How to Get Started with Meditation

There are lots of techniques out there, all of them will help you develop different aspects of your mind. The core of the Buddhist teaching revolves around the 4 noble truths. Ideally the meditation instructions you follow should continuously show you how these truths operate, so you gain more insight in them.
The four noble truths can be summarized as follows:

• There is suffering. Often stated as an observable fact.
• There is a cause of the suffering, and the cause of suffering is craving.
• There is the cessation the suffering, that is the letting go of craving.
• There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering. That is the noble eight fold path.

Ideally in your meditation you should learn to recognize craving (2nd noble truth) and learn how to let go of this craving (3rd noble truth). The vehicle for this is your meditation (4th noble truth).

What you need is a workable definition of craving, such that you can easily recognize it in your practice.

Craving manifests itself as tension and tightness in your mind & body. Resulting in the following meditation instructions:

Take an object of meditation. This can be anything, a point of reference to which your mind will return. This is called your home base. Observing the breath and relaxing during the in and out breath is what is mentioned in the suttas. Simply start observing this object of meditation.

Now inevitably thoughts will arise. The game becomes this:

1. Recognize that your mind has moved from your object of meditation. You will now be involved in thoughts.
2. Release the distraction, by simply letting it be there. Just let thoughts be there without paying any attention to it.
3. Relax any tension and tightness caused by the movement of mind. This is where you are recognizing craving and letting the craving go. This results in a slight relief. Feel how your mind slightly expands. Notice that there are no thoughts in your mind!
4. Re-smile. Put a gentle smile on your face. This facilitates the arising of joy, and important balancing factor of your mind. (It's the middle component of the 7 factors of enlightenment)
5. Return to your object of meditation. Gently redirect your mind to the object of meditation.
6. Repeat.

Each time when you cycle through these 6R's you will teach yourself about how the 4 noble truths are functioning. You are learning how to recognize craving and how to let it go.

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