self” as described by the Advaita Vedanta teachers, or to get to the explosion of insight as put forth by J. Krishnamurti and the Silent Mind Meditations, 1 hour of meditation is usually needed. This is primarily because it takes some time for the thinking process to slow down and for us to extract ourselves out of the daily drama of our little egos.
So there you have it. Start and aim for 20 minutes of daily meditation and then build up to 1 hour. You will find everything you are looking for, as you will discover that everything is you.
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We utilize a meditation technique based on the process of deep, analytical thinking on a seed thought. Through proper meditation, a person will be able to expand his consciousness slowly and safely. Meditation helps us understand the mysteries of life. Meditation, in essence, is the path of contact with our soul.
Meditation is the process of learning to clear the mind and emotions of automatic reactions and replace them with clear thinking and observation in the light of the soul. Those who learn to do real meditation increase their joy and creative living even if they live in life’s most trying circumstances.
We utilise the meditation discipline known as seed thought meditation. In this method, the student prepares himself by the purification of his environment and his bodies, attains a quiet emotional body, a serene and focused mind, and then, the student will think about a given seed thought. This thinking process will be simple at first, and slowly will deepen and expand commensurate with the expansion of his mental mechanism. In this process, the person learns to observe a tangible or intangible aspects of life from various persectives. In so doing, the person learns how to see life in a larger perspective.
Our meditation lessons are based on the teachings of the Ancient Sage Patanjali. Torkom practiced this method and based his courses on how he learned to meditate. He meditated continuously throughout his life. As a result, he had boundless creativity and energy and his life and works are a testament to his ability to focus and think clearly.
Our meditation lessons are based on the courses taught by Torkom Saraydarian. He meditated continuously throughout his life. As a result, he had boundless creativity and energy. His training was based on the solid instructions given for meditation and expansion thousands of years ago by the Great Teacher Patanjali. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, instructions are given that are still valid today. See for example A. A. Bailey’s magnificent commentary on the Sutras titled The Light of the Soul.
The courses that were designed by Torkom have benefited thousands of students all over the world. These are still in use today. New courses have been added and continue to be added based on the same tradition.
The meditations taught at The Torkom Saraydarian University follow this ancient tradition. The courses are based on the concept of seed thought meditation. In this method, the student prepares himself by the purification of his environment and his bodies, attains a quiet emotional body, a serene and focused mind, and then, after saying various mantrams, the student will think about a given seed thought. This thinking process will be simple at first, and slowly will deepen and expand commensurate with the expansion of his mental mechanism.
Below are a few excerpts from Torkom Saraydarian on the subject of meditation. You can also read the entire first chapter of The Science of Meditation, “What is Meditation”.
“Meditation in the New Age is creative thinking through the light of the Intuition and in conformity with the Divine Plan. In the New Age, meditation will involve not only the mystical efforts of humanity, but it will involve, as well, the political, educational, philosophic, artistic, scientific, religious, and economic fields. It will create harmony within and between all these fields under the rhythm of the Divine Plan, of the Divine Will. Thus, meditation will be not only to gain insight, to contact great powers, to have inspiration and joy but also to bring them down to practical life, to transform our life on all levels, healing the wounds of humanity, building bridges and revealing the unity, the synthesis behind all creation.”
The Science of Meditation, p. 19
“The purpose of meditation is to annihilate hindrances on the path of this expansion and to make you more aware of your Cosmic relationships and your Cosmic destiny. Meditation leads you into freedom, and instead of being the slave of your egocentric viewpoints and cravings, you become a part or even one with the Cosmic viewpoint. Thus you help to end the misery of all former civilizations which grew out of human tears, sufferings, pain, and blood.”
The Science of Meditation, p. 20
“Meditation is a process of harmonisation and attunement with the purpose of the incoming energies form the higher realms and from outer space. Our civilization and culture are the result of our responses and reaction to the incoming energies. These energies may hinder our progress toward liberation if we are not ready to assimilate and translate them through our life and consciousness, or they may stimulate and release our inner glory if we are able to respond to these energies in pure compassion and in active service to our fellow men.
“Meditation prepares us to become sensitive to these incoming energies. It enables us to be charged with them and to translate them in the form of light, love, and will-to-good. This is how a new age man is born, a man who is in tune with the purpose of the incoming energies and with the highest aspirations of humanity.”
The Science of Meditation, p. 20
“It is a fact that negative emotions wear out our body, and worries separative and selfish thinking cloud our minds. Meditation releases light upon these three levels, and we start to regenerate our vehicles and radiate vitality, peace, and serenity. Meditation makes you more able in your daily duties and works because it increases your right judgment, sharpens your power of observation, increases your control over your body, quickens your actions and makes them more accurate.
“Meditation gradually cleans you of your glamors to such a degree that you are no longer the slave of your emotions and their effects. Because of this you do not leak energy, you waste no time, and you do your work better and in shorter time.”
The Science of Meditation, by Torkom Saraydarian p. 21
by Gita Saraydarian
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Meditation has many health benefits. It increases blood flow in the body, lowers the heart rate and lowers blood pressure, making it good practice for women that have cardiovascular problems.
Meditation can also decrease virus activity and emotional stress, which in effect helps to keep away colds and flu symptoms and kick start the immune system.
Meditation techniques are quite simple. All that is needed is a quiet place, good posture and a positive attitude.
The most common techniques in meditation are:
1. Sitting or lying in a relaxed position with the eyes closed.
2. Breathe regularly. Breathe in deep enough to receive enough oxygen. When breathing out, relax the muscles so that the lungs are well emptied, but without straining.
3. Stop thinking about everyday problems and matters.
4. Concentrate your thoughts upon a certain sound or image. Then all of your attention should be pointing to that object.
5. If other thoughts try to step in, you simple return to the object of meditation.
Movement meditation incorporates mindfulness with motion. Squat down and allow your limbs to loosen and swing and shake them to release tension.
Meditation often goes together with other mind-relaxing activities such as yoga and tai chi. It is only necessary to undertake approximately five to fifteen minutes of meditation each day, several days a week in order to have a positive outcome on your well-being.
People meditate in order to bring peace and serenity into their lives and to be at one with their inner selves. It is also a way of healing and improving the mental and physical state of those people. Therefore, no matter what reason you have for meditating, it has become a universal thing.
Meditation techniques are different from different cultures. Meditation techniques depend on the type of personality held by the individual. Some important things to remember when using meditation techniques in order to improve your health are:
• Structured Meditations – it is important to set aside a time for meditation and follow a specific routine. This important for our balance, health and sanity.
• A meditation place – this need to be a comfortable, quiet place where your meditating will be undisturbed. It can be your living room, garden or even in the park.
• Posture - it is important to have the correct posture, with the head, neck and back straight, feet flat on the floor and hands and palms cupped upwards, which signifies your openness to the procedure.
• Breath – the rhythm of our breathing is vital for our body, mind and emotions. The effectiveness of correct breathing has shown in scientific studies that the correct breathing techniques help with a variety of health issues, such as migraine headaches, back pain, high blood pressure, asthma and tension.
• Clothing – it is also important to remember when meditating to wear comfortable clothes. The more comfortable you feel, the better the results.
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A very good definition of meditation to start with is this : Meditation is a state of concentrated focus of your mind.
Meditation consists of turning your attention inwards and taking a break from the outward distractions, to do meditation means to have a single point of reference, a single point of focus and the very simple definition of meditation is that instead of having the outward focus is to have the focus within focus in your mind.
Meditation is very popular in eastern religions, but it is getting very popular in the west and all over the world. Why is that ? It is pretty obvious that people are doing meditation because of only one reason and that reason is that they benefit from it, that they are getting an experience.
Meditation has been done for over 5,000 years and there are many many kinds of meditation, but you need to make a start and that is the only way that you can start to get an experience in meditation and that you can benefit from meditation. So, it is important to really go into the basics, understand what meditation is and then find yourself a very good course.
This is the great definition of what meditation is : Meditation describes a state of concentrated attention on some object of thought or awareness.
There you have it very simple, very clear. Without concentration there cannot be meditation, because the essence of meditation is the concentration of your mind be it on a mantra, be it on an objects or any other form of meditation that you prefer. So, like any other form of practice in life, where you want to get benefit, the same goes for meditation. If you spend a time and the effort on the discipline of concentrating on the meditation that you prefer, you will have benefits and the benefits will be great, because what is the ultimate benefit of meditation ? It is happiness ! We all want to be happy and many many people are discovering that meditation is the great way to get inner happiness.
Ok, now we have a definition of what meditation is, the next step is to do something. You can only achieve something when you do something so make a start. Find yourself a great course, a great program and start. The worst thing that can happen is that you take some benefit and increase your happiness. There are some great courses out there, so look around do your homework and start meditating. Good luck !
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