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R E S O U R C E S

Bhavana - Cultivation

Bhavana - literally means 'calling into existence' or producing - and is what many people think of as meditation. Mental development is more accurate if a bit long and cultivation unfamiliar. We can make do with 'meditation' well enough.
Also see the MEDITATION section.

Posture:
• Sit comfortably. It doesn't have to be on the floor but the back should ideally be straight to allow the flow of energy around the spine and the breath to flow freely. Sit on a kitchen style chair if ou like but sit on the edge - leaning against the chair back usually results in slumping.
• Consciously sweep through the body with the mind, resting briefly on various 'zones' - neck, shoulders, face, etc. If you notice any tension then relax that area. You can use the word 'relax', you can mentally channel positive energy in or negative energy out - relax. If the tension is very tight you may need to use your hand to give that area a 'massage.' It is nice to have a brief session of this with a friend before sitting. Relax. Shall I say it again? Relax.
• Get a sense of the balance of the body. If you are not sure you could try swaying forward and back, left and right - keeping the attention inward and on the belly (as the centre of gravity). Let the body rest at the point of vertical balance; head directly in line over the shoulders. All this as best as your body will allow. Yoga is good for developing posture.
Posture is firm - but not tense. Upright but not rigid.
Turning Inward:
• Classically meditation is divided into two types - concentration and insight - but in practice they work together.
• The principle approach is setting up both an attitude, and the physical conditions where the move is toward simplicity. There is no hard and fast here as it is very relative to where you beginning from. I will assume that most readers lead fairly busy lives.
     Concentration:
• If you have not done a lot of meditation it is best to begin with developing concentration. It is unreasonable to expect the move toward simplicity to be from fast and speedy to a complete standstill - both physically and mentally. Have compassion, don't expect or demand too much of yourself too quickly. As a transition aid to stillness, you can take up a meditation object so that when the mind wanders you have something to come back to. The traditional object used is the breath but this might be too subtle for the current speed of your mind. You can experiment and decide.
• Choose the object relative to your internal energy. It should be subtle enough to challenge the restlessness of the mind. Something that requires you to apply effort to keep the object 'in mind'. You need to be mind-full of your object.
• Internal objects are more subtle. You could use the breath, a word or short phrase (silently), bodily sensations (between the brows?), internal sounds, lights. What can you notice internally? Don't feel that you should experience anything.
• External object command our attention more easily. You could use a flower, a dish of water, a candle, or perhaps something more tangible, active, like a mantra, or using beads, or more active still - walking meditation, tai chi, yoga, juggling. The aim is to centre the mind, as an exercise, not to develop any particular manual skills.
Practice with your object - again and again - the mind wanders off - come back to the object. This strengthens the mind.