If you like to start by finding a comfortable position for yourself in meditation.
With your right leg on your left leg,
Your right hand on your left hand,
With the index finger of your right hand,
Touching against the thumb of your left hand,
With your hands,
Palm upwards on your lap.
Or you can adopt any other looser variation of this position,
Any position which you feel that for you is the most comfortable position.
Never forget to find the right balance between feeling alert but yet relaxed.
Adjust the position of your body so that your breathing and your circulation are completely natural.
Make sure that you have no aches or pains that might interrupt the continuity of your attention.
And start by relaxing every muscle of your body.
Relax every muscle of your body starting with the muscles of your forehead.
Relax your eyebrows,
Your eyelids,
Eyelids,
And make sure your eyes are only very gently closed.
Never squeeze your eyes shut thinking it will help you to meditate better.
Close your eyes only very gently in much the same way you would close your eyes to go to sleep.
Never overlook the importance of closing your eyes gently.
Otherwise years can be wasted meditating without any progress.
Relax the muscles of your face,
Your neck,
Both of your shoulders,
Both arms down to the tips of your fingers.
Relax them all completely.
Relax your chest,
Trunk and abdomen.
Both of your legs down to the tips of your toes.
So that all the way from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
There's no remaining part of your body with any stress or tension anymore.
If you notice any remaining tension then relax it completely.
You find that the body which is properly relaxed,
Have a feeling as if it seems to melt away into the atmosphere around you.
You have no physical concerns about your body anymore.
So that you can turn your attention to relaxing the mind.
The most efficient way to relax the mind is to forget about all concerns with your everyday life.
Put aside for a few moments all anxieties concerning responsibility,
Anything concerning your work,
Friends,
Family,
Studies or any other thing.
Don't let your mind wander to thoughts of the past or thoughts of the future.
But keep your mind firmly in the present moment.
Keep in mind the task in hand of relaxing the mind,
Training and cultivating the mind in meditation,
For which you have set aside these precious few moments.
And fill your mind with thoughts of happiness and joy.
Make your mind spacious,
Radiant,
Light and refreshed.
Spacious like the ocean,
Radiant like the morning sun,
Light as a feather,
And refreshed like a flower bud in the early morning dew.
Fill your mind with happiness and joy.
As if those tiny particles of happiness and joy completely filled your mind,
Leaving no space within your mind for any other sort of thought.
And when your mind feels completely relaxed,
Harmonized,
Unified,
And your body is completely relaxed too,
Very gently,
Using no effort at all,
Allow your attention to settle and to center itself to a point in the middle of your stomach.
Allow your attention,
Allow your mind to settle itself to a point in the center of your stomach.
And maintain your mind there at this point in the center of your stomach,
As continuously as you can,
For as long as you can,
Without letting your mind wander anywhere else.
You should choose a point at the center of your stomach which you feel that for you is the point of greatest contentment,
The point where you feel you could rest the mind continuously,
Without moving the mind anywhere else.
Maintain the mind there as continuously as you can,
For as long as you can.
The way we keep the mind in the center of the body depends on our own personal character.
Some people like to keep the mind in the center of the body by visualizing a bright object there.
Other people prefer to keep the mind in the center of the body simply by observing whatever inner experience there is to be seen at the center of the body.
If you find that for you the first method is more appropriate,
Then imagine a bright object such as a shining sun,
A full moon,
A shining star,
Or even a crystal ball,
As if that bright object,
The object of your choice,
Any one of the four,
Is floating in the center of your stomach.
And imagine that object as continuously as you can,
For as long as you can,
Without letting the mind wander anywhere else.
Imagine with a soft and gentle attention,
An attention so soft that it is like a bird feather floating down to settle upon the surface of some water,
Floating down so lightly that it doesn't even break the surface of the water.
Such is the gentleness of the attention we need to imagine our bright object continuously at the center of our body.
This is the first way of imagining by visualizing a bright object.
A second possible way of maintaining the mind at the center of the body is simply by observing without imagining anything,
Observing whatever there is to be seen at the center of the body.
There is darkness to be observed and observe the darkness.
There are shadows to be observed and observe the shadows.
There are images to be observed and observe the images.
If there is brightness to be observed,
Then observe the brightness.
In brief,
Observe whatever there is to be seen,
But observe continuously with a light and gentle attention,
Without entertaining any thoughts in your mind,
Without judging the things that you see,
Without any expectations,
Without becoming elated by the pleasing things that we see,
Without feeling disappointed by the displeasing things that we see,
Simply observing and nothing more,
In much the same way that you would watch a television screen,
Without trying to interfere with the program which we see on the television screen,
Much the same way we simply observe,
Without trying to interfere or affect the things that we see in the mind.
This is the second method by which we can maintain the mind at the center of the body.
Some people who imagine a bright object in the mind find that they cannot help but use too much effort.
They may end up with a feeling of tension across their eyebrows or maybe on their shoulders.
If you have a tendency to such tension,
It may be for you the method of observation is most suitable.
However if you are the sort of person who finds that their mind wanders easily or if you suffer from sleepiness,
Then maybe for you the method of imagining a bright object would be most suitable.
You should choose a method which you find that for you is the most suitable,
Which for you works the best.
For whichever of the two techniques which you choose,
The important thing is to rest your mind at the center of the body continuously with a light and gentle attention,
Never letting your attention wander anywhere else,
Because with the continuity of effort,
Eventually the mind will become more subtle.
The images in the mind will become gradually more subtle too,
And the feelings in the mind will become more refined.
But at the same time the number of thoughts in the mind will become gradually reduced,
Until the mind can come to a standstill at the center of the body.
So cultivate the mind in this way using your chosen method,
Using your chosen object of meditation.
With a light and gentle attention,
As continuously as you can for as long as you can without letting the mind wander anywhere else.
If you find that you suffer from a continuous stream of thoughts in the mind,
If you find those thoughts irritating,
Then maybe you can return to using the mantra.
Samma arahang,
Samma arahang,
Samma arahang.
For as long as it takes to pacify the thoughts in your mind,
And once the thoughts are stilled,
You can continue with your meditation in silence as you did before.
Mind becomes more refined,
Then it will start to have access to more refined and subtle states of mind,
Because the mind can only have access to states of mind which are as subtle as the mind itself.
So cultivate the refinement of the mind,
Cultivate the subtlety of the mind,
Using your bright object or using your observation skills as continuously as you can for as long as you can without letting the mind wander anywhere else.
Usually the mind will come gently to a standstill at the centre of the body,
Allowing the mind to go deeper inside,
Deeper into purity,
Deeper into brightness,
And deeper into the hidden wisdom within the mind.
So cultivate your mind at a standstill for a few moments in silence,
And here we come to the appropriate time.
