MEDITATION

INTRODUCTION;
The word "meditation" derives from the Latin word "meditare", which implies some degree of thoughtful process, and the contemplation thereof.
There are quite a number of different kinds of meditation, and they are all absolutely valid in terms of helping people to cut off the noise, calm down and focus.
I have chosen five kinds of meditation, in a sequence from easy to difficult, as follows:

BREATHING MEDITATION:
Combine mindfulness with attention to the breath; the mind focuses on the breath in its different aspects; inhalation/exhalation through the nose; the body moving when breathing...
Our focus is on our self, as we work on calming down our nervous system; as such, it serves as a preparation for more deeper kinds of meditation.

LIGHT MEDITATION:
Mindful activities now broaden the focus to first be on our self, and then gradually taking others into our sphere of attention.
We start by sending light, often in different colours, to our self, subsequently extending it to others.
Scientifically we now know, colours have different energy patterns, and it is a good opportunity to harness those in our self and then share with others.

WALKING MEDITATION:
To settle our breathing meditation/attention, we can take it "on-the-road" and continue mindful breathing meditation while walking. It is more difficult than sitting, but forces us to cut off attention to the environment, and turn our thoughts and mind inwards.
Should only be practised in a safe place, of course!

SHAMATHA MEDITATION:
The next level is a meditation, training the mind to focus on just one object.
This is quite hard, because once we focus our attention on one object, our mind, thoughts and emotions tend to run wild.
They actually always do, but when we come to this point, and have been able to cut off some of the outer noise, we realise, just how berserk the mind is.
To be better at Shamatha we need to employ a re-placement-strategy, where we catch our mind when it is running wild, and places it back on our chosen object of focus.
This is hard! Just keep at it!

VIPASSANA MEDITATION:
Last comes an analytical meditation, following an in-depth analysis of a topic. The mind focuses on that topic, and during meditation goes to deeper and deeper layers of the truth about its object.
Sometimes the topic under analysis can be used at the focus point for Shamatha meditation.

Meditation is MIND TRAINING, and we have to be gentle and compassionate towards our self. Change takes time. Nothing, as far as internal development goes, happens over night.
Please, follow the guidance on, how to progress slowly but safely. I have seen it go terribly wrong for people, who rushed into meditation.
Give your self the time to grow and learn.
Do not rush anything...

You might ask: is this even possible? Can we actually change our thoughts, emotions; can we change our mind through meditation?
As you will see under "The Human Mind/Brain Complex" it is possible; others have done it; you can do it, too.

Remember the old saying:
"The mind, which is so full of faults and distractions, has one great quality: it does whatever it is trained to do"