The Rules of Meditation

You've probably heard of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, The Surrender Experiment or some investment banker who became a poor monk.

Whatever the case, more and more people are seeking inner peace because they can't find it where they are.

It's come to this. We follow the crowd in hopes of those elusive dreams, only to find out that we're living a nightmare with them.

I've come across optimists and pessimists - both are necessary - the optimists created the airplane, the pessimists created the parachute.

But I like the Stoics. Here's why:

Glass Half Full = Optimist.

Glass Half Empty = Pessimist.

At Least You Have A Glass = Stoic.

Why do people want to chuck everything and find inner peace? Even Steve Jobs travelled to India in search for it. I'm not sure what he found, it could be some weed... nevertheless, the zen monk who met him later, put him on the path of success or was it enlightenment.

In a world full of information, insight is often in short supply. How do you separate the signal from the noise?

May I suggest meditation.

Great things have happened from meditation... an ancient religion was found on it, software was built on it, companies were found on it. So there must be something in this meditation thing that causes great stuff to happen.

I live in the heart of the city, we like the noise… well not always. You cannot deny that every major city, has an energy that you can feel as you go through it.

I was at my friends place the other day – and boy, was his home quiet. Come to think of it… it would be a great place for meditation. But true mastery of meditation means you can do it in the midst of a storm…

I haven’t reached that far. But I’m getting there. For the past few months – I’ve been practicing a simple form of meditation – sitting cross legged (it’s called the Lotus position) and just taking slow deep breadths. This is the first thing I do in the morning after I wake up. It sets the tone for the day…

Initially you may find this difficult, your mind wanders and you have no control of things… well, that can all change if you practice meditation the right way.

I checked with my dad, who studied not just medicine but also meditation – a particular form called Tantric. Today it’s been given a negative connotation – but blame us humans for that.

I’ve talked to a mystic who has experienced ESP – Extra Sensory Perception – or outer body experience.

But I highly recommend reading the story – The Surrender Experiment By Michael Singer – you may treat it with a skeptical eye. But instead of judging everything you read, try to be open to the idea that such things are possible. Take the good, leave the bad. You have more important things to do in your life… it’s short anyways.

For me the best thoughts have come when I’m traveling in a plane 30,000 feet above, where you can see the clouds below you and sky and sun around you… as you glide with the humming of the aircraft. It’s an amazing experience. Take that feeling, and immerse yourself in it for just 10 minutes a day, and it can do wonders.

And if you love technology as much as I do, check out these sites to help you start meditation.

1. Brain.fm – this is an interesting software that has pre-recorded music based on how the brain is affected. They have a guided and unguided meditation section – I’ve been trying them for the last few months – and trust me, it’s amazing not just for meditation but also for work (I listen to music for the creativity).
2. HeadSpace.com – the story behind this is interesting, because the monk (yes, a proper monk) I talked about earlier – built this software after teaching how to meditate to others.
3. MindValley.com – I haven’t actually tried their meditation stuff, but there’s plenty of other interesting courses available for you.

Ok, I’ve given you a couple of links to read, a couple to try. The question will be – will you take action today, right this moment or will you just say, “I’ll come back to this later” – if you said that in your mind. I can say with almost 99% certainty you won’t come back and you’ll never remember this again unless I tell you.