In a previous article entitled An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation, I wrote about my daily meditation routine, offering some links to serve as a jumping-off point. In this article, I’d like to go one step further and provide a how-to for beginning your own meditation practice. With a few exceptions (like the books in-print), everything I’ve written about below, like the recordings of guided meditations, electronic books, guides, and podcasts are available for free.
In my next article, I’ll go into more detail about establishing a routine, creating a good environment, and setting the stage for a meditation practice. I’ll also talk about meditation gear (yes, there is such a thing).
A note about meditation
Although I spent some time in my previous article offering a definition for meditation, it’s worth revisiting here for the sake of clarity. When I write or talk about meditation, I mean:
A practice in which one works to maintain mindful attention and concentration on a single object, usually the sensations of breathing, as a focus for developing awareness in and of the present moment. This type of meditation is called Vipassana or “Insight” meditation, and its goal is to cultivate an inner peace and a lasting happiness.
Over the years, a daily meditation practice has completely transformed my life, helping me to be happier, more effective and productive, and less reactive to daily difficulties.
Regarding meditation, Gil Fronsdal, the primary teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California, has said (I’m paraphrasing): I’ve heard people say that their minds are too distracted to meditate, which is like saying you’re too sick to go to a doctor.
No matter how old or young you are, no matter what’s going on in your life, or how little time you may have to devote to it, it’s likely that a meditation practice will be of great benefit to you.
Here’s how you can get started.
Books and articles
There’s a tremendous amount of written information available about meditation, so much so that it can be difficult to determine where to start. I’ve compiled a list of the books and articles that were the most useful in my practice.
With a few exceptions (printed books sold on Amazon, noted in parenthesis after the link), these writings are are all free.
Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana
This book is a step-by-step guide to Buddhist meditation, written in a practical and direct style. I consider this to be the definitive book on Mindfulness practice, and it’s a great starting point for anybody interested in this topic.
- Mindfulness in Plain English (Amazon)
- Mindfulness in Plain English (free, online version)
Keeping the Breath in Mind, Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Keeping the Breath in Mind is a “how to” book. It teaches the liberation of the mind, not as a mind-boggling theory, but as a very basic skill that starts with keeping the breath in mind.
The Steps of Breath Meditation, also by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, provides an incredibly straight forward explanation of the basic steps in this guided breath meditation.
Starting Out Small, Ajaan Lee
Starting Out Small is written from Ajaan Lee’s lifetime of direct experience with students. He answers many basic questions: Why meditate? How should I meditate? And why in that particular way? He provides clear, concise answers to these questions with clear analogies to help explain sometimes complicated concepts.
Audio instruction
Many people prefer to start a meditation practice by listening to audio instruction. It is and has been invaluable to me as I started and further developed my own practice.
Gil Fronsdal, Insight Meditation Center
My favorite beginning meditation series is offered by The Insight Meditation Center, where Gil Fronsdal teaches a 5 or 6 session instructional series for beginning meditators, providing an overview of insight meditation practice and guided meditation. These lessons are very helpful in teaching beginning meditators how to establish and sustain a daily meditation practice.
I recommend starting out with the Introduction to Mindfulness audio instruction linked below, and then as you’re ready, listen to the subsequent sessions to grow your practice.
IMC also publishes a frequently updated podcast (see the Podcasts section below).
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Watt Metta Forest Monastary
I’ve found the Downloadable Dhamma Talks of Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a senior monk in the Thai Forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism, to be invaluable. Many of the talks are geared for someone who has already established a basic practice. They’re are a great place to go to continue to develop your practice once you’ve listened to the IMC introduction course. There are hundreds of recorded meditation related talks available here, and I listen daily.
In addition to the main listing of talks, there are two groupings of talks organized for the beginning meditator:
It’s worth noting that Thanissaro Bhikkhu (or Than Geoff as he is known informally) has an amazing voice that is incredibly relaxing and easy to listen to, yet authoritative.
Podcasts
I think meditation-related podcasts are a great way to learn, and help put you in touch with a group of other meditators, even if you can’t be there in person for the talks.
Audio Dharma
The Audio Dharma Podcast is produced by the Insight Meditation Center, and features talks by Gil Fronsdal, the resident IMC teachers, and many visiting teachers and guest speakers.
This is one of my favorite podcasts, and I really enjoy the question-and-answer sessions from the audience.
Bhavana Society Podcast
The Bhavana Society was created to preserve the Theravada forest meditation tradition within the context of Western culture. The Bhavana Society Podcast features talks from Bhante Gunaratana, the founding abbot, and other senior monks.
Dharma Seed
The Dharma Seed Podcast is a collection of talks by teachers about meditation. New recordings are being added from both well- and lesser-known contemporary dharma teachers in the Mindfulness tradition.
What next?
I hope that these articles, books, and audio recordings will be helpful to you in establishing a meditation practice.
As I mentioned at the start of this article, my next article will go into more detail about creating a meditation routine, setting up the right environment, and the gear you’ll need to develop your practice.
Subscribe via RSS
Tim Lahey
27 July 2009 at 10:28 am
I’m quite fond of the Zencasts (http://amberstar.libsyn.com/) which are also available on iTunes. They include podcasts from Audio Dharma and the webpage has links to helpful resources like meditation timers. There is also an iPhone meditation timer (linked from the Zencasts page).
I’m fairly certain that the Alan Watts Podcast (http://www.alanwattspodcast.com/) has had episodes on meditation, but I’m not completely sure that a) there are said episodes and b) they’re still available in the feed. Even still, his podcast is well worth listening to.
Dan Benjamin
27 July 2009 at 11:54 am
@Tim - I’m a fan of the Zencast podcast also, but of late, it’s mostly been a redistribution of Audio Dharma podcasts from Gil Fronsdal, so I didn’t link it here as a primary resource. Alan Watts is amazing, but more focused on Zen Buddhism, which is a style I don’t currently practice.
Steve Schreiber
27 July 2009 at 12:03 pm
Two books that helped me get into a regular practice are “Genuine Happiness” by Alan Wallace and “The Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh. I found Alan’s descriptions of the meditation practice, combined with the order and method he presents to be more accessible than some of the first books I picked up.
Having a list such as the one Dan presents here is a great start.
One next step I’ve been considering is taking the 10-day Vippassana Meditation course taught for free at many of the Vippassana mediation centers around the world:
http://www.dhamma.org/
However, I’m not sure yet if I could successfully make it through the full 10 days. (10 days is a long time!)
Thanks for this article Dan.
Tim Lahey
27 July 2009 at 12:08 pm
@Dan - Yes, that’s true, but the earlier podcasts are well done. As for Alan Watts, the podcasts cover a wide range of topics, not just Buddhism. Although, I practice Zen Buddhism so they’re a bit more relevant to me. I thought the references might be useful to some of the readers.
Oh, aside from the various Zen resources, DailyZen (http://www.dailyzen.com) has a nice little Zendo for meditation practice at:
http://www.dailyzen.com/meditate.asp
It’s not much aside from a drawing of an altar, but it does a nice bell ring when you click to enter. It’s handy if you’re meditating somewhere with an Internet connection, but not one’s traditional resources.
Dylan Damian
27 July 2009 at 4:34 pm
Thank you so much for this meditation series. I’ve been meaning to embark on this path for years now and have been waiting for this next installment ever since your April introductory post. I’ve read “The Miracle of Mindfulness” about 10 years ago and, considering the impact on my life of that one simple act, I can only imagine what applying constant, disciplined, actual focus on mindfulness practice and meditation may do. I’ll start the reading and listening prep work now and eagerly wait for your next articles.
Thanks again.
Amber Star
28 July 2009 at 1:07 am
Dan, The difference between the Zencast & Audio Dharma is that Zencast is only talks of Gil’s current or archive materials, with an occasional, guest speaker. Audio Dharma is a current podcast of all speakers from IMC. I am the producer of Zencast, Audio Dharma, and Alan Watts podcast. All three are published by Zencast.org.
A suggestion for anyone who is new to Meditation or Mindfulness,is to try the recommended talks section at AudioDharma.org. It’s a great series to get started.
You know there are such a vast rich set of materials available today for anyone who wants to awaken. However, in your article, you so rightfully point the reader, in what I think is the right direction, to a real live practice.
Nice post.
Matt Wilcox
28 July 2009 at 11:45 am
How odd, I’ve been trying to get into Meditation again in the last couple of weeks, and picked up my old copy of Mindfulness in plain English too. What a well timed post.
Thanks for all of the resources, I hope I remember to keep devoting time to the practice - last time was a couple of years ago and I only managed a couple of months.
Josh
02 August 2009 at 4:13 am
Mindfulness meditation is the meditation technique that can be easily integrated to the daily life. You may read more about it at
http://www.clicktomeditate.com/mindfulness_meditation.html
Also you can try free guided meditation based upon various other meditation techniques.
Yarrow
03 August 2009 at 1:14 am
“...too distracted to meditate, which is like saying you’re too sick to go to a doctor.”
Someone with a hundred and five degree fever, or suffering a heart attack, may well be too sick to go to a doctor under their own steam.
Mike Subelsky
17 September 2009 at 1:50 pm
Hey Dan,
I’ve recently discovered meditation and am really enjoying it so far even though it’s been challenging (or maybe because it’s been challenging). One book that you didn’t mention which I am finding it extremely helpful is “Full Catastrophe Living” by Jon Kabat-Zinn. There are optional audio CDs that go with it which are great, sold at mindfulnesscds.com.
-Mike
Ramsey Margolis
14 October 2009 at 3:36 am
Some great pointers to how to start a meditation practice and yes, it transforms lives in unexpected ways. It’s a real gift to oneself, and to others.
One meditation teacher whose depth of wisdom never ceases to amaze me is Eric Kolvig. There are three talks of his on http://www.audiodharma.org which persuaded me to travel from New Zealand to Arizona to take part in a retreat he was teaching. I was not disappointed.
It’s thanks to the generosity of so many that there are so many free resources around and some are just excellent. I wonder how commercial publishers manage to sell their books and CDs.