Meditation and Dharma practice starters guide

A guide for how to approach Dharma practice with wisdom

The aspiration behind this guide is to present a resource for those wishing to practice the liberating paths that the Buddha pointed to. Whether you have yet to try meditation, or you have practiced for many years, it is a sincere hope that you will find some of what follows useful and that inspiration to practice will follow this reading. Though Dharma practice encompasses much more than just meditation, meditation is often what initially draws in those wishing to learn more about how the wisdom of the Buddha.

Let’s begin by discussing different ways of approaching meditation and how these tools can be used and combined intelligently.

How these forms of meditation work

We might use the analogy of a road trip. The practice takes us from the “me” and perspective of our experience of the world towards the end destination of emptiness and “thusness”. Sitting down for formal practice with one of the following methods might be likened to getting into and starting a car. Once practicing with the method, the car has started driving towards the destination. As with any journey, there will be scenic turn-outs along the way of one sort or another. In meditation, these show up as thoughts, impulses, memories, moods, etc. that may draw the attention. Whenever a scenic turn-out is engaged, the journey toward thusness slows or stops progressing. When this happens, simply get back in the car and continue driving right past them, neither steering towards nor away from whatever attention is drawn to.

As each trip is undertaken, the journey will go deeper and deeper into the territory of thusness, and this journey will also become easier and more familiar. Please note that the scenic turnouts are not in opposition to the meditation; their arisings are themselves part of the journey. Simply remain curious about what they will be and whether it is possible to simply keep driving past them when they appear. If we regularly follow this formula, skill and deepening understanding are inevitable.

Training continuity of awareness

A note on language, awareness and attention. The quality of attention most of us have come to associate with “concentration” and accomplishing things could be likened to how a flashlight beam behaves. It is felt to originate from a location, and it feels like it is aimed at another location. Where the light would fall, things are illuminated and seen clearly. The places outside of the light beam are not illuminated much if at all, and are not generally experienced very deeply or clearly. In addition, aiming attention in this way often is felt to take effort and will-power to maintain.

A primary part of this approach to meditation practice is working with developing continuity of expansive awareness. The quality of this awareness may differ somewhat from what you may be familiar with. This type of awareness is not generally focused much if at all, and does not take special concentration or attention. Moment by moment, simply notice the experience of the meditation method with the most ordinary, natural type of knowing…just that.

For instance, if working with a mantra, gently and continuously notice the mantra practice across multiple senses as it is happening. There is no need to try to catch or experience all aspects of the experience. If at any point there is no awareness of the mantra taking place, start noticing it again. This light way of knowing does not take special effort or energy; simply remain curious. Instead of behaving like a flashlight beam, the felt quality of this awareness might be likened more to a bright light illuminating a whole scene evenly, not just from one direction. Aspire to apply this same awareness throughout the day, continuously noticing what is occurring.

Selecting a meditation method

Please select the method that seems the most interesting, or that comes most naturally when undertaken. Develop this into your primary method, and become an expert in it through regular, direct experience of it. Learn how to intuitively adapt and shift the method to meet the changing demands of practice. If needed, we may draw upon the other methods as a backup on occasions when the primary method may not be a good fit.

Recitation and mantra

Select one of the following to chant
- Ga-te ga-te pa-ra-ga-te pa-ra-sam-ga-te bo-dhi sva-ha (accumulation, joining, seeing, awakened Buddhahood, enlightenment, I wish to stay here)
- A-mi-tuo-fo (Buddha of Light Without End)
- Na-mo guan-shi-yin pu-sa (honor/respect to Hearer of the World’s Woes Bodhisattva)
- Na-mo di-zang-wong pu-sa (honor/respect to Earth Store Bodhisattva)
Gently and accurately recite the selected recitation in a continuous loop. Start with the rhythm of walking footfalls and then adjust the speed to find what works best to keep the mind on the mantra syllables and to keep other thoughts in the background.
- Practice can be silent or out-loud, if possible it is best to recite using the breath.
- If practice starts out loud, recite clearly, and find natural breathing that works with the recitation. If desired, transition to quiet recitation, silent recitation (whispered while moving the lips), silent internal recitation without moving the lips, or simply listening to the recitation if it is running through the mind on its own.
If the mind wanders, simply stop paying attention to what has captured the attention and continue by noticing the next syllable of the recitation.

Contemplating Hearing

Practice with the eyes open or closed. If the eyes are open, relax the vision so that there is no focal point, and the entire visual field is simply taken in.
Begin to notice the experience of hearing as it takes place. There is no need to go “out” or listen for sound. Simply relax and take in the whole field of hearing all at once.
- Imitate a microphone. Sounds are simply picked up. It is not the job of the microphone to evaluate, judge, or respond to sounds. Simply be sensitive and aware, moment to moment.
Stay on experiencing hearing. Let the sounds (or lack of sounds) simply flow through without trying to distinguish them. Let go of any unwilled thought or mental activity that arise, let them pass by.
- *If at any time during the practice, the high-pitched “inner sound” is perceived, begin noticing the experience of hearing it as well, returning to this whenever unwilled thoughts arise and capture the attention.
If the mind wanders, simply return attention to experiencing hearing
Follow hearing back to its source.
- Continually explore hearing and how it seems to be experienced.

7-point posture

Using the list below, let the posture conform moment-to-moment with as many of these points as possible.
- Legs in the crossed, half-lotus or lotus position, left leg over the right leg. If this is not possible, then kneeling or seated in a chair with knees at or below the level of the hips.
- Hands forming the cosmic or bowl-holding mudra, palms up, the non-dominant hand placed flat on the palm of the dominant hand, near the stomach just below the navel, with thumbs touching lightly.
- Torso and spine kept straight, neither bent nor leaning forward. The lower back is not slumped, the breastbone is lifted so that the diaphragm can move freely.
  - The crown of the head floats up toward the sky like a helium balloon. The base of the body where it meets what it is sitting on settles down towards the earth. The spine is lengthened between heaven and earth gently like the string tied to a helium balloon.
- Shoulders settled and pulled back to open the torso, but without puffing out the chest. Shoulders, arms and hands are relaxed.
- Neck in a natural position, in line with the spine, with the chin tucked in slightly.
  - The back of the skull goes slightly up towards the front. The chin goes slightly down and towards the back.
- The teeth should be slightly apart, the tongue gently touching just behind the upper teeth.
- Eyes open or partially open with a relaxed, spread out gaze.
  - Gaze downwards at about a 45 degree angle
Simply maintain and tune the posture to keep it in line with the 7 points regardless of what thoughts, memories or impulses also show up. Resting in awareness of the posture becomes the practice.
- Intuitively adjust the body by feel, as often as needed. Make all adjustments in service of settling into and experiencing this posture throughout the whole body all at once.
Continuously sense how the sense of touch is experienced.

Meeting activity with silence and stillness

Set the body in a safe, relaxed and alert posture that is aligned with gravity. Once the body is in position, set an aspiration to surrender the body to the cushion and the mind to silence and inaction until the end of the practice period.
- Notice and relax the tongue and inside of the mouth.
Simply leave the body still, do not consciously readjust the body position until the practice period is over.
- If you do find you have made a physical adjustment or movement, simply notice, then leave the body still going forward until the end of the practice period.
When impulses arise related to the body, language or mind, simply remain in silence and take no action in relation to them.
If the mind wanders, simply let whatever arises play out in silence and stillness of body, speech and mind, adding nothing for the duration of the practice period.
Follow the experiencing back to its source.

Seated meditation practice tips

Set a timer for the practice session, preferably with a non-jarring alarm such as a bell. 30-45 minutes is generally a good duration to begin with.
Cover the legs with a blanket or towel to keep the larger joints warm. Move mindfully into a sitting position that you could safely keep the body in for an hour or more without issue.
- The sitting position should not create concerns tied to circulation or potential injury to the body regardless of how long the position is maintained. The parts of the body touching the ground, and the parts touching a chair or cushion should form a stable base for the upper body to align comfortably over, ideally a pyramid structure. (This for most, will bring greater benefit than sitting in a position that is less familiar to the body.)
  - Examples of seated positions to work with include: full lotus, half lotus, quarter lotus, easy/Burmese pose, kneeling using a kneeling bench, sitting on a chair or high bench with the back preferably not resting on the back rest.
- Knees lower than the hips, regardless of sitting posture
- Rest the weight on the sit bones themselves, then vertically align the shoulders and head over them. It should feel like the ears, and shoulders are comfortably balanced above the hips.
- Natural curve in the lower back, belly natural and relaxed. Make adjustments with layers of towels if needed to fine tune the correct height of the seat.
- Chin slightly tucked back and in.
- Hands in diamond fist mudra, cosmic mudra or simply resting comfortably on the lap close to the body.
Take a moment to set the wish that practice be of benefit not only to yourself, but all you interact with, then begin practicing the chosen meditation method.
When the session ends, take a moment to express gratitude to the Buddha, dedicate the merits of practice to benefit all beings and then gently begin to massage the body.
- Rub the palms of the hands together until warm.
  1. Place the palms over the eyes and warm them.
  2. Massage the area around the eyes.
  3. Massage the temples, forehead and scalp.
  4. Massage the back of the head, back and sides of the neck.
  5. Massage one shoulder, upper arm, elbow, lower arm, wrist hand and fingers, then the other.
  6. Massage the chest, solar plexus and stomach.
  7. Massage the back and lower back.
  8. Massage one hip, upper leg, knee, lower leg, ankle and foot, then the other.

Establishing a meditation practice schedule

To begin establishing a regular practice, it can help to think of meditation just like we think of bathing, changing clothes or brushing our teeth. Aspire to clean the mind with meditation regularly just like we clean the body. I have found it helpful to start by setting a reminder for just one minute of practice somewhere in our day. Each time we successfully manage one minute of scheduled practice, we have fulfilled our aspiration for the day. We then have the option to continue practicing for longer if we wish.

By continuing our one minute of practice, or more when it feels natural, we will build a regular practice time into our schedule, and also learn to lengthen the duration of practice.

When we find that we easily manage to practice at the regularly scheduled time, we can try scheduling additional practice time(s), again for just one minute or more. This practice period is also free to lengthen when it feels natural to do so. By regularly practicing in this way, meditation practice will begin to find its place in our lives.

Some suggested times to schedule practice

First thing when waking up
During the commute if carpooling or riding on public transportation
During work breaks or lunch time
First thing when arriving home from work
Last thing before going to sleep

How long to practice

When we manage to practice meditation regularly for certain lengths of time, we may also find that meditation tends to deepen. At each of the following thresholds our chosen method tends to gain more momentum.

1 minute per day
30 minutes per day
45+ minutes per day
90+ minutes per day
180+ minutes per day

In addition, once meditation practice has a natural place in our lives, we can expand it further by adding more practice periods.

1x per day (1-30+ minutes per session)
1x per day (1-45+ minutes per session)
2x per day (1-45+ minutes per session)
2-4x per day (1-60+ minutes per session)

More than meditation

The Buddha taught that practice leading to contentment and freedom from vexation is much more than just meditation. A simple formula we can remember for how to practice like this is as follows:

When mind can be free from vexation, simply rest in freedom. When entangled, do good deeds.

This can also be stated as:

Wake up as much as you can, help all beings.

What good deeds might we try during moments of entanglement? The six paramitas are an excellent and simple way to approach this.

When we get caught or feel entangled, practice one or more of the following:

Giving and generosity
Kindness, non-harm and ethical living
Patiently enduring
Diligence and healthy follow-through
Meditation and experiencing without perceived separation
Wisdom and being engaged and a good fit in the present moment

Write down and memorize these qualities and come up with simple ways to practice one or more of them when difficulties come up.

Here are some examples:

Giving connection, sincere listening, time, and resources to another being or to our own bodies and minds.
Living and reflecting on how we have lived in ways that lead to ourselves and others feeling more safe and secure.
Observing the body, mind, and the world patiently and curiously without an agenda.
Following through on activities we feel are healthy or beneficial without toxic and harsh styles of motivation. Celebrating successful follow-through.
Meditating and softening perceptions of separation from what is sensed. Be soft and natural, and let what happens be experienced without resistance.
Freely change with what is occurring while learning from whatever happens.

In addition, with enough practice, each of the meditation practices above will also be able to fulfill all six of these practices simultaneously.

Dharma as an art of living

If we spend roughly 8 hours sleeping, this leaves about 960 minutes spent awake each day. A simple way to look at Dharma practice is to examine how we feel about how these minutes were spent.

We go through our day, with some parts spoken for with obligation and needs, some parts more free.

When mind can be free from vexation, simply rest in freedom. When entangled, do good deeds.

Wake up as much as you can, help all beings.

Each minute is a new chance to explore this way of living. Simply observe how it is right now. When free, appreciate and learn about what it is like to be free. When entangled, can we infuse this moment with a good deed?

In this way, we make an art out of each day. There is no need to be hard on ourselves about how it goes. Simply look at how the day went and aspire to learn where we might try to use this art of living more skillfully. Living in line with this approach to life feels rewarding and leads to great things. This makes it easy to incline toward this healthy style of living more each time we experiment with it.

We don’t need to worry so much about what happens to us, just check how you seem to be operating. Are things free or are they entangled? What is the best way to respond? How were the minutes spent? This is such a simple way to look at life.

A Seon Master once said: “A dog knows its job. A cat knows its job. Human beings don’t know their correct job.”

What is this job?

When mind can be free from vexation, simply rest in freedom. When entangled, do good deeds.

Wake up as much as you can, help all beings.

Putting down your opinion, your condition, your situation, and keeping correct function, correct situation, correct relationship, find what is a good fit and see how rewarding and relieving it feels to finally live in line with our true job.