In our culture, we think of the mind as something that belongs to us. We think that we "are" the mind, and thst it is thus closer to us than anything else that we might find. But is this really the case? Have you ever had a time where you felt that the mind was very much a foreign agent, something beyond your control? That it bore more than a cursory similarity to rain showers and snow storms--that it was a force of nature that one must recon with in one's span of years?

I did a meditation retreat this weekend. The only thing that we were told to do is sit down and concentrate on our in and out breaths. Sounds easy, right? Well, find out for yourself. Go into a comfortable place. Sit on a cushion. Failing a cushion, use a box. Don't use pillows, because you need something hard under your but to give you a sense of stability and keep your back from hurting. You should be sitting at such an elevation that your feet and legs are lower than your thighs. Sit up straight. Put your hands lightly on your legs. While keeping your head straight, tuck your chin in, and stare at the ground or floor about 6 feet in front of you.

Concentrate on your out-breath. Don't think about it, or make a fuss over it. Just make sure that when you are breathing out that you are aware of breathing out. When you breath in, you don't concentrate on much in particular--there is a moment of space. Don't worry or fuss about the in-breath--the out breath is the object of your meditation. When your mind wanders, lable it thinking, gently leave, it, and resume concentration on the out-breath.

One you have done this for a while, perhapse about ten minutes, feel free to reply to this journal entry, and say what the experience is like. If you would like to know what this experience was like for me, look at the comentary on my new poem, which is about mind. While doing this, you won't attain enlightenment. Nothing supernatural or terribly flashy will happen. Really, there is nothing that can quite describe what it is like. Try it.