(L) So... How to explain how to meditate.
(Andromeda) Well, how have you been doing it?
(Parallel) Well, I have the audio track, the Prayer of the Soul, and then I follow the words and then I see sort of relations to my daily life and how I could improve.
(L) That's kind of more like guided thinking. Lemme see the easiest way to explain it... Probably the tightest way to start to do it would be to stop using the audio track. Instead, repeat the prayer in your mind in time with your breathing 20 times, one after the other.
Breathe in, first line. Breathe out. Breathe in, second line, breathe out. If you can do it 1 time, that's something. The goal is to be able to do it 20 times. Shoot for that.
Here is the key: At a certain point, you will stop doing what you're doing in your mind, and thoughts will come in. You will realize that all of a sudden, you've drifted and started thinking about other things. What you do at that point is you stop that other thinking, and you immediately start again. You'll notice these interruptions happening a lot. Your mind wants to...
(Parallel) To go on holiday.
(L) Your mind wants to go on holiday. You just keep pulling it back. You don't do that in a hard way or a rough way or get angry about it. You just realize you've drifted, and then pull it back and start again.
If you could manage to just do that for 5 minutes, that's a lot. If you can do it for 5 minutes, then increase to 10 minutes.
(Parallel) So no visualization.
(L) No visualization. Just words. Visualizations come later. Visualizations can induce interesting effects, but you have to get to the point where you can discipline your mind enough to repeat a selected series of words or a phrase continuously without being deviated by the mind wandering.
It's like lifting weights. Your brain will get tired. But the more you do it, the longer you can do it, and the less tired your brain gets. Eventually, you can get this single pointed focus on exactly what you're doing and hold your attention and focus on it for an indefinite period of time.
When you can do that, let me know.
(Perceval) What words did you suggest he use?
(L) You can use the Prayer of the Soul, or you can recite a poem. It almost doesn't matter since you're just exercising your focusing power. I always used the Lord's Prayer.
