The Meditation Session

The Meditation Session

A qualified mediation session consists of five stages:

Preparation
Contemplation
Meditation
Dedication
Subsequent practice

Preparation

It is customary to begin with preparatory practices, which prepare our mind for successful meditation by purifying hindrances caused by our previous negative actions, empowering our mind with merit, and inspiring it with the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

If you like, you can engage in these preparatory practices by reciting the sadhana Prayers for Meditation while contemplating their meaning.

Alternatively, you can simply recite a special prayer to Buddha composed by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.

Contemplation

The purpose of contemplation is to bring to mind the object of placement meditation. We do this by considering various lines of reasoning, contemplating analogies, and reflecting on the scriptures.

It is helpful to memorize the contemplations given in The New Meditation Handbook so we can meditate without having to look at the text.

The contemplations given in that book are intended only as guidelines. We should supplement and enrich them with whatever reasons and examples we find helpful.

Meditation

When through our contemplations the object appears clearly, we leave our analytical meditation and concentrate on the object single-pointedly. This single-pointed concentration is the third part, the actual meditation.

When we first start to meditate, our concentration is poor; we are easily distracted and often lose our object of meditation. Therefore, to begin with we shall probably need to alternate between contemplation and placement meditation many times in each session.

For example, if we are meditating on compassion we begin by contemplating the various sufferings experienced by living beings until a strong feeling of compassion arises in our heart. When this feeling arises we meditate on it single-pointedly.

If the feeling fades, or if our mind wanders to another object, we should return to analytical meditation to bring the feeling back to mind. When the feeling has been restored we once again leave our analytical meditation and hold the feeling with single-pointed concentration.

Both contemplation and meditation serve to acquaint our mind with virtuous objects. The more familiar we are with such objects, the more peaceful our mind becomes.

By training in meditation, and living in accordance with the insights and resolutions developed during meditation, eventually we shall be able to maintain a peaceful mind continuously, throughout our life.

More detailed instructions on the contemplations and on meditation in general can be found in The New Meditation Handbook, Introduction to Buddhism, Transform Your Life,Joyful Path of Good Fortune, and Universal Compassion.

Dedication

Dedication directs the merit produced by our meditation towards the attainment of Buddhahood. If merit is not dedicated it can easily be destroyed by anger.

By reciting the dedication prayers sincerely at the end of each meditation session we ensure that the merit we created by meditating is not wasted but acts as a cause for enlightenment.

Subsequent practice

This consists of advice on how to integrate the meditation into our daily life. It is important to remember that Dharma practice is not confined to our activities during the meditation session; it should permeate our whole life.

We should not allow a gulf to develop between our meditation and our daily life, because the success of our meditation depends upon the purity of our conduct outside the meditation session.

We should keep a watch over our mind at all times by applying mindfulness, alertness, and conscientiousness; and we should try to abandon whatever bad habits we may have.

Deep experience of Dharma is the result of practical training over a long period of time, both in and out of meditation, therefore we should practice steadily and gently, without being in a hurry to see results.

To summarize, our mind is like a field. Engaging in the preparatory practices is like preparing the field by removing obstacles caused by past negative actions, making it fertile with merit, and watering it with the blessings of the holy beings. Contemplation and meditation are like sowing good seeds, and dedication and subsequent practice are the methods for ripening our harvest of Dharma realizations.