Zen - Learn These Zen Meditation Techniques For Beginners And Get Into 'The Zone'

Zen is a form of meditation that originates from Japan. At the core, Zen meditation is about entering a state of no-mind where you get to see the world consists of everything and nothing.

For thousands of years monks have been practicing Zen meditation in monasteries in order to tap into a state of non-ordinary reality. Their practice would often consist of sitting in either a half-lotus or full-lotus meditation posture and focusing their awareness on either their breath or the energy center which is located just below the naval.

Zen - see that the world consists of 'everything' and 'nothing'

After long periods of meditating in this way, the Zen monk would either suddenly enter into a state of enlightenment or the realization of enlightenment would gradually be made.

When this state of enlightenment was reached, the next stage for the Zen monk was to remain in this sate whilst living in the ordinary world of day-to-day tasks. This is where the real work of the Zen monk started to become apparent.

Personally I have entered into and out of this state of enlightenment many times throughout my life.

Zen - enter into 'The Zone' with the sense meditation

It first happened whilst alone on a beach on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia. I don't know exactly why it happened but I had been alone for around 3 weeks and fully immersed within nature. I had been reading a lot of spiritual texts at the time and was close to getting into what I call 'the zone'.

Then one morning I was walking along the beach and felt the urge to bend down and pick up some grains of sand. I was mesmerized with the grains of sand on the end of my finger. Each was a different shape, a different colour, a different size and each had a different texture.

Then as I looked up at the beach a 'strange' thing happened. I got to see that the whole beach was made up of these individual grains of sand, yet it was these individual grains that was the whole beach.

That is when my consciousness started to expand. It was as though I was everything all at the same time. For example I remember feeling what it was like to be a lizard sunning itself below a bush in the forest to my left. At the same time it was as though I was an eagle soaring above and at the same time could feel what it was like to be a fish in the ocean with water flowing through its gills.

This state of oneness lasted for around three weeks. It was as though I was everything and nothing all at the same time. I call entering this meditative and Zen state as entering 'The Zone'.

From what I have found there are a number of practices that help you to enter 'The Zone'. The first is to slow down and get out of your mind.

For example, when we are in the ordinary problem solving mind then our brain is operating in the relatively fast 'beta' brain wave pattern. However it is possible to actively slow our brain wave patterns down into the alpha, theta and delta brain wave patterns.

The first way to do this is to enter into a state the Zen buddhists call no-mind. This is a state where your mind shuts off.

The way to do this is to become aware that we all have a little voice within our heads. For example right now it might be saying 'Little voice? What little voice? I don't have a little voice!'

Well, that is the little voice.

Then if you treat it like a little child and say to it 'Thank you for sharing', you will probably become aware of a little gap within your thinking. Like there is a little pause within your thoughts. Instead of putting your awareness and attention on the thoughts within your mind, you can instead place your attention and awareness on the gap within your mind and on the space of no-mind.

The second step to entering into 'The Zone' is to then place your attention and awareness on your senses. When you heighten your five senses then it allows the space for the spiritual dimension to open up to you. This is similar to the sixth sense.

However, when you realize and meditate on that everything external to you also has five senses and the sixth sense then the nature of reality starts to shift. This is when you start to enter into a state of onenesswith all things and enter into a state of entering what I call 'The Zone'.

I talk more about entering 'the zone' in my book 'The Heart Walk' however this is the state that Zen monks often enter whilst meditating within monasteries. This is the state when you get to see that everything and nothing bothexist at the same time.

If this state of deep zen meditation speaks to you then I encourage you to find out more by reading the pages within this website or to pick up your copy of 'The Heart Walk'.

Gaia | Zen | Rite Of Passage

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