Day 3 – Counting Meditation

Here’s a quick little test. Clasp your hands in front of you by interlacing your fingers. It is said that if your left thumb is on top of the right, you are right-brain dominant, and vice-versa. Don’t get carried away and pigeon-hole yourself one place or another. Some of us can be perfectly balanced between left and right, and still go one way or another with this little test. The point is that we all tend to sway in one direction or another from time to time, and on any given day we might find that one technique works well and another doesn’t. The main thrust of this program is to supply you with a portfolio of different ways to meditate, so that when one method seems stagnant or doesn’t work, you can turn to other techniques. The more you practice each technique, the more familiar you become with its effects. Just as a carpenter gets better at using his tools by practicing, a meditator becomes more adept and proficient with different techniques and their effects by using various techniques in different circumstances. For instance, if you were to wake up with a scattered mind, you might try a technique that develops your concentration. If you’re feeling angry, a heart opening technique might be best. It’s for you to experiment and become familiar with your responses to the different meditations.

In other words, the more you practice the better you know what tool to pull out of your bag for each particular circumstance. This does not mean that you should vary the technique just for the sake of variation, but to be aware that roadblocks in your practice might be solved by trying another technique.

With that bit of perspective, the counting mediation will sharpen your focus as it is one of the oldest concentration techniques.

“First there must be order and harmony within your own mind. Then this order will spread to your family, then to the community, and finally to your entire kingdom. Only then can you have peace and harmony.” ~Confucius