The test of your success in meditation is not whether you have visions, but rather how you are changing as a person in everyday life – whether you are becoming a happier person. The goal is to have your whole life become a meditation.
Preparing for Meditation
- Create a comfortable and pleasant place to meditate.
- Set aside a specific time to meditate – best times are dawn, dusk,noon and midnight – but most importantly – be consistent about when you meditate.
- Find a comfortable sitting position in a chair, on a cushion or on a meditation bench, so that your spine is long and open.
- Relaxation – do some yoga postures or stretching exercises.
- Say a prayer and ask for guidance and support for your practice.
- Close your eyes and place your hands palms up on your thighs.
- Inhale and hold your breath, tensing the entire body; then throw the breath out and relax. Do this three times.
- Sing a chant, such as “All is well now, all is well.”
- Practice a measured breathing technique and finally breathe normally.
- Practice a concentration technique, such as Hong-Sau: As your breath flows in, mentally repeat the sound “Hong”; as your breath flows out, mentally repeat the sound “Sau.” Let the natural flow of breath indicate the pace. Hong-Sau means “I am Spirit.”
- Let go of all technique and simply relax in the presence.
- Come out of meditation slowly, perhaps ending with a prayer of gratitude.