Thursday, September 30, 2010

Buddhist Meditation

When trying the different eightfold meditation in class, I found that one of my favorites was the third step of right speech where we had to list eight positive things that we were thankful for and the repeat a short positive phrase eight times.  So when we were assigned to meditate for 20 minutes out of class, I decided to use this one.  My meditative place was on my floor in my bedroom where I sat cross-legged.  At first I just tried to sit quietly and settle my thoughts but I was having trouble concentrating because of my thoughts wandering to other things and to the noise outside my room. To solve this, I found some quiet meditative music and played that in the background to limit the distracting sounds.  I then listed things I was thankful for and all of the positive aspects in my life.  After that, I just sat there trying to focus my mind and not have my thoughts wander.  Once I was finished I felt peaceful and felt a lot happier.  By thinking of all the good things in my life, my thinking became more positive.  I thought of people who were less fortunate than me and I felt blessed to have all that I have.  On top of that, just sitting still in silence was relaxing and peaceful.  I had trouble focusing my mind though even with the music.  I felt like I never really connected with anything and my mind would always wander onto the next thing.  Overall I felt like I was able to connect with the right speech by being more positive and I was inspired by realizing how blessed I am however I need to work on controlling my mind so I can concentrate better which will come with regular practicing of meditating.  

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