The Non-Technique of Meditation

Meditation is praised by doctors, mental health professionals, and spiritual teachers from a variety of traditions. Even corporate America is beginning to embrace the idea of meditation in the workplace.

The benefits of meditation are many. It is said to quiet the mind, relax the body, and promote improved sleep, cognitive function, memory, and focus. Because meditation offers so many physical and mental benefits, the common question becomes, “What’s the best way to do it?” or “What’s the ideal meditation technique?”

If you do a quick internet search you’ll find everything from transcendental meditation, mantras, and kundalini meditation to focused meditation, visualization, candle meditation, guided meditation, and loving-kindness meditation, among many others. While those techniques may offer some relief from the stressors of daily life, those techniques are not meditation.

Most of the above techniques are what’s known as “focused meditation” or what spiritual teacher Osho calls concentration. With all types of concentration, the mind is needed. Focusing on your breath, on a mantra, on a feeling such as loving-kindness, or on a part of the body such as the third eye or heart center requires using the mind. By focusing all of your attention on that one thing, the mind appears to slow down and calm down. Rather than the usual monkey mind that jumps around and chatters nonstop about anything and everything, concentration – or focused meditations – direct all of that energy into a single-pointed focus. But again, concentration, while useful for many things, is not the same as meditation.

If you continue your internet search, you’ll also come across an array of suggestions for improving your meditation practice, such as lighting a candle, burning some incense, turning down the lights, sitting in the lotus position, holding your fingers in a certain mudra position, meditating with an empty stomach, sitting on a dedicated meditation cushion, draping a white shawl over your head, sitting facing the East, closing your eyes, sitting on the edge of a chair, keeping your eyes only half-closed, counting your breaths, keeping your mouth half-open… the list goes on.

These suggestions are not meditation either. Meditation is not the setting. It’s not the candles, the lotus posture, or the type of breath. Rather, they are but some of the countless ways to improve your physical surroundings and bodily posture to facilitate a relaxed state. They are meant to minimize external distractions so you can be with your Self.

Meditation is exactly that: be-ing. It is a state of relaxation, of non-doing, of communing with your innermost core. But particularly in the West, the mind asks, “How do we do it?” “How do we achieve this state of being?” This is the crux of the difficulty, as we are trained from early childhood to be doers and achievers. We learn to use our analytical mind for everything, so much so that we become completely identified with the mind. We think the mind is us. It is not.

The mind is a marvelous tool that facilitates things like planning, calculating, remembering, and organizing. But like any tool, when it is not needed, it is best set aside.

“Meditation could be said to be the Art of Simplicity: Simply sitting, simply breathing and simply being.” – Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche

“Meditation is not something that is done by the mind, it is the absence of mind. When mind ceases, meditation happens. It is not something out of the mind, it is something beyond mind. And whenever you are alert, mind is not.” – Osho

Meditation happens when you drop the mind, when you go beyond it. Meditation is there when you put the mind aside, even if it is for a few seconds or one minute at a time. But the paradox here is that you can’t do it. Doing is an innate function of the mind, and for most people, the you that is doing it is controlled by the mind. The mind cannot be used to drop the mind. So, what to do?

Notice how the mind goes back to how, what, and do. This is part of our conditioning. The mind thrives on complexity, struggle, and effort, so it’s no wonder we search for meditation techniques and strategies. Those strategies and techniques are endless, and the mind would like to tackle them all. But remember, the techniques themselves are not meditation. They are just pointers. They are indications – doorways into a state of being that is ultimately indescribable.

Even the guided meditations that are so popular today require doing. The mind is needed to follow along with the voice guiding the experience. All techniques are doing. They are simply doors leading to stillness. Once you are through the door, there is no need to carry the door along with you. You can drop it.

“Meditation is the divine art of chilling out. Relax. Stop the efforting of trying to stop thinking. Take some breaths and just be with whatever is occurring. The mind is not the enemy. Just let it be.” – Panache Desai

Meditation is a let-go. It’s a moment-to-moment dropping of all that is external – a total relaxation of body and mind – so that your inner self is revealed. It is about complete relaxation while remaining alert. The idea is to distance yourself from the outside world and tune in to your Self. To simply be with whatever is occurring. All you need is within you, waiting to be uncovered and explored.

“Meditation has a few essential things in it, whatever the method, but those few essentials are necessary in every method. The first is a relaxed state: no fight with the mind, no control of the mind, no concentration. Second, just watch with a relaxed awareness whatever is going on, without any interference – just watching the mind, silently, without any judgment, evaluation. These are three things: relaxation, watching, no judgment, and slowly, slowly a great silence descends over you.” – Osho

Meditation requires that you are completely relaxed yet alert. Most of us only experience complete relaxation when we are unconscious, that is, when we lie down and fall asleep. That’s why sitting is preferred for a meditative state, as it is harder to fall asleep in a seated position. When you are relaxed and remain alert, the inner peace of meditation finds you. There is no need to do anything to achieve it.

“Once you start doing something, either you go into contemplation or you go into concentration or you go into action – but you move away from your center. When you are not doing anything at all – bodily, mentally, on no level – when all activity has ceased and you simply are, just being, that’s what meditation is. You cannot do it, you cannot practice it, you have only to understand it. Whenever you can find time for just being, drop all doing. Thinking is also doing, concentration is also doing, contemplation is also doing. Even if for a single moment you are not doing anything and you are just at your center, utterly relaxed – that is meditation. And once you have got the knack of it, you can remain in that state as long as you want.” – Osho

A meditative state of being is one in which you are conscious, aware, and alert. You are the observer, the witness, the watcher. Just watch the mind. By continuously watching, you will soon realize that you are not the mind. Otherwise, how could you watch it? This neutral watching – without mental judgment, commentary, or attachment – is meditation. Eventually thoughts will subside on their own as you become more alert, more watchful, more aware, more conscious.

Although meditation does not require specific techniques, postures, or physical settings, those things can still be helpful as an entry point, especially if you find it challenging to sit quietly for any length of time. Here at Humanity’s Team, we offer a variety of resources to appeal to the Western mind that often needs an initial “how-to.” If you’ve tried meditation before and found it frustrating or challenging, these resources offer several ways to approach mediation.

On our website, you find a number of blog articles to help you adopt or deepen your meditation practice, including  "Expand Your Consciousness with Meditation" and “Alternative Forms of Meditation: The Third State of Consciousness.”

In addition, "Mindful Music & Meditations" with Timothy Noe, "3 Minute Meditations" with Karuna, and Raising Our Vibration Meditation Practice Group are three powerful resources that are included in our  Humanity Stream+ subscription service.    

Once you’ve found your ideal entry point to access your inner being – your core – you can drop the outer preparation and rituals and just be. Then all techniques simply drop on their own.

“Anything that leads you to yourself is meditation. And it is immensely significant to find your own meditation, because in the very finding you will find great joy. And because it is your own finding – you will love to go deeper into it. The deeper you go into it, the happier you will feel – peaceful, more silent, more together, more dignified, more graceful.” – Osho