How to Meditate Using a Zen Meditation Technique
Want to learn how to meditate like a Zen Monk? Learn this easy Zen Meditation Technique to attain deep states of peace.
Zen meditation is the path of awareness. It uses concentration techniques to pull your attention out of your thinking to be present in the moment.
The normal state of a human being is to be completely identified with your thinking. So if you are sitting by a pond and you are thinking about having to go to work tomorrow, you are not really aware of yourself sitting by the pond, you are more involved with work tomorrow. You are thinking about driving to work, what your boss might say to you, the tasks you have to perform and the worries around it, what you might have for lunch etc.
All of these thoughts are very real to you. You could say you are living in a “dream world.” Because although you are sitting by the pond, your experience is of going to work tomorrow. You have a second or two where you are aware that you are sitting by the pond and then you get lost again in your thoughts about work.
Thinking always takes you away from the present moment. So by using a simple Zen meditation technique, you can learn how to bring your focus away from your thinking into the present moment.
And when it comes to what is here when you are present, your experience of sitting by the pond is just the tip of the iceberg. You can experience yourself beyond the body, beyond the mind as awareness itself. What the Zen teachers would call “Buddha Nature.” And this experience is one of incredible peace and inner joy.
So to learn how to meditate using a Zen meditation technique, first find yourself sitting comfortably without back support. You do not need to sit in a tough yoga position. You can simply sit on the edge of a chair with your back straight. Your can use a rolled up towel underneath the base of your spine to help keep your back straight.
Now close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. Allow your belly to gently rise and fall as you breathe, as though you are breathing the air into your belly. Do not force your breath in any way. Allow yourself to breathe naturally.
Now count your breaths. First silently count to yourself “1″ as you inhale and “1″ as you exhale. Then “2″ as you inhale and “2″ as you exhale.” Continue this way until you reach 10.
What will happen is you will lose your focus and get lost in your thinking. When this happens, just gently bring you focus back to your breathing and start counting the breaths starting with “1″ again. Do this until you can easily count 10 breaths without getting caught up in your thinking.
After you can do this for 10 breaths, do it again but this time we will move to a more advanced Zen meditation technique. Count the inhale starting at “1,” but then on the exhale, let yourself relax into stillness. Then count “2″ on the inhale and let yourself rest in stillness on the exhale. Again, practice this until you can count your inhales up to 10 without losing count.
When you can do this, go to 20. Then 30. Then 50.
Now an even more advanced Zen meditation technique. Count every other breath. So you count “1″ on the inhale, and then rest in stillness for the exhale. Then rest in stillness for another inhale and exhale. And then count “2″ on the next inhale. Do this again until you can count to 50 without getting lost in your thinking.
Don’t beat yourself up if it is harder than you thought. It is not something that can be perfected in 5 minutes.
Once you reach 50, you should be deep in meditation. You should be able to let go of the counting and simply be present, allowing your experience to be as it is and watching. You are no longer concentrating on a certain object, but witnessing your experience in the moment, without trying to control it or change it in any way.
Here you allow whatever is here in the present moment to be and you simply watch. Without pushing anything away, without holding on to anything. You watch what arises and you let it go, remaining present and aware.
But you can still keep your attention on your breathing if you feel the need.
Eventually, you will not need to use counting. You will learn how to meditate without needing a technique. You will naturally rest in awareness, free from the mind.
So now you know how to meditate using a simple yet very powerful Zen meditation technique. To make your meditation practice 10 times more effective, check out the link below.
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