More people are meditating than ever before. School teachers do it, so do lawyers and doctors. Psychologists recommend it. Even police officers and other high stress professionals do it. Bums do it to and the other day I saw a sign outside the local Baptist Church offering Yoga classes.
To find out what meditation is and how it can help you, I sought out the world’s greatest meditation authority: THE GREAT MAHARISHI WANNA WAZLOUSKI!!!
Swami Maharishi Wanna Wahouski has been teaching meditation longer than most of us have been alive. He once sat is meditation for 371 days.
He has forgotten more about meditation than most of us will ever learn.
I have well meaning, sincere students ask me about when and how they should meditate. Should they sit to meditate, should they meditate outside, should they use a mantra. I have been asked so darned many questions that I would like to answer a few of them here.
Maharishi Will Answer All of Your Questions and Many More.
Whether you are new to meditation, have been doing it for a long time or think meditation is for other people you just might find my answers interesting.
I posed many of your questions to him, some serious and some not so. I hope you enjoy the Maharishi or Wanna as minions chant at him.
Jerry: Maharishi, how often should I meditate and for how long?
Maharishi: You should meditate when you want to, and stop meditating when you do.
J: Surely it can’t be that simple. Should I meditate for an hour? Is ten minutes too short a time? Is it OK to start meditating just a little bit until I can do it for hours?
M: You should meditate when you want to and stop meditating when you stop meditating. That is all there is to it. There is no set time for meditation. In fact, if you don’t enjoy meditating don’t do it, ever.
Meditation won’t get you somewhere. It won’t pay the bills. It certainly won’t make you smarter. You go to the toilet when you need to go to the toilet, meditate when you need to meditate. You get up from the toilet when you are done. Stop meditating when you are done.
J: Is it really that simple?
M: Yes. If you meditate when you don’t want to you aren’t really meditating. You are just wasting your time. If you don’t want to meditate go help someone or get a second job or create something meaningful on the planet. Heck, spend time with your kids. If you don’t have kids spend time with kids who need company.
There are so many things that you can do on Earth. One of these is meditation. If you need to meditate then meditate. If you aren’t meditating, improve the quality of life on the planet some other way. That will help your life and your meditation too.
J: So, I should meditate when I want for as long as I want. What about the people who say that I need to meditate at least twice a day for an hour each time.
M: Those are meditation police. They missed the Nazi train and the Baptist bus and they are trying to turn meditation into organized religion. Smile at them. They have taken something that is supposed to be fun and turned it serious. They have a recipe for something that nobody wants and they push the recipe down your throat.
J: Should I meditate on a pillow, on a mantra or in between?
M: You should always meditate facing East in a full lotus position with a hard, round pillow measuring between 7.5 and 9 inches tall. Your back should always be straight and you should breathe through your nose.
Just kidding. Meditate in your Lazy-boy chair, meditate on the ski lift, meditate in line at the grocery story, meditate sitting, lying down or making love. Meditate on your birthday or while you are in the shower. Meditate anywhere anytime. There aren’t any rules.
You are probably meditating to get somewhere. I could tell you that meditation won’t get you anywhere but you aren’t likely to hear me. Instead I will tell you that there are no rules to the places you hope meditation will take you so it is important that meditation have no rules. Structured meditation will only get you to a structured place. You are already in one of those, the best one there is.
J: Is there anytime I shouldn’t meditate?
Yes, and I am not kidding here. Don’t meditate when you are driving or working with heavy equipment. When you are doing these things you need your wits about you. You need to be attentive to the specific layer you are aware of.
There are other times that meditation isn’t very useful. Drugs and meditation don’t work well together, neither does meditation and studying. Don’t meditate when you need to focus, but meditate to balance out all the laser like focusing and concentration you do in a day.
Meditation is not one more thing to do. Please don’t put it on your “to do” list. Meditation is a reward for anything and everything that you do and for who you are.
J: Should I meditate using a mantra?
M: That is a slightly tougher question. The simple answer is: if you seek relief from structure then meditate freely, without words, recipe or formula. Discover in the process of meditation how you should meditate. Let your experience of meditation be your guide. Don’t come to meditation with rules about meditation. Find out if rules or great ideas for how to meditate arise from your meditation.
J: So, no mantra, but people have been meditating using mantras for thousands of years?
M: Yes, they have. If you want to meditate with a mantra then go ahead. I don’t suggest it because if I did people would listen to me like I know what is best for them and they would meditate using a mantra whether it was working for them or not.
J: How can I tell if meditation is working?
M: That is a great question. You can tell meditation is working if you are enjoying it and if you do it when you want to.
You can also tell it is working if you experience greater clarity when you aren’t meditating and if you experience increased energy. This increased energy may show up as tingling in your hands or feet or being more awake and less tired. Meditation can also result in a more positive, optimist outlook on life and in extreme, wonderful cases increased sense of humor.
Everything you do influences everything else you do. Some people benefit from talking on the phone or running a mile. Some benefit from meditating. If you enjoy meditation then do it because you enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it but still think you should do it then make sure that you convince yourself that you are smarter, happier, wiser or more loving because you meditate.
J: Should everyone meditate?
M: Everyone who does. And some will like it and others will not. Some will benefit from it and others will not.
I once knew a young girl who got bitten by the meditation bug. She actually began defining herself by being a meditator. If someone asked her what she did she would say that she meditated. She was a pretty little thing but not very bright. Her “meditation” was actually making her dumber. She would sit for hours “meditating” when she could have been reading or watching public TV. She needed input from outside, mountains to climb and things to learn. Instead she meditated and got more sedentary and dumber. It was sad because before long she wasn’t even pretty, just sort of numb.
No, meditation isn’t for everyone. Meditation is a wonderful reward for a job well done. Meditation is best done to become more engaged in this world not to leave or ascend from it. Meditation should make you more present not less present. If it is making you less present feed a starving person or show a little kindness to your Mother or listen to a Beethoven Symphony or sign up for a continuing education class in calculus.
J: Is it better to meditate with the window open or closed?
M: Yes.
J: So, you are saying that meditation is really simple?
M: Yes, it is really simple and it is ever changing. At its best it is a visit to nothing and at its worst it does little harm. It is one human activity among many others and it should fit ecologically in with the rest of what you need to get done.
Meditate or don’t meditate. You are OK either way. Meditate with or without rules. Meditate sitting or standing. Find out what meditation is for you. If you are one of the lucky ones you will find ourself meditating regularly and meditation will balance your busy life in wonderful ways.
There are likely to be times in your life when meditation is more useful and times when it is less useful. That is why there is no need to have rules about it. Meditate when you need to meditate and not when you don’t. Meditate more if meditating more works for you and less if it isn’t working for you.
Meditate for the fun of it. Nobody forces you to choke down a gourmet meal. Meditation is a gourmet experience, a luxury of unparalleled delight. It is an extravagance that you deserve. Luckily meditation stalks you. It will find you when it is time for you to meditate. You don’t need to seek it out, it will seek you out. Meditation isn’t hard, it is the easiest thing that you should ever do.
For some very fun instructions on meditating take a look at Osho (Rajneesh’s) homepage
For a guide to increasing your mind’s clarity try a chapter of
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
that was very insightful
thank you for your efforts Jerry
Thank you Farouk. I hope you have no run ins with the meditation police yourself.