7 Meditation secrets I wish someone would have told me when I first sat

So you sit there, and then, what do you do?  What is meditation about? How do I know if I am making progress? Even after years of practicing I sometimes struggle with this, but lately I have been able to shine some light into things I wish someone would have told me, say, when I started.

Instead, in the beginning I found the usual “do it and you will see”.   I was so annoyed at this approach that swore I would share realizations along my path.  Of course the fact that I am putting them in words might mean I am not that far into the path, then again who minds.

Here is what I discovered

1.- Meditation is NOT something you do is something that happens to you when the conditions are right.

There! so don’t try to do anything  because you will not be able to do anything about it, I know, grrrrr! That is how I feel too, but it is a fact, and there is no way around it.  So all we can do is work at the conditions, set up the stage, that’s it.

2.- Dead quiet


That is the first step, you need to keep your body quiet, but not just quiet, we are talking seriously quiet, almost deadly quiet.  So yes you close your eyes and you do not move, not to scratch, not because something hurts, not because anything, we simply do not move.   For example, when I sit I pretend to be a kid playing “do not move”, where I try to be so still as if I did not actually exist in the room.

Of course if the circulation has stopped and the pain is unbearable I would stop, and re-arrange things, I don’t believe in self torture, but I do believe in “stretching” the amount of time without movement.  A good aim is one hour to begin with.

3.- Habit


We are creatures of habit, so if there is a time in which we sit that will help create the conditions,then we try to stick to that time. It will probably allow for a faster meditation experience.  By habit I also mean clothing, cushion, room, everything.  The more repetitive the whole setting the better.  In my case I tend to always wear my night clothes, sit in the same cushion, in the same spot and as much as possible at the same time in the evening.   It is recommended to try this both in the morning and in the evening.

4.- Nostrils


The focus has to start somewhere, so focusing all our might on the way the air goes in and out of the nostrils, how it feels as it brushes through the inner skin of the nose, how warm or cold it is, and staying with that, is key.  If you try it just once you will find out quickly how hard it is to stay on that,  thoughts will invade and want to take you to a sexual fantasy, or a fight from work, or an overdue task, to current events, possible schemes to save the world, and/or to how the basement must be cleaned, right away.    Letting the thoughts go and coming back to the nostrils is the challenge for a while.

5.- Concentration

Once proper concentration is achieved, meaning once you can actually stay on your nostrils for a good 10 minutes, then we are getting somewhere.  10 minutes is a great aim, and it might take years to get there, even 5 is a good beginning.  Side effects are said to be felt as inner peace (in and away from the cushion), a pleasant tone of voice, the smelling of nice frangances, and more.  Every teacher will tell you not to get attached to signs of progress as they are distractive and can tempt the ego into thinking you are something you are not.

6.- Perseverance

Oh yes it can be disappointment to do this for years and experience no results.  People say is not about results and of course people are right, it is not about results, but then again, we are human aren’t we?

So that in itself is the struggle, is is in the perseverance that eventually we come to the realization that there is no result, that in the setting of the stage and in the preparing the conditions we are doing what Krishna asks us to do in the Gita, to do our work and let the fruits be as per God’s will, all we need to do is trust. Easy.

7- Allowing Grace in

If the stage is set up as per steps 1-6 for a long time, which as per Patanjali is not exatly a few months but rather a good chunk of years (as in 30 or more I imagine), then we might be candidates as those in the Island of Lost, to be graced by God with the experience of meditation.  As per point one, there is nothing you can do on this one, it just happens, by grace and by your creation of the right conditions. This state, Samadhi, is one of those for which our human languages have no words, how is this possible? the most sublime experience and we have not invented words for it yet?

You might have seen pictures of swamis in Samadhi, they look pretty glorious and happy, may we all attain samadhi in this life and soon .  And if not in this life, then there is always the next one…

For more, this podcast on the basics of meditation from the Boston Vedanta Society is a great resource.

What secrets have you discovered about meditation?