WALKING MINDFULNESS KABBALAH MANTRA ZAZEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
Today's meditation landscape is so crowded with different practices, you might need to take a few deep breaths before diving in. Increasingly, meditation is being practiced by people of all religious, spiritual, and secular leanings—as a way to embrace the silence between thoughts and make room for the sacred. Beliefnet invites you to explore a multifaith selection of meditations, nearly all with audio instructions. Whether you are an experienced meditator or a beginner just testing the waters, it should be easy to find a style below that suits you. So just click, relax, and listen. And don't forget to breathe.
Listen From "Guided Meditations" by Bodhipaksa, courtesy of Wild Mind. From "Meditation for Optimum Health" by Dr. Andrew Weil and Jon Kabat-Zinn, courtesy of Sounds True. |
You can focus on your breathing and count out your breaths while walking to work. Just break your steps down into slow, mindful movements and breathe. You may repeat a favorite inspirational verse or affirmation. Notice how the ground rises up to meet your feet. Instructs meditation teacher and author Charles MacInerney, "Walk with 'soft vision,' allowing the eyes to relax and focus upon nothing, while aware of everything. Once you have discovered your natural rhythm, lock into it, so that the rhythm of the walking sets the rhythm for the breath like a metronome." Walking meditations are employed in various meditative traditions—Buddhist Vipassanna, for instance—as a way to give the body some relief from constant sitting.
If you're constantly thinking about what you'd rather be doing—getting off work, driving a different car, or eating dessert, your mind is starving for mindfulness. So what? Well, if you're reading an instant message and talking on your cell phone while thinking about things you need to get at the store, you're not doing any of these things fully—and essentially, you're missing out on your own life.
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Jewish spiritual leaders are finding fresh applications for teaching meditations based in Jewish mysticism, called kabbalah. Kabbalah teaches that meditation is a direct way to experience God, or the divine. Kabbalistic meditation techniques include visualizing the Divine Name.
Listen Kabbalah Meditation From "Raising Holy Sparks," by Rabbi David A. Cooper courtesy of Sounds True. |
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Yogis believe that breathing from the diaphragm is a key to good health, and that real happiness comes from the recognition of our innate divinity—so many Hindu meditations combine deep breathing with the chanting of mantras, sacred sounds representing the particular holy names of Hindu deities (the mantra for Ganesha, the elephant god, is "Gam," for instance; the mantra for Krishna is "Klim.")
This is a taste of Zazen, the fundamental practice in Zen Buddhism. A Japanese word that literally means "sitting zen" or "sitting concentration," it’s about the experience of emptiness, the depth of nothing.
In Zazen, more than other methods, correct posture is paramount. Back straight. Nose in line with the navel, ears squared with shoulders, chin tucked slightly.
MEDITATION MENU
WALKING MINDFULNESS KABBALAH MANTRA ZAZEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
WALKING MINDFULNESS KABBALAH MANTRA ZAZEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
The labyrinth walk is a metaphoric journey. The path is your pilgrimage. And the path keeps you focused on your next step. You can find large, walk-able reproductions of the famous 14th century eleven-circuit labyrinth from Chartres Cathedral in many places today; large inner-city cathedrals and other Christian places of worship tend to provide the walk to visitors, though the actual labyrinth concept is said to pre-date Christianity. You can also purchase canvas labyrinth walks for your back yard, smaller "finger" labyrinths for your home or desk, or better still—with planning, you can mow a labyrinth in your back yard or a field by carving a simplified walkway out of the grass, or outlining a path with stones. Many people who make their own labyrinths find the act of creating a path to walk a wonderful part of the whole experience. The walk to the labyrinth’s center has its twists and turns—even moments that feel like failure, for the path sometimes seems to be taking you in the opposite direction of where you feel you ought to go. But that’s a nice part of the mystery. There are no mistakes. You will get to where you need to be. The thoughts drop away as you walk and focus inward.
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The goal of lovingkindness, or metta meditation, is to cultivate compassion. Metta comes from the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Southeast Asia, and means friendship, good will, love, or as meditation instructor Sharon Salzberg puts it, "The ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as parts of the world."
There is a strong contemplative tradition in Islam, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad himself, who went to Mt. Hirah (outside of Mecca, Saudi Arabia) to meditate every day.
Listen Prayers from the Qur'an Read by Camille Helminski and Mahmoud Mostafa from "The Melvevi Wird," courtesy of Threshold Books. |
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In the increasingly popular method called Insight or Vipassana (which literally translates to "clear seeing"), the practitioner works systematically to calm the mind, concentrate on the breath, and heighten awareness of the present moment. The mind—with all its distractions—is something to watch during meditation without judgment or reaction.
Listen Insight meditation From "Complete Vipassana Meditation Instructions," by Joseph Goldstein, courtesy of Dharma Seed. |
Transcendental Meditation®, or TM®, was the world's most talked-about meditation method during the 1960s and 1970s. Its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was George Harrison's teacher when the late Beatle convinced the rest of the group to meditate with the master in India. Today, both the practice and the swami are alive and kicking, but with the rise in other meditative trainings, some of the TM® organization's protectiveness about the content of its training sessions seems unnecessary in today's meditation marketplace. Nevertheless, the method retains its relevance, and no one can deny that it has done wonders for millions (TM® claims that five million folks are practicing the method today). The worldwide organization continues on its peaceful mission in some 1,200 centers in 108 countries. Though the act of repeating the holy sound of the mantra is a practice that Hindus believe will bring you closer to the deities, TM® is essentially non-religious. Two 20-minute sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening, while seated with eyes closed are recommended.
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MEDITATION MENU
WALKING MINDFULNESS KABBALAH MANTRA ZAZEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
LABYRINTH LOVINGKINDNESS SUFI INSIGHT TRANSCENDENTAL
CENTERING PRAYER DZOGCHEN ROSARY CHAKRA TONGLEN
If you've always believed Christians don't meditate, think again. In the 1970s, saddened by the numbers of young people leaving the church--many of them drawn to Eastern religions and especially meditation—Trappist monk Thomas Keating realized that few people outside of monasteries even knew that contemplative Christian practices existed.
Listen Stop the Interior Dialogue From "Contemplative Journey," by Thomas Keating, courtesy of Sounds True. |
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Dzogchen (pronounced Zog-chen) is the Natural Great Perfection teaching of Tibetan Buddhism, and is practiced by his Holiness the Dalai Lama, among others. This simple, direct-access approach promotes the attitude that our being (or Buddha nature) is complete and our wholeness is innate, "perfect and pure from the beginningless beginning," claims Beliefnet columnist Lama Surya Das, who founded a prominent Dzogchen center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Experts say as many as two-thirds of the world’s population pray with beads, and Catholics have been doing it since at least the 12th century. Praying the rosary involves reciting a series of prayers while reflecting deeply on important events in Jesus' and Mary's lives, called "mysteries."
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In the Hindu system of healing, "chakras" are the seven spheres, or vortexes, of energy running up the length of our bodies, mainly near the spine. Keeping these centers uncongested and balanced is an important factor in the health of mind and body. Certain yoga postures are said to be good for clearing chakras.
When someone you know is sick, when you wonder what you can do about all the pain in the world, or when you're dealing with a crisis yourself, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen offers a way to direct your awareness toward healing.
"What keeps us unhappy," says Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, "is our tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain."
MEDITATION MENU