editation is for people who want to live with intention. It's for people who want to shape reality, not just respond to it. It's for those who have a sneaking suspicion that life is much greater than what has been presented to us. It's for people who have touched many things, looking for pleasure and finding pain. It's for people who are tired of insecurity and it's for those who seek and delight in growth. If you wish to feel gratitude for your life every day, meditation is for you.

When you sit, sit up straight. However long seems right is good. Choose something for your mind to do. Breath. Chakras. The passing of thoughts. Loving kindness. Nothing. This becomes steadiness of body and mind. Steadiness of body and mind -- basic lucidity -- is exactly the water our garden of inner virtues needs to thrive. It's an act of hope and belief in yourself and it is an unfathomable gift to the world.

It is simple to do once. It is very difficult to do it every day. We need encouragement, inspiration and guidance. At the monastery where I trained, I met weekly with a senior teacher to receive instruction and share challenges. This direct transmission is a vital part of the practice of meditation. In my tradition, Zen Buddhism, it is understood with gratitude that this practice has been handed down to us in a direct line from the Buddha.