There are practices that can help us become more spiritually evolved. Meditation is one of them. It has also become very popular among the wider public in recent years. It is certainly a very powerful tool. There are many methods and ways to meditate. In fact, there is so much information about meditation these days it’s getting difficult and confusing to select the most suitable one for us. How do we know what’s good and which one to choose? Is there such a thing as a ‘best’ meditation?
In my opinion, it’s probably not even very ‘spiritual’ to seek out the ‘best’ in the first place. Meditation is experiential and should not be overanalysed. We all perceive things differently and it’s up to the individual to experience what feels right for them. I think if you are feeling positive about a particular type of meditation and if it’s bringing benefits to your life then that is the best one for you.
I have tried a few types of meditation throughout the years and I think I have a pretty good idea about meditation in general. Some of them (courses or teachings) require fees and some are freely available to everyone. At the end of the day I honestly don’t think one is necessarily superior to the other. In fact I think there are many underlying common themes that all of the different meditation practices share. Rather than finding ‘the one’, I think it is more important to look at what most of them have in common and get a holistic view about meditation. I have listed out here what I think are the fundamental principles of meditation.
Awareness
This is about focusing on a certain sensation, bringing our attention on a particular part of our body, feeling that inner energy, noticing our breath and being aware of what’s happening in and around our bodies. Being aware is one of the key principles of meditation. Another popular term is mindfulness, which I think is very similar to awareness.
Letting Go
Our thoughts come and go. Everyone has thoughts. Sometimes they are just random thoughts and sometimes they can be annoying or even negative. When we meditate, it’s very normal to have thoughts come and ‘disturb’ us. The idea is to not dwell on them and give them too much attention. It is also perfectly OK to have a lot of thoughts during meditation, just observe them like a bystander and not be too caught up by them, however enticing or intense they may be.
Goallessness
There really should be no goals in meditation. I know many people think the goal is to achieve some kind of total peace or ‘divine consciousness’, but this isn’t what meditation is about. Once we become more familiar with our meditation practice, we will naturally reach a state of thoughtlessness, a soft focus, or forgetting that we are meditating. It could be as short as one second, but it could also be much longer than that. This state shouldn’t be aimed at, rather, it’s achieved naturally. It’s also perfectly OK to not have achieved this during our meditation.
Messiness is Fine
It’s perfectly fine if the meditation feels somewhat messy. Sometimes a meditation session can feel like a huge garbage dump where all our messy thoughts pile up. However, it’s really not a problem. We should not think of these sessions as bad or a waste of time. They are just as important as the ‘good’ ones. It’s kind of like the weather. The important thing is to move on and keep going.
Make It a Habit
Like many things, meditation is more about a habit than just a one-off event. It’s similar to healthy eating and working out, the key is to develop a routine and keep at it. So it’s probably better to have a short session everyday rather than a long session once a week. It’s best to incorporate meditation into our daily lives.
It’s Like Growing Up
How do we know if our meditation is working? We don’t. At least not immediately in most cases. I think meditation is like growing up. We can’t really tell that we are actually growing older, but we are. Everyone grows old, but we only know this when we look at ourselves in the mirror or after several years when we are visibly different. As long as we are putting in the time to meditate, the result will be noticeable after a while so be patient.
I don’t intend to claim that these are the ultimate principles of meditation but they are what I feel are the key principles of meditation and I hope they serve as a guide for people who wish to learn more about meditation. Enjoy!