Meditation has plenty to recommend it. We know, for example, that regular doses helps to slow down the ageing process and improve mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness.
The good news is that there's no, one, right way to meditate. The Buddha, for example, said that there were more than 10,000 ways. He didn't really mean that exact number: he just meant that there were plenty. (It's a bit like the Biblical story of it raining for forty days and forty nights - 'a long time'.)
Bottom line is that there are plenty of ways to meditate. My father most probably did it when he'd say the rosary each night before he went to sleep. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh advocates, among other things, just sitting and being mindful of your breathing and the surrounding nature. Some people even find that chanting can assist their meditation.
I recently experienced a situation where, for me, chanting was even more effective that meditating. I had to visit the dentist to have a troublesome tooth 'fixed'. A friend of mine related how he had five teeth filled during the one visit. He told me that, by meditating before he was summoned, he did not need any pain-eliminating injections: meditating helped prepare him for any anticipated pain.
Meditating in the way he suggested did not work for me. When my time for the chair arrived, I found that, by chanting this message, the dentist knew precisely what I wanted.
'I'll have a needle, please, hummm!
I'll have a needle, please, hummm!
I'll have a needle, please, hummm!'
(Former Australian PM, Paul Keating called Opposition leader at the time John Howard a 'sook'. Surely, asking for a needle to avoid pain would not qualify me as a 'Howard-kinda-guy'?)
Dentists and the associated pain aside, daily meditation needs to be part of everybody's life. All other things being equal, you'll live longer and better if you meditate. And sticking to the (recommended) daily practice is made all the more easier by joining a group of like-minded folk (Buddhists call such a gathering a 'sangha'). At these get-togethers, you can share ways to improve this essential practice - sitting position, breathing, ways to increase mindfulness. And there's a plethora of available resources to help you make meditation part of your everyday. Hummm, sounds good to me. Go on, give it a shot!
Dr Neil Flanagan is an active participant in the ageing process. If you would like to comment on anything mentioned in this article, you can have your say when you visit http://www.neil.com.au
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