Meditation has been the cornerstone of my life for the past three years. It’s better to say that being meditative has graced my life in way that I couldn’t describe.

This blog is inspired by one of my best friends. I wanted to share my method of meditation. It didn’t occur to me until tonight that I haven’t spoken much about my method of meditation even though it is what lights my fire.

I cannot say what the purpose is to meditate. I’m not trying to do anything while I meditate, so it would even be inaccurate to say the I practice meditation. I am just being still. We call it a practice because it is in contrast to our busy and dramatic experience of life. Meditating is the opposite in my experience!

Meditation was the most useful for me when I was going through a really tragic break up. I’m compassionate to the people who are going through a break up. It is really difficult, but I am here to say that whether or not you know, it will be for the better. It is always for the better.

Every obstacle in life is there to sharpen you intelligence. Nothing could have sharpened my intelligence more than meditation. Meditation removes the obstruction. When you meditate, you are crossing the distance between that which you’ve mistaken as your business in life as you and what is actually you. Your business in life is not you. Your investments in life are not you. All those things are subject to changing and it is stressful but You are actually okay. Nothing can harm what you are.

It takes meditation to find the one who is watching. But once you see, it is just obvious that this is all happening to you. What is the problem? When you meditate, you are being here right now. Nothing is the matter when you are here and now. Grief and anguish are far from you when you meditate.  You might have felt it, but you are not it! You are just watching it and it loses it’s power.

When you are suffering a break up, you are hurting because you lost something that was a part of you. You included that person as a part of you. You shared your life. You gave them your energy and emotion. There’s deep investments in all these things and now they’re gone. You feel that a part of you is missing and now there’s a void. This is the perfect time to be meditate because not there is some distance between you and the void. Meditate, and you will discover yourself. You have always been there underneath the thoughts.

In breathing meditation there is not stimulus to the senses. You should sit there in silence with your eyes shut and begin to watch. That is the beginning, you just need to watch. There’s is no point or objective, I’m just telling you to watch. It will be mundane at first and you might say, “Oh wow, I know I’m thinking. Who cares”. Keep on watching, just see the chatter happening in your head. Watch it for a while so you know that it is happening. It is not just your thoughts. Your watching this whole experience. You feel your body in the chair. You have sensation in all your limbs, and in general you can feel your presence here.

When you’ve established that you are here, you can begin focusing on your breath. This is because thinking happens so spontaneously, and it will be impossible to repress the function of thinking. It is impossible. If you try not to think, you will think more. It’s stupid that Descartes said, “I think therefore I am.” He never learned to be silent. It’s a trick and you can’t blame him for falling into it. Nobody has ever succeeded in eliminating thought with the intent to do so. But turning your attention to the subtleties of the breath is also a simple trick.

Focusing on the breath is like giving a very simple project to the mind where you are telling it to watch. You thoughts can handle that little at least, just watching your breath. There is not a trick, you are still just watching. Everything is as natural as it can be. Nothing is going to happen so don’t expect anything. You can drop the effort of trying, establish that to begin with. The instructions is simple. Just sit your ass there, but quiet and watch everything happen.

Watching the breath is so simple that is will be boring at first. You’ll be surprised that you probably can’t focus completely on your breath for more that a few seconds without having intrusive thought. You’re not doing anything wrong. Just watch this happen and direct your attention back to your breath.

Your breath is going to become your home. When you get the practice of meditation, then you can always come back home by breathing. Mindful breathing is primary method of grounding. When you are anxious or empty, you can come back home to your breath. You can do that anywhere and anytime. Being mindful for a moment is easily capable of changing the quality of your life.

Build a home for your breath in meditation. Your breath is the best tool because it is always with you wherever you go. So when you build a home for your breath in meditation, you can carry that technique with you in all the hours of the day.

But first you need to get to know your breath. It needs to become your obsession. Just watch you breath and learn to be still. Practice is needed. Not just a home in your bedroom, but anytime you are unoccupied. Practice shutting your eyes and coming back to the breath anytime that you can. The fun part is soon to begin. You will discover so many things about your breath but they are subtle!

After meditating with breathing for a while, your breath might become so expansive that it disappears along with your body — and you are just left there! I’m saying that you can do this and it is the most simple thing! When you become so still in meditation, than your sensation of thought and feeling will disappear and you are just there! Nothing is happening at all. Now you’re are doing what they call meditation. It’s silent there. There’s not thought or feeling. It’s just expansive. This has been at leas my experience with meditation. And I must admit that whenever I am in deep meditation, it feels very familiar. Nothing in the world feels more righteous and natural that being in meditation.

Your senses retreat from the surface, and suddenly you can feel yourself in your body. It is strange to me, I always come to this thought that I’m just renting this body. I feel separate from it, but I am in it. This is not an achievement. It just what happens when you learn to be still and silent. Being still and silent is actually a very natural thing, but the business of life is very distracting. Nobody teaches you how to know yourself. When you meditate, you will just discover yourself there and that you’ve been there the whole time. From here, your psychological drama seems very menial and momentary. This is the blessing of meditation.

But it is simple and natural, remember that! And meditation is for everybody, because there are no requirements for it. It does not matter whether or not you believe in God. Meditation is the art of going within. Everybody can do it. Just watch whatever is happening. You are carrying yourself with you everywhere that you go, but how often do you confront yourself in your own life? Probably never and it is not a mystery why. All of our senses are outward bound, even are minds are designed to get to know the outside world. But we never meet ourselves.

Meditation is to come back home an meet yourself. It may give you anxiety at the beginning and it is just because you become spooked by your own presence. When you feel you own presence you are meditating, but it will only come after practicing to watch and to breath. It is true that when you learn to be with the breath so still, you will learn to become high from your own air supply. Breathing is constantly so enriching, but we never focus on it. So it times of hurt and confusion, it is best to do breathing meditation. Just focus on the calm feeling of the breath.

This is for everybody! I want everybody to learn meditation, it would make everybody so happy. Huge shout out to my friend who inspired this blog. He was there for me on behalf of the truth. In my roughest times, everybody was trying to consolidate me, but he did not. He was there to tell me the truth and that was the only true act of heroism as far as I’m concerned. You’ve got to look the truth in the face though, it’s rough times out there. Being meditative is hard to begin with. It raises your conscious level, and for the first time you will become aware about your problems. Meditation puts the responsibility in your hands to fix your problem. Meditation shines the light on the problem, now you have to fix it — and that is how meditation sharpens your intelligence!

Sat Nam

Erik H.