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‘Before we start practicing mindfulness meditation, we must know how to practice. We need to have the right information and a clear understanding of the practice to work with awareness intelligently. This information will work at the back of your mind when you meditate.

1. Meditating is watching and waiting patiently with awareness and understanding. Meditation is not trying to experience something you have read about our heard about.

2. When meditating, both the body and mind should be comfortable.

3. You are not trying to make things turn out the way you want them to happen. You are trying to know what is happening as it is.

4. You have to accept and watch both good and bad experiences. You want only good experiences? You don’t want even the tiniest unpleasant experience?  Is this reasonable? Is this the way of the dhamma?

5. Don’t feel disturbed by the thinking mind. You are not practicing to prevent thinking, but rather to recognize and acknowledge thinking whatever happens.

6. The object of attention is not really important: the observing mind that is working to be aware is of real importance. If the observing is done with the right attitude, any object is the right object.

7. Just pay attention to the present moment. Don’t get lost in thoughts about the past. Don’t get carried away by thoughts about the future.’

‘Before we start practicing mindfulness meditation, we must know how to practice. We need to have the right information and a clear understanding of the practice to work with awareness intelligently. This information will work at the back of your mind when you meditate.

1. Meditating is watching and waiting patiently with awareness and understanding. Meditation is not trying to experience something you have read about our heard about.

2. When meditating, both the body and mind should be comfortable.

3. You are not trying to make things turn out the way you want them to happen. You are trying to know what is happening as it is.

4. You have to accept and watch both good and bad experiences. You want only good experiences? You don’t want even the tiniest unpleasant experience?  Is this reasonable? Is this the way of the dhamma?

5. Don’t feel disturbed by the thinking mind. You are not practicing to prevent thinking, but rather to recognize and acknowledge thinking whatever happens.

6. The object of attention is not really important: the observing mind that is working to be aware is of real importance. If the observing is done with the right attitude, any object is the right object.

7. Just pay attention to the present moment. Don’t get lost in thoughts about the past. Don’t get carried away by thoughts about the future.’

Here is a very simple 6 - 8 minute meditation for quieting thought.

First make a small space on the floor. Place a cushion or a folded blanket down and light a candle and place it on the floor in front of you.

Second, sit comfortably. Do not force any posture. Some like to sit with their back along the wall for support. Some will sit on a chair or stool. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are comfortable and not distracted by discomfort.

Third get into a deep breathing pattern. Breathing through your nose and filling your lungs fully instead of the shallow 1/3 that we normally do. Use this rhythm: 

Now focus your attention on the candle. Let thoughts freely flow. Do not engage them. Always divert your attention back to the candle. No frustration. No striving. No right. No wrong. Just inhale peace and exhale stress. Quiet the mind by watching the thoughts float by like clouds. When a thought is engaged then return back to the candle flame. Over and over. You have no goal. No need for frustration. The thoughts may flow as they flow. No frustration. No striving. Let it go. Let it flow. 

Keep breathing. In ….. out ….. in ,,,, out.

Just as you need your fear for basic human survival, you also need your ego to provide you with the fundamental outlines of selfhood - to help you proclaim your individuality, define your desires, understand your preferences, and defend your borders.  Your ego is what makes you who you are.  Without one, you’re nothing but an amorphous blob.

But do not let your ego totally run the show, or it will shut the show down.  Your ego is a wonderful servant, but it makes a terrible master, because the only thing your ego ever wants is reward, reward, and more reward.  And since there’s never enough reward to satisfy it, your ego will always be disappointed. Left unmanaged, that kind of disappointment will rot you from the inside out. An unchecked ego is what Buddhists call “a hungry ghost,” forever famished, eternally howling with need and greed.  We all have that lunatic presence, living deep within out guts, that refuses to ever be satisfied with anything.

Here is your saving grace, though:  you are not only an ego; you are also a soul. Your soul doesn’t care about reward or failure.  It is not guided by dreams of praise or fears of criticism.  Your soul, when you tend to it, is a far more expansive and fascinating source of guidance than your ego will ever be, because your soul desires only one thing:  wonder.

So learn to recognize your ego when dissatisfaction emerges:  “Oh, there’s my ego!  There you are, old friend!”  Say the same thing to yourself when you’re being criticized and you notice yourself reacting with outrage, heartache, or defensiveness.  Watch your heated emotions carefully, but try not to take them too seriously, because it’s merely your ego that has been wounded - never your soul.    It’s merely your ego that wants revenge, or to win the argument or the prize, or to be righteously indignant because you didn’t get the outcome you wanted.

At such times, ask your soul, “And what is it that you want, dear one?”

The answer is always the same:  “More wonder, please.”