How to Learn to Meditate

Ben Christel (who writes a newsletter about staying sane on the internet which also touches on mindfulness practices) asksHow does a person learn to meditate? What was it like for you?This is kind of a slippery question. What does it mean to learn to meditate?The basic mechanics are pretty simple. Sit down, don't move, repeat. I learned that when I was about six, in Tae Kwon Do class. I added a little bit of sophistication to my understanding — encountered real Zen — sometime in late elementary school, reading the book Writing Down the Bones.Except— is there an object of the meditation or not? If you have an object, what object? If you have an object, what do you do when the mind wanders? What do you do before the mind wanders? What is "doing," anyway, when you're talking about the activity of the mind? If there is no object, what do you do when you find yourself thinking about something anyway? Should you try to stop yourself from thinking? Should you try to stop yourself from trying…

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