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A mutual support and admiration society for meditators of all traditions and levels of experience, serves to support people who meditate and people who want to meditate. It is very simple: Meditate for ten minutes a day and you are in the club! If you miss a day, you are out of the club, but all you have to do to be fully reinstated is meditate for ten minutes!
You should know that there are a hundred or so meditators who are counting on you to do your ten minutes. There are members in prisons, in churches, in Buddhist communities, and more.
What counts as meditation? At pi, we teach Shamatha-Vipashyana: Calm Abiding and Clear Seeing practices. Sitting quietly with the intention to be present with your body and your breath, in this moment, in this place. Let thoughts go. The mind doesn’t stop, but you don’t get hooked by your thoughts or any other distractions.
What does not count? Walking, listening to music, running, talking, napping, doing yoga, visualizations…it’s just sitting, calm abiding, clear sight.
If you want to practice for longer than ten minutes that’s great. But all you have to do is ten. I usually find that only having to do ten minutes takes the pressure off and gets me to the cushion. It takes about ten minutes for the mind to settle, once you’ve practiced enough and meditation becomes familiar. Then I usually want to stay longer.
Join the club!
