There are many different meditation techniques- test out different ones and see which ones work best for you.

The Neti Neti Method

Neti Neti means 'not this, not that', and refers to how we can know who we truly are by knowing who we truly are not.

1. Be in a comfortable position

2. Relax the body and the mind

3. Focus attention on the feeling 'I am'

4. See that one is aware of the sense perceptions

5. See that one is aware of the body

6. See that one is aware of the mind

7. Be knowingly that which is aware of the world / body / mind

See that awareness is not anything that can be observed because it is the observer of all experience. The purpose of the Neti Neti method is to become aware of oneself as that which is aware of the world / body / mind.

- Zhuang Zhou / Zhuangzi / Chuang-tzu (this man's name is often written in many ways, like Lao Tzu / Lao Tze, Laozi)

For more spiritual quotes in the forum, click here.

Labelling

This is a simple but powerful method, and there are a few ways to go about it:

Way 1

Your task is simply to sit peacefully in meditation while labelling everything in the mind that comes up. One may stay in frustration simply because they‘re unaware of it- like a fish in water- so when it‘s labelled, it’s much easier to come out of it and simply observe it. The frustration may still be there, but it simply becomes something we’re aware of, so we become free from it. Be like an elderly person in their garden peacefully watching the birds... Different species randomly appear and they see the same species over and over again. After a while they begin to see patterns... Outside of the metaphor, the meaning of this is that we become aware of our own mental patterns.

Way 2

1. Choose something to focus on like the breath, the feeling of ‘I’, the present moment, or sense perceptions

2. Concentrate on that thing as much as possible

3. If mind-activity disrupts concentration, label the cause, and return to concentration

Examples of labels include:

(Not all of these are completely distinct)

Emotions

• Guilt

• Shame

• Fear

• Desire

• Embarrassment

• Confidence

• Joy

• Despair

• Humour

• Lust

Mental functions

• Planning

• Preventing

• Analysing

• Remembering

• Visualising, imagining

• Interpreting

• Wanting, desiring, needing

• Maintaining homeostasis

• Maintaining ego

• Self-monitoring

By labelling the content of the mind, we learn about it and what it does while we’re just sitting down doing nothing. We see that it does stuff even when we think we’re completely in control of it. In a sense, we peer into the subconscious and learn about what‘s going on under the hood. We make the subconscious, conscious.

We can also label the strength of an emotion. For example, I’ve experienced labelling frustration, then almost immediately getting lost in it again due to it’s strength, but after becoming aware that it’s particularly strong frustration, it became easy to return to peace.