Meditation

	Lama Thubten Yeshe

The Tibetan word for meditation is 'gom', meaning 'familiarising' or 'habituating'. Meditation means that we habituate ourselves to a positive, constructive and realistic attitude. It means to build up a positive state of mind. To meditate is not just sitting in full lotus, with a straight back and a 'holy' expression on our face. Meditation is done with the mind. Even when the body is in a perfect posture, we do not meditate when the mind is restless and thinks of objects of our attachment. During meditation, we transfirm our thoughts and views to bring them in line with reality, and we experience more compassion to others.

"Don't think that examining and knowing the nature of your mind is only an Eastern trip. That's a wrong conception; it's not an Eastern trip, it's your trip. How can you separate your body, or the picture you have of your self, from your mind? ...
Through thorough examination you can realize that if your entire life is dedicated to seeking happiness through things like chocolate and ice cream, there is no significance in your being born human. Birds and dogs have the same kind of attitude to life. If you think you're intelligent you should dedicate your life to goals higher than those of chickens!"
Lama Thubten Yeshe

Guided meditations

Group meditations in Western centers are usually always guided by a teacher or experienced student. The basic technique is learned by accustomising ourselves to a fixed pattern, such as setting a positive motivation by doing some prayers, next comes the actual meditation, and to finalise the session with the dedication of the positive energy which we created during the meditation.

Especially with analytical meditations and visualisations, the guide will explain how one can analyse a subject and what to visualise.

In Amsterdam and Emst, we organise regular evening meditation sessions (in Emst only in Dutch), but also during the courses, meditation is an important part of the program. We also try to organise regular meditation retreats which last several days. See Retreats in Emst and Retreats in Amsterdam.

Meditating in a group generally makes the experience much more powerful, and if we can focus ourselves completely on meditations for several days in a retreat without much distraction, our mind will naturally become more open and concentrated.