Learn How to Meditate

Learn How to Meditate Using the Three Wisdom Tools

To learn how to meditate, or anything else you wish to learn, one of the essential tools in Buddha-Dharma is known as 'the three wisdom tools,' which are - listening and hearing, contemplation and reflection, and meditation and action. 

To learn anything, one needs to start by hearing the theory while making a genuine effort to listen attentively. After that, one needs to reflect and check one's understanding, ask questions, and seek clarification on anything unclear. 

Drawing from life experiences, one contemplates what one has learned and examines its validity. One must use intellect, curiosity, open mind, patience, courage, determination, and a healthy sense of humor. 

Examining the Buddha's Teachings like a Goldsmith Tests His Gold. 

The scriptures describe this process as a goldsmith testing gold. Just as a goldsmith would test his gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it to determine its purity, so should a student examine the Buddha's teachings (or any other teachings for that matter). They should scrutinize the teachings carefully and thoroughly, applying them and observing the effects rather than accepting them based on mere tradition, authority, or blind faith.

Through such inquiry, one's initial understanding will gradually become more precise and profound, transforming intellectual knowledge into insight. When that happens, one needs to meditate on one's insights repeatedly until, with time, these understandings become one's view, reflected in one's actions and responses to things and events. Thus, one gains control over one's mind and becomes the person one wants to be.

The Importance of Genuine Teachers in Learning How to Meditate

Going back to the beginning, to the first wisdom tool of listening and hearing: In all our endeavors to expand our knowledge and adopt new understandings, we first must anchor ourselves in the knowledge and realizations of those who have come before us. Learning from genuine teachers and lineage holders is of utmost importance. Seeking expert knowledge will ensure that we are on the right path in learning how to meditate and how to be.

Trustworthy Resources to Learn How to Meditate

For accurate and practical instructions on how to learn to meditate, you are welcome to visit links to relevant, trustworthy, and authentic meditation and Dharma resources presenting Dharma teachers, communities, and organizations focusing on mindfulness meditation and contemplative or analytical meditation. You can find links to videos and audio of talks, teachings, and guided reflections, as well as guided meditations and sitting instructions led by exceptional masters and contemporary teachers.

All of these are available to us due to the hard work of many Dharma associations and organizations like Rigpa, Khyentse Foundation, Shambhala, The Middle Way Initiative, and more. And through the great kindness of many Dharma teachers and Lamas like Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Elizabeth Mattis Namgye, Ringo Tulku Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche and many more who generously shared their wisdom, experience, and blessings, online.