[charley]

Most people in the West who have access to the internet and who know nothing of meditation will google. Now, considering that such people (especially in the West) have already been “conditioned” to have a mindset that accepts authority as to “how to do” anything. The number of books and ideas disseminated in the West is mind-boggling. So, most people in the West will take knowledge as the means to find out “how to do” any and everything. So, what most people will do is either go to a bookstore, a library, or google information as to “how to meditate”, or even ask someone they know “how to meditate”.

It is a tradition in the East to be skeptical, to doubt, and to question authority. While in the West, the opposite has been inculcated from generation to generation - to accept authority, to put one’s dreams in a “leader”, and to accept what authority dictates.

I must state here that one should never accept anything that anyone states regarding meditation, including myself, unless one has experimented and tried it for oneself. Please always remember that meditation has originated from the Sanskrit word “ma”, which means to think about, to consider, to reflect upon, etc.

Now, one has recently googled the phrase: “how to meditate”, and this is one result:

First, from an online site:

that most impressive word: “mindfulness”

One heck of a word, enough to stun someone who has never heard of that word, and make them think: “Wow, they must know something that I don’t!” Impressive, right?

As an aside, this word/idea comes directly from the Buddha, who is supposed to have said: “Be aware, cultivate awareness, mindfulness.”

Now, mindfulness is nothing more than “the presence of awareness”, and is not something that one can cultivate. So, from now on, I will not use that all too impressive word, “mindfulness”, and will only use the words “awareness” and “aware”. Awareness itself is not a method, in the same way that your heart beat is not a technique to be manipulated, learned, etc.; in the same way, that breathing is not something that an infant must learn, etc.; in the same way that one is aware of some noise, some event, something happening outside of you, and is not something that one can learn. Awareness, like many aspects of being human, is a natural aspect of what it means to be alive. So, I am saying that meditation must of itself be a natural occurrence that cannot be taught or learned.

Second, I also saw the following statement online:

“...we’re learning how to pay attention to the breath as it goes in and out, and notice when the mind wanders from this task”

As you can see, the emphasis in that above statement which I took at random from an online site is on the breathing exercise, and not specifically on the thoughts. Moreover, as you can see from the above, in this technique, one divides one’s attention into two aspects: the breathing exercise and thoughts.

The problem is that all modern systems of meditation try and teach their students “how to” cultivate awareness - as a technique, a method, a system - and therefore, because it is a technique, they must use “concentration” to facilitate such awareness.

I must say here that when there is concentration per se, there is always exclusion, and as I have written about this previously, I won’t necessarily go into it again here at this moment.

Third, from an online site:

“When we pay attention to our breath, we are learning how to return to, and remain in, the present moment—to anchor ourselves in the here and now on purpose...”

The issue that I have here is the idea of the "I" living in the present. This notion has come about from the Sanskrit word “satyabhatana”, which means to live in the present, and it means a mind that is free from the idea of self, either of the past or the future. In other words, a timeless field.

The thing is when a person has an idea of self, that self has originated from the past, and is also imagining some future. Please note that when a person says “I am free” (psychologically), they are lying to themselves, since the “I” contains both the past and the future.

[As an aside, I will state here that the “I” is the self, also known as the “me”, the “i”, the Atman, the big or higher self, the little or lower self, the ego. Unfortunately, in the East and the West, people imagine that all these different words mean different things. The fact is that they all refer to the “i”, words themselves just being referents, and not the thing in itself.]

As you can see, all these techniques have the purpose and goal of not allowing thoughts to prevent the “meditator” from reaching some higher sense of consciousness which is supposedly to be in the “present”, the “here and the now”. That is why most of these techniques suggest some form of “letting these thoughts go”, and passing them by as one is progressing in these methods. So, as you can see and understand, the meditator has a future-projected goal. And, the moment one has a goal in the future, it is the activity of the self. You must understand that as long as the self is actively engaged in progressing along a certain method or technique in order to create some future self that can exist without a trace of the past and the future that there is something inherently flawed and fallacious in this attempt, because wherever you go, you take your past and future with you.

Which brings me to the awful and most dreadful subject of “becoming”, which is part and parcel of the “why” of all these techniques. For the purposes of this particular post, I won’t be going into the subject of “becoming” now in this post, but it will treat it separately in an entire later post relating to having an true insight into it as seeing “what is” false or true in it - in other words having an insight into the truth or falseness of “becoming”.

Fourth, as seen online:

“thoughts” as “distractions”

The main issue that I see with the above approach is that all the thoughts are originating from some part of one’s self, which most techniques ignore, or do not fully understand, or suggest that by separation from these thoughts (which, in the main, are also considered to be “distractions”), one can reach some goal, and in the same way as if one were running some business. Obviously, these thoughts are not from another planet, another person, some alien. They are from you. They are “you”.

Fifth, another ridiculous promise from another site states:

“Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.”

This is an odd statement at best, since it is impossible to be happy at all times, unless you are taking happy pills - the dosage of which usually has to increased over time. But, the fact is that life happens, right? Tragedy can strike. On the other hand, when you are aware of being happy, the happiness ends. To understand this statement, you are well aware that when you are aware that you are angry, the anger ceases. So, what I am saying is that it is impossible to be happy all the time.

Sixth, a I have seen online:

"focus on your breathing and begin chanting your mantra"

Now, the Sanskrit word "mantra" literally means “reflect on not being, meditate on not being or becoming, and wipe away all self-centred activity". So, it is ludicrous to repeat some word, the meaning of which contradicts the very activity of chanting that very word. The repetition of such a word is an activity of the self, the self that chooses to use a word and repeat it, in the hope that the "i" can reach some goal... of oblivion!!! Really!!!????

Seventh, as I have seen online:

“set a timer” when one is to meditate or having a fixed time for meditation...

Now, most techniques suggest a daily routine of x number of minutes, a certain time-frame for meditation, in other words, a routine. This is ludicrous because it suggests that one uses time in order to reach some “timeless” state.

Insofar as I am concerned, the best moment to meditate is when there is a shock, a trigger, something that disturbs you, an important decision that is bothering you, etc. When one uses these opportunities to see “what is” happening inside of you at the same moment of the disturbance, you are using others as a mirror to see yourself, which is the only way to use another human being in a healthy, wholesome way.

So, I am saying that one can be aware of “what is” happening inside of yourself, at that very moment. And, the most that one needs is to be attentive. I have read that attention is considered to be the only virtue. So, what I am saying is: the seeing of these thoughts and attending to these thoughts, and then the following of these thoughts until these thoughts reach their source. In discovering and uncovering the source, which is always connected to some memory that resides within due to some conditioning, one is in a state of meditation. It would be like reading a map, or like reading a book that contains all the pages. Please understand that all the chapters of one’s self are interconnected.

The following of these thoughts to the source is of primary importance. Please understand that the word “discipline” is related to the word “disciple”, which literally means the one who follows. So, what I am saying is to be one’s one disciple, which, of course, completely eliminates the whole idea of needing someone else to tell you “how to meditate”.

Please note that there is no recorded case of anyone practising any technique of meditation that has led to enlightenment, which literally means “to be one’s own light within”.

There is an old saying in the East which says: “be a light to yourself”. The reason that it is so stated is that when one follows the “light” of another, it will only lead to darkness. So, be your own disciple and your own guru, and never follow another, psychologically.
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Obviously, there are other ridiculous and illogical online statements made by so-called "gurus" that will tell you "how to meditate". And, what I trust you will get/understand/grasp from the above statements is that I am using the idea behind "nirodha" (that is: "negative thinking") to debunk the self-styled gurus that are trying to teach meditation as a method, a system, a path to achieve some goal - as if you are learning to succeed at running some business.