1IIITIhe

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lean form of' -I edl·ltati1onl yet. Time malgalzilne

111

8 Mj nrutes to Great, r p. ace

inule 10 o· e Stress

8 Minutes to lrnproved Focus

8 'inutes

to a Happier

l~fe

Victor Davlch
author 0 TI

e Best

Guide To Meditat~'on

· I VI C···'TO"" .'. R' D"A"·· V······C"'",H'

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8 Minute Meditation
QUIET YOUR MIND. CHANG,E YOUR LIFE.

I1II
,A PER.IG'E'E.

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engaged rum rendering professionaladv ~c!e or serv ices to the iit~,~I~v[(jJlu~d reader. The rndJe f1rs ,procedures and suggestions (J01~ta~lJIJe~1 ,illID this book sre not: hlt'eltded ,@L5 a substitute for 'OOI]"51111'l.trn,I'!Ig with your phys~l(~rn,arl1lJ_ iv-fedlUtflJtlilOfiJshould only be done i[I~I,at afe, comfortable s e,IUlVWtiQlllnentfU]:dj should not be done wb"l,e oPllQrmm~ ,3( v'®h~cle" d~V~Q~ Dr ~~urnpID®nt 'Of ,mruylID3'tOO6. N,eilither the amhor nor me publisher shaH be U,abb;~ r responsfble for ,amy loss or o damage ,~legediy ,arr~smn,g fromany information or suggestion m this book,
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C:ONTENTS

,Preface
Beg,i,r:I,r:I,ings

vii

PART 1. MEDITATION PART U. THE

101 MEDITATION PROGRAM

17

a WEEK

61 65
'77

weEK ONE:~.J ust On e Breath weEK TWO:: Naked Sound WEEK TH ReE~ Noting weEK FIV~ Gracious

Be dy Sensation s
Declining

WEEK FOUR: This Magic Moment weEK SIX,: Private Sere en ing WEEK SEVEN:~ l.ovingki nd ness M edita tic n WEEK EIGHT:~ Combi natie n Pb;te

89 101 109 117 127 135 149 154 159 166

1'75
IS7

~RT 111. THE UPG'RADE

Beyond

8 Minutes
Going Further

The Me:dimtion in Action Template

l.ovingkindness;

,D...."".t'I;~,~'II"""'a(""· ( 1f\'~.I:nJ~,~ ~~~.,

M'" Y' ,0 ....I"-.jUir,~yl,n A,' """,bn..)l!1r ,,'" ._:',F"!G,nI ("',",If'II'" ,I .,' ,i k-f

" T"~"-- \ifau ,nJQnlK. ~

,1,'.,

189
A": ~',I'*'r.. or uI11.J,~ UI,

UUUII1.

~j"jj~'~'*

f,,!c1i .... '. ilb.,n·,n~

193

IF YOU ARE reading these, words, there's something drawing :you

to meditation.

Maybe, you~ve heard that medltatlon can help you become more peaceful and feel safer in a. complex, uncertain, and often harsh world. Perhaps there's another even know why. But, you do know youjd like to learn to meditate. problem
ls, meditation

reason. Maybe, you don't Only

sounds

really complicated

and ex-

tremely tlme-consurnlng,

If only' you could flnd a, simple wa,',/, to

meditate that would suit your lifestyle yet provide the benefits you long 'for ...

wei$~h'ereJs goad' news:You've found

!!J...II·L,~~
I '~1:l;

lit.! And'

aU lit takes' lis B ml"!1-

0:"

..-:II

y-

d· t"n/'
..

~l"'!i'

vm

PRE FAC E

8 M,inute ,Medltationis the

neva lutlonary

neN program that

will change you r life as eas ily as it fits 'j nto lt, In just

a m 'j nutes

day-~the space between two televlslon ecmmerclals=-you build a I'l'fetime meditation

practice. most American fo rm of meditation

can

Time magazine callsft "the

yet,"

8 Minute Meditation

IF YO U HAVE ever thought, ,~' love to med~tate,but it's too hard'

and' takes too $ang~ might be becouse the rneditction books and it.
programs you've come across are overly compllcoted, ing, and time-demending. confus-

Until now.,
BM,inute

,Med'itation

ls a,

modern approach to med ltatlon ,

bringing you Eastern tool s for Western res ults. Whether you have never tri'ed medltatlon before or tri edit an d stopped ~a M lnute

M,ed'itation will work for you.les design ed for who you are and the
way you live today. Not only does the 8 Mi'nute Meditation program work. it does something most other
medltatron books don't: 11 makes

meditation practlce enjoyable. pleasarrt-« even fun-e-tc learn. Not

:2

8 MINUTE

MEDITATION

only wlll this medltatlon program 'turn you into a, real medltator; but yau~11 enjoy smiles, chuckles, and maybe a few outright be Ity laughs along the way. This is anti relyln keeping with the spirit of medltatton, mad ltate. And don ~two rry~ I never sacrlflce substance fo r Iaughs, I\/e got mare than twenty-ftve yen,rs of medltatlon experience and have already written
a"

lt's also the best way to help you learn to

Book of the Month Club selection on the

subject, As such, I am a gratefu I examp Ie of haw the practice of meditation can transfo rm you r llfs, Every ward in this bookis tended to help you do the same. in-,

SOJ please" Join me on

change you r I'i'f~and

(1,

journey that will quiet ycur rnlnd,

JU st

plain m aka you happ ler, I~ be with you II

every step of the way. And youtll be glad yau came along, We llve in an age 'in which we have less free time than even
Any actlvlty we undertake" frorn reflnlshlng a, 'floor to learning

rnedltatlon, must be:

,. Simp le to unde rstand

• 'Easyto do ,. Offer benefits wo rth the time lnvestm,ent lt's no wonder that when it comes to meditation, we have little time (or patience) for confusing and complicated explanations of meditation 'Or mscrutable lnstructlons meditate. such as "[ust do

nothing," And we certain ty don't have up to an hou r a day to

BEGINNINGS

:1

B Minute Mediration changes a.11 this. M'editation may be a

3~OOa-year.. Id tradltlon, but 8 ,Minute ,Meditation is a completely .a new and current approach to lt-........ a-,week program that's slrnan ple, easy" cleanand incredibly tlrne-effectrve,
W'ith B M,inute ,Med'ftation~ "'l0u~ be m ed itatl ng qu lck Iy an d II easily~ starting from Day One. At the same time, you'll be building
a steady
jUst

meditatio n hab it that can Iast you a, llfetlrne, A II this in s~pacebetween two 'TV commerOI]$ breaks.
reso I've-the

8 minutes-th,e

What's more, yau wl II begin to add ress-and f rst p lace~suchas: U'I c: I rea'I "/- stressed out. ~ ' Ii " " ,I~e
t.

main issues and challenges that brought you to meditation in the

UM'" .y ,t" oug hts are out 0: contra."Iu -- the 'ts a ,,- of ,-,,~f.1 fee I as 'if I'm d r'ifting through llfs" iU'11 (SSP '11.lrlng orr th h dl e at my co-war Ieers and flu' ff tne nan c; "h/n 'Id,mll".

'~I an 't concenrrare," c "Something's mlsslng, but I don't know what,"

UEverything seems OK,. but still. I wish ...
u

a Minute

Med.itation 'is simple, ea,S)' meditation for everyone,.

regardless of age, sehoo

nng~or

Incom e

even if you think you

can't sit still for 'One mlnate, mu eh less eight. Whethe r yau 're a new parent. a single morn, a high school student prepping for the

SAT:or a young executive about to start your dream [ob, rest,

,1,S-'

8 MINUTE

MEDITATION

sured-8

Minute

,Medrta'tion wHI work 'for you. In a.matter of rnln-

utes from right now, you'll be able to begin your

ftrst meditation

period. No confu slon, No wasted time. No kldd ing.

Here's how msyi'esgolng to be far you to become a. meditator:

I., You'll begin with a shortvtou r'~ of meditation

that will give

you the essentials without what the word

confusing

0r

bo r'ing yau. You~II learn

meditation means and see how easy 'it is to

works.

meditate. You' II be brlefed on how this once-dally B Minute M'editation program works=end whylt

2. Next, you'll prepare and set up for you r first meditation perlodrou'!l learn a simple, effective meditation
po stu re that chair: You t.11 lnstru c-'

reqa ires nothing me re than sitting an an 0 rdlnary

also receive a unique set of Med ltatlon

Operating

tlons that will assist you throughout

ho pefu Ily beyond,

the next

B week~nd

3. Then. ¥'ou'li beg'in you r fi rst medttatlon

slrn pie; jargon-free;

pe rlod, gu lded by lnstru cti ens, more and no fa reach each

fal lu re ..p ro of med itatlon

You~1Irnedltate for just 8 mlnutes a day-no

less. Part II of this book contains 8 sections-one week of the program, You'll spend a week with

tech-

niqu e and then move on. Each section also includes material that will help you transltlon from one week to the

next, as

well as in-depth answers to 'frequently asked questions.

4. After

you complete

your

8 week medltatlon to "upgrade"

progra.m,,-

you' II have the opportunity

and deepen you r

med ltatlon practice. Part. III contains everything y'ou 111 need to

BEGINNINGS

:5

do thls.Includ ing a utrain:ing schedule" and a special M edltatlon in Action Template that will enable you to bring rnedltatlon into every aspect of you r with a cream-of-the-crop
rs,

dal If life. Part III cone ludes

of meditation

selection

books,

tapes, and retreat cente

W'ith 8 M,'inute M ed ltatlon, gett.ing the hang of meditation slmp ler=-much simp lar-than

'is

you think. Of eou rse, you might

'find the 'first few days, maybe even the f rst weeks, somewhat chal-

lenglng, But hang in there with me. After two weeks, you wi II be
meditating with 'tam iI iarrty. By the end of Week B~ you w ill be a"fu II.. , fledged medltatcr-e-ready to go even deeper into meditation

practice. But what 'is mu ch mo re lmpo rtant, you t.11 reap benefits of meditation from the very beglrm ing. Benefits such as:

• A greater sense of peace and well-being • Simp le, drug ... free stress red uctlon • Imp roved concentration and 'focus

Quite simpty~meditation about going to Permanent much, much better-the world with

can change your llfe, l'rn not talklng

Bl'issland. What I am talking about 'is

real deal: a way to live 'in this complex:

clarity, well ..being, calm, and happiness. every-

W'ith all these great. things going for lt, lts a wonder

one on the planet tsrrt meditating. So why aren't you? For the an~er--:and solution-read on.

,6,

8 M INU'TE

MEDI TATI ON

WHY YOU CAN~/"fSTART 'TO ,ME:OI"TATE. W'HY YOU S'TARTE'D AN~D STOPPED. WHY 8 ,MI'NIUTE ,ME:DITATI'O'NI CHAN'GE:S
Whenever people learn that l'rn a meditator

'TH.AT.
or have written a

rned ltatlon book" they 'invariably-feel compelled to tell me one of

two things:

"l wou Id love to learn to medltate, But I just can't," or

~~Iried to meditate but stopped," t

:My response to these statements ls always and exactly the

same: 'iWhat do you thlnk is in the w(J'I?~tHere are sam e of their respo nses, ,D 0

any

strl ke

yo u

as 'tam II iar?

W'HY I CAN'T' LEA.RNTO MEDITATE

td 1- s too camp I·icatec, t
t _ _

It takes too much time. I'm not. srnart enough. I'm too old.

,_ __ I m too young.

I'm not. special enough. '1don't have the time.

BEGINNINGS

.,

WHY I STARTED MEDITATION

AND STOPPED

I couldn't stop thinking"

It took too 10 ng.

I went on vacation and couldn't start when I, returned. ' 1,.-. t wasn
c .•.. ~-

t
.....

w h·".- I, expects. at ".... ectad

I didn't get enlightened.

I wasn't sp'iritual enough. I wasn't special e no ugh. I must have bad karma. Although these lists 100 k long, the 'truth is that all these ra... '

tlonales 'for not meditating come down to two basic mlsbellefs:

'- M'edltation 'is obscure, eorfuslng and hard. '- Meditation takes too much time to learn and actually do. Lees see how the B Min ute M edltatlon program addresses-a-

a nd €I rad lcares=-both these 'issues,

Meditation Is Too Nebulous, Confusing, and Hard

W'ith more than 4;;500+ medltatlon books on the market, lt's

easy to see why meditation has an undeserved reputation 'for

be ing a myste rlo us, arcane 51stem reserved 'far a brllllant se lect 'few.

18

8 MINUTE

MEDITATION

But the truth ls exactly the o.f?pOs,fte: Anyone can easl ty learn to practice m edltatlon, no matter what those convo luted books 'filled with Sanskrit say~lhis 'is the primary goal of 8
tation~ to demystify meditation
M,intfte

,Medi-,

and make it effortless 'for you to

both learn and do, 'The 8 week program is divided into three sections: • Part I provides you with the foundations of meditation and prep ares you to 'imm'ediat.elystart you r f rst rnedltatlon pe rlo d. • Part II is the hea rt of the matte r: the specially des lgned,
step-by-step, 9-m lnute-a ..day~a-,week rnedltatlon program. ,

• Part. III 'is the "u pgrade

t~

sectl on, offe ring yo u ways to make

you r meditation p ractlce deeper and apply it to everyday life. Sound simple! Sure it does. Because 'it 'is.

Meditation Takes Too Much Time-to Le

Be honest when you answer this question:

Tn

and Practice

Is your llfe so super-busy that you don't have

a minutes

a,day,.

when you get up. or just before bed. that you can call your own~ Sure, everyonets life is jam-packed and hectic. But to say that you don't have 8 minutes a day to do something you want to do sounds a tad 'flimsl~doesn'tlti Do you have time to watch B minutes of TV~up to the f rst comrnerc la I break o'fTh e Siffi'psans? Well,. okay,then.YbuVe got. time to meditate the 8 Minute M'edita.tion w,(J'!j.
But;

you say~l'rn a single mom.I'm a traveling dad. I just had a

BEGINNINGS

'9

baby~ I'm busy, busy, busy. How 'in the world can I find time to

rnedltatei ~The answer is: The time is there. Just. relax, and allow
you rself to see where it ls, Single morn! How sleep? Or before 'they' about meditating after the kids go to

wake up? Traveling dad'? Next tlrne you're

close you r golf magazine

on that two-hou rtl ight to San Antonia, and spend

8 pleasant minutes in alrborne medltatlcn, NeN par-,

for 8 minutes

end Give baby her 5 A.M. feed ing~then meditate whi le she dozes off.

And by' the way~'ifyou think those short, 8 minute periods won't
amount

to anything.,think again: No lesser Ught than Albert Einstein

Each B mlnute medlratlon period 'is a deposit 'into

said that the most amazing phenomenon in the universe is compound Interest you r

account at The Fi rst National Bank of Meditation~ ¥/here it

earns a hefty int.erest rate, 'In tlme, those srna, I deposits aggregate and I
compound into a huge payoff the abillcy to !'ive life in peace and calm. Where vestment? else can
'){OU

get a greater

retu m on so small an in-,

'THIIE' ElIF'rr\.l'' IIF'H 0','".".'Ii:: 'THI'S" B'·,0' "'·"0'.' ·'·K,·· W,""H"Y',",'" a M,I IN"''.-U"TE'S-' 0 i- ~: 0 r :- ','::,_~.'["' : <,.: i': D'· ,,·:· <:.·..': •.•... r\r·.'u~ AN:···- ·W',._.<_.:...H-'Y·:··:· I'T- '~W,·'(-'··:O····.--.. FlK··· e.
I
I..:~·-.: :',.'. ,':,. __.,.'.' .',:._: .'

··t.·_t., ·.t_·:

. -.'

...

~',

! '..'......

:,. ~.. .: ~ ~

..~!-

Now,

you're probably asking two thlngs at this point:

.. • HW·'·'·····h" s·'· minutes!' "in -':11,' .::.' . -

UW':'···h >_0 are

...:You; anyway, to ..te II me

',IS
th'.

WI"II·WO

rl(.~u.

H)

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

'That's the splrltl

Like the Great American

Bumper Sticker mys€!If with-

says~ "Qu estlon Authority" So allow me to introduce out, as autho rs love to do, recou nting (to the author) spiritual jou

my

personal and 'fascinating

mey.
sit on rnountalntops, but in

I tell you my story because I want. yo u to see that my life 'is slm ilar to you
1""8.

People like us don't

have challenging stress-f lied llves that demand we get down

l

the trenches of real Ufe every day. And If you can take medltation along for the ride, 'it makes a"huge difference. First, off" ltd like you to know that I am the author of

The Best

Gu'ide

'[0

,Meditation

a very popu lar gu ldebook to medltatlon and

a 'Book of the Month Club selection. I began to practice rnedltation in

1975.[;and over those decades, I have meditated for thoudozens of mad itatlon

sand s of ho urs, attended studied with (and

retreats, an d

cou nt. as friends) some of the forern est rnedlin

tatlon teachers in America. I began

rnedltatlng

'N fNiI York C'ity while att.endinglaw

meditating the

schoo L My reas on for starting was p ractl cal. not. sp'irltu al An

alumni told me he had started

year before and

'found that his memory had 'improved-as

well as hls grades.

At the tlme,

among other reams of case law;;I had to commit

a slx-lnch-thlck copy of the IRS Tax, Regulations to m,emory. So I

flgu red, UWhat have I got to losei" I attended a cou pie o'f nlghts of basic rnedltatlon instruction and was to Id

by the lnstru ctor to

sam eth:ing I hadn't

meditate twice a. day.

'The 'first. tl me I m ad ltated, I experienced felt. much of in my life ~and never; ever in law school. ~ felt

,pe ece,

And when sorneth ing 'feeIs good, you usual ty keep on doing lt, So

I did.

BEGI NNI NGS

~]

I continu ed to meditate months,

tratlon

on a, twlce ... dally basls, After several relaxed yet~ paradoxically, better more

I 'found myself more

a Iert, both in and out of class. I also experienced

and focu s, 'This natu rally led to better even the most camp lex: materlale=-such

concert-

camp rehenslon of

as those Inscrutable tax

t

regu lations. What was ma re astou nd ing I 'found myself actually looking 'farward to my daily sparring practice with them. 'Then came the final tax: exam, and to my (and my professo r's] utter su rprlse, I got an A,.Whether something throughout
rned ltatlon hadanyth

ing to do I dld,

with it or not.It dldn't matter: I knew by then that rnedltatlon was I was going to ccntlnu e to practice. Which twelve years of legal practice 'for two Fortune Pictures. business. I became a producer; screenwriter; to deepen my 500 advertlslng in New York; as a buslagencies

ness affairs attorney and Paramount the entertainment

medltation

'In 191'5~I moved to Los Angeles to become more involved in

novelist. and nonfiction wrlten 'In LA;. I continued

practice. rnovlng first to Zen and then on toVtpassana, enough to discover sav-' who enabled me to go

or Insight Meditation" During this perlod, I was fortunate eral extraordinary deeper Goldstein,
rnedltatlon

teachers

in my practice. 'They inc ludad Sharon Salzberg, Joseph and Shlnzen Young. who became my prlmary teacher were, and remain today,

and rnedltatlon "go-to' guy. The teachings, benefits" and insights I received 'from these and other teachers of inestimable value.They're this book. 'The lrnpetu s to write B ,Minu·te Med:ttation came to me after someone told me 'far the umpteenth also what I hope to convey' to you in

time that they'd ureally love

12

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

to meditate, but ... u Frankty; I was tired of hearing whatever

9)(,-'

cuse they had come up with. So I set out to create a fai Iure .. ro of p
rnedltatlon program that would ellmlnate any and all "buts" and

that would: • F.itinto anybody's lifest.yle"no matter how busy they were. • Start peop Ie rnedltatlng lrnrned iatety;_,and make sure they wouldn't stop. • Provide simple, reliable m edltaticn lnsrructlon that anyone
cou ld do the first tlme they tried.

• Anticipate and clearly answer common qu estlons ... oubts, d and concerns • Enable anyone who wanted to go deeper lnto meditation
.

- < > . ""." -. to' be.. able to do' so

,','

.'"

,'.

,'.

",

,"

_",'

I.

':

,~

-,:,,>

.:'.': >,.,
" "

• Be suppo rtlve, en eou raging, and give pea p le the feel'ing that I was with them every step of the way" B M'inute Meditation is the program I created to meet. these goals. And, rnore jrnportantly, help you achieve yours.

Why 8 Minutes?
As far as I know" there is no Geneva Convention governlng meditation tim e periods. Some teachers requ ire students to meditate 'for up to one hou r a day. Ifyou attenda Zen retreat, that can rise to ten hou rs~ On the other end of the spectru m, several medlta-

BEGI NNI NGS

113

tlon books ration tlme,

say three or even one minute is sufflclent daily medlB minutes a day 'is lust right:
intrude on, or

Here's why I think

'" lt's not

throw

a"

long time and will not compromise,

off you r llfestyle, lt's the time 'it takes to take a shower a tuna. salad sandwich. It's also the time between
breaks of you r 'favorite sitcom.

or prepare

the first two cornrnerclal

'" Everyan e, and yes th at 'includes you ~can fit B m 'inutes into his or her

day. Can you wake up

e minutes

earlier? Go to bed

8 rnloutes later? If you~re travellng, do you have 8 mlnutes

while waltlng 'for your boarding

call or on the plane? After

you check. in at the hotel? Of course you do.

• A steady; daJty B rnlnute practice is cumulative and builds ..

what I call '~M'indfulness Muscle~" More about this later. For

now, just know that lt's all good.

BEGI'N 'TO MIEDITATE:. RI,GHT N'OW.

Med'itation has never been simpler than the 8 Minute Meditation way~You won't find a sing,le word in this book that requires a splr-

ltual or Webster's dlctlonary, an lnstructlon Y'ou can't understand,

or

a. meditation technlqu e you cannot do slmply easily and the

it,·-"'"'Iik.e righ,t

'first, tlme you attempt

now.
into

As they say in Hollywood.lt's tlrne for a "Preview of Coming

Artractlcns,"

Over the next

8 weeks, we wlll be getting

1111

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

'things in a lot mo re depth. But fo r right now, I want you to get an idea of how simple and easy 'ifs going to be for you to learn to
meditate.

Fa r the moment, don't worry about do ing anything but sitting right where you are, All I want you to do is read the following simpl e Instru ctlo ns and doth e best you can.
Remember, this 'is not a, pop qulz, Grades wlll not be 'issued.

As you'll soon learn, there's no wrong way to meditate.

TASTE MEDITATION • Sit

erect, engaged yet. relaxed, as 'if you're llstenlng to your

'favorite frlen d.
...
-~,

A"" ',"

·~t~." '0" C" 10' ':, 110' ·w· 'Y"'' 'O' 'Ur eves t'.,.:.~. ;:"0
.:., .' ,>.' -:

·.:···_·~~rE

• Take a long, deep inhale. Hold it a moment, And just let it

go.
• Allow you r breath to settle 'into its own natu raJ 'flow. Don tt force arwth ing. • Br'ing your attention to where you 'feel you r breath the most. It could be your dlaphragrn.chest,
nostrl Is.'There 's

or maybe under your

no wrong place.

• Watch
breaths,

you r breath 'from this place fa r the next five

• Open your eyes.

BEGI NNI NGS

115

Well~ you dld ltl lt's easy, right? Not some b'ig deal or something
you aren't site:

capable of doing. Actually, rnedltatlon 'is lust, the oppo-,

the most natu ral thing in the world.

So are you ready to do something this pleasant and simp le

'for B rnlnutes a day? Of course you are. Just 'follow the 9 Minute Meditation
that can

pro-

gram gam e p Ian. In B weeks~ you can have a med ltatlon practice last you a I'Ifetime., words. something
I've already said that if you're reading these

has attracted you to medltatlon, You're about to 'find out what that 'is.
Just tu rn

the page.

PAR·'T O· N·'E'
- ,,-_,
- -,

,"'.'
t.",

", ::- :.",

r.-,'.
"

,ME:DITATION 101

IN A SHORT amount of tlme, you~re goi'ng to begin Week One

of your S Minute Meditation program. But ftrst, lt's important that you get the lay of the land. Just like your home, your meditation
practice shoul d re sr on as soli d
a,

feu ndatlon as posslble. That's

what Part lis about, lt's going to: .. Define and demystify what rnedltatlon really is .. Tell you what th e B Minute Med ltatlon program carr-an d ca~ n't-'-d',":. 0'·'"," for 1'.. ','
;Ii

Vi,"O··'U I" '_"._';

Address and resolve some common mlscenceptlons about

meditation and resistances to medltatron .. Answer beginning medltators' most frequently asked questions

:20

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

• Provide

){OU

with a set

0"

simple, powerful

"Opera .. ting In-,

g-,.

structlo ns' t th at you wi II use in the next 8 m inutes, 8 week

and

perh aps 'fa r the rest of yo ur life

It m'a.ybe natu ral 'fa r you to want to skip over this part. and
i.~

cut to the chase," that ls, beg into med itate. But 'fight. O'ff that de-

slre. Th ls stuff is lmpo rtant, You'11have a, much better chance at

succ ess lf you read it. with fu II attention.

>" -:< ,::.._. W'H'AT- I"S" MIE'O'I"TA' 'TIO-_:: N';!li;

i _.:,,'-.-.' : '~.-~. ..'
".,1'

i-,

_<"'-.'. --,
..

I~;

I·'

,._'.

,.

_'

",.

" .•

,.,

Med'itation

is not a sratlc ~ ing~tt. lt's a' 'do 'ing~~ 'th ~This is why lt's so
defrrltlons
0"

hard to put a finger on and define.

Many

medltatlon

ure given by the

use of

metaphors. Here are two examples. one ancient and one modern:

• ~ is exactly nlos mu ddy water left to stand 'in a glass. Little 'lt
by llttle, the sediment slrjks to the bottom and the water becom es pu re,' (Talsen Deshlrnaru)
• ~ I•••

like

great scub a gea r:You can see, hear, to u ch, and taste
without drowning in

your Huck)

thoughts

them"

(Laurle Fisher

But

these

are verbal attempts to describa what is beyond

insight, and wisdom. Here's how I

wo rds, Med ltatl on is an actlve process that 'is a confluen ce of the qu alltles of concentration.
scribe 'it:

de-

MEDi'TATION

101

:~n

• Medltation

ls not a nou n, but a verb. M edltatlon

is a dyas op-

namic process, like the llqu id 'flowing state of water posed to 'frozen 'ice. This is what I mean when

I say that English

medltatlon

is a "dolng," what

yau r seventh ... grade

teacher called an "active

verb"

• M'edltation is not the goa I; lt's the j a u mey~In just the act of sitting dawn to

meditate, you've already achieved 'Your goal,

'Pretty great, hu h?' Talk about a win .. in situation ~ w

• ,Medltation is not the menur lt's the
(11,

meal, Alfred Korzybskl,

the

'famous Po lish mathernatlclan, once sald,"The map is not the 'The best way to un derstand

te rrltory' medltatlon

"te rrltory" of
can talk know

'is to actually meditate. Othe rwls 8; it's like de-

scribing Chunky Monkey Ice Cream to

Martian;you

'from, dawn to dusk, but that poe r little allen won't

what you're 'talking ebcut=- until she dips into the Ben &:

Je rry 'isco ntal ne r;

Still, I want you to' have a,definition of rrredltatlon you can hang
you r hat on 'far the next 8 weeks, something that wi II keep you from wasting time trying to' figure out if youtre medltatlng time you slt down to medltate=-lnstead So let's keeplt every

of actually med ltattng,

simple. 'For the next 8 weeks, the 'following 'is deftnltlon

dec lared to be the 8 M'inute Meditation

of meditation:

'. ~ oWing w h '. Medlitation is aII· rat rs,

Right no~ pIease close you r eyesf; relax, and 'fa r the next
j

mlnute or so" just 'feel your body~You:r hands in your

lap.jourfeet

:22

8 MIN U 'TE M ED I TA 'TION

on the 'floor: The noise in the street+ N'ow, as alertlyas

posslole,

pau sing after each wo rd, repeat the deflnltlon th ree tim es, Medltatlon is allowing what ls, Meditation is allowi ng w hat is. Meditation is allowing what Is,

Did you

get a little taste of meditation? I bet you did.

And speaking of rnedltatlon, did you know that ...

0"-" ~::.-.' " . ,::~~'. P ;-;_. '_ I r.t '".... M E' D" rrA' 'TI <:. -.~:" N' - 'IA·S"_.'TIL'~,S'-..:~,'~-: G····· lE'A.....T'I
:-~ ! " . _.":,, ',..

_'·;'"::'_';'.I .. ~',,;

;t,

. ':-_ .... ._' . -, Pi:.. AN>'-'D',.- ' I'T",S-'.' G'~..:0-',: O.'··--'·D!F'Q'-."

Y,····,·'-O,-.U, if !.'
'! -,'

'T'O'-aI '.' '.'

-,

Back in p rehlsto rlc times (before MTV), there were those chll .. , dren's televlsion shows where the host would hold up a loaf of

bread and proclaim, "Klds, Wonder good 'for you" too

~u

Bread tastes greatl And It's

Well. that's how I feel about medltatlon,

Why does rned ltatlon taste great? The taste o'f rnedltatlon ls,
quite slrnply the taste of peace. And what does partee taste Hke,~ Something beyond words-but that you know better than your

own name, One of the things your 9 M'inu-te Med:itation practice is about 'is givIng you that taste of peace-9 mlnutes wo.rth~

every day+. Wh·':·"·r\l'I~ med ltatlon

'_: '_: It' ~ ~" :._ .1'. ""

uIJIQ. ' :-' 6"--"'

io.. ror ·y····o··,·u> ~ lt's cornm i<> ~~ :.. d :1'.. ", / ..'..: .... ~ too! ,~. -.."-.' ..on sense '. . ,." .",
U

~Iii

When y'ou are in a relaxed and allowing state, you are less men-

tally agitated. And when you are less mental ty agitated ..you r braln

MEDi'TATION

101

23

sends fewer stressful messages to your body~ allowing come

it 'to be-,

rna re relaxedand

healthy,
h 3ye fo r the past s eve ra I decades, stu di

M'ed leal researchers ied the effectsand

benefits of rned ltatlo n, Some of the resu Its in-, can, alone
0r

dlcate that meditation

in conlu nctlon with

other

rnodalltles:
• Lower blood pressure

• Redu ce acute and ch ronlc pain

• Improve muscle response time • Relax. diaphragm and lnternal organs • Increase breathing efficiency and lu ng capacity • Reduce anxiety

and stress
of compu lslve behavlo r patterns

• Increase recognition

The latest research on meditation

has been focu sed in the of

area called neu rap lastlclty, Recent research at the University

Wiseons in has shown that a, steady practice of mad ltatlon over many years can actu ally encou rage the b rain to physical ty rewire itself

to be happier (Time 814/0.3; 'The N'ew York.'Times Maga'z,ine,:;

But please, before you go rushing off to rewire you r cau-

91 '1,4/0.3) !
date nucleus ...remember pie who these resu Its relate to brains of peo-, for at least a, 'few years.

might have been meditating if, after you

Don't be disappointed

flntsh you r first B minute pe-,

rlod, you don't feel that

th lngs have radlca Ily changed fo r you"

:211

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

Rega rei th is excltlng new research as something yet. another

'to shoot fo r-

reason why ~~M'ed itation tastes great~ And lt's good

'far jtOU ~ too!"

RO'VIN,G ,MI'N!D: WHAT ,ME·DITATIO'N

errs

IN: 'THE:WAY

or

Thls wou ld be a,good tl me to b r'ietly' introdu ce a characte r you're

go ing to see

a, lat. of in you r medltatlon practice aver the next 8

well as you r path to success.

weeks: your RovIng Mind. lronlcal Iy,it will be 1tOU r biggest hjn-

drance to rned itating-as

Whether

you're a flrst-tlme or seasoned rnedltator; chances I OO~~that when yau start

are high-abaut

to medltate, you will

be su bj eet to what appears to be an lncessant and abso lutely un-' control labIe stream of thought, 'In the Zen med ltatlon tradltlon,

this is called "watching the waterfall~,_.tha.t, gushing aut of your mind.It's what

perpetual 'Niagara

my

pal [ohn Newton callsUcog-,

n rtrve spam,
process

,',

J~

lrwarlab I)'. almost

all beginn ing rnedltato rs believe that the

of rnedltatlon 'is somehow creating this cascade of thlnk-

ing. But the fact 'is otherwise. You r personal 'Nlagara Falls ls and al-

ways has been there. You've just been too busy d'rawn,ing under ,it to notlce it~ Meditation p ractlce affo rds you, perhaps 'for the first
tlme In you r lffe, an amazing opportun lty: a way to keep warm and
dry despite the deluge. Heres an example of how rnedltatton helps you accornpl ish this: Let's riod.rour

say you are haJfrN,ay'into your

Minute Meditatian

pe-,

mind is tranquil and peaceful. Suddenly.out

of nowhere,

MEDi'TATION

101

25

the

'fa Ilowing th ought app ears: Gee; my' m~nd seems' ,pretty quiet
And here's where

This is the seed of what I call a "thought-story" it

can lead next:

Peace.

Yea'ht Th.is ,is w.ha't's s~p:pased

'[0

.nap:pen.? "," Haw can I stay

Damm,tt!.

like 'this.? .,., .Uh-o,h;

rm

st.arting'to lose

{r[ ., " "

I've iost ,itt for

God'~s:,sake; I can't do £l'nyth,ing r,ign'[ " " " like today when I deiet,ed'dla'[ e-mail fromSara.h .... Boy~wasReed.mad. .....Yeah;we$$.he:sacoldn.sh

anywa,Y! " " " S',peaking of wnich~ they're ha'v.ing a s~pecia$ on sQ'iman (It the market, Better get some on the wa'y' .hame . ".
And on and on and on.

,po(Jc.n,ed

Get the

plctureirou

start out in tran-

qu H ity' and pea,ca and wind up shopping for d inned All in the
space of

a. second, Say hello to Roving Mind. bad that yo u h ave a Rovlng Mind. It's 24/7. The mind is a perpetual

Now don ~t.start. feelIng

not only you. It's every one of us. thought

machine whose sale job 'is to thjnk, It's a, loyal, lndefatl-

gable worker

who will never let you down.

Well then, 'if you can't stop or suppress )tour thlnklng, how do you deal with it so you can llvs 'in peace and ca.lm'~ This 'is where meditation comes to the rescue

wlth a simple, elegant, and pow-

erfu I solutlort Don't suppress thinking. Sur,pass it

How in the world

can you do this?' Well; you can start by re-'

of rned ltatlon and "allow what ls,"

rnemberlng your new definition And how do you do thati

By doing what I call The Meditation

'Th ree-Step;
I. Recognize that you are thinking.

2. Gently return to meditation.

3., Repeat steps I and 2 as needed. (This will be a, lad)

:26,

8 MIN U 'TE M ED I TA 'TION

M'edltatlon is the art of gently retu m'ing-over

and over

again.And again.This is why we call it meditation ,practice~

Now, one important note: When I refer to Roving Mlnd~I'm

taU<Jng about those pesky, rovIng~rambling thoughts that ccrrtinuousty draln you r energy and just. plain drive you crazy. Rov'ing
M lnd ls not the same as and shou Id not be confu sed with thought

perse,
You constantly need to do thlngs, get here and there, hol d down your job" and plck up your klds after school. It's a blessing that you.r mind is working all the time, making sure you watch where you're go lng, avo ld troub Ie, and remember you r car keys.

There's a difference between a roving "thlriklrrg" mind and what

we rnlght call {,'wo rklng" rnlnd, As you continu e to meditate ... y'ouJ-II

be able to distinguish between these dlfferent m ind..sets with in-, creasing clarlty

We 11 get into much more detall about Roving M'ind through1

out the next B weeks, But for now, know that if's not meditation that gives rise to it. You~vebeen dojng this your entire llfs, lsn't it goad to flnally see It and know that you're about to do something about id

W'HY ME:DI'TATE:'
The Roman philosopher Seneca once asked, ~~What good is a w'ind without a compassi'fThls section is go ing to help y'ou define you r personal meditation goal. Most people come to medltatlcn 'for myriad reasons, but they usually fall lnto one or more of these categories:

MEDi'TATION

101

27

• Physical health; such as lower'ing blood pressure • 'Mental health, su ch as lowering stress levels

• Spl rltual growth" su ch as seeking a closer connection to llfe

Why' do 'you

want to learn to m edltatei Th is 'is a. very lmto

po rtant question, and you. shou ldn't 'feel shY' or embarrassed ask 'itT. There is this

mlsconceptlonthat m edltatlon shou I'd nat be

soch~ty~When result. we expect-s- maybe even demand-s-a

goal-orlented. However, we live 'in a goal ..oriented

we do something. After all, why put time and effort. into something
tu m a

lf it doesn't re-'
shou ld you.

cone rete benefit! I wou Idn 't, do

'to

'itt and neither

There is: absa$ut-ely nothing wrong with .naving a goat ,in mind' that you(i like meditation
.ne~p yOU' am,ieve" In fact, I thlrtklts
a, good thing. And to help you define you r own meditation look at some popu lar ones: goal, take a

• 'You suffer from acute or chronic physical paln.rouve or read that rnedltatlon • Yau take medication Your doctor might help with pain reduction.

heard

'for stress, anxiety, or hypert.ension.

also recommends that you take up meditation,

• You 'feel snxlous and confu sed.rou need a way to "chill out" without rasa rting to rnartlnls and tranqu lllzers,

• Life is just dandy. 'However; you~ve got. "the blahs" You feel
someth ingis mlsslng.jou

don't know qu lte what that ls, but

you 've heard that some people 'find thei r answer in medltatlon,

:28

8 MIN U 'TE M ED I TA 'TION

-You

find yourself angll'iirrita.ble~ and sometimes

acting in-,

appropriately. You 've heard meditation

can help you get a bet-

ter handle on your anger:

Now that ){OUJve seen some other people's reasons, let's determlne your ,persono'$ reason for wanting to medltate.You r re-' sponse is very important. It will make you aware of the "fuel" that and relax ..C lase you r e)tes. will propel you through these next 8 weeks. So rlght now, take a 'few moments itation 'is a process that can help me Okay;lgreat~Whatever ~er: You say you want to med itate becau se you want to be happied .Fi ne, 1{OU want to be happ j en Then ;;, ed:itatlon 'j sap recess M that can help me become happleri'You thought about how afraid you were of y'ou r own road rage,? OkaYi you r goal is ~~M edltatlon is a process that can help me be less angry behind the wheel" Now )tOU 've created place 'it whe the reason to rned ltate that's meanand ingfu I to j#ou-not someone else. Copy' dawn this sentence
Fe

See what pops up in you r mind to f II in the fa lIowing blanlc ~- 'ed-, M

n

you came up with was the perfect an-

you can read 'it befo Fe you r dal Iy 8 minute rnedclose and personal with why you

italian period. Now that you\/e gotten want to meditate, let's do the sam's with the

a M'inute Meditation

program and see how simple, yet effective. it can be fa r you.

MEDi'TATION

101

2'9

'The B Minute M'edltatlon program ls designed to be user... :friend ty, easy;and effective. Here 's a II you need to d a:

'" R.ead Part

or III.

II tho rough Iy. Don't skim

0r

sklp to Parts II

'" fam'iliari:ze
Insn-ucelons,

'yourself with the Meditation

Operating

These are yaur "ground rules" designed to

keep you on track and maximize you r med ltatlon period. '" Meditate
0 nee

a day fo r 8 min utes, Part II 'is dlv lded

into 8 sections, one fa r each week of the program. Each week has its own specially selected gulded meditation techn lque, In additi on" it contalns ~ eck ..'in'~section son you r progress at 'ch this point of the program, dlscusslon and tips for this week's
medltatl an tecbn lque a 'fa Ilow up; and a sectl an of of re quanti)'·
l

asked questions with accompanying answers, '" Move on after eae h week, At. the end of each week, slm-

pty tu rnthe page and move an to you r

rtext

medltatlon week

and technlque.The technlques have been selected and organlzed to gradual I)' allow you to deepen you r practice. That's

why lt's good not to skip around-or

'" Upgrad eyau r practice,

ahead.

At the end of Bweeks, you have

the option to stay where you are or move on to Part III and deepen you r m edltatlon practice, Part III offers several ea,sy and simple ways to do this. It also introduces the Meditation in Action Template, which wHI show you how you can apply'

30

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

med ltatlon to every single one of your dal Iy aetlvitles, I highly and heartily recommend the upgrade. And no matter what .. please try the M'edltation in Action 'Iern plate.

W'HAT YO,UI<. B ,MI,N'U'TE:,ME:DITATION' PROGRA,M Will-AN'D WON"I-DO

The 8 Minute Meditation UWon't" List

The 8 Minute Meditation program, won'c • Con fuse 'yo u, The rned ltatlon tecbn iques in 8 Minute ,Med-,
,itation are so simple a child can do them (and 'if YOU\/B got

one. maybe should). • Leetu reyo u, You~ve chosen this program because you don't want. to spend time on the hlsto ry a r phi losophy of meditation. • Del'''Iei ntayo u and 'your past ..Why go into discussions of mood disorders. brain chemlstry, or childhood? As w'e say in Hollywood, "Let's cut to the chase," meanlng. in thls case. meditation. right now. in this very moment. • Get int:o religion, Your 8 minute ... a-day meditation prononsectarlan, and nonpol ltlcal.

gram is nondenomlnatlenal,

There are no hidden agendas"Buddhlst or otherwise. • En'lightenyou. drink promoters,

Enlightenment is a word lndlscrtmlnately

Your 8 Minute Meditation program is

bandied about by every'one 'from New Age gurus to soft-

MEDi'TATION

101

:n

about medltatlcn, Don't worry about enllghtenment, Just relax and meditate" • Asic: to be you r gu ru, Some teachers say that you can tt

medltate €liffectivelywithout a guru or master to teach you ~I

disagree. Ewrything you need to begin to meditate Is r'ight here, 'in this book. • Give you the "secret shortcuts than this"
• Leave "'10 u in the lure h. Over the next B weeks of this

handshake"

or shortcut;

Beor

lieve me; 'if I could, I wou ld, But there are no secrets
to the essentials. So relax. Medltatlon doesn't

in meditation. 8 Minute Med'ttatronis pared down get slrnpier

prog ram ~ 1'1 be right beside you eve ry step of the way., l've II been down this road myself and have anticipated the challenges, questions.

and doubts that wlll came up for 'you. l've

built all kinds of "technical su pport" into this prograrn.You'll see what I mean when you startWeek One.

The 8 Minute Med,tation uWiIl" List

'The

a M'inute Meditation

program wlll: right now, 8 ,Minu-te ,Meditation 'is

• Get yo u meditating

designed to be simple, clear; and user-friendly-e-tc get you up

and rnedltattng, rig,ht naw~ Look at you r watch. In 'less than

'twenty minutes from now, you ~IIbe sitting down 'to your first medltatl on pe riod.

32

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

• Respect 'your time and energy. 'There never seems to

be enough time in the d,j''i to do 'less medltate.That's

what you have to do=rnuch

fa rty-five.J ust 8 m,inutes. Not

why all you're asked 'for 'is 8 minutes out

0r

of your day~N ot ten, twenty~ one second more or 'less.

• Give yo u clear, simple, effective instruction.

gram and word you can't understand, a meditation comprehend, tecbn lcalltles. instruction

'The pro-,

thls book are I 00% jargon-free. You won't 'find a

you can't or or a, discussion that loses you in philosophy

• Enable you to build a real medftation

practice

'in a

short tim e,. Many people have the notion that you ~vegot to sc,hte'p to Tibet and sit in fu II lotus posture for months on end
to develop
,(1

strong medltatlon practice. Welt, that's just not minutes a

true. If you follow the pl,an-8

day 'for B week~

habit. that

you will develop a, strong, dlsclp lined rnedltation you can deepen~ and can last you r llfatlrne.

• Answe ryou r basle q uestion s.Each section of the book

centans 'its awn

Q&A section. By' the way~ the answer to

€Nery question is always the sarne.Trou're doing great. Follow the program. And keep medltatlng,'

• Help 'You over th e rou gh spots, 'The unlque burning

concern, 'issue, or doubt been posed by these questions you have has more than !'ikely

thousands of other medltators.

addressed

You'll 'find

at many places along the way..

Don't 'feel embarrassed, dumb, or ignora.nt~ Wejve all been there,

MEDi'TATION

101

33

• S UppO rt: an d e nco urage 'you,~I'm with you eve ry step of

the way, not only to answer your questions but also to suppo rt y'our effo rts, I promise, I tru where you want to go.

If

want to help you get

• Point 'you in the right: direcclon. After you complete

you r 8 week med ltatlon p rogram, you~II have the oppo rtunlty to "upgrade" and deepen you r rnedltatlon p ractlce, Part III
contain s everythl ng you 1'1 need to doth is. lnclud ing a "trainj

ing schedu le" and the Med'itatlon in Action Template.

":'.',rl-:, W'UA,',"-T-,',

HIi

;A>'F'U'''H::N::'' . ",.",'., rll I:,· ," rr-IC, , '5- O-UflIN:-'G'.":

_,I ... ".~

.:_.-

"T'"H-'Q"'S:'IE [:J
,~ • .":-.," ', •. '.'

0 ,", ~ 0

M'.'·IN':""U','TI[;;:5::'::I1
I _.' •. -.... ~", ... :.:~'

Just about now1you're probably thinking that B minutes sounds !'ike

a really long time to sit still and do nothing. This is a normal

thought and goes to the heart of meditation. So lets clear up two
things:

• 8 rnlnutes ls not a. long time.

• Med'itation ls not "dolng nothlng," I want you to get out a kitchen timer start tim ing whlle you read this section.
0r

even you r watch and

8 Minutes Is Not a Long nme

You don ~t have to be Steven Hawl<jngs to know that time is relative.

We all know what it means when we say "time just flew,;t~ lt's

311

8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

an attemp-t to describe the experience where w'e are so involved in an activity that we lose track of relative time. The engrossing

actlvlty can be as varied as watching an overtime NFL game par-,

J

tlclpatlng in a. yoga flow class, or just. hanging out with a. close

'friend.Wha,tever 'it m ay be, the experience 'is one of time lessness, On the other end of the spectru melwe have all experienced tlme as "an eternity" It's the two minutes you waited at an lntersection to make a left tum when you were late to work, the ten
mlnutes in a, bank line because the ATM was down, or the twelve minutes listen ing to an lnsu ranee agent desc ribe you.r medical co-

payment. This is time that feels more like an endu ranee contest than a trans lent event. As 1tOU can see, time can pass 'inthe "blink of an eye'~or last

eons.It's all about the attention with which you approach the actfv ity~ B

M inure M,ed:ltation has been c reared to provlde yo u wlth a

series of med ltation technlqa as that will fu Ity engage you r attention. But as Lauren Bacall once said to Humphrey Bogart when she kissed him. "lt's a lot better when you help" So meet. me halNvay~ hen you get ready to medltate, don't W

prejudge what lt's go'ing to be like tlmewlse. Don'tlook at rnedltatlon as a horrific bu rden, bo ring chore" or-heaven Just set you r timer fa r 8 minutes. And meditate. forbld-esomething that is good for you (a surefire recipe for disaster).

Doing Nothing

Is Really Something

There is a popular misconception that meditation is "dolng nothing~U point of truth, medltatton is more "somethlng" than what In you think is something!

MEDi'TATION

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35

Wha:t do I mean by

thati Just this: When eve r you meditate,

In this atten-

you are engaged in a, process.a "sorneth lng" that demands you r 100% complete tlon, you are 'focused awareness and attentlon.

active, but in a whole new way: a peacefu I~calm way

new relationship with you r mind. one you are

that allows you 'to eu ltivatea

'This is one of the great benefits of medltatlon, go ing to start experlenclng But for now, just remember once
){OU

get you r practice underway isn't about "zonlng

that meditation

I" b' "". '. outr tt.s aooutrzormg

"U 1

'. ~~ ,fn.

Timing Your Meditation Period

While we're on the subject of time, let's discuss an lnexpenslve important item you must have to meditate prop-

yet extremely

erl)": a tim'ing device. Clock-watching during a meditation period 'is

counterpro-

du ctlve, It puts you in a,kind of l'imbo. a state of rep eared Iy a pen-, ing your mental eyes to check on how much time has elapsed and

Iy calcu latlng how much time

situation

remains. Thls

less-than-

optimum

is easily handled by uslng a timing device. You

set it fa r 9 minutes and 'farget it. 'To get the most out of 8 Minute Meditation, you need to have a kitchen tim en If you don ~taJ ready have one, they re available at
1

housewa re

0r

electron ic sto res. Th is less-than -ten -do llar invest-

ment wl II pay off handsomely in its ablllty to help you establish the most level p'laying 'field possible 'fa r mad ltatlon, Make sure your timer ls an electronic tkklng sound. optlon ls to use the 8 Minute Meditation Guided one that does not produ ce any distracting

Another

36,

8 MINU'TE

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Meditation

CD I c reared fa r this program~ It. is a volce-gu lded verlnstru ctlons contained in this book, The
eyes, and be led through your

slon of the meditation

C,D allows you to sit down" find the eu rrent week's meditation

track, push

PLAY; close your

8
8

M inut.e Medita.t.ion~ A pleasant. gong sound announces when minutes are up. No muss, no fuss" The Guided Meditation

CD is

availab le through my website" www.Sminutes.org.~ Oka1;1 look at your watch or timer. How many minutes did
you take to read this?

Good, Subtraet that, from 8 minutes, and

you\te got an idea of how qUiddy you r 8 Minute Mad ltatlon pe-

rlod will pass.

I've already discussed the two malor excuses people have for not

rnedltatingiThey haven't gat. time" and lt's too hard. 'Now" we're
go ing to spend a 'few minutes clearing up some other rnlsconceptlons about medltatlon, My nanny. Pau line Spector. called them "bubba metntzes.Trou
I'"

grandmother

mlght have called them, "old wives' tales"

Buddhist

grandmas wou ld call them "palntlng a tiger on your wall" They all mean the same th'ing: You are creating a problem, where none exists. Let's take a look at some of the most popu lar meditation bu bba mel ntzes;

MEDi'TATION

101

37

1 Meditation
A

Is

Too

Complicated.
It is net tee hard. Nor is it

Meditation ls pretty stralghtforward.

tao ea.sy~

Try this. right now:

'* '*

Close your eyes. Relax,

Pay attentlo n to you r breath.

.. Notlce one in-and-out cycle of you r breath.

Were you able to' completely

pay attention

to your breath,

with out th ink ing, dayd reaml ng; fldgett ng. or 'YIOnd ng what th e erl heck you were dolngi Most llkely not, Amazmg, isn't rt, how many thoughts you can pack into just one breath, like some lnflnlte, ex ... pan ding sultcase] But despite all the rnlndtalk going on, did you find it so ln... credibly dlfflcult to watch your breath? 'Of course not. This is what me d ltatlon ls: paying attention act Iy what au r what ls, A tourist in Manhattan
~n

to sorneth lng, real iz,ingthat den nition says: a.11 ng owi stopped and asked world ...

you've strayed awaY' from it; and then gently returning to it. Ex,...

,M inuteM,editation
once

renowned vlcllnlstYasha Heifetz, how to get to Carnegie Hall. Hi's response: "Practice lt's th e sam e with me d ltatlorcrou ju st practlce and get, better at it.

2. Meditation

Is a Religion.

There is a popular misconceptlcn, especially in the West. that equates medltarlon with Buddhism. But there's
3"

major difference:

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Buddh'ism I'ike jrdalsm and Chrlstlanltj; 'is a rellglon, Med:itatlon 'is

i

a non secta rlan process of awareness" In fact, you can 'find ltatlve component glous tradltlons,

(1,

m ed-

not just in Buddhism. but in all the great rell-

lnclud ing Ch ristianity and judaism.

Rest assured, the 8 Minute MeditatIon progra,m is completely

nonsectarian. Its only pu rpose ls to help you develop a meditation practlce :you can use fo r yo ur llfetlrn e. The re are no other agen-,

das, hidden or otherwtse.

3. When You Meditate, It's Li'ke You Are Hypnotized. It Sounds Scary.
It has been shown that b rain-wave patterns in med ltatlon states
0r

are d ilTerent from those generated du ring sleep

kind of deep relaxarlonls showId not be cause fa r alarm, Even in states

hypnosis. This

a natu rally occu rr'ing phenom enon and

0" deep meditation.

you will be as... nd even poss'ibty more, aware and alert than in a you r normal state. This 'is exactly the oppos lte of being hypno-,

tlzed, stupefied orin

a, trance.

4. Meditation ,Is an Excuse to Escape from Reality and Responsibilities"

Some peop le think that rnedltatlon 'is a sneaky selfish, narcissistic

way to avold responsjbllltles and real llfe. Nothing 'is farther 'from
the truth. The goal of medltation
,J",-0
• ··iO . ,Ji,f.!1

is not to escape

from

life--but

It..

H ere ~. h· ..... t h.at wo r Ies: . s .·ow .. ··... fu ller way, This is because you

When you:r mind :is calm, focused, and acceptlng, you expertence aJI aspects of life in a richer.

MEDi'TATION

101

39

are not Judging everything, but allowlng lt, moment by moment.

This new way of seeing can resu It in the creation of rno re "life en-' ergyU as well as of life. So don't wo
,3,

desire to engage mo re fu Ill' wlth evell' aspect

Becorn ing a med ltator doesn't mean y'ou'll

rry.

wake up and 'find that you\te abandoned you r law practice and are
head ing fa r a,m on astery in Bhutan. But It ce rtalnly can

mean flnd-

ing rno re richness in you r legal practice, love fa r you r fam'ily~and

reve ren ce 'fa r a,II fa rms of Iifs.

5. You Have fo Have Absolute Silence fo Meditate.

Med'itation 'is about Q'i$owi ng' people think meditation lence, preferably

t.he wodd .in:, not shutting it out. Most

In abso lute sl-

can only be done properly

on a mou ntalntop, far removed from ou r noisy,+.

crass, eve ryd ay wo rid 'But that's ju st not tru e. Remember our definition of rnedlratlonl UMeditatian 'is al-

lowing what ls," Well. this wi ld, noisy. seem ingly' uncaring world alarm s is, whether you like it or

everyday

not, "what ls," And it Includes car

b larlng, children laughing "and scream ing). and you r neighwe treat all outside intrusions

bo r's ste re 0 blasting h ip-ho p,

In medltatlon,

exactly the
0r

serne wary: We we Ieam e them ~with outany] udgments

to mute or muffle them

attempts

by donnlng actual or "mental" sun-

glasses, earp lugs,.or nose e Ilps.rou know. we "allow ~.. allow .. ,.

a II0»:
'This ~ llowlng' t. {,a deva, an

co ncept was exp ressed beautlfu Ily by Shanti-

early Buddhist sage~who said, ~~Where would I possibly

find enough leather with whlch to cover the surface of the earth!

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But wearing leather on the sales of my shoes is equ lvalent to covering the earth with lt," M'edltatl on opens you warding relationship

to an entirety

"I19S

h, peacefu I~and re-'

with the wo rid, one that ernb races every"tOU

thing and

reJects nothing. Each tlme you rn edltate,

'in the midst.

have the

oppo rtunlty to cu ltlvate a new way to live mo re peacefu Ily and joyfulty-,

of that wild and wonderful place known as

dally life.

6. If , Meditate, I'll Have to Give Up the Things , L;'ke~ Reading Vogue, Watching Notre Dame Football, Seinleld Reruns, Burg rs, and Starbucks.
Many people think meditation they love. I call this the complete means having to sacrifice the things It comes zero

"Tofu ... editation Connectlcn," M

with veggles, soy products. charnomlle

taa=-and

enJoyment (unless of cou rse you happen to like these things]. You also may have come across teachers and books that the requ 'irem ents to be a mad ltator

that say

include vegetarlanlsm,

teetotalllng, and perhaps even celibacy If this were the case, 99%
of the rnedltato rs I know wou ldn ~t be allowed to meditate! In-,

c lu dlng you rs tru ty~

The idea th at you have to sacrlflce things you love is not on Iy

erroneou s, it's cou nterintu ltlve to rnedltatton, You r 9 M'inute M'ed-, itation program demands no prohibitions so-called "vices," This 'includes everything watching on anyth ing-especially from double lattes to

Survivor iX to great sex,

'The truth ls that once you start m ed ltatlng, you '11 more than

MEDi'TATION

101

A~

likely enjoy these thlngs=-and everything else-even want you to try the followlng Sweet M,ini-Meditation.

more. Why?

Because you ~IIhave a richer experience of them ..To test thls, I

• Find a blre-slze morsel of something sweet, such as a ralsln or a Hershey's Chaco late Kiss,

• Take the sweet :inyou r hand. Closely examine that beautl-

fu I m orsel, bu rstlng with svveet potent] a I..

;I;

Vel"Y; very slowly; bring the sweet to you r mouth and slowly

set it on you r tongu e. • Close your eyes~Rea$Iy' get ,in touch with the ex,qulslte taste

as It begins to dissolve in your mouth over your tongue.

Did you notice how much fuller and richer your experience of taste 'is when you are 'full), present 'in the moment? 1m agine dolng everythlng this way~

to Meditate Without the Presence of a Teacher.

You Can't Learn
l.earnlng

7.

any ski II 'is always eas ler when y'ou have a good teacher;

So if you can f nd one, go fo r 'it. Ho wever~the reallty is that th ere is a scarcity of good rnedltatlon teachers. Finding one is tough
enough, and getting to where they are can entail a malo r invest-

ment in tlme, traveland

money.

'This is a major reason why I created 8 Minute ,Medrta'tfon.. The program is one-step shopping. Everything you need 'to begin,

42

8 MINU'TE

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build, and malntaln a real meditation practice is herein as dose as the next sentence.

your

hands.And although I can't be physically in the room with you, I'm

There's an ancient p reverb that says, uWhen the stu dent is

re(u:ty~ teacher will appear" Maybe there is a, teacher waiting the for you sornewhe re down the line. So fi rst, become a meditation student. Estab llsh a steady; da'ily" 8 m'inute rned ltatlc n practlc e. Then see what unfolds for you.

8 There's Only One Right Way to Meditate.

There is no one way and no best. way to meditate. And O:lvea't

,em,ptor.; Be wary of the person" teacher; or schoo I of meditation

that tells you different. If they say lt's "my way or the highway~U

stlck out your thumb.

Over the next 8 weeks. you'll be lntrodu ced to 8 simple meditation techniques, And here's the good news: • 'You can do everyone time. • 'You won't find a slngle line of instruction that you can't understand.
• It's lrnposslble to fal I at rned ltatlon, All you have to do is the

of them theft rst time and every

best you can, which is what you are doing all the time, whether you know it a r not. So stick arou nd and rned itate. After all, how often do you get the opportunity to engage in a win-win situation?

MEDi'TATION

101

43

'These day'S~ everything from bagels to SUVs comes with 'its own set of ope rating lnst ru ctlons, These are the ,instructl ens you usually

don ~£ read. and then do whatever th e heck you want. Please

practice and as

don't fo Ilow thls practice wlth your 8 M,inute Meditation Operating

lnstru ctlons, They are crltlcal to you r meditation

germane to Day' One as they wlll be to Week Eight~and

beyond,

Read your operating instructions now. Bookmark this section

so you can retu m whenever you need to" In tlme, they will natu-

rally inca rpo rate themselves 'into you r med ltatlon practice and
operate under you r personal radar,

Sit Down and Be Counted

Each time you sit down to meditate. you're standing up 'for your 'innate right to pea"ce of mind, self-we rth, and happiness.

So when you sit down to meditate, rea'lty sit dOwn~And' stew

there! Don't
tsunami, or

get. up for anyth ing-sh a rt of a" 1.. earthquake, 2

true em ergency~ And no, having to pee doesn't qual ify

meditation the B..minute to

as an emergency. Remember, Nowhere

way 18 this simple: be. Just. sitting. Fa r B

to go. Noth ing to do. Nothing

minutes. No more.

No less.

Be Kind to Yourself
Not j ust fo r the

next 8 weeks of the meditation

p rogram, but

every moment of 'Your life, now and 'fa rever:

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Frustranon freqa andy arl ses in 'the beginn:ing stages of me dlration practice. You might become angry at rned ltatlon, feellng that it should deliver an some promise that lt's not 'fulfilling. Whenangerl corrfu slon, fru stratlon, doubt, embarrassment. or

other negative feellngs a r 'tho ughts arl se in rned ltatlo n, don 't be upset or

try to repress them. Sim ply become aware of what is In 'th,is m ornent, am I being' kJnd to mys-eV so.

happen ing. Ask )tOU rself And If you are not" do

'In Week Seven of B Minute M'ed'itati on, you will lea m and do

a technique called l.ovlngklndness Med ltatlon, '11Tispractice will

ald yo u in accessing you r Innate; spring of kindness-not

natural, aJre ady-p resent w'e II..,

just fa r you rseff but others.

Fa r

now~ knew thls: The fact that you have given you rself a practice is a sure sign that you have made

meditation

a major de-

clslon to treat you rself with the kindness and com passion you r'ichly dese rve.

8 Minutes~ Every Day .. No More. No L

55.

As you r parents told you back in high schoo I. "First gradu ate. Then you can make your own decisions" In B weeks from now. when
'i

you "graduate"

from

the B

Minute M,edltatlon program

you' II have a far greater u nderstand-

ing of medltatlon than you do right now.

A.t that point, you'll be

hopefu Ily, upUntil that

ready to make adjustments to you r practlce-sand. ward ones in the number

of mlnutes you meditate.

time. though, please stick to the program and med ltate for B m in-' utes, No more and no less. Sticking with the program also means that you meditate just

MEDi'TATION

101

A5

once a day~ery

day. Don't skip Monday and Tuesday and 'think

you can "make it up" by medttatlng 'for twenty .. our rnlnutes on f Wednesday. 'That might work when crammlng for finals, but it
won't wo rk in meditation. Consisteney

ls the cornerstone

of a

successfu I medltatlon practice. Okay~so now you know exactly how many minutes a day you wlll rned ltate 'far the next eight weeks: 8.lhere time 'for tweak.'ing. After graduation. will be plenty of

ULeave

the Driving to Us"

Bus slogan. lts such a

lve atways loved this classic Greyhound

perfect way to say' "Relax," And l've designed 8 M,inu~eMeditation so you can do exactly' that, I want y'otl to spend each of y'our 8 minute meditation pertcds 'in medltatlon, not questioning. doubt, and hesftatlon. That's

why every element of B ,Minu-ceM,editation, 'from the Q&As to chapter dlseu sslons to the rned ltatlon technlqa as-even these operating lnstructlons-e-ls designed to yield max imum resu Its. You bought this book because you want to learn to medltate, That is my goal 'for you. And 1t.11e there, right alongside you, b every step of the way. Not as your guru. but. as a supportive coacb=-and bu s d rlver; So fa r the next

a weeks,

re lax: and 'feel comfo rtab Ie in the

knowledge that a.11 r needs have been antlcipated and taken you care of. Trust me, you're going to enjoy the ride.

No Such Thing as a Bad Meditation

Th e defin itJon of a "good" meditation

ls "the one you dtd~~ e Th

every time you meditate.

deflnitlon of a "bad'lmedltatlon

is "the one you skipped," So to

ensure that you have gcod medltatlon

yo u on 11 have to d a on e th lng, right? R.ight~Ju st. rned ltate.

Rem ember al SO; in

med ltanon fai$ure is impo..ss~b$e!There is no

t

wrong 'Nay to meditate. In fact, the very act of sitting down and
meditating; ln and of itself, means that :you're meditat.ing~'currectl.y."

lt's that simple"

Allow ... Allow ~.. Allow

Just as the first rule of real estate is "location, location, lccatlon,"

-h f tne nrst ru If' e

When

, rtanon IS a,IIow ... a IIow ... a IIow.n .'," " me.dl -- , everything that

you medrtate, you allow absolutely

arises to arrse=-and you exclude nothing, This affords you a, dear,

unob stru cted vi ew of th e nin ety-three ..ri ng clreus that is yo ur

thinking mind.

Here's how wild that circus can be. In a recent ami nutemed ... ltatlon session, I dined on a succulent lobster dinner I had ln
Maine ln

1984. heard the theme song from the movie The Apart-,
between these thoughts! If you flnd it. please let me

ment; and remembered my first two-wh eel bh:yde (a, Ru dge). Any
connection know; When you sit down to meditate. your own mind chatter ls

goi ng to com e pou ring out. SOme thoughts will be pi easant, fu nny~ and blissful. Others might be horrible. depressing. and frlghtenlng,

MEDi'TATION

101

A7

Naturally you will want to s'tay wlth the goad stuff and push aw,ay the bad stuff Don't,

'When you meditat,e; just meditate,. Allaw every thought, image, and
body sensation to "dance 'its dance" And you Just,sit.this one out Please alsc remember that m edltatlon ls nat cau s'ing yau r
wlld

dlsp lays of rnlnd.The truth 'isthat Roving Mind 'is alw,aysp res-

ent.The major difference is that, (or the first 'time.in your tif'e~you're
notlclng 'it.and deaJ'ingwlth it in a brand ... new, better wa.y_

Catch and Release

Catch and release goes hand in hand with "allow .,~. allow .. "

a IIow.

'In the wa rid of 'fly fishing; "catch

and re Iease

1~

means that

after yau catch a flsh, you u nhook it and release 'it back into the

stream, This is exactly what I want you to do wlth every thought,

im age. and body' sensation that you "hook" during you r med itation period. Your private stream 'Ofconsclousness 'is brmrrmg wlth a life-, tlme of thoughts, events, and ernotlons, This means that in every rnedltatlon perlod, you are going to hook thoughts.Jmages, bady sensations that you til 'feel compelled to tangle with. For example. let's say' you're nowhere, themage meditating .. when out of of the maniac 'in the huge SUV' who cut you or

off on the highw'ay last even:ing pops into your mind. Suddenly... youtre fantasizing about how :you'd !'ike to get even with the drtver-e-devlslng punishments that wauld make the Marquis de

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Sade c r'inge~You r body becomes

'increasingly 'flushed and 'feve rlsh,

Youtre seething with rage and righteousness!

Wha:fs going on here?

'I catch an d re Iease te rms, you 've "hooked' ~a thou ght that n has now 'triggered a cascade of other thoughts; 'images, and body sensations. In a" split second, you r mind has created a drama that pe rm eates eve ry asp ect of you r being. Now~ let's run this scenario again, this time using catch and release. Sam's image of the jerkin the SUV~Same angry' thoughts. But now you realize whats go'ing on" and you say to you rself O,h1rve hoc ked 0 nto a th (uJg,ht. ~'$ijust re$ecrcs-e it. Which you do; instead of reellng ltjn, throwing it into your creel, taking it horne, scaling.
f IIet.tlng ..fry ing~and eatIng 'ir,

See how much easier-and

not

wonderful-this

is? Thls simple

act of thought. releas ing 'is you r tlcket to 'freedom-the freedom 'to engage. Keep doIng this. and allow 'it to lead you to deeper Anglers tell tales about "the one that got away~UIn medltatlon, that's not somethlng weregret, but applaud.

states of awa reness, clarlty~ an d pe ace in everyth Ing you do.

Don't Get Mystical .. hmystical S

The word en$ightenmenrt has been bandied about ad' nauseum connection
wlth everything

in

'from Buddhism

to soft drinks.

8 ,M.inute Meditation

'is not interested in ideas and discussions of

enllghterm entand prefers the ancient adage: "Those who say do

nat know, Those who know do not say.n

M'editation ls not about experience-hunting of consciousness

'for special states

that go by names such as ~enllghtenment," "self-

MEDi'TATION

101

4'9

reallzatlon"

0 r "nirvana"

When you m edltate, Just mad itate, wlth-

out any preconceived arise.

notion or agenda about what is going to

Stay open to what comes up and then see what happens.You don't need 'to name anything.

UHave fun

with Itl"
:.' ,._~ '... ·t· ~._L. ~_ > ..... ovp" I ~~

Do n"'t
,_.,::,

',/., y' ..... _:.". _

"'0'"U

h a' t' e h'a+

a,~ _,' ...,>_,,~,:' _.~'.,,: ess lon II ·S···· t' ha t ha ~ no,",t st opped t' ",'11
:'_. < -,,' . ~ -:.'
1 ," ~.'., .

~f;;iY-~• -i.' · ouo .rv

teacher in the history of the wo rid from using 'it whether heart surgery. Butwalt-.there~s

thet

are teaching you to tap dance, mountain ... cllmb, or perform open-,

an element of truth here: We usually try so

hard to master neN skl lis that we fa rget about enjoying au rselves in the p recess. And I want you to enj 01' rned itating. M'edltatlon
ls

about

gently'

allow.ing everything that comes 'in to

com e in and then gently allowlng It to pa,ss an its w.a,y~ Everyth'ing is welcome. Nothlng 'is excluded. And I'ike I said. there 'is no way you
can
<.~: So

do 'it wrong.
. "_ ..."... t aI' os '"'. :~ a.A+. ~ "~ .. :.. : .:. ~:~ a' deep b re at h' and relax There's~ no,,~.:need
~~.> . ~ • "',"_:_ .' .: .: ...:'
I 1:.-

. 0" d····· anv t;,:.",: :.,":..", u" r: 0

thing but be, And you can do that, because you've had
practlce=-ycu r whole lffe,

.3.

lot of

So, have fun with 'it!

Breath Is Home Base

The natu ral rhythm of you r b neath is the perfect p lace to retu m
to whenever

you find yourse If drawn aW'ay from any m edttatlon

technlque. lt's also simp le:

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8 MINU'TE

M EDITA'TI ON

• Realize that you have drifted away' from your meditation technique. • Locate the place in y'our body whe re you r breath 'is mast dominant.

• 'D irect you r attentlo n to that place.

• Take a deep breath, and completely let it go. • Allow ... allow ~.. allow. Breath as home base 'is a great tool to use anytime during your 8 Minute Meditation program-as well as those other marketing

1'12 rnlnutes 'Of the day. Try it next tlme y'au"re in bumper-tobumper trafftc or about to make that important pres entatl an. In fact. being in tau ch with y'Our b neath is so wonderfu I and important a,tecbn lque that I\/19 chosen it 'for Week One of y'Our

8.. eek program. w

,sEJUP FOR ,ME:DIITATION

Setting up fo r 8 Minute Med itationi s fast, simp le, and easy;Here s all )tOU have to do to create a,comfortable envlronrnent; • Wear loose-ftttlng, comfortable clothes that won't con-

strlct you r breathing or overheat a r chi II your body There are no special medltation robes or garrn ents requ ired.

MEDI'TATION

101

5"]

• Find a quiet room, preferably with

a. door you can shut 'for

p r'ivacy~Ad just th e tempe ratu re, 5 l'ightly coo I is p refs reb Ie,
;I;

Reduce

outside dlstractlons as best you can. Don't worry before bed usu-

about totally eliminating all noise, It's imposslble. Remember: Med'itating first thing 'in the mo m ing or lust ally ensu res the least, outside noise. • Redu ce tnslde dlstractlons.Tir m off the phone, radio, and l'll'f you've got 'fam'ily and klds, make a sign to hang on the

door, like UMommy is 'Meditating. Back in B m mutes,"

;I;

Sit on a cornfo rtab le straight-bade chain You don't need any

special cushions or mats.The 'following Q&A section contalns

slrnpie instructl ens on pc stu re.
;I;

Set you r timing device 'for B minutes. As al ready mentioned,

'for bestresu Its, U S9 a kitchen tim er;

;I;

Rev'iew the cu rrent week's rnedltatlon lnstru ctlons,

• Start

the ti mer and gently close you reyes.

• Meditate 'fa r 8 m 'inutes, until the timer soun ds,

Q&A,: SETTI'N,G UP, GEJTIN,G STAR'TE~D

Each week

of the 8 Minute Meditation program contains a. qu e8-'

tlon and answe r (Q&A) section. The Q&As aren't here to test you
or to

see how far you've come. Rather; they are designed to help

52

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

you over the p redlctab le speed bumps encou ntered in meditation

by everyone!:,'from beginners to masters.

Don't feel embarrassed to go back and consult the Q&As over agaln, Dolng so doesn't mean you 'Ire Urn edltatl on challenged," On the contrary" it means you 're just plain sm art Let's take a look

at our 'first group.

Q= forget It~ I Can 't fin d 8 Min utes to Meditate---

Anywhere or Anytime1
Let me ask you this:

,. Are you will'ing to spend B mlnutes a day to change your

llfe 'fa r the better?

• Would you like to spend B minutes a day 'in a calm, pea,ce, .. ful statei • Would you like to discover a way of bedng happier in llfe that doesn't require acqulrlng something
0r

somebodyi

If you answered yes to any of those qu estlons, you can den ..,

nltely find B minutes a day to medltate,

We're not talking about a lot of time here.It's about getting up B minutes earlier
0r

going to bed 9 minutes late r: A little less

of Good MorTling America or The Tanig,h't. Show. In exchange 'for a

payoff that cau ld transfo rm you r life.

'Is it. worth 'it.? You know 'it.is. Can you do it? Ab solutel),!

MEDI'TATION

101

sa

Q~ Wha' Is the Best Time of Day to Meditate'? Upon rising or just before bed. As already mentloned. it's best to medltate with mlnlmal dlstraction. Most meditators find that the best tlrne for this is first thi'ng in the mornlng, That's when the kids are still asleep, the TV
lsn t:tblasting, an d th e phon e's not yet ringing. Th e oth er best tim e

'for m ed Itatlon is i'n th e even i'ng, ] ust befo re retl ring. Th e day '5
done, the kids are in bed, and your home and neighborhood

are

settled in for the ni:ght~unless

you 11\(9 in Brooklyn. is tli'e ha$$mark

lf, for some reason, a. different time of the day works better

'for you~ that's fine, too. But remember, consistency chose to meditate, s,tick with' it on a d'a,i$y basis.

of a strang med'itationproctice. No matter what time of the day you

Make a standing date with medltatlon. Show up, and you will never be Iet down.

Q: Can

J Meditate at the Office? A Friend's House?

You Know, Catch as Catch Can?

"Catch as catch can t~ n ever caught anything. To say youtll meditate "when I get the chance" or"when I feel

like lt" is shortchanging med ltatlon-c-and yourself. Th e goal here is to establish med ltatlon as a dally habit, such as brush i'ng your
teeth.You do that at a certain time an d place-sln

themorning

ln

the bathroom

over the sink.

If youmed ltare ln the back of a taxi on the way to the ai rport an Monday morn ing, during you r Iun ch break on Tue sday, an d

at. home Wed nesday night, you 're not establ ish ing a co.nsistent~d'ai$1

a,p,po'imment with

medltatlon lt's akin to brushing your teeth in a

done.

taxlcab=-scrnethlag I've rarely seen~or

Posture? Don't You Have to Sit Cross-Legged on Some Weird Cushion?

lt's not the posture you sit in. but

Q= What About Meditation

how

yOU'

sJt in the :posture.

We have all seen those pictures of

robe-clad monks 'in Zen

monasterles, sitting silently on low, round cushions (called

zafu'S).

thelr legs crossed in full lotus, the tradltlonal sltting postu min
this tradition. Whlle thls may look, peacefu I. the truth

18 that sit ..,

ting 'in this posltlo n, espee la Ily 'fa r long perl ad s,.'is exceed 'ingIy un .. , comfortable and even palnful. Just ask a Zen monk!

8 M,inute Med:rtCitfon does not advocate phys ieaI di scornfo rt. 0 r

pain.When you meditate, youtll sit on a straight-back ehalr. It maY' not look as "cool" but 'it. 'is perfect to get the Job done.

Why is po stu re so 'important? Co rrect postu re sets the stage

'for meditation, allowing you to be srnu ltaneously alert

yet re.. '

laxed.
How can you be both at once! structlons: Easy.Just 'faIlow these in.. ,

8 EASY STEPS FOR CHA,IR MEDITATION

I. Place a straight .. ack chair 'in a quiet spot with good alr .. b , flow and rnlnlrnal 'intrusion. 2., Slowly lower you rself onto the ehal r: Wiggle fa rward on the seat" untl I you feel you r buttock 'from' the llp of the bones two to fou r 'inches

chal r seat. (N ate: lf you cannot sit with

MEDI'TATION

101

5:;5

you.r back unsuppo rted fa r 8 minutes. you may lean against the back rest.)
J.,

Plant you r feet directly on the f 00 r and fee I the cormec-

tlon, If you r 'feet do not reach completely, place a plllow or blanket underneath them.
4.,

Gently lower your hands to you r lap, You may clasp them

a r rest. one a n each thigh.

S., M ake sure you.r head is leve I. Gaze straight ahead, 'Keep

your spine straight but not jammed. Vlsuallze an imaginary cord attached to the eel ling, extending down and connecting
to the top of you r head.

6. Relax you r jaw. If it feels like lt's Jutting out, adjust it by

gently retracting you r ch in. If you r jaw fee Is retracted, gently re lease you r chi n.
'7. Take a. deep,relaxed Inhale.Slowly allow the exhale, Allow

you.r eyes to gently' close.

8. ,Beg'into meditate.

Meditation teacher

Sharon Salzberg tells the sto ry of the

time she and 'fellow teacher Joseph Go ldsteln wens seekJng a, site for what wou Id eventual Iy becorn e the lnslght Med'itation Society~ The two teachers we re in the small town of Barre, M:assa,, .. chu setts, checking out a 'form er monastery that was fa r sale.The place had great potential but needed a, lot of work. As joseph and Sharon headed into town to brainstorm over lunch, they passed a, town po lice car: Sharon looked over at the doo r of the ponce

car, whi ch bore Barre's official sea I and me tto: "Tranqul I an d Alert:' It was at that moment, Sharon says, that she knew she had
fou nd the perfect place for a,meditation center.

Next tlme-e-and every time-.<you sit down in your rnedlta .. , tlon posture" remember the Barre town motto: 'Tranquil and Alert. lt's the best po stu re and rnedltatlon jnstru ctlon I know.

Q= Must I Meditate

on an Empty Stomach?

No, but save the peppero nl p lzza fa r later: There are no hard-and-fast ru les about how long you need to wait after a. meal before you meditate. just usa you r cornrn on sense. We all know that
(:I"

rich meal makes us sleepy~So why go

and mad ltate afterwa rd? You're better off taklng a napa r a b rlsk
walk. Glve you r meal time to' dlgest, Then, when you're feel'ing

more awake, sit down and meditate.

Q= This Technique Isn't Workingl< Can'

Skip It and

Try the Next One?

Not a good idea. Remember the "Leave the Driving to' Usn operatlng lnstruc .. ,
tloni Please 'faIlow lt, Stick wlth the technlqu e of the week fa r the

full week befo re m oV'ingon-even into rnedltatlon practice.

8 ,Minute

if you don't like it. Each week

'isdesigned to lead to the next one, gradually bringing you deeper

M·edltation was created

as a. kind of Whltm an's taste a new one each

Sampler of rnedltatlon technlques.Ycu'Il

MEDI'TATION

101

57

week. After

B weeks, you ~ pick your favo rite techn lqu e--and II

stay with that one. You'll see what ,Imean when you reach Part

.III.
As far as saying that a medltatlcn technlqu e "lsn't wo rk .. , no or

ing," don't worry. You might not think it is, butltts.Therels

need to let Rov ing M'ind lndu lge 'in specu latlon, doubt.

JU dgment,

Sa fo r the next 8 weeks; please 'fa Ilow the program, exactly' as ltls Iald out. This means no swltchlng befo re It's time.

Q= How Will'

Know If J'm Making Progress?

'This is a,perfectly legltlrnate concern, After all, we l'ive 'in a result .. , oriented

SOCiety, and when we invest time and effort 'into some .. '
to see progress.
Wi)',

thing, we want

In medltatlon,

we

msasu

Fe

progress much the same weight tra'ining program.

we would

If we were starting

If you.r goal is to develop you r biceps" wou Id you expect, after your first workout, to look. 'in the mirror; flex, your arms, and see that

Popaya staring back? Of cou rse not, Becau S9 you know building physical mu scle 'is a"gradu al process which you be patient and realistic about seeing p regress. So you keep up your weeks~othing. da'ity

requlres that

workout. For the first several

look biceps pop up Uke website win .. ,

But then, one day~you finish you r workout"

'in the rnlrror, and--<wow~-your

do "..... ,....~.~~, A·'<·, ··g-, "W~~!I .. h '. ,":
!':Ii

p ""OQ't"\OS· "bl ~.:.~~

-~,I',
!:"'!I

Progress :in m edltatlon commitment,

'requ ires this sam e kln d of patl enc e,

and dally workout.

Here.Jnstead of physical muscle,

5:9:

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

H

you~re building what ,Icall uMindfulness M'uscle. And like building phys'ical muscle, you may not notice lt lmrnedlately, But one day~ you~1I sit. down to meditate and see that somethlng's changed. "Yourfocu sis stronger and steadier; and thoughts slide off you I'ike
'Ieflon.Thls rnlght be hard to descrjbe, but one thing); for su re: It's
,progress.

Meditators a lso notice the appea ranee of ,Mlndfu lness 'Mus .., de 'in their dalty actlvltles, For example, 'imagine you 're ln the supermarket Checkout-Llne-From-Hell that never fails to raise your blood pressu reo But today~for some reason, you find you r..' self qulet and content, Just relaxing and watching you r breath. Or perhaps you're waltlng in 'front of a movie theater and yo ur date 'is late. Instead of stlfllng you r anger as you usually do. you find you rself JU st standing comfortably allowing all you r angry thoughts and feelings to Just arlse and pass away~like clouds 'inthe sky. By the time you r date shows up, you find you rself feeling even better than if he'd arrived on time! Remember gradual that p rogress jn medltatlon Is both subtle and
'it

Best bet: Don't think about lt, When

makes 'itself

known, you'll be the first to know it-and prlsed indeed!

very p leasantly su r..' only

Well. finally! We~ve concluded the prelmjnarles.There's ,MeditatJon program: Take the pledge.

one more thing you have to do before you begin your 8M'inute

MEDI'TATION

101

5'9'

'J'HE ,8'-·M,:-:·,IN·ut'E M,·,·.··ED,I'I·'J1·'T'I'O--N·~,O'--···fcIIC"IA""1Ii., P"lE' D'G,-:"E ,1"\ , .. , ..... ' II ,.'

.1 '.' ." .. I, I

....

"

Dat~:

=====

I hereby agree with mysel'f thatf even i'f I am traveling, on vocoltorr, under a million Family obligations, !lgDod" excuse not to, I or have any other

\Nill

nevertheless meditat-e for exac~y

8 minutes a day, every day, For the next 8 'weeks.

[Escape Clou se: IF fo r some reason, my day is so crazy tho t I
I

honesriy cannot

'Find the lime and miss a day, I 'will continue my

medit-ation program immediat-ely the next day. Note:

This

es.-

cape clause is val id for two uses only!]

(Sign~d'll =====~

Congratulatlonsl 'Ybu're signed up and ready' to go. Just turn

the page. It's ti me 'for Week One of 8 ,Minute Meditation. Tlme to

quiet your mlnd=-and change your life.

PAR"

II

THE 8 WEE:K MEDITATION PR,OGRAM

Time to get down to the real reason you"re here. Time to put down the map an d discover the territory tion Operating of meditation. You~vesuccessfully completed Part l.You've read the Medi'ta.. Instructions. You know how to correctly sit on already know a lotl your ehalr.You know how to create your quiet rneditatlon environment. He~you Part II of th is book ls the heart of

a M,inute

,Medita'tian-th e

daily.8 minute regimen you~1Ibe following for the next 8 weeks. lt's designed to make meditation simple ~easy~pleasant, and part of your daily life. Part II is divided into eight segments, one for each week of the program~ Each segment is broken down into five sections:

~,Wh~ reyo u are, This is your check-in station. It contains

(1

brief d lscusslon about what mlght be going on 'far you at

this stage of the

B Minute 'Meditation program.

~,What: you'll be doing, This section introduces you to

this week's medltatlon technique,

~,This week's 'meditation instructjons. 'These are your

dear, sim p let step -by-step week. rnedltatlon lnstru ctl ons 'for the

~, How's it: go'i ng? Here's where we discuss what might be

coming up 'far you 'in eonnectlon wlth this week's technlqa e.

~, Q&As,. 'This week

If

section

add resses 'frequently

asked

qu estlo ns that arise 'fa r medltato rs,

As you can see, I won't just be saying UChTtO

and abandoning

yo u. No pe, I'm here with you fa r th e d u ratio n, every step of the

way. Who fine-as knows, you might even get tlred of met And that is

long as you don't get tired of medltatlon ~

Lees beg'in Week One,

WEEK JIUIS'J

ONE Q'INIE: IB,RIEA'lIH

i -,"'_' ii' .. ' - .... ":-' W· iHII; E··'R··,'E' Y··,O······U A··',··'R·:·'E'

I:,~ .:.' .....

Welcome to the start of th e 8 Mi'nute Medltatlon progra'm. AnytJme you start sam ethlng n e«; questions. doubts, an d hopes usually arise. Perhaps you hope that when you sit dawn to meditate. youtll suddenly become "enllghtened," whatever that might mean to you ..On the ather hand, you might have a,1 ready decld ad that med ltatlon is just an e more exercise in fut.ility~ like the diet you trled last month that d ldn ~twork. AJIthis is, of course, normal, and completely to be expected. And the best way to deal with both positlve and negati've expectations is to drop them completely~ lnstead, decide that you wlll approach this medltatlon program one minute of medltatlon at a time.

Today is ,Da¥ One" By this time next week, you'll have medl ..,
tared

a times-<which

adds up to almost an hou

t:

So ask you rself

Can ~ dev(rte an ,hour of mY' ttfe 'to see ,f( ~can c.hange my $ire?
Sure you can.

W~ 'HiA"Tc 'y"'O"~-'U'~'Ll
•. ~ :_.-,:...... _ . ";,. ,I;. ,':: 1,>' . _

DE It,

D'.'~ IN~'"G::~.. : ·W····"'A'T·-C~-~H··ING"'-· . un DR-E:'A'··'THi 'Y"O'" ,! '., r\ D' :."..~,_.. :-. ;: .o . (",1' -' ..... '..... _':... A_ i _' ~
1:. :. __.. 1.::-.

('" I::::_'~-.

.";" ::.

~_.I

'The

M'inute Med'itation

program

commences

with the srnple

yet powerful

technlque of watching your breath.

I once stayed with a Zen master at his mountaintop monastery

'in Callfornla His sole teaching 'instruction was "just notic-e breath" When

I heard that, I figured rnedltatlon

was go'ing to be

super-simple. a real no .. ralner; So I told him ,Iwanted something b

a little more challenglng ..more macho~The master smiled know ..,

'ingty~patted me on the shoulder; and told me to lust follow my

b reath fa r th ree b reaths,

,I

sat sti II~ closed mY' eyes;;and began. futu re, By' the end of the second, I was

By the end of my first breath. I had planned the menu 'for a. djn.. ,
ner party 'tau r months 'in the

'figu r'ing out how to rneke sure my Honda. passed the Calffornla smog
check. An d by the end of the thl rei brea,tlf.-....we you get the plctu reo II~ Followlng you

r breath may sound simple and easy" like ehlld's

play. But, thanks to our constantly Rov'ingM'ind~ we're anywhere

but here. My 'friend Josh Baran calls this Uliv'ing in the elsewhere
and 'elsewhen'
~,.t

But

'forewarned

is 'farearmed. When (because there is no "lf" and suddenly 'find yourself mb(:'ing to

about this) you are meditating up a batch of brownies

or deciding whether

eat Chinese or

ltallan tonight, ju st reallze that you have strayed off. Then, without

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

1/1

ju dging yourself a 'bad" meditator,

gently retu m your awareness Js about: watching Over

your

to you r breath.
This is what breath

medftatlon

breath; stray'ing off reallzlng tt, and gently' returning, over again. Lik.e ,I sald, medltatlon ls a practice.

and

And don't worry, l'll be giv'ing you a. lot more detalled rnedl ..,
tation lnstru ctlons than that Zen master gave me.

Let's do it.

THIS

WEEK'S

MEDITATION

INSTRUCTIONS:

JU:S'T
PR EPA RATION

ONIE: BR.IEA'TH:

Set your timer for 8 m'inutes;,

T,t .. "

oositton 112L.lI'.ce i' mecna I.!.lon pos men on your your ,-,-;,-;-J'~,"+:,-",
i'-" -a n-''',',','',''

~I'.,,:"'-' "-,,'-,.f.-,,t'~""II,' Clillalr~comror' au e

and alert,

Take a ,I il o

~I'

deep

i II,h 21J th at swee ps e

at

LJ P'

yo ur current

war ~ g'entily

ries, hopes, and dreams." Halld it for

rnoment.Tben

Start you r t:i mer

:.> INS'T'RUC' 'T'ID""NS
:" -.:: .:: ..". ',' ,:: ". .,:,:.<,". :.:.

IN;ot!ice WyOLJ are con1trolll'in~ yo~r breath. If

S.OI'

release con=

trol Relax.

INoti ce that

pl ace i M yo UJr1b0 d Y where YO'LXare most aW:iliI"e

0n

of' th e sensati

of breath ,i'n ,; lit may be you II" (he st, eLi ~ :5'

aphrag:m', or' nostrils .. hel"€ lis no ~~'I"ii~'hf' T place ..

W,ith your attention

on the anchor point, observe the nat-

ura,1 r·is:e and fu'lll of the bre ath Try to \l'iiew thii5 as not !~yo r u
breath' ~but ~the breath .. ~ u
I

. A;I,IF'!<'}'"'~ ~:llftw<
y1j:~'
II II II

~'l! IV·

t,

II

II

II

. ~:I:IF'iiw'~ ere's T! h
G
Y·'··ll 'I

I~II

,;:J

Iii·

Ff;O-

IRe8~*o !1. 11,. ~~II

1-

beco
-~

Pri'"i,B .III,~

'I:R~ ,1,1

Thii nkir~~? INo prob lem, Si m pill' noti ce '1th G,entill' ret urnto is,

yo ur 3n cho r po Ii rrt, your' b l"e afh.

1

l!ry to fo llow just one f:u'I:li n-and-out cyde of b.reath ..lf you
can, th en fo IIlow '
CLIMoth

er: Ilf yo U

CCiJl

't, fI ne ..Just start ave

1:'

IFrusltration l' Ilrrita1!jolfil~Just notice these sensations ..And 're,=

t um to your an ch or po Ii t, n

Continue

in this

'Vta)t,

Si:mply absente the natural

cyeile of'

breath at you r aneh Of" poi nt,

Do this until your timer sounds.

lH E B WEEK

MEDI TATION

PROGRAM

6,9'

HO ..·::·W'······/.'S····
~ .,':_. __ '" t"

-':'t_ ",:

'" :._ :

rr G'.·O:-··I'N·
I" '_,'. ,1:",

.. 1

',.",

'G·····:,iO "t'
I, :', ':.'

Most every meditator feels awkward when they begin to rnedltate. In fact. I'd be surprlsed if you didn't feel this way. This can prompt you to think that maybe you're not cut out to be a medltato r: But thatlsn 't. true at a 1'1
+.

Consider this: The 8 minutes you just spent in meditation

may be the first tl me in you r life that you've been still ~silent. and awake slrnultaneouslyl Even if you 'Only were like this 'for two seconds, lt is a radlcal new way fa r y'ou to experience the world, No wonde r you feel a. little strange. Learn ing to med ltatels like learning any new skl ILAt f rst, you probably are mentally and physically off-balance. Perhaps you feel stupid, uncoordinated, even angry~l'ike a, real klutz. But you stick it out because you want to do it, Right now; you m.ayfeel wel rei and awkward. But don 't let that

sldellne you. Keep up you r dat Iy B Minute M·editation periods.

One day soon" y'ou'11 sit.down to med ltate and will have what I call your -a h rnome rrt .n -a.
U

When that happens, medltatlon won't. 'feel strange anymo reo And youtll be glad you stuck around.

.-',. Q&A"" IN:" 'T'-H-'E"

,'--:", " _'".- -. '-, : ' .' '_ ~.

S·'· ~G'-:I'N·····-iN····II N···· E: ._~ '._:~.".. _.

..•

' ,._:

rc
._~ ..

Q= All , Did Was

ThinkJ , Couldn't Stopl

Of cou rse you cou ldn't, But don't worry. you're not doing any-, thing wrong. There's a. popular misconception that when you meditate

70

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

correctly, all thought ceases. Nothing cou Id be farther from the truth. Meditation is not. about sU':ppres_s,ing thoughts" but sU'r,pass',ing them. Accept thls reality: It 'is you.r rnlnd's Job to th'ink-24/7. And
lts not going to stop just because you slt down for 8 minutes and

tell lt to "Shut up, already!" But the good news is this: When you stop try'ing to stop you.r thoughts. you begin to su rpass them. 'This ,can lead y'oU' 'to the "peace yOU' th a ug,ht you cm.dd' Q n$y' achieve w.hen
)IOu sm,p,ped 'tfdnking!

Now would be a good time to go back and reread the "Catch and Release" and '~Allow
+. ••

Allow,

+. +.

Al'low Operating Instructions.

H

They'll remind you how to approach and deal wlth Roving'M':ind, Also. try my ,Meditator's '~ABCu: A,lways Be Calm. That's a good mnemonic device, 'for meditation you r IWe" o matte r what arises, n and everything else in

Q= Why Do I Feel So Restless Just Sifting Still? Along with a" restless mind" a restless body 'is the most common challenge beglmlng med ltato rs eneou nter, It's also perfectly nor .., mal and understandable. In breath meditation, we sit still and do nothing but neutrally observe the breath. We try not to engage in glve-and-take wlth Rov'ing .M'ind~ which doesn't appreciate thls lack of attentlon, To get our attention back, Rov'ing Mind sends signals to the body, urging it to 'Don't just sit there. Do something!" I encourage you to do exactly the opposite: !'~'Doll"t.just do
someth,ing:, Srt

th ere," As you deve Iop you.r meditatio n p ractlc e,

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

1]

your mind and body will gradually acclimate to belng still. In the beg'inning~this might take up aim ost you r entl re

a minute

m edlta .. ,

tlon period. But even if you experience

'focus, 'it is very' slgnfflcant,

only seven seeo nds of

One day~you will find that you r mind will, of lts own accord, settle down quid(ty~ perhaps only a minute or so into your rned .. ,

itatlon pe rlod,
like

0r

even as you take you r preparation

breaths. As

'for your body~it wHI eventually, of its own accord, head 'for peace

a homing pigeon.

Q= I'm Not Medit fing Correctly. Am I?

Every' beginn'ing meditator believes he or she is medltatlng wrong.

Not true. As I've al ready sald, no matter how you meditate, you 're always doing 'it correctly. you believe you 're not: You sit down to meditate and. of cou rse, you r mind beglns to wandenrou believe that you must be doing something wrong or

Here's what may' be happening to make

this wou Idn ~t be happening. Perhaps a part of you r body. you r r'ight foot fa r examp le, suddenly feels uncomfortable. 0 r you re .. '

aIize that you need 'to u S9 th e restroo m. So now you've got yo ur mind st.raying; you.r foot aching, and your bladder about to bu rstl And you think ,Meditation ,is sU,p,posed 'fa make me

,peaceful,And its A 'low exactly'

nod T.1liSCQ¥l''t, be r,ig,hd

But 'it is' right, And you on Iy' have to do on e th'ing:

w.hat ,is'coming up

'[0

com e

u,p,. lt's

you r resistance to ~ at ls" that 'wh

'is causing you to 'feel that thlngs are wro ng. Once you begin to allow and accept exactly what is go'ing on,

72

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

you can stop battling wlth you r thoughts and feelings and su rren ..' der to them. When you begin to allow your thoughts, feelmgs, and emo ..' tlons to Just do their thlng, something
don't bother youlThey become

magical happens: They'

like puffy clouds" scudding across

a, llmltless sky. And you are that sky~

Next time you wonder

if you're meditating correctly, stop

and answer this question: Did t; for 8 minute~s'~ mY' best to do 'try todars meditation 'techn,ique? (Notice that this is about try'ing~ not be'ing perfect] Of ceu rse you d id~Congratu lations! You Just meditated right.
Keep 'it up.

What Can I Do If I feel Scary Thoughts and feelings When I Meditate?

Q-

Do n't be afral d of being afrald, Feel:ings of fear and disorientation tlon, whether you are a, beginne r
0r

are comm an in m edlta .., master; By the way. so are

feelings of bliss, peace, and love. But let's look at the un comfort .., able ones and why they might be arlslng, The practice of m edltatlon can free you r body and mind in
a, whole

new way~propelllng thoughts" feelings, and emotions up of a glass of dub soda .. Some of these

from deep within to the surface of fNitareness" Just as bubbles rlse 'from the bottom thoughts and m em aries can be unsettling and frlghtenlng, espe ..,

c'ially ones we never knew we had or might have unknow'ingly' su pp res sed., lnstead of resisting and suppressing these thoughts, deal wlth

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

13

them exactly how you deal with everything in meditation. Allow them to arise, do thel r thing" an d then tl oat off Go back, and review the "Catch and Release" Operating ln..,
structlon,

Also remem ber that. 'in rnedltatlon, we handle mind,

emotional, and body states this way: • If you like it" don't go running after
'it,

• If you don't like it, don't run away from 'it. This is a good ru le of thumb, not [ust for rnedltatlon, but fo r Ufe.

Q= Should I Be Trying Harder To Meditate? Alan Watts, the well-known rnedltatlon teacher; wrote that 'it was lmpossble to meditate. What. he meant by that statement was this: You can't try to rnedltate and be rned itating at the same tim 9. ln other words, meditation happen on its own. Remember when you first learned how to sw'im?' In the be .., g'inning you struggled m'ightil~,.o keep you,r head above water, But t then, one day~something amazing happened: You gave up fighting to stay afloat. And when you dld, you rose to the su rface and 'floated effortlessly. Meditation ls llke this. You are immersed 'in a, sea of you r own thoughts, body sensation s, and fee lings" struggll ng aged nst them. UntJI the moment when you remember to just "allow ~.. allow ~..
allow" them. And when you do, when you su rrender into what is,

is something you need to allow to

you 'find yourself floatlng effortlessly in serenity.

714

,a MINU'fE

M EDITA'll

ON

Q~ Mea itation Is Incredibly

Boring.

Nothing's Happenlngl
Actually, a lot ts happening when you meditate. but in a different

way than you may be us ed to, Th ere 's a, great ,New Yorker cartoon by Gahan Wi lson ln whl ch a. meditation student. sits across from his master, who is. irritated with the question the student
has just asked: '~What happens next?" Th e master roars, ",Noth'ing happens next!"

But this "nothing" is really a big~'somethi'ng:~ When you drop your expectation of what med ltatlon is and how it is supposed to change yo u=wh en you Iet go of everything an d just sit qu letl y an d peaceably for B min utes->- you create the environm ent for movement to occur. And your llfe starts to change. So. if only for the Bmi'nutes a day youmeditate~allow pen
to

all no-

tlons and expectations about what you think is supposed to hap-

drop away. In tlme, you will see that the "nothing happens

n ext" might just be the bi:ggest "som eth lng" that ever happen ed to :you~

Q:

Should My Eyes Be Open or Closed When J Meditate?

It varies accord ing to the med ltatlon teach sr, technlq ue, and era ..
dltlon.

One 'meditation

technique

called Yogic Skyga:z:,inghas you

keep your eyes as wide open as possible. The Vlpassana and lnsight Med ltatlon tr-aditions have you dose your eyes. Zen practltloners half-close their eyes and gaze down. In the

Minute Meditation

pr-ogram~ you keep your eyes

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

15

closed. And although this can be very relaxjng, It does not mean that It's time 'for you to "space out" or take a nap. 'In fact, just the oppo slte is tru 8. Rem ember the Stan ley Kub rick f 1mtitle, Eyes Wide Shut.?Thls is a good reminder that.ln medltatlon. even though your physical eyes are shut, you r "mind's ey'e~~remains wlde open and alert.
Here

are DNO pointers on how to do this:

• Don't squeeze you r eyes shut. Allow them to close gentlY'

and naturally, • Keep the eyes "soft," Relax your 'focus. After Week Fou r of the meditation program, you 're welcome to experiment wlth Zen eye position: Soften you r ey'es, and let you r gaze drop to until th ey' are ab out a ne-th 'ird open. If this works better 'for you than eyes closed, continue this
a"

forty-flve ..,

degree angle with the floor. Gently allow you r eye Iids to close

way. If not, go back to closing you reyes.

Either way~ remem ber that closing you reyes
lsn't about losing awareness but galnlng lt,
You're doing great,~'If "his' is yo,ur sevenf',h
h"e"
l
P .~.

:in meditation

day,
i,

turn

l'

p. :"y:d" ... '

nne' ....,n··o·.·, move.":"" ":,:~ ,"0·', 0 ~ o ·.n

yll . '.:'

I"

;I"~

',,'":

ne·v',:I., ill1 ~Al~

w-··e·e~'K
,"",_:" '""

"

WEEK
INAIKED

TWO
SO,IUIND

i -,"'_' ii' .. ' - .... ":-' W· iHII; E·"R··,'E' Y··,O······U A··',··'R·:·'E'

I:,~ .:.' .....

Congratulatlon s~Youtve successfu lIy completed Week One of 8 Minute Med ltatlonl Ybu\{e made your desire to learn to meditate a, reality, maybe for the 'first time in your life.At this point, you\,e meditated for almost, an hour, If you have never med ltated before, thls ls a. new per,.. sonal record. And by this time next week, you'li have dou bled it. Last week we· worked with breath medltatlon. And I,m sure ' your (and everyone's) constant
companlon=-Rovtng

Mind~

frequently interrupted your medltatlon perlods.rou

may have also

had the experience. if only for a. moment, of Roving Mind dlsappearlng and your thoughts passlng by like douds across an open sky.

1:8:

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

This is a. taste of medltatlon. an insight. into how meditation allows you to stay peacefuI and calm, no matter what thoughts your mind chu rns out.

If you don't think you had this experience, don't worry, be.. ,
cause at some point you wlll It's a natural outgrowth of rnedlta .. , tion practice. As yo u prepare 'far Week, 'Two. this would be a go od time to revlew several 'important operating lnstru ctlons:

,. A,llow!i] '.'. allow ~!.,.allow, Allow whatever comes up. And

exclude nothing" Emotions., thoughts; lmages-e-they're all treated equa.lly~ 'The mo re you completely accept. them, the more present, you are and the m ore 'fluid you,r medltatlcn, '" Catch and re lease, When you realize that you 've hooked onto a thought, gently unhook and release 'it. Over tme, you ~ become mu ch rno re ski llfu I at noticing when you \1'e II

"hooked" something. After a, while; releasing wUI become

easier and more auto matl c.. , 'Keep this dynamic duo in mind as you begin 'Week Two. And rernernbe ~ by this time next week; you II have feu rteen-s-ccunt
J

'em~fou rteen meditation sessions under you r belt. So without fu rther ado, onward.

Don't wo rry~Naked Sound Meditation doesn't mean you "11 be dis.. , robing. lt's my way of descr'ibing a way to m edltate that anchors

lH E B WEEK

MEDI TATION

PROGRAM

1'9'

you in the coming and going of sound, without

needing to know

what it is, what 'it means, or where lt's coming 'from. Noise po llutlon has reached epldern lc proportions. the mercy of
,3"

We live at

constant assauIt fro m b larlng stereos, sh rlek.:ingcar emergency ve .. '

alarm s, droning airplane engines" and ear-splitting hide sirens. You

most likely get you r dai ty earfu I of noise po Ilution and Iy invented you r own fo rmu la to shut it out.Thls usu..,

have probab

ally invo lves the creation and app] lcatlon of phys:ical and psycho .. ,

logical "earmuffs"
For example, bonkersiIu martlnl Stereo construction site next door d rhiing you

m up the stereo. Kids making too mu ch nolse! Vodka

stop squawl<Jng?

to the rescu 8. Car alarm that won't

and' martlnll way: meditation.

Believe 'it or not, earmuffs

These tactics may work, but only up to a point. And there's a much better

medltatlon can
requiredThat's

help you handle noise pollution-no what Naked Sound ,Med'itationis

all about.

Naked Sou nd M:ed'itation 'is a"technlqu e that treats sound 'in all its pristine nakedness. Far the next week" you'll spend utes a, day' just hearing scunds-ewlthout

min .. ,

definlng, fllterlng, reject .. ,

ing, 0 r ju dg'ing them" You ~ be amazed at how profound II this can be. Here's an 'illustration

Iy re laxlng

of what I mean: You're meditating. Sud.. ,

denly.,in the background, you hear a,falnt drone that starts to be .. , come louder; Before you're even aware of it, your mind has

ldentlfted lt as a small a'irplane, And a sed es of tho ughts, images, and body sensations fo llows close behind m'ight go something like this: like foot so ldlers, It

:8;0

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

Dam n~ ~ hate that p$ane!

Irs

interfering' widl mY' meditatio n. it

s-ounds much too dase,.'The ,pi$at ,is an ,idfat! move to the counitry;

rm

CI'n

idiot! ,

never should

,have moved' tn,is cbse to t.he airport. , wis,h , ,had enough moneY' to
Get the plctu re? It starts with a simp le, neutral, buzzing sound. Next thlng you know"
YOU·VB

upset yourself. This 'is an ex.. ,

ample of Roving 'Mind just doing its job. which is to constantly re .. '

celve, analyze, and as'SDdate all sensory input" not on ty with

hearing; but with all five senses, But there 'is an other less stressfu I and more sklllfuI optl on. Imagine yourself once agaln ln m edltatlon. Here comes that
plane.You hear the buzzing drone: louder ... louder ... louder ...

louder: But that's all you do. Just hear 'it. Not as a plane. but asjust

s-ound'. Allow that sound to just be what it 'isand do what 'it does. ln a few me ments.the
fading
+. • +.

sound of lts own acce rd, beglns fadlng ...

j

fading ...

And that's 'it. Sound came. Sound went. It did lts dance and moved on.
YOU'

didn't dance ~t.h .it" $atch onto it" ,push ,it away~or tell

a story' about ,it 'This ls what I call "naked sound"; sound unem .. '
beIiished by you.r concepts, associations, and lm ages, Naked Sound ,M'editatJon mlght appear simple, but don't be

surp rlsed when you enco u nter d i'fficu Ity wlth lt, Consider the
preced ing example and how 'instantaneously the mlnd needs to
associate

sounds with ju dgm, ents, tho ughts, and beliefs. Expect

this to occu r once, If not many times. when you meditate. And don't worry~ get upset, or think you're doing things wrong. just keep on keeping on. Thls ls why we call meditation a practice. TiJm the page"and let's begin.

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

:er]

THIS

WEEK'S

MEDITATION

INSTRUCTIONS:

:NA'KED

SOUND

PR EPA,RATI ON

Take: your :me,diltation position on ya ur eha h'~c 0 mlO-lrtabl:e

an d a le,rt.

ries, hopes, an d d 1"e8.t:n1:S" Ho I'd it f 0'1''' amo me' rift 'Then genlJy

.~

an d :5 I:o:wly 'si~gh it out ~

1 I!

'1

Start yo lJI r ti me r:
INSTRUCTIONS

!D'r"I'n'I,~; ILl 1'1 rr

VoF> ' j'v, 'll'

'r

~, I~"

':'I't""'' ' ' nti "'" t +Jh'" <;::;: .s v'lJI d ,'ow' III
11'",,"-.1'111F!; 'A
{3j

F!; 1.1"

,(1: ,;;,

GIl

':'lIrA u,I nd ....

'-"

'ifjif"'>'lJI 'I'I "Y" l'''.;I,' ',' A·' ,,'! '5'if"'>:U

nds
'I.:l.

they

cl:e, ]ust

,Ij

ate: 'Ibhe:rn by si'I eJltliy

SZKY in g

th e' wo rds rising

0'1"

raWrrg:

et ier ,a,sl ' , IIIIyou ot h ,','f", I,l" see", '.If' ".',;, I

...

. ..

"'" .;~both "",' 1,"lf,tt,:",,'t: ."""'" can g1Vi2,, CL eqlua,a.En..I,cm, ":'i",

I

i",,·;4-"

"',' nOlblt:lg

" ,J' ' 1f'il)IVli TI'Sln~.' an:d'Iii.f;.,I'I'img. '·I'd. t:ht2:111r d' idua II~'"
',,;tIl

!I

:8:2

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

A sou :nel,Ii j ust a sou nd .Th e l"e Ii S S object

it"] 0

oe ed to rnatch 'it to an

lf a sou nd do es

$I

rve

ri se to a.l th au ~htt Iit'r1B(ge cr bod y sen

sadt,iorr!-no problem, Si,mply notice this" Gferilti!.y retomto

yo ur rneditat ie 'til

CHi just 21.1kJwiin~ sou nd

to I"i e and fad I, s

161..

·,··,··t'+lh'I',· ,t, week !!,e,pea t" istee :h··', ,.-If rore rnmutes ','a cay fo one wee, " ruque ..,,.p ··,'",,'t:· .... lav ror
'I"

'H'O"" ·W·' "S"': 'I'T"" G---'O"'I'N' G:":'o

I ": .:-.'_ .. :.," ..'_ ..,'.,'.' ...... ,',). : ,; .: ~ .. : .. _ .. :.: I ' _ '::_ . .'~ ..

Although you most l'ikety 'faund Naked So und Meditation chal .., lenglng, you also hopefully got a taste of how peaceful it can be when 'Youjust allow things to be the way' they are. So why not try and apply the Naked Sound technique to your other senses, 'for a com plete experience of sight; taste, smell" and to uch, How can you do thls] Here's an example of how to convert Naked So und to "Naked Slght": lt's sprlng and you happen upon a beautlful cherry tree burst .. , 'ingwith blossoms. You stop ..become quiet" and slmply look at the tree.rou

don't compare it with the cherry tree you saw last.year

'inWashi ngto n, D.C. or judge It agal nst app Ie blosso ms down the road. lnstead, you "just see" exactty the same wa, you "[ust lis.. , tened" to so unds 'in Naked So und-witho rnents, or comparisons, When you
100 k

ut. ideas, thoughts, j udg.. ,

at

d.

tree this way.. It's Ii ke seed ng nature 'for

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

83

the first tlrne, The experience

can be j oyfu I, even overwhelming.

lrn agi ne going th rough you r da.y I'i ke th is, 1ust see:ing, just eating,

just srne Iling, ju st feeling, without fi lte rlng, e rltkl way.

srn, 0 r judgment.

Sound wonderfu I'~It. 'is. And m edltatlon can help you be thls

Q &A'.,',,'.' """""'" " A":,M'

o ,_ •

.-,---.-.;1,

.-, -'-.

'.:'.

M"", E' :D'I 1"T"'A 'T' I' N::."G,:'_': '

"_/' 1_, .,_.,
~,I
t '':__:_"

"':~

C>-"O' -".,,n~ Ll '-.- ' "f rt.1:"t Ii::C> 'T

-_.:----_.,

lye

';I,:

Q=

My Meditation Session Was Bad. What's Wrong?

cornplaln when they've had a "good"

'foutll never hear anyone

rned ltatlon sessl on. Bu t 'if lt's a "b ad' ~one, oh boy~watch out!: Rlght away. you figure somethlng mu st be terribly wrongl Here's a typ ..' leal mlnd scenario:
Okay;
posedt»

rm ,med~tating'"',.Followtng

,instructions ,pe¥fectly'" ," bad medrtation!

rm sup-'

be serene"

Iha,p,pr~and blissful!. ,.. And l de,~n,iteiy'am nod. ,.,.

Not onlyIs this not a bad rnedl ..,
~~ ,.

~"Unever g'e't the

,hang of td " ""Th,is ,is a

If this sounds familiar; relax. tatlon sesslon, It's a, the problem

I
P"

erl"ea one. Why? Because it shows you that

~' ~

Isn't with

you r meditation,

but with

you r judging

rnlnd, whlch 'in this case has decided that this medltatlon perlod
is

bad.
As you know from' the Medltatlon Operating
Instructlons, as to whether a meditation period was good or

the only criterion

bad 'is this: uA good medltatlon

H

'isthe one you did. A

bad rnedlta ... ,

tlon is the one you sk.'ipped. Keep that in mind.

And keep medltatlng. lt's all

g'ood.

:8:,4

,a MIN U r E M EDIT A '1ION

Q. How Do , Know This Meditation Technique

15 Right for Me?

There are hundreds
a,

of medltatlontechnlques

to

choose from,

Once you complete the 8 week meditation resonate

program, you'll be in

much better position to seek out and choose techniques that. perfectly with you~ But for just this time, allow me to that you follow the program the way lt's prea

choose for you.

lt's important

sented and give each rnedltatlon technique period. This

'full seven-day trial that

wm

hopefully discourage the growth of the wldeShoppi'ng~i'~somethi'ng

spread affllctlon I call "Contentment results in anythl ng but contentment.

Contentment Shopping ls the nonstop, acqulsltlva quest 'for

"somethlng" out there

that will make us happy. You know. that

thi'ng that you just have to have, no 'matter what. H ere 's how it works: You see an item, anything 'from a $2.,99 bag of Hershey bars
to a $89'.000 BMW. You th ink

~f$ can

just h'Qve that,.

nt be

ho,p,p,)!"

Then you do whatever

you have to do to get it. And you~re would be about two minutes

happy-« for a. brief rnornent.Whfch

'for the Hiershey bars. And for th e BMW a lot longer-e-up to two whole weeks, or u ntll the first ding in the fender, Your desire to switch to another medltatlon technique is just another version of the Hershey bars and the BMWYou believe that if you ca n get a. diFferent m e dltatlon te ch niqu @'1 you r medlta .. don problems will be over, and you~11be happy On the other hand, if you com mit. to staying with th e med ltatlon techn lqu e~ even for one week, it caul d be a meaningful step toward s fre eing

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

9:5

you rself from the belief that happiness is som ewhere "out there," 'in the next thing. It could be the first break 'in the vicious cycle of Contentment Shopping.

Doesn't this sound like a. better choice!

technique untll lt's time that tell you could

So stick wlth thls week's meditation for change. Notice

all the qu estlons and doubts

there's a better meditation just have that one ...

technlque out there. And lfyou

Q= How Will' Know If Meditation

'The way' rnedltatlon wo
rI(S

Is IIWorking"?

is different from the way other things

work, What seems to be ha,ppen,ing and Wthat is really' ,ha~p,pen,ing

when you m edltate are two d lfferent things. Lees say you 've lust sat down to rned ltate, At this polnt you feet, well, llke you're Just sitting there, like a bump on a log. Next thing you know, youjre experlenclng a nonstop stream of

thoughts" feellngs, and body sensations-some

of which

rnlght
0: r

have to do wlth medltatlon, like how you 're doing it wrong 'it's a,waste of time. But that's not true: wo rk here" ftying below you r radar. lve al ready' dlseu ssed how meditation meditation

that

A powerful process is at
bu llds '~M:indfulness

,Muscler and how every 8 minute plete contributes ever you meditate

period you com ..,

to building that muscle, This is going on when .. ,

whether you are Qlwcm~:of it. or not

Know'ing this 'frees you. You don't need to keep monltorjng yourself for results. All you have to do is simply 'follow the 9 you know it or

,M:inute ,Meditation program~ lt's worklng, whether not.

Q.

I Fell Asleep While J Was

ecl;tat;ng~ Is That Olcay?

lt's fine. Now it's time to meditate. Every medltator, at some point, falls asleep on the [ob.rou go into a relaxed state an d~bye~ bye. There's nothing wrong with falling aslee p~and you need never ehastls e and berate you rself 'for doing so. On the other hand, your snooze doesn't count as your medltatlon period. The best thing to do when you wake up is~you

guessed it=set meditate.

your tlmer for 8 mlnutes=-and

begin agaln to

Here are a,few slm pi e things that can hel p you stay awake an d alert when you meditate: .. MaIntain correct. sitting postu re. It's lmpertantthat you sit

straight an d uprlght. lt's wh en you start slou ching that. you doze off. Thls simple correction can make a. huge difference in wakefulness. D02Jng off ls always a, good reminder to go
back and review the posture lnstructlcns in Part L

.. Keep your room a tad on the cool side. Turn off the heat, Let ln some 'fresh alr, Remove sweaters, vests, or scarves . .. Splash a little cool water on your face before you sit down to meditate.
.. Do some short physical exerd se to get you r circul atlon

gai ng. Just several deep breaths can do \'!Vend ers, .. Never med itate right after a heavy meal, a triple espresso, or a glass of champagne,

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

9:7

• Don't mal'(€l meditation time nap time. You\(e 21,1 ready de.. ,
feared you r own purpose.
You're
~'U~I
I~~

doing great,' If'i'his' is your sevenf~hdefY...

i "" ...

"II'~"J"'tjio I~ln... p~g'"e" ,i,Le' , ..y! ...

~,n'd" m""o" ',V~

Y'I, , " .. ~

Q,"'tjio '-'0..- " 1~1I1 Al~' tjioe'. y,;!.' ',. 1~1I1I' '

we,'
....

~~7_

~K~

WEEK

THREE
S,

IN O'T II IN G, IS,0, lOY

IE,N S Al ~0, INS I

i -,"'_' ii' .. ' - .... ":-' W· iHII; E··'R··,'E' Y··,O······U A··',··'R·:·'E'

I:,~ .:.' .....

Congratulation s.You~ve got fourteen "Everjthlng's

days of med ltation practice

master

un der your' beltl As a, famou s m edltatlon

on ce said ~

perfect! And there's always r-oom 'for lrnprevement,"

At thls point in the program, you 'may 'find 'Yourself:

• Settl i'ng down into rned ltatlon more easily ... More relaxed and Iess awkward with meditation • Sta,rting to see that medltarlon lsnt too hard-e-ner too: easy
• lmpatlent that youtre not progressing

as 'fast as you might

have expected

The first

th ree lterns aren't problem atle. In fact, they indicate

progress. But let's take a look at the last oner lmpatlence,

Right now, please take a long" deep, slow breath. Good. Now ;;-hI _ yo u ~re reay.! to rea,d on.
Impatience is

a. common feeling that comes up in the begin ..,

practice and usually arlses either because:

n'ing stage of meditation

• You are enj'oy'ing medltatlon.rou want. to 'it~r:ight • You now~

get even better at

aren't enjoying meditation. You 'feel 'frustrated and l rri ..,

tared, You want medltatlon to ~(,kickin~1-r'ight this :instant~

These seemlngly opposing vlewpolnts of the sam e coin ~call ed ~ 'expectatlon' provide a, good opportunlty du ring meditation. Notice
t

are actu ally the fllp slde

'These stro ng p refe renees when they su mea

'fa r observation

these thoughts, feel ings~and emotions

as they arise, and appty' the "Catch and Releaser and "Allow ... Allow ... Allow" Operating lnstru ctlons, Thls week you're go'ing to add something new to you r rned ..,

ltatlon toolbox, It's a technique called "Noting Body Sensations"

lt's a 'fresh, new way to explore terrain that you thlnk yau ma,II)"
know=-you r body. I think you~1Ibe in for an eye-opener:

Let's do it.

"W"'_"'.'~H· T;A"'
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There's an old movie called

Fantastic Voyage

that starred

Raquel

Welch and Stephen Boyd. The two of them, clad in tight [umpsu 'its (I

lH E B WEEK

MEDI TATION

PROGRAM

9"]

wonder

\Nhy'?)~ are rnjnlaturlzed and then proceed to pilot a. micro ..,

of the president, try .. ,

scopic space shuttle through the bloodstream

ing to find a blood clot in his brain before lt's too late.--which~ 'if

eo U

!!w!_: _", _.. _.0 I "~ciJ."

~'. lt lsn't

:".1;

Week, Th ree of you r 8 Minute M edltatl on

p rograrn

ls go'ing to

take you on your own fantastic voyage of so rts: lnslde you r own body. Jumpsuits are optional" The rnedltatlon technique yaujll do this week is called "Not .. , 'ing.'~Noting is a simple yet powerfu I technique that enables you

to foeu s your attention.

Here's a brlef preview of noting. Try- this now:

,. 'Take

a deep breath and gently close you reyes.

,. Relax, into your body Really allow yourself to occupy it. ,. Are you drawn to a prominent sensation somewhere, in.. ,

ternally or externallyi

,. Good, Note where ltls.You need not label the exact body'
part a r area, where the sensation ls located.
;Ii

Observe

the sensation without analysis or Judgment. Just

watch.

As you can location

see, you need not be cones rned with the exact

of the prom lnent body sensatlon, 'The only thing you

need to dais sense the sensation, note itt and direct your aware .. , ness to it. A brief word about dlfflcu Ity: You might find noting
yOU\/i9

rna re

challsnglng than the prevlous techniques

done wlth breath

and sound.That's

because your "anchor polnt'l ln noting rnedlta ..,

in one place, but instead is 'in constant mo .. '

tlon 'is not centered

tlon throughout you r body Don't feel frustrated If you find it a

challenge, Noting 'is well

w« rth you r explo ration and can "turbo .. ,

charge" you r level of awareness. Remember that you're building

,M:indfulness ,Muscle here.

Okay~ifs time to fasten you r searbelt, and take O'ff.~on you r

own fantastic voyage.

THIS WEEK'S

MEDITATION N10TIN:G

INSTRUCTIONS:

PR EPA RATION

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Take yo ur me ditatio rill and alert,

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Take a ,I 11 ~'I deep ,i nh aJ e th at swee ps 0

current war ~

de s, ho pes, an d area m$." HIoJId it for a rn 0 me nt, Then i'e ntily

Start you r t:i rner

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

93

INSTRUCTIONS
• AHaw your body

to relax

INotice the diffe!"e'm body sersaat

tions that arise, Doth is for

few moments
sort
0]

At so me po irrt, yo u w,iI'I fee il an ar~a 'in yo ur body

IN'o!':'e, 115 ,.., ." . '. . 11+ no.t nece£sary 'ii'.. , ·I·,!b··· 'this b o~ly i. ,f· thi . pace 'I :'.', 'II ,IS to 3];... ellS .
.11 ''1' ~.' .'. '.1, .,..J

" ,.",..+ pal 11,

IBr,in~YOUI'"' .a~reness to this dominant area" And rest atterrtion there. Tbis is yo ur current anchor point, • Sao n, at new are a of sen sation \~ iiU Ii~,ht up,;Treat lit
di d th e
@JS

your

you

fI rst a rea 1Ma ke it you I" , C'LI(1I''e nt anc he I'" po ,i'111. INate yo ur atte ntliem Ih ere A;I'lo\~lit Obri

thii S '11 ew area a~nI! rest e se rve it

Do noth in~' a b out it

0 I'" to

1ft

Whenthou~hts

arise, just notice ·them:. INo need to ~'et 'if\i-

volved, Gently return to the pilac e where you sense yo ur

Repeat tin:is technique for '8 rni nutes a day for on e we ek

HOWlS 11'GO'I:NG~
Now that you\r@ had a chance to experience tlon, here's
'is
8,

noting medlta-

fun way to better understand what this meditation

all abo ut, Let's take a little soja urn bac k to the heyday of TV' If you recall, on the show, Jack Webb played the laconic,

and th at famo us co p show; Dragnet..

stone-faced

LAP,D Sergeant [oe Frldey, And you could rest as.. ,

sured that at some point 'in each episode" Sgt.. Fr'iday would wind up Interrogatlng a. fern ale witness to a crime. Du ring that scene, he would never fal I to utter his farn au s line: "[u st the
,,- . t'
Id"C .

.s" rna

'. '~"

am..' n pure. unadu Iterated facts. the in what the witness

What Fr'iday meant by this was that hls only' concern was with

the bare bones of the event-the

exactly-what-happened.

He wasn't.interested

thought.jrnaglned.

or wished she saw. All Sarge wanted were the

'facts, rna' am, Pe rio d. ~ stthe facts 'is also how I want :you to app roach all yo ur 1u
~1

meditation techniques. Here's what I mean: • When you're noting a body sensatlon.ju st note It. • When you're watching your breath, Just watch it. • When you hear a sound. Just hear 'it. The operative and eruclal=-wo rd ls jUst. As this "[ust-ness"

beglns to perm sate and satu rate you r awareness m are and mo Fe,

you r med italian practice can take you to a.neN place of allow ing and balance, where you 're more relaxed and open. not ju sr to
medltarlon-c-but

your entl re Ilfe,

And tha't:s a fact.

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

9';5

Q--.,. 'T-I H-'I'N·-iK'-1 N;·:"G;·:,: I' '-T'-H I N::··-'K·I N<:G> &A ......•.
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Q= What Do , Do with Unwanted Thoughts That Appear During Meditation? Do eJ(,actly the op:pos'ite of what you usually do.
Ou r waking lives overflow with a nonstop

lltany of human

emotions that ru n the gamut from pu re bliss to unadu lte rated hell. The way we normally deal with thoughts is to give them a lot more credit than they deserve, thinking that we are obligated to
fellow them wherever

they lead us.

As the cliche says,uOne thought leads to another" And thats

exactly what happens, over and over again, ad' ,infln,i~um-a.nd ad

no'useum" Exhaustlng, lsntt it? What can you possibly do to rest you r weary mlnd and get some peace! M edltate. M'editat.ion ls the antidote to Roving Mind.AII you have to do ls=-well, noth ing. Here's how: • A thought arlses, You watch lt, allow lt, and release it. '- A new thought arises .You watch 'it,allow it, and release it. • Another thought arises, Guess what? Exactty'~You watch it. allow it, and re lease it.
If you thlnk thls sounds
(1

lot like the "Allow .. ~Allow .. " lnstru ctions you 're

Allow" and "Catch and Release" Operating

exactly right. And that's good news, because you don't have to learn anything new. Just keep dolng what you ~ve been do ing.

By now, you are starting to realize that thoughts always arlse

du r'ing meditation. no matter how calm and relaxed you are or

how proficient

a meditator

you become.

But

the good news is

that you are also starting to develop an :immunity to the lu re of Rovlng Mind-no matter how seductive it seems. of

Rem ember you r operating lnstru ctlons and our definition

medltatlon, Allow what is. Rest your weary mind, Bask 'in the
peace you deserve.

Q= I'm Having More Thoughts Than Ever Since I

Started Meditating. Why Is Meditation Causing This?

As Garcia" sald, Just befo commander; "Don't
Fe

he dellvered dl re battle news to hls

kill the messenger]" difference between notlclng thoughts

There's an enormous

rno re and n otlclng rna re thoughts. In rned ltatlo n, lts the fo rrner; not the lattenthat's Med'itation happening, even 'if it. doesn't seem that

way.
but

does not produ ce an 'increase in thinkjng,

rather makes you

realiz'e~'far the f rst tim e 'in yo ur life, how mu ch

think.'ing you actu ally do. This is something you probably never no .. , tked befo reo So :inst.ead of concluding that rnedltatlon is messing

up you r mind, be gratefu I 'for this new realization. Next time you

medltate and the thought

wlth

comes up that

u,M'editationis causing more thoughts," treat it. exactly how you're learning to treat all you r thoughts: allowance and nonen .. ' Rov'ing

gagement, lt's another perfect. opportunity

,M:indin an 'infinltely more sklllful=-and

to deal with

peaceful--way.

THE B WEEK

MEDITATION

PROGRAM

»r

Q~ While Meditating,

J Had a Moment Where J Felt I Was Really Here. It felt Wonderful, Then If Was Gone. How Do J Get It Back?
What you might have experlen ced was a natu ral state that is your birth right. It has many names, but fo r th e mome
rnachl n e
nt,

let's ca II it

"presen ce," lt's life itself, without the overlay of you r non stop "I n

that continually obscu res it 'from view, But the only way you can return to pr-esence ls, para-

Presen ee is always right here an d available to you ~in every

moment,

doxl ca.lly~ ot to try to return to it.To help you better u nd erstan d n what I mean, try this: .. Sto p whateve r you 're dolng,
oIi

Review the thoughts

yOU\fS

had over the past five minutes. most of them.

Don't worry if you can't remember

'*

What percentage of your thoughts would you say involved

plannlng your future?

'*

o- remembering

your past? thinking these

Where

were

".

you n when

you were

thoughts? E.ven just a few minutes of observatlon demonstrates how

much of your waking life is spent in either the dead past or the nonexistent future .It's amazing how seldom i·nth e day you are actually present, in this very moment. which is the most wonderful place you can ever be. H ere's wheremedltatlon can hel p, Even though you can't d e·clde to be ln presence, meditation can 3.1 low you to become what

Catherine
~~I

lngrarn, teache r and author of the book,

~ ".. _:. _ ~ ,>1 "~~~ -.:_ .~~I_.'I

Passionate Pres-

~J:". ,~>.... 0::.',':.: .,.-:,.:_ _~. " ence ca lls "rn ore pl""O~on"c'orone," Ho·w7 [".Iy·' g'o~., . ::_-::;as Catherine.~ p lng '-.'~ .'_"._--_,"',.~.
'-"jI '~,~ .

>

.~+.

._

~j

puts it, "upstream

from' thought,"

As you continue to meditate, you can spend more time up .. , stream, and this place becomes more pronounced You begln to understand" on a. nonintellectual is not something that comes from "out there" dom Iy-and and 'intim ate.

level" that presence and has ju st ran .. ,

temporarlly-e-d ropped
as your

'in 'fa r a v lslt, Instead, you natu ra I inner state=-abvays

come to reallze presence here and always med ltatlon,

available. 'in the sllent space accessed through

Q= When'

Meditated, My Mind Kept Singing uWhife

Christmas" Over and Over Again .. It's Maddening.

What Do I Do?
Don't worry" you're not going cra,zy~'The appearance of popular songs" comrn erclal jingles" and school alma maters du ring m edlta .. , tlon 'is a very com man oceu rrence, Lees sayit:~s December, and you're 'in the midst of your ,M:'inute Meditation

period, Suddenly your mind beglns to playa

farnl liar melody It's the ,Irvlng Berlin classic, '~'White Chrlstm ae"
and the voice of cou rse, 'is that of B:ing Crosby, But once isn't enoughl lt's as If there's an old phonograph

record grafted 'into you r braln, play'ing the song over and over again.You try to banish it from your mind" but as usual, the harder yo u try, the more pers latently It stays. Your reactlon to this intrusion is probably less than skillful"
CUJ'f

somewhere along the lines of O,h~ crying far

toud! G'et last! Can't

lH E B WEEK

MEDI TATION

PROGRAM

9"9'

you see ~'m meditating,? But do Irving and Bing care? Absolutely nod
What in the world do you do so that you can keep rnedltat .. ,
'ing~ Hem's what:

To adapt a line from Gertrude Stein: ~~A thought is a thought 'is a thought" Remember your Catch and Release Operating ln.. , structloni Whafs happened here is that you \'e hooked onto a thought, in the fo rm of a series of we rds that make up a,song. All you need to do 'is treat. the song as you wou ld a slngle thought: Gantty unhook 'it and release it back into the stream. M~' you r days be m,erry and b rlght, You're doing grear,~ If'i'his' is your sevenf;h dery,
t
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