Answers by Rudy Rauben (see here for more info); edited by Clay Collins.

[Editor's Note: There's some controversy in the comments about the "No Gurus and No B.S." statement. For more information about our position, see this comment, and this comment below].

About This Guide

Rudy is a good friend of mine who’s been actively meditating for over 20 years. This guide sprang forth from a series of questions I’ve asked him over the course of several months, which is why we’ve kept the Q & A format.  In one case, my question and Rudy’s answer have been placed, verbatim, in the guide.  In most cases, however, clusters of answers have been aggregated, spliced together, etc., and questions have been written to address certain themes that arose during our discussions.  This guide represents less than a 10th of the edited material culled from our conversations.

Index of questions addressed in this guide:

1. Why meditate?
2. Is meditation relevant to the mind like water?
3. How much time should be devoted to a regular meditation practice?
4. What are the first steps if you’re new to meditation?
5. How much importance should a beginner place on diaphragmatic breathing?
6. Too much focus on breathing as a source of stress?
7. Should meditation take on a course of its own, or should it remain a focus on breath?
8. Should meditation be used to focus on goals?
9. Should concentration aids like candles, mantras, etc. be used?
10. Should beginners use a timer?
11. What’s an ideal space for meditation?
12. What are some of the common mistakes made by beginners?
13. Are there any particularly good books on meditation?
14. Steps to take after reading this guide.

1. Let’s start out with a basic question. Why meditate?

The simplest answer would be to gain clarity, peace of mind, health and personal development, but I’m not sure these answers necessarily explain a whole lot in and of themselves. We need to discuss what inhibits clarity and what brings discord to our minds, and what promotes well-being.

We begin meditating by learning to "still" our minds, so our thoughts don’t just run amok. Overly rambunctious thoughts cause a lot more stress, tension and deluding impulses than most people commonly realize; and this in turn has a deleterious effect on mental as well as physical health.

The process of calming the mind and allowing our thoughts to settle out is commonly referred to as "centering." We want to be able to consciously "center" ourselves at will, especially in circumstances when we find mental agitations, erroneous preconceptions, stress or volatile emotions beginning to mount­– influences that interfere with a clear awareness and realistic understanding of the circumstances we find ourselves in. In light of this, meditation is a training program whose purpose is to recognize the way we comport ourselves "internally" (psychologically, emotionally, creatively). In the service of this "tuning the breath" is a very helpful technique. (more…)