Meditation

Photograph of Swami Vivekananda meditating, 1896 — Swami Vivekananda meditating (1896), one of the first teachers to bring meditation and yoga to the West. Public domain — Wikimedia Commons.

Meditation is usually presented today as a modern technique for reducing stress or improving concentration. In truth, it's far older than that.

The earliest references already appear in the Upaniṣads (roughly between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE), where we find practices of inward focus, contemplation and attention to the breath. Later, Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras (dated anywhere between the 2nd century BCE and the 4th century CE, depending on the scholar) describe a path toward mental stability in which meditation holds a central place, across three linked stages:

Dhāraṇā — concentration: fixing attention on a single point.
Dhyāna — meditation: holding that attention without effort.
Samādhi — absorption: the dissolving of the distance between observer and observed.

Over the centuries a great many different methods have emerged: some use the breath, others a mantra, others body scanning, visualisation, the repetition of sounds, or various forms of contemplation. All of them are part of an extraordinarily rich and diverse tradition.

Over the years, I've grown more and more comfortable with the simplest practices. I like to sit, watch the breath, and let it set the pace. The breath is always there, it needs no preparation or equipment, and, paradoxical as it sounds, the simpler it seems, the more nuance it reveals with practice.

As with physical yoga, I suspect the benefit depends less on finding the perfect technique and more on returning to it with some regularity. Consistent practice changes you more than the endless search for new methods.

If you want to explore different paths without committing to a single school, I still recommend a classic by Ramiro Calle, Cien técnicas de meditación ("A Hundred Meditation Techniques," in Spanish): a book that brings together practices from very different traditions and lets you experiment calmly until you find the ones that suit you.

If you'd rather start with guided audio, here are a few well-established, serious references:

Jon Kabat-Zinn — mindfulness based on the MBSR programme.
Ramiro Calle — breathing, attention and yoga-tradition practices.
Thich Nhat Hanh — Zen meditation of extraordinary simplicity.
Jack Kornfield — Theravāda Buddhist tradition in very accessible language.
Tara Brach — integrating mindfulness and compassion.

The links lead to each author's official website, where you'll usually find free guided meditations, books and other resources.

A few recommended guided meditations