"I urge you not to throw away time, for it's swift as an arrow, fast as a stream. Distraction is entirely due to lack of concentration; stupidity and blindness are caused by lack of true knowledge."
-Yung-Ming, "Five Houses of Zen"
Q: So what does it say about the way we live our lives that our minds are constantly distracted by trivial things?
Q: Is this desirable?
Q: Can this be controlled?
In answer to the second and third questions above, a Buddhist would give a resounding ""No!" and "Yes!" respectively. Not only can the mind be controlled, but you must learn to do this if you are ever to be truly happy and live a good life. It is not easy, and it requires some practice, but it's is something everyone can learn. Most people don't even realize the need for it and thus have very undisciplined minds, but then most people are unhappy and not terribly nice to each other - coincidence? We will talk about moving past basic concentrative meditation later, but keep in mind that what you are doing now provides a crucial foundation for more than just this class - more even that just meditation. To a Buddhist, meditation is not an end in itself but a powerful tool for self discovery and self improvement.
Anyone can learn to meditate, it just takes practice. If you want to take this seriously, the most important thing you can do practice regularly. It doesn't matter if you are in the mood or you do an especially good job every time, you just need to get in the habit of practicing regularly. If you start with the right fundamentals (which this class will give you) and you put in the time, you will find that meditation changes your life for the better in deeply meaningful ways.
Now, it's worth saying a word about how to get in the habit of practicing. Studies show that the key to forming a true habit is to schedule an activity for the same time on a recurring basis. If you do something every day (or every wednesday or whatever) at 5PM, then after a while this will become an ingrained part of your life. You will miss it when you can't do it and maybe even feel a bit guilty. I often use the example of brushing my teeth here. I brush my teeth every night before going to bed. I am so used to this that I don't have to remind myself to do it, it's just an ingrained habit. On those rare occasions when I can't brush my teeth before bed, not only do I notice, but it bothers me. Developing this sort of reaction is fundamental to starting a practice (any practice) you want to do regularly over long periods of time. So find yourself a time that works for you and strive to always meditate at that time - if you really do that, then by the end of this semester you will have a habit in place which will help you continue your practice.
Even this can be hard, of course, because we are all busy. However, you need to keep two things in mind here. First, nobody is THAT busy. I mean, if you really want to do something and it takes 20 minutes 3 times a week, can you honestly say you don't have time for that? Seriously? Second, think of the irony when you say, "Dude, I really need to learn to relax more," immediately followed by, "but I am so busy I have no time for it." If nothing else, this is a self-fulfilling prophesy, since if you never make an effort to relax, you will always see yourself as too busy to relax, etc., etc. This is how people get ulcers...
Some of you are thinking, "So meditation will change my life - yeah, whatever". Ok, so let's talk about the more down to Earth benefits. First, as I mentioned already, there is relaxation. When you learn to meditate, you equip yourself to relax whenever you wish. This can be quite useful when you are too keyed up to go to sleep or you are hyperventilating before the calculus exam. You don't have to do a full meditation session, just close your eyes and take some breaths, counting like you always do and you will find that you calm down surprisingly quickly (especially once you have been doing this a while). Indeed, should you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, it is crucial to be calm and collected. The problem is that it is hard to make yourself calm down. However, you can control your breathing - so if you are in an emergency, don't say to yourself, "Hey, I gotta calm down!!" but rather, "I need to take some deep breaths - that will calm me down." After you have been meditating a while, you will find that you are generally calmer even when you aren't actively meditating. You are less likely to get angry over something silly your roommate does, less likely to startle when a car backfires near you, etc. When you are practiced at relaxing your mind, it becomes easier and easier to relax and takes more and more stimulus to knock you out of your calm zone. There are actually studies which show that people who meditate regularly have certain sections of the brain rewired. This makes sense, since the brain is constantly changing in response to what you experience, but it's interesting evidence of a biological basis for meditation effects like increased calm.
Another very basic benefit of meditation is decreased blood pressure. Do this experiment to see for yourself: got to Revco or Walmart and sit down at one of those blood pressure machines. Take your pressure, then just sit there for 2 minutes and do your meditative breathing. Now take your pressure again and continue to meditate. You will be surprised at the difference just a few minutes of meditation will make! Indeed, doctors are now prescribing a simplified form of meditation called the relaxation response to their patients with high blood pressure and stress related issues (ulcers, etc.). They even sell devices you can wear which basically record your breathing rate and give you feedback signals designed to make you slow your breathing down (here's one on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/StressEraser-SE-1-Portable-Biofeedback-Device/dp/B001B8PIIE ). This is nice, because it shows that meditation has real benefits, but it's also amusing, since there is really no need for a $150 piece of electronic equipment. If you can breath and you have a little patience, you can learn to meditate. So if you have a loved one who has blood pressure or stress issues and you think they might be open to the idea, try teaching them some basic meditation techniques when you go home on vacation. It might even save their life...
Today we will meditate for 10 minutes again, changing your count at the 5 minute mark from the beginning to the end of each breath. Next class we will begin meditating for 15 minutes, so between now and Monday please meditate on your own for 15 minutes to see how it goes. When you meditate on your own, you should use a timer if you can, which avoids having to think about the time, open your eyes to focus on the clock, etc. You can use an egg timer, or your watch, but if you have a smartphone they sell neat apps for $.99 that will time any interval and give you warnings at regular periods, etc. The one I use on my iphone is called Equanimity.