What is Meditation?

Before I knew any better, I had some wonderful ideas about what meditation was. The pictures in my head were of wise old men on mountain tops or robe clad monks in picturesque valleys. Certainly it wasn't something that I envisaged myself doing or was capable of.

What I found out is that meditation is practiced by all sorts of people in all sorts of ways. Some people do it cross-legged on the floor, some sitting in a chair. Some people close their eyes, some have them open. Some people do it quietly, while some chant mantras. Meditation can be done outdoors in the countryside or it can be done indoors in a city flat. It can be done by very old people while being so simple that a child could do it.

The second misconception I had was what the goal of meditation was. I thought that it was a spiritual communion with a universal mind or something like that. For Buddhist meditation, this is most definately not the case. In fact, one could say that it is not really a spiritual exercise at all, but a set of mental exercises to improve one's mental health. It has no religious connotations and so can be done by anybody from any religious background.

Meditation is a methodical and concerted effort to develop the qualities of calmness and also insight into the mind and body. These qualities are beneficial to a peaceful and productive daily life and lead to the development of strong mindfulness. Dr. Schwartz has said that mindfulness is a key attribute to have in his four steps programme. A daily meditation session can hone your powers of mindfulness which is a skill much in the same way as driving a car is a skill. You did not start driving just like that but you had training and practice in regular sessions before it became like second nature.

If you practice meditation daily, then you will find it easier to remain mindful when OCD comes calling at your door. Beginners can start off doing about 5 minutes a day. The amount of time can then be slowly increased. Most people eventually look for ways of making time for their meditation practice as they enjoy it more and more. I find that I can do about half an hour comfortably in one sitting and up to an hour if I need more practice.

So, in summary, Buddhist meditation boils down to two main goals, which are to attain calmness of mind and secondly to develop insight into the nature of mind and body. Tomorrow, let's talk about the first of these goals and show how attaining a calm mind can help us in the fight against OCD.

Metta,
John