Sunday, April 8, 2012

Before and After Meditation

Meditation serves as a workout for the mind, the same way exercise is a workout for the body. Lately, I have been paying attention to the 'warm up' and 'cool down' phases before and after sitting practice. How does one prep up the mind before sitting every morning? How does one ease back into the ordinary world after practice? 

Five things to do at the start of a sitting:

  1. Gratitude
  2. Why am I doing this (what's my motivation?)
  3. Work up some determination
  4. Metta - always for yourself, for others as well if you wish
  5. "Breathing in I calm body and mind, breathing out I smile."

Five things to do at the end of a sitting:

  1. Recapitulation - what did I do and how did I get there
  2. Impermanence - all these high, but mundane, states are now gone
  3. Insights - did I get any; what were they
  4. Dedicate the merit from this sitting for the liberation of all beings
  5. Resolve to be mindful as I get up and go about my activities
To which I would like to add another practice:

Before sitting, I read a few lines from the Suttas, from 'In the Buddha's Words', or online at Access to Insight, or from Leigh Brasington's very good list.

How do you prepare for sitting? Do you? How do you transition back afterwards? Do you?

No comments:

Post a Comment