Reflection #4: Buddhist Meditation

As I began my meditation, I tried first to concentrate solely on my breathing, making it regular and making sure that any muscle not related to the act of breathing was relaxed.  I sat cross legged on my bed, leaning against the wall to make my back straight.  After a short while, the breathing stayed regular and I felt calm and very relaxed.  Then, I started listening to what was around me, all the small sounds that usually I don't notice, the ticking of the clock, the sounds of cars on the highway in the distance.  But after listening for a time, my mind started to wander.  I started thinking about how much homework I had due the next day and what I would do after school.  I tried to regain focus by reciting a mantra, that all things are impermanent, but as I tried to let the reciting become more rote, I started to stumble over the words and I got distracted again.  This continued until I stopped.  But during the middle period of my meditation, I found that I felt extremely peaceful and relaxed, that my cares and worries were miles away and were trivial.  I felt a profound difference in perspective, of what was important in my life.  But that disappeared at the end of my meditation.