I-Believe

Meditation

Meditation for Beginners

">I Believe

By Dr. Andrew Cowan, M.D. (U.S.A.)

Dr.Andrew Cowen

I believe meditation has helped with my work and allowed me to have empathy with other people. I feel that, by meditating, I have been able to more fully understand myself. This has allowed me to fully relate with patients, many of whom have problems which go beyond disease, and enter into the realm of the mind.

I first found out about the Dhammakaya Meditation Center in Seattle, Washington State, while working at the hospital in a clinic. The person who invited me to the center was Sunan Yesuwan, who worked at the front desk. She invited me to come and teach English to the monks that stayed at the meditation center she attended. I agreed, and first cane to the center in October, 2002. One of the staff at the center kept telling me I should meditate. The most noticeable effect that meditation had on me when I started, was that I became calmer and relaxed in every day life and it also contributed to a general decrease in my anxiety level, So, I decided that this was the most worthwhile activity. I continued meditating, and started coming to meditate with Luang Phaw Dhammajayo at the center every Saturday evening.

">In the past, I used to have some personality characteristics that were maladaptive. I used to be much more irritable, easily angered, badtempered and moody.

Meditation has helped to improve these problems

Meditation has helped to improve these problems. My parents first noted that I was a much nicer person to be with after I had been meditating for some time. Because of meditation, I started to avoid drinking alcohol, even before I understood the five precepts. I felt that drinking alcohol made my meditation less clear, which led me to decrease and eventually stop drinking alcohol, after I learned more about Another way in which meditation has helped me is that I have become less impulsive. In the past, I used to make decisions without thinking very much, or make reckless monetary purchases, without fully considering whether I needed them or not. Additionally, I would choose to spend time with friends at bars or concerts, even though I didn’t want to go. After having meditated for some period of time, I have become less impulsive, and more careful about the decisions I make. In a word, I would say that I have become more mindful of what I am doing. Meditation has also supported me in meeting good friends. Prior to coming to the meditation center, I had many friends who engaged in poor behaviors. Often, simply because I had known nothing else, I would spend time with these people and followed them drinking, going out late at night and engaging in other deleterious activities. When I started to meditate, I have been able to come often and this has brought me into contact with good friends and people who encouraged me to behave in the right way. I truly feel that meditation has allowed much of this to occur. I strongly feel that meditation supports a healthier, lower stress life for people in the world today. It can help people feel less stressed and more relaxed in everyday life. Meditation can improve one’s confidence in the world, because we can discover our own nature and ourselves better, In my own experience, meditation had helped me to quit drinking alcohol, avoid bad friends and attain both personal and career achievements. I feel like I would not be in the position I am now, had I not started to practice meditation. Meditation has also helped in my work I am currently a medical student at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington State, USA Often times, when I am working with patients, the sufferings they must endure and the diseases they have affect us emotionally.

How to Meditate

When I tale time to meditate, I am able to decrease this stress and not feel so sad anymore. As a doctor, it is important to be what is happening. I feel that meditation supports awareness, and helps me to better focus on details of a patient’s appearance and case. I have noticed before that if I have not taken sufficient time for meditation, my thinking is less clear and work becomes harder. One thing in particular that meditation has helped me with is my long working hours that sometimes pass without any breaks. Sometimes, I go to a quiet place, close my eyes, and imagine a crystal ball or a Buddha image at the center of my body. I do this until I feel peaceful, and then go back to work. It’s truly amazing how rejuvenating and helpful this simple procedure is. I started to do this while on surgery, which, of all my “rotations” has the longest hours, and many times no sleep for long periods of time. Sometimes, I would want to sleep so much, but still had several hours of work to do before I could go home. I feel that my meditation practice helped me to endure those times.

In addition, one important aspect of working in surgery is being in the operating room In the operating “a sterile field”. Basically, this means that once you have cleaned your arms and hands, and that once you have cleaned your arms and hands, and have put on gowns and gloves, you are “sterile”. The patient is also sterile. Thus, one cannot “break the sterile field” by touching non-sterile objects, including your face, legs, or anything else but the patient. I feel that the sort of concentration and focus necessary to prevent breaking the sterile field is something which can be enhanced with mediation. Meditation practice helped me stay mindful while I am in the operating room, and not needlessly endanger the operating room, and not needlessly endanger the lives of patients by contaminating the sterile field.

Another thing that I believe meditation has helped with at my work is being able to have empathy with other people. I feel that, by meditating, I have been able to more fully understand myself. This has allowed me to fully relate with patients, many of whom have problems which go beyond disease, and enter into the realm of the mind. A large percentage of people who are at hospitals have co-existing mental illness. Thus, neither their minds nor their bodies are in good health. It’s sometimes difficult to pick up on this subtlety, but I feel that my meditation practice has given me insight into finis h medical school and enter the field of surgery. Surgery is a tough and demanding field of medicine, and the hours are ling and hard.

Meditation for Beginners

However, the amount of good surgeons can do for people is amazing I’m excited to enter this field of medicine, but still feel like something is missing from it. As a future doctor, I intend not only to treat the patient’s diseases, but also to take care of their minds as well. I will incorporate this sort of theme, comprising mind and body health, into my future practice as a doctor.

As far as my own meditation experience goes, I have had dome very good experiences during my meditation On a couple of occasions, I’ve seen a bright light, brighter than the sun, at the center of my body. While this experience only lasted briefly, the feeling I had at the time was something which I can’t describe. On other occasions, I’ve been able to clearly visualize a crystal ball at my center, and have felt very peaceful. One important aspect, for me, in my meditation, is that it has helped me to gain wisdom about situations in life. In many instances, I think that meditation has improved my wisdom about certain events and helped me to make better decisions regarding them. If I could tell the people of he world anything, it is that meditation is one of the best activities for mental and physical health. I would also say that meditation is for everybody – not just for monks or Buddhists. Every religious background can experience the benefits of meditation. Meditation can help us deal with the stress of everyday life, and can also help us endure difficulties that we may encounter. More importantly, it can help us find a goal for our lives, and to better understand the true nature of things.