When first learning how to meditate, a good way to begin is to find a quiet place you like, perhaps in nature and to sit quietly. Next simply observe your surroundings, and the way you are feeling with curiosity... with really no one purpose in mind, and to be able to allow your thoughts to pass through your mind without the need to analyze them. A technique I use for this is to tell myself consciously... "Remove ALL filters from the mind."
A good meditation exercise to begin with is to watch your breath as you breathe. I'm sure you've done similar things when you've relaxed yourself naturally. Without really being concerned about meditation, what it is, or how to do it when you practice.
The Buddha practiced watching his breath, and even became one with the breath. In other words, while you are observing your breath, to realize that you ARE the breath.
The first point of focus is simply being present with yourself, and allowing everything around you, and within you including your thoughts, to be as they are, to flow on by like clouds passing along in the sky.
The stillness of mind is what some teachers may suggest to focus on when first learning how to meditate, and to be able to simply watch your thoughts with curiosity and to consciously practice not being attached to the thoughts that come into your mind.
The next point of focus, is to let go of your point of focus, and to step back and dis-identify with your perceived sense of self.
Now you are the quiet observer, not fixed on any one point of focus, as you allow all points of focus, relative to your thoughts, to simply be as they are, and to continue passing on like water flowing in an endless stream.
When you become good at practicing exercises like just watching yourself with curiosity, your breath, and your thoughts, you will begin to feel more stillness and presence in the true "now" moment, as the silent witness to everything that is going on, without being attached to any one thought, person, place, thing, or outcome.
Quite often our thoughts attempt to pull us into the past or future which can lead to unnecessary worry, stress, and anxiety. Most of the time, the things that pull us off center don't really exist.
Yet, we give life to our worries, fears, etc. because we get caught up in memories of the past, and/or projecting hollow thoughts into the future. Neither truly exist. But when we are truly present, we realize there is only now, and that everything in the universe is as it should be, always was, and always will be.
The presence is the real you that is functioning outside of your normal awareness, or when we think about who we are, or who we think we are in the world that human beings have made up to be what most people would perceive as reality.
For most people, remaining aware and conscious in the present moment is the greatest challenge, which really isn't a challenge at all once you become clear on this.
You and I are really the universe doing what it is doing right now. We have always been here. And we will always be here because there is only now... the present moment... the presence.
I'm not talking about your physical locale of being here in the now which is only temporary, but rather being here and everywhere in the now simultaneously, as is ordained by our integral part in the universe. Your mere existence in this very moment is proof enough.
One of the most useful things about the Shinka meditation soundtracks I developed using Parallax(TM) Audio technology, guide those who listen into the deeper Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta brain wave states, where it becomes much easier to practice observing and witnessing your thoughts, as a result of being able to quiet the mind down in the deeper brain wave states.
Here's an example:
Consider that when you dream at night, you are in the Theta brain wave state, which is also referred to as R.E.M. sleep. The Theta brain wave state occurs as electrical fluctuations in the brain fluctuate between 4 - 7.9 Hz.
Sometimes when we dream we view the dream as if we are experiencing it, as if it is happening through our eyes. But most of the time when we dream, we experience the dream as a witness like a spectator watching a soccer game from a distance being played out, or whatever the dream seems to be about as a silent witness.
The connection here is, when one is guided into the Theta brain wave state using the Parallax Audio technology I developed for example, you are doing it while still in the normal waking state of consciousness as you and I are right now. Instead of being sound asleep when we are "unconscious".
It is in the Theta brain wave state that we experience creative insights, self realizations, abstract images, dream like scenarios, and much more simply because the brain is in a highly receptive state of mind, and is resolving natural characteristics of the brain while in this brain wave state. This is what gives rise to the seemingly surreal aspects of our dreams, as a result of our own minds resolving themselves.
Its one of the reasons why some people keep a journal to record their dreams for self-reflection and self-realization.
By the way, I include a 30 day personal journal that can be used for this purpose in the "Shinka" - Guided Meditation System, called the "Dreamweaver 30-Day Personal Journal".
Many spiritual brain wave signatures have been researched on how to access these same brain wave states using various forms of neuro- and biofeedback, and neurotechnology such as Parallax(TM) audio.
To answer the question about different people having different experiences... the answer is yes. Everyone will have a subjective experience in relation to how their own view or "map" of reality is formed in their mind, mainly from what they learned early in life.
The key is learning how to become the quiet observer of your own mind as a curious observer, without self-doubt, judgement, and criticism so you gain more control on how your thought processes and states of mind, like being able to manage stress, and how aspects of your own mind effect and create your quality of life.
This takes practice which is why more and more discerning people like yourself are seeking ways to learn how to meditate and to develop the ability to gain ever-increasing control over their mind.
What many people may not consider is that thinking is actually doing, and we become what we do.
So when first learning how to meditate, developing more and more of an ability to objectively observe your thoughts, is essential in creating the quality of life you truly desire to be living, or to simply free your mind from worry, fear, anxiety, or over obsessive thinking.
The beauty of this simplicity is that it all begins within you and within your own thoughts. More specifically... a single idea that can grow like a seed.
The single issue that most people I've worked with say about practicing meditation, is being able to quiet their mind without all the mind chatter going on in their thoughts that distract them when first learning how to meditate.
One woman said to me; "I just can't get my mind to shut off, so I can think straight."
Excessive mind chatter is especially prevalent in active women, because their brain waves happen in faster cycles than in men.
This is relative however, as there are both women and men who overlap on the spectrum of brain wave activity specific to gender.
I should probably mention, that faster brain wave cycles don't necessarily translate into "being the most witty". The key to becoming more inner-balanced, at peace, centered, and effective in the world is by slowing the mind down, and by developing the ability to respond to situations with grace, patience, and understanding in any situation on a conscious level.
So being able to access quieter states of mind when first learning how to meditate, is a very helpful method and first step to move you closer to your true presence. And it takes practice. There is no magic pill for this.
Becoming the silent witness of your own mind allows you to observe your thoughts, see what your thoughts are really doing for you, and learn how to create new thoughts with conscious intention and increased focus to effect your desired outcomes.
You can create your life from a place of quiet observation and witnessing what's really going on around you... without being attached to any one outcome.
It is from the unlimited potential of your own imagination, that allows you to exercise your freewill to move mountains if need be.
This simple acceptance, or what some may call surrendering to "what is" in the present moment, is a path towards easing suffering and pain in our lives, and in the world because pain and suffering are in large part caused by our own resistance to what is really happening in the present moment. And that everything truly is as it should be.
From this place, which is really here right now, you gain true power, because according to you, you have found the center seat in the universe. You have always been here, right now, in this moment, and always will be. And it all begins with a single thought that you have the ability to create for yourself.
Keep in mind the present is constantly moving. The good news is that you're already moving with it. The key is allowing yourself to go along for the ride without becoming attached to arriving at any one destination, and to learn to transend an ego that is truly illusory.
In this way you become fully available to the world, and the world becomes fully available to you.
Not the kind of power that some may view to be used over others. But true power over the self and your own mind. Both of which are temporary attachments to what we view as our identity inherited from this world.
Then, your mind becomes a tool that you use consciously, instead of it using you unconsciously.
