Meditation’s not some mystical ancient supernatural art for only holy men, it’s a skill that everyone’s capable of learning and should learn. This free book online gives a really good simple to understand explanation of how to accomplish this.

Mindfulness in Plain English

It goes over the various forms of meditation in the world, from prayer and contemplation of the western tradition, to yoga of the hindi tradition, and focuses on Vipassana meditation of the Buddhist tradition. There are many various forms of Buddhist meditation, most center on focusing the mind on a single point, clearing it of all unwanted thoughts. This grants temporary tranquility and peace, catharsis if you will. In Vipassana meditation, although control of the mind is needed, the goals differ. In this form, the ultimate aim is to become completely aware. By increasing awareness of yourself, your ego, your emotions, and everything that makes you who you are, you can gain lasting happiness. The main pathway for increasing awareness is mindfulness through daily meditation. This is a completely understandable and simple thing for people to do, it just needs to become a daily practice, habitual if you will, and peace will come to you in time. Being mindful is simply being aware of everything that goes on within and without. If you get angry because your brother ate the last apple, for example, in a mindful state, you realize that your brother did not make you angry, the anger arises from within you. You are the source of your emotions. Once you realize the truth of this, you do not need to fight them. Accept it as what is and your suffering melts away. It doesn’t take effort per say, just awareness. Once you realize you are the source of everything you experience, reality being in the mind as it is, you can be at peace.

This is just a very brief summary of what Vipassana meditation is, and the goals. If you are interested, please follow the link and read the text thoroughly. It isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things, and outlines a very easy to understand manual for techniques of meditation you can use in your every day life. It stresses that you need not be a holy man or live in a temple or anything to attain peace and personal enlightenment. Any person can follow these techniques in their daily lives and have a lasting shift in their mindset and happiness in life.