How does one meditate ?

>>18589838
You meditate just like you beat your heart or breath with your lungs. You just sort of do it. There is no goal or any benefit to the act alone.

Meditation is basically quieting your conscious mind. The easiest way to do this is sitting quietly and focusing on your breath. There are loads of instructional videos on youtube etc on how to do it, as a beginner the best way to start is probably with 'counting' meditations where you count the breath in, holding the breath, and release the breath for x amount of seconds.

Meditation is a skill and you get better with practice. Plus there are many ways to approach it - it's about finding what works for you.

Personally I have found meditation of immense benefit in learning to calm my mind, think clearer, deal with emotions, and 'control' my thoughts.

I'm sure there are people on here that will tell you that you can leave your body, fly to the moon and converse with Shiva about cheese. Maybe you can if that is the path you follow, but if you do it correctly you will probably get better at reducing negative emotions like anger, and realising the negative influence on your mind of certain media/people etc. This isn't enlightenment, but it helps you be a better more compassionate person. Also if you learn to switch off your conscious mind completely it can go to a strange place - it's like watching you subconscious mind (this can be revealing), but I'm sure people will have other explanations.

>>18589869
This.
You only need ten minutes on youtube to learn the basics, OP.
>Will I get possessed
No. No one can take your (you).
>Will I become enlightened
Maybe. It's the only thing in the world that's unambiguously positive, with no side effects or small print.

I become very frustrated when meditating because I can't focus. Should I be more passive and just let my mind do its thing or should I keep practicing and sharpen my focus?

transcendental meditation easy basics:
- focus your attention from the body up into the mind behind the eyes
- repeat mantra (can be meaningless, a phrase from a language you don't know)
- picture an image of someone you love and care for
- do it with love and devotion

start with 5 minutes, if this was okay try 6 next time, if this was too hard, try 4 minutes next time

>>18591270
Paraphrasing, but this is one of advices that I got: meditation isn't "hey stop thinking!" but rather "okay let's gently go back to the breath..." Be kind to yourself, meditation isn't just about the silence, it's also about noticing you're distracted and returning your focus. I hope it made sense anon. :)

Don't listen to these roleplayers. It's used to build self-control. That is why you have to be patient and just focus on your breath. It isn't the act of focusing, but bringing yourself out of other stimuli and refocusing. Trying to focus and thinking you've got it down because you no longer get distracted, or being entirely unfocused by trying to conjure up your spiritual magickqs or whatever both entirely miss the point. Helps with a whole lot of things from school to behavioral issues. Read up on mindfulness, it's what meditation is all about. Also, don't manually breathe, just let your body do the work.