Effortless Meditation

1. Introduction

Effortless-Effort is the philosophy of Daoism. When used in social change, effortless effort implies non-violence and peace. This philosophy has been adapted to many aspects of Chinese culture and this meditation is an example that put the philosophy into daily practice.

The Client-centered-therapy developed by humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers is an example of effortless effort in treating mental illness. Carl Rogers believes the Unconditional Positive Acceptance of a person is the most effective way for helping that person grow his/her humanity fully. In other words, if you want to help one grows as a human, the most effective way is effortless: do not judge his/her behaviors but accept him/her as a human. This works not only in doctor-client relationships but also in relationships among colleagues. Unconditional Positive Acceptance applied to colleagues will create a non-violence workplace, applied to society will create a non-violence society, applied to international relationships will create a non-violence world, and applied to yourself will maintain a healthy mentality. Effortless Meditation is an exercise of unconditional acceptance of one's own consciousness. Violence arises from conflict. When we feel angry or frustrated, there is conflict in our conscious or subconscious. If we are aware of our conscious and accept them unconditionally, our inner conflict will be mitigated and violent behaviors can be avoided. This will result in peace of mind and happy life, avoiding anger that damages our relations with other, which result in a non-violence relationship.

We go to the doctor when we are sick and we exercise to keep fit when we are healthy. Similarly, we seek a psychiatrist’s advice when we have mental problems and we practice Effortless Meditation to maintain our mental health. In client-centered therapy, the counselor just rephrase what the patient said, unconditionally accept the patient's thought, and let the patient be aware of their conscious and subconscious. In Effortless Meditation, we observe our consciousness and accepted it unconditionally.

The aim of Effortless Meditation is aware of your own thoughts without dominating them. You observe your own thoughts without being carried away by them just as you are watching a train passing by without boarding the train.

 

2. Steps of Effortless Meditation:
Objective: Awareness of your own thoughts, and/or feelings and sensations.
Key effortless principle: Don't enhance any thought, nor get rid of any, just be aware of the thoughts that come and go.

 

Steps:
a. Sit or stand comfortably with your spine straightens. Comfortable is to maximize ease of blood circulation. Straightens the spine like the head is suspended in the air and the spine is hanging down naturally straight and loose.
b. Close eyes effortlessly.
c. Relax the overall body totally while maintaining the spine straight and relaxed. Relax systematically from fingers to toes. Relax one muscle at a time from head to toe several times until the whole body is relaxed while maintaining the spine straight and loose.
d. Focus on Dan Tian (2 cm below the navel and inside the middle of the body), You will feel nothing at first of cause. But that's exactly what you want. The best meditation state is fully aware of nothingness, not the body, not the environment, not even yourself, nothing at all but fully aware.
e. Breath deep, slow, smooth, and effortlessly. Breath Long and slow. Think “calm “while inhaling and think “relax” while breathing out.
f. Though you focus on “calm-relax” breath and focus on Dan Tian during meditation, you will get constant distractions such as sounds from the environment, heat or cold feelings inside the body, numbness of limbs, illusions, fantasies, and above all, the thoughts arisen in response to these stimulus mentioned above. Some feeling is good and enjoyable, but never try to pursue the enjoyment, as it violates the effortless principle. Just effortlessly observe it, don't enhance it, or try to get rid of it. Some are feeling bad or even horrible, keep calm and don't be scared. Don't try to get rid of it, just observe it effortlessly; it will be gone by itself. With everyday practice, you will get into the meditation state of progressive calm and relaxation, together with the increased power of awareness of your own consciousness.
g. To end the meditation, open your eyes slowly.

Meditation not only keeps our mental health but also keeps our body healthy. The reason is that some illnesses are caused by mental depression and emotional frustration, and Effortless Meditation mitigates the depression and frustration. Meanwhile, it builds a healthy, happy, peaceful, and nonviolent personality. By practicing Effortless Meditation, one can improve his/her ability to get along with family, friends, colleagues, and society peacefully.