Basic Meditation Manual
There are three domains of meditation. Sitting, Walking, and Living. Tree of Meditation has this three part. Sitting is like root, Walking is like trunk, Living is like leaves and flower. All three should be balanced and should go together accordingly.
– check point –
<Sitting Meditation (Mindful breath)>
- Sit comfortably, with an upright and relaxed posture. Allow your eyes to be gently closed or gaze lowered and soft. Chin slightly lowered.
- Relax your breath and allow it to flow naturally, don’t try and control it.
- Watch the breath (the main object) flow in and out of the body – simply be a witness to your breath.
- Any hindrances (physical pain or scattering thoughts) that arise, if it they are not too strong, just let them go.
- If the hindrance is strong, temporarily shift your attention from breath to that obvious (new object). Watch it with naming (“pain”, “thinking”, etc.) a few times. Then let the hindrance go and come back to your breath (the main object).
- Come back again and again to the breath.
- Giving the names “in, out” can be helpful to stay with your breath.
<Walking Meditation>
– 30 Minutes / Three Stages.
- 5 minute – walk as usual. naming – “left, right”
- 5 minute – walk quite slowly. naming – “up, forward, down”
- 20 minute – walk very slowly. naming – “up up, forward forward, down down”
– Focus of your attention –
- 1st stage – walking itself
- 2nd stage – movement of feet
- 3rd stage – soles of feet
Hindrances – Basically let them go.
When hindrance is too strong, shift your attention from your main object (walking) and deal with it (second object) temporarily. And then go back to the walking.
< Living Meditation >
- Walking – Whenever you walk, walk mindfully with naming: “left, right”
- Mindful eating – 7 step process of eating mindfully with naming:
“Hold spoon – scooping – pulling – put in the mouth – put the spoon
down – chewing – swallowing”
- Door : “hold – open – close” (Mindfully with naming)
- Shoes (on ,off) : “left – right” (Mindfully with naming)