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What I do is sit on the ground in sukhasana, which is a pretty simple and not-too-uncomfortable position. The lotus position is too hard for beginners unless you've done some yoga first.
You should sit on a pillow or something like that to keep your knees below your waist, and your back straight. You can put your hands wherever you want, but don't clench your fists. Personally I tend to put my hands like they do in zazen meditation: hands joined resting on your thighs, palms facing up, left palm over right palm, thumbs touching each other. Then close your eyes and relax your eyelids, don't press them too much. Also, stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth to stop it from moving.
Then, after you've settled into position, start breathing slowly, inhaling from the belly, hara or base chakra, climbing to your chest. Then exhale from your chest going down to your stomach. This is the basic yoga breathing method, dirga pranayama.
To clear your mind, you can just focus your attention on breathing (that's my preferred method) or you can repeat a mantra in your mind, listen to relaxing music or tapes, or you can think of an image, Buddha, a flame inside you, etc. Whatever suits you best. Just keep doing it without getting desperate if you don't feel anything. You have to believe that if you relax and let things flow, you will succeed. As you meditate, you may notice you are "slipping" out of your body, like a part of your mind has fallen asleep. It feels similar to lucid dreams, if you've had one you'll know what I'm talking about.You may not feel your body, this is because of the sensory deprivation caused by meditation. The part of your mind that is still conscious will try to rationalize what you are feeling, and that will break your concentration. Just let go, keep your mind calm. As you sink deeper, you may see images in your mind or hear voices. I've only seen images, I never heard voices or smelt anything weird, but I guess that depends on the person. Let the images wander around, they tend to morph and move a lot. Don't try to analyze what they mean, that will only interrupt your meditation. You can always analyze things later.
If you feel a presence (in any form, an angel, a demon, an alien, a lovecraftian monster or whatever suits your ideology/theology) you can "talk" to them in your mind, sometimes they talk back,sometimes they don't. You should ask their names, because when you know their name you can control them. I've met a couple of them, you can treat them like figments of your unconscious mind or as separate entities, it doesn't matter.
When you want to end your meditation, just try to move or feel your body. That will bring you back.
As a general note, don't worry if it doesn't work. The first time I meditated I was lucky, I entered that state in less than 15 minutes of meditation (a rough estimate from looking at my alarm clock after I emerged from meditation). The next day, it only took me 5 minutes to reach trance (or gnosis, altered states, etc) and it was a deeper experience. But then I went for three days without being able to reach that state. So don't worry. Sometimes your mind is too stressed or you are too stimulated to calm your mind for meditation. Don't worry, keep trying and if you still can't do it, you can always try the next day.
It's easier to meditate in a quiet place. I usually do it in my bedroom, I close the door and the window, if necessary I close the shutters and turn off the lights. Don't watch tv or read anything for a couple of minutes before meditation, those kinds of things make it harder to concentrate. A catchy song can be a real meditation-killer.
Lately, though, I've been having some problems reaching "trascendent" states of mind. I guess I had too much success at first, and in the last two months I haven't been able to reach those states. Lust for result is inevitable for me, and I have kinda dropped my daily practices. I'm gonna start again, applying some things I learned while doing yoga, and I'm not gonna force myself into a position that's not comfortable just because it's what most people use. That would be my chaos magick approach to meditation  |
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