Stopping thought also involves shifting your values. Thought is stimulated by ideas that we have about life and the world.

Imagine wave after wave of joy passing through your whole body. As each wave passes through your body, feel that all worries, tensions, anxieties and problems are being washed away.

The tonal is also endless and limitless. We like to think of it as being finite so we feel better.

The purpose of all of this is not to walk around with new vocabulary words, but to cause you to speculate on the marvel of your own being.

For the first few years, it's most beneficial to meditate on the heart chakra. The heart chakra, called the anahata chakra in Sanskrit, is located in the center of the chest, dead center. If you focus there you will feel a warm and tingling sensation.

The period of meditation is a time when we go back to the source. We go back to what we were before we were born.

The Zen master can see precisely what it will take to cause your awareness to become free. But the Zen master can't do it for you.