[Metalab] On Meditation Meetup (Sa 29. Juni 2013, 18 Uhr)

[Michael Hauser]

Meditate on your life; that is, let your whole life be your meditation.
A group of uptown, spiritual disciples, "doing meditation", sitting in
full lotus, index fingers and thumbs forming circles, basking in the
sanctimonious after-silence of their big-time, weekly omming session,
may not actually be meditating at all. Thinking of pay raises, new
lovers, school fees or hairstyles, they might as well do doing line
dancing.  Meditating does not mean "doing meditation" as in versions of
the above, it simply means paying attention. Whatever you're doing,
whether counting your breaths or counting your winnings at the one-armed
bandit (slot) machine, that's where you place your full attention. The
underage graffiti artist in the throes of "writing" is probably in a
state of purer meditation than those meditators at their weekly meeting
(no reference to any actual persons, living or dead, intended).  Paying
attention to what you're doing requires you to be still inside while the
outside world moves around you. This requires practice at everything
we've discussed so far, which is best done, initially, sitting in the
frame, however, with benefit of full horizontal and vertical hold, take
it outside and play with it. Meditate walking down the street, sitting
in traffic jams (get a bicycle) and in bars, washing dishes, sitting at
the computer; in short, while you work, rest and play. This will
increase your alertness and enable you to see into the heart of what's
going on around you.  The advanced urban warrior could be walking down
the street, and while still centered and still in the midst of external
events, be set upon by a gang of unscrupulous villains, ward off their
attack using the psychic shield technique, and continue merrily onward
without a flicker of disturbance in the meditation process. Now that's
meditation!

Sitting comfortably, doing nothing, empty your mind and do nothing. It's
as simple as that.  However, if you need extra help in remembering
sometimes, try counting. Count everything: your breath, your footsteps,
the ringing of the telephone; or do the "deer exercise", which involves
squeezing and relaxing your anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscles at
about 60 beats per minute (one squeeze-and-relax cycle per second).
Count up to nine, say, and start again. Then you can count multiples of
nine and so on. Doesn't matter if you loose count, the tax people will
never find out, it's simply a method of tying up your monkey mind so
you're free to pay attention to what's really going on.

Stephen Russell