06/10/2026
Many people say they tried to meditate but felt they couldn't do it or weren't doing it right, and stopped trying. For anyone interested in meditation, here is an easy-to-follow instruction.
Introduction to Meditation
The Tibetan Buddhist Center welcomes you to join for the meditation.
Today, there are numerous books and online information on meditation.
However, here I am sharing with you a brief introduction to meditation. In
Tibetan, the word “meditation” is called ”gom,” which means "to become
familiar with" one's mind and reality. There are many purposes for
meditating. From a Buddhist point of view, meditation is a journey for
enlightenment to overcome our own suffering (in Sanskrit, “dukka”) as well
as for others. Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment through
meditation. In our daily lives, it seems we are controlled by our mind. The
mind is full of delusions, such as ignorance, greed, and anger. According
to the Buddha, these are the poisons. And due to the delusions we create
karma. And the result of the karma is pain, “dukka.” Therefore, training the
mind is crucially important. Even in this life, more and more there’s
realization of the benefits of meditating, such as for the health, mental
stress, and for understanding of the truth of our lives. And this is
scientifically proven. The doctors recommend meditation and it is a
beautiful gift we can offer to ourselves. Generally, there are 2 types of
meditation: Shamatha and Vipassana. In Tibetan, Shamatha is “shyiné”
("calm abiding" or “tranquility”), and Vippassana is “lhakthong” ("clear
seeing”), which means it is an analytical (examining) meditation. Here I am
going to guide you on calm abiding meditation.
First, make yourself comfortable and with good posture. Generally, there
are 7 or 8 body postures. Breathe in and out a few times and settle your
mind and cultivate good motivation. There are numerous meditation
techniques as well as many obstacles. There are 2 main obstacles:
1. Our mind is constantly busy or chattering. In Tibetan, “gorbha”.
2. Mental dullness. In Tibetan, “chingwha”.
These are the 2 main obstacles when we meditate. To overcome these
obstacles, we need mental mindfulness, “tenpa” and introspection
“shishing.” These 2 qualities are always necessary. These are the 2 mental
tools.
We try to remove the busy thoughts and to sustain that quality. You can do
this with or without visualizing an object. For example, when doing a
breathing meditation, the breath is the object and so, focus on the breath
(the object) and sustain that mental quality. If other thoughts arise, be
aware (shishing) of it and return back to the breath and hold that (tenpa).
When meditating without an object, first remove the object of the senses:
sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Secondly, remove the thoughts of
past and future mental activities and memories. And with this empty mind,
stay in the present moment. Here are the first 3 stages of the Nine Stages
of Shamatha MindTraining:
First stage: semchogpa - settling the mind
Second stage: gyundu chogpa - sustain
Third stage: lendechogpa - bring the mind back to meditation
There are very good ancient metaphors on shamatha meditation:
The black wild elephant represents our untrained mind. The chain or the
rope represents mindfulness, “tenpa”. The pole represents the meditation
object, “yule” such as the breath. The hook represents introspection
“shishing.” The untrained wild elephant, represents beginner meditator’s
mind. The elephant never stays in one place. It is screaming and stomping,
which represents our own thought. The color black, represents the coarse
level of drowsiness.
Conclusion: Generally, training the mind takes time. As in a garden, the
fruits of meditation ripen in their own time. Regular repeated small efforts
are conducive to calm abiding more than irregular heroic efforts. Mental
tranquility is crucially important in our lives and for overcoming our
suffering. So we need courage and joyful effort. Change is a law of nature.
Therefore, an untamed mind can become a fully trained mind. Rejoice and
keep hope.
