Meditation for Beginners (Week 6) – Next Steps

This is the last post in a series of posts on meditation for beginners. The Introduction contains links to the entire series. I recommend you read the series in order if you want to start meditating.

Last week, you studied and practiced walking meditation. Jay at Porsidan continued to follow this tutorial and he posted last week’s experiences. Jay has made amazing progress in his meditation practice. He describes only one problem last week:

…I fell asleep again today…

You may fall asleep during meditation if you become too comfortable. To counteract this, you can pick a posture that’s less comfortable, meditate with your eyes open, or adjust the room temperature or your clothing to make yourself colder.

This week I finish this series by describing a few things you can do to improve or move beyond your new meditation skills.

Your Meditation Practice

From previous posts in this series, you already know the various types of meditation: focused, insight, loving-kindness, and walking. I recommend you combine the various types of mediation by meditating thirty minutes per day preferably in the morning. You can break down each thirty minute session like this:

• Focused meditation (2 minutes)
• Loving-kindness meditation (4 minutes)
• Insight meditation (20 minutes)
• Walking meditation (4 minutes)

This gives you a nice combination of all the meditation techniques. The walking meditation at the end doubles as meditation and as a way to reduce your stiffness from sitting meditation. Of course, you can meditate more or less, but the important thing is to do some meditation every day with the right level of concentration.

Concentration is a critical component of meditation. Focused meditation is designed to develop your concentration so other types of meditation are more beneficial. It’s important to keep practicing focused meditation until you can do it for at least fifteen minutes without losing count. My meditation teacher recently had me backtrack to do this and I practiced focused meditation exclusively for a week. It significantly improved my concentration.

You may be curious about my meditation practice. I generally meditate for thirty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening. I plan to work up to forty minutes in the morning. On Sunday morning, I participate in group meditation at the Soji Zen Center and meditate for about 1.5 hours.

Meditation Equipment

One of the convenient things about meditation is that it requires little special equipment. You can use a blankets and towels for sitting on the floor or a chair for sitting higher.

However, if you go to a meditation center, you will find equipment that’s useful if you sit on the floor. The following picture shows some of the specialized equipment:

The woman on the left is sitting on a white Zafu cushion which rests on top of a purple Zabuton. It raises her butt off the ground to make it more comfortable to sit in various cross-legged postures. Zafus can be filled with either Buckwheat Hulls or Kapok. Buckwheat Hulls feel like a beanbag so that you can shape the Zafu in various ways. They are easier to use for a beginner.

However, most meditation centers have Kapok filled Zafus. Kapok is a fibrous plant material that acts somewhat like cotton. Kapok Zafus must be broken in because they’re overstuffed and gradually compress with use. An advantage of Kapok Zafus over Buckwheat Zafus is that you can turn a Kapok Zafu on it’s side and use it like a meditation bench (described below).

If you decide to buy a Zafu and Zabuton, I recommend Samadhi Cushions. This is the brand we have at my Zen Center and we put the cushions through a lot of wear. They seem to hold up well. This is also where I bought my Kapok Zafu and Zabuton.

The woman on the right is sitting on a meditation bench. This is an easier posture for some Westerners with back difficulties or inflexibility. I have a meditation bench from MeditationBench.com. If you decide to buy one, I suggest the folding bench with rounded legs. You can also buy a Zabuton or use a folded blanket for your knees.

Group Meditation

If you’re interested, group meditation is a great way to experience harmony in a group. The meditation is special because of the group energy and dynamic. The people are generally kind and inspiring.

You can use the Independent Meditation Center Guide to try to find a meditation center near you. If that doesn’t work, I suggest you Google “meditation” or “buddhism” and the name or postal code of your city.

Find a Meditation Teacher

I don’t know much about higher levels of meditative states called Jhanas. But if you want to advance your meditation practice to achieve the higher Jhana states, you’re going to need a teacher. There are many ways to get “stuck” in meditation without realizing it. A good meditation teacher will help you become “unstuck” so you progress.

I’m a Zen Buddhist and so I have a Zen Sensei, Jules Shuzen Harris Sensei, as my teacher. My teacher is from the White Plum Lineage of Zen which is the largest Zen lineage in the United States.

Additional Reading

If you’re uninterested in a teacher, then reading books is the next best thing you can do. The best book I’ve found on meditation is the following:

The book title is misleading because the book focuses on meditation rather than just mindfulness.

If you would like to know more about Zen Buddhism, then I suggest the reading list at Village Zendo.

It’s important to me that you learn to meditate. Please leave a comment or send a confidential email (roger at acontentlife.com) with any questions, problems, or observations. I’m here to help.

Related posts:

1. Meditation for Beginners (Week 5) – Walking Meditation
2. Meditation for Beginners (Week 4) - Loving-Kindness Meditation
3. Meditation for Beginners (Week 2) – Focused Meditation
4. Meditation for Beginners (Week 3) – Insight Meditation
5. Meditation for Beginners (Week 1) – Introduction

Tags: Habits, Meditation