Here is a great website that answers all questions concerning meditation and ffers detailed guidance:

http://www.how-to-meditate.org/index.htm

Why Learn to Meditate
The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems as if our mind is like a balloon in the wind - blown here and there by external circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new possession or a new partner, we become excited and cling to them tightly. However, since we cannot have everything we want, and since we will inevitably be separated from the friends and possessions we currently enjoy, this mental stickiness, or attachment, serves only to cause us pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want, or if we lose something that we like, we become despondent or irritated. For example, if we are forced to work with a colleague whom we dislike, we will probably become irritated and feel aggrieved, with the result that we will be unable to work with him or her efficiently and our time at work will become stressful and unrewarding.
Such fluctuations of mood arise because we are too closely involved in the external situation. We are like a child making a sandcastle who is excited when it is first made, but who becomes upset when it is destroyed by the incoming tide. By training in meditation, we create an inner space and clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Gradually we develop mental equilibrium, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unbalanced mind that oscillates between the extremes of excitement and despondency.
If we train in meditation systematically, eventually we will be able to eradicate from our mind the delusions that are the causes of all our problems and suffering. In this way, we will come to experience a permanent inner peace, known as "liberation" or "nirvana". Then, day and night in life after life, we will experience only peace and happiness

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May your awareness be perfection

Thanks, Viv. Great site and great informaiton. Thanks for finding it and sharing with us.

You are soo welcome Rev. kelly. I have this site saved under favorites. It is very informative and I do believe meditation is a great way to start ones path inward.

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May your awareness be perfection

I think you are right. I try to meditate everyday, and most days accomplish that, but with small children there are days that get missed. I can really tell the difference on those days.

I don't meditate anymore, or only very seldom. My life is one meditation now. I am in constant communication with God. Like you, I do not have much time in the physical, but my mind is mine ; )...... always.

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May your awareness be perfection

I've found that I often fall into a kind of meditative state while walking, driving (OK, we're not talking about semi-consciousness here!) or performing simple tasks. Gardening and even house cleaning can be meditative, I think. The object is to have "no thought" which just means (for me right now) that I'm not fretting, planning, thinking about past or future, but calm and quiet inside. My body can go about it's business, or be sitting still.... the emphasis is "what is the MIND doing?" I don't think we have to be in a cave to get to that place of receptivity, although (as Rev K points out so well) it's hard sometimes to be in an atmosphere conducive to stillness.

Once I realized that I didn't have to be in a yoga pose, sitting upright, or otherwise following certain instructions, I had a little more confidence that I could reach a point of quietude, and that was a real discovery for me. I think that's one reason people like to walk in nature, or why certain rudimental actions become "therapeutic."

Just my take......

I agree with you angeleyes. I wanted to start another thread, but I think we can "hang" it onto this one:

Being in the now, being aware of the moment, being in the present.

I once gave a class and talked about the Now. We don't really consciously realize that we are creating in the now, in the present moment. All other "moments" are dead. this moment...right now....no, now....now....is where we create present and past.

I know the idea is hard to grasp, but it's true. Be joy right now and you will experience it in the future too. We are shifting back and forth with our awareness and feelings, but when we learn to control our thoughts or better said thought/mind activity the shifting ceases with time.

Well, back to this class, I was trying to stop the moment by telling everyone to stop thinking ...now.....now.....now LOL I know it sounds funny and weird but that is just another way to start realizing how much activity is going on (uncontrolled).

Your mind is your mind, command it to be still. If it is not, don't threaten it, but give it no attention and just repeat it again: be still and then go about your ways.

A friend of mine understands "being in the now beautifully". She does every task that is before her with the greatest pleasure. She gives everything her all. When washing the dishes, she washes every single one by hand (and it's a pleasure just watching her), when she drives, her attention is on doing the best driving she can, alert to all that is going on on the street, when she plays with her kids, that is all she does, she plays. her attention and thoughts are with whateever is in front of her right now.

I learned a great deal from her simple, yet joyful life style of just being in the moment......so much peace.

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May your awareness be perfection

I loved that post, Viv....!

As I just finished "The Power of Now," it makes total and perfect sense. That book added a dimension to my spiritual life that nothing else had before.

Sometimes it feels like simply trusting, and sometimes it feels like relaxing into life, like one would sink into a big overstuffed chair. At other times, it feels like everything is "holy." Funny, how many ways there are to describe it!
I think some also use the word "surrender." (The only problem with that word is that it feels like sacrifice.... if you know what I mean).

I like the idea of just "being here, now" as Ram Dass puts it. In one of his books, he talks about having to come back to the USA to take care of his ailing father. Ram Dass was born in the USA, graduated with a doctorate from Harvard and taught for a while, before dropping out and going to India to find his guru. His father, on the other hand, was a CEO of a large corporation and spent his life in pursuit of the capitalistic American dream. So we're talking apples and oranges here! To make a long story short..... the father was dying, right? Also, his friend were dying, or had died. So, he had alot of negative thoughts and experiences. Ram Dass, on the other hand, knew the power of the moment. So he continually engaged his father in "present time" - they shared the last year of his father's life together, cooking and talking, laughing and reminiscing, and it was a joyful thing for both of them......

Anyway, that always stuck in my mind, as it was a beautiful testimony to life and love.... And I related it to your post and your experience of your friend's attitude. Is she a spiritual person? Has she practiced this consciously, or does it just come naturally to her? You don't find many people like that, do you? At least I haven't...... "The Power of Now" affected me greatly. Guess I needed it!

Thanks for starting the thread viv!

I'll post my thoughts on this later

It occurs to me that the present moment is where we actually live. Not in our dreams nor in our memories.

This is also where we feel our happiness. We don't say to ourselves, "I'm going to be happy tomorrow from 2:13 p.m. to 2:26 p.m." Nor do we tend to reminisce about past happiness.

It makes sense that abiding in the present moment gives us a better chance of understanding our thoughts and ultimately abiding in a state of happiness.

Thanks for the link, Vivamis!