Meditation by JDBar
One of the most beneficial things to learn before tulpaforcing is how to meditate. There are many different approaches to meditation, and like anything else, it can be a personalized and subjective experience. For this article, I will be discussing zazen meditation. Zazen is the study of the self. It's easy to describe, and easy to follow, but if practiced consistently is very powerful. Many elements of zazen meditation can aid you in attaining extremely realistic forcing sessions. You will want to be sitting in a comfortable, but stable position, keeping the back straight and centered. This allows the diaphragm to move freely, letting your breath deepen during meditation. If properly positioned, deep breaths will happen naturally, don't manipulate or control your breathing.
It is recommended that you fold your hands in the "cosmic mudra," where the dominant hand is palm up holding the other hand, which is also palm up, at the knuckles. The thumbs should be lightly touching, allowing the hands to form an oval. The hand position is important. The thumbs touching is a way to manage your subconscious. If you find yourself pressing the thumbs together, then you are too stressed and need to relax. If they fall, you are falling asleep. They should be lightly touching each other.
Breathe through your nose and keep your attention on the breath. You can stabilize the mind by counting the breath, each inhalation and exhalation, up to ten. When you reach ten, start over. During this process, if you become aware that your mind is wandering, look at the thought, acknowledge it, and then consciously let it go and begin the count again at one. The counting helps you know when your mind has drifted off. Each time you return to the breath you empower yourself with the ability to put your mind where you want it, when you want it there, for as long as you want it there. Eventually, you'll want to abandon the counting and just follow the breath.
The thoughts that come up will, for the most part, be just random thoughts. Sometimes, however, when you're in a crisis or involved in something important in your life, you'll find that the thought, when you let it go, will recur. You let it go again, but it comes back, and back again. This is the time to let the thought happen and let it run its full course. Watch it, be aware of it. Allow it to exhaust itself, and let it go.
Scattered mental activity and energy keeps us separated from each other, from our environment, and from ourselves. In the process of sitting, the surface activity of our minds begins to slow down. The mind is like the surface of a pond – when the wind is blowing, the surface is disturbed and there are ripples. Nothing can be seen clearly because of the ripples; the reflected image of the sun or the moon is broken up into many fragments.
Out of that stillness, our whole life arises. If we don’t get in touch with it at some time in our life, we will never get the opportunity to come to a point of rest. In deep zazen, a person breathes at a rate of only two or three breaths a minute. Normally, at rest, a person will breathe about fifteen breaths a minute – even when we’re relaxing, we don’t quite relax. The more completely your mind is at rest, the more deeply your body is at rest. Respiration, heart rate, circulation, and metabolism slow down in deep zazen. The whole body comes to a point of stillness that it doesn’t reach even in deep sleep. This is a very important and very natural aspect of being human. It is not something particularly unusual. All creatures of the earth have learned this and practice this. It’s a very important part of being alive and staying alive: the ability to be completely awake.
Resources used:
http://zmm.mro.org/teachings/meditation-instructions/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen
http://www.wikihow.com/Begin-Zen-Meditation-%28Zazen%29
It is recommended that you fold your hands in the "cosmic mudra," where the dominant hand is palm up holding the other hand, which is also palm up, at the knuckles. The thumbs should be lightly touching, allowing the hands to form an oval. The hand position is important. The thumbs touching is a way to manage your subconscious. If you find yourself pressing the thumbs together, then you are too stressed and need to relax. If they fall, you are falling asleep. They should be lightly touching each other.
Breathe through your nose and keep your attention on the breath. You can stabilize the mind by counting the breath, each inhalation and exhalation, up to ten. When you reach ten, start over. During this process, if you become aware that your mind is wandering, look at the thought, acknowledge it, and then consciously let it go and begin the count again at one. The counting helps you know when your mind has drifted off. Each time you return to the breath you empower yourself with the ability to put your mind where you want it, when you want it there, for as long as you want it there. Eventually, you'll want to abandon the counting and just follow the breath.
The thoughts that come up will, for the most part, be just random thoughts. Sometimes, however, when you're in a crisis or involved in something important in your life, you'll find that the thought, when you let it go, will recur. You let it go again, but it comes back, and back again. This is the time to let the thought happen and let it run its full course. Watch it, be aware of it. Allow it to exhaust itself, and let it go.
Scattered mental activity and energy keeps us separated from each other, from our environment, and from ourselves. In the process of sitting, the surface activity of our minds begins to slow down. The mind is like the surface of a pond – when the wind is blowing, the surface is disturbed and there are ripples. Nothing can be seen clearly because of the ripples; the reflected image of the sun or the moon is broken up into many fragments.
Out of that stillness, our whole life arises. If we don’t get in touch with it at some time in our life, we will never get the opportunity to come to a point of rest. In deep zazen, a person breathes at a rate of only two or three breaths a minute. Normally, at rest, a person will breathe about fifteen breaths a minute – even when we’re relaxing, we don’t quite relax. The more completely your mind is at rest, the more deeply your body is at rest. Respiration, heart rate, circulation, and metabolism slow down in deep zazen. The whole body comes to a point of stillness that it doesn’t reach even in deep sleep. This is a very important and very natural aspect of being human. It is not something particularly unusual. All creatures of the earth have learned this and practice this. It’s a very important part of being alive and staying alive: the ability to be completely awake.
Resources used:
http://zmm.mro.org/teachings/meditation-instructions/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen
http://www.wikihow.com/Begin-Zen-Meditation-%28Zazen%29