An assimilation of the philosophy of Han's ideologies has come out in a book published recently by Full Circle. The Blooming of a Lotus, describes 34 guided exercises directed at bringing the practitioners into closer touch with the state of their physical bodies, their inner selves and the elements of the world around them.

The art of meditation in any form cannot be practised unless we have control over our breathing. The first step in any exercise of meditation is to stop. The mind could be in the past or the future; an attempt should be made to bring it to the present moment.

``By dwelling in the present moment, we put an end to attachments to the pastand anxieties about the future. Life is available only in the present. We need to return to this moment to be in touch with what life really is. We need only to open our eyes and to listen carefully to enjoy life's richness,'' says Seth.

With the fast paced world that we live in, it is very important to stop. ``If you notice people on an airport or a railway station, they are running with their feet in the front and the head left behind. They are just trying to arrive somewhere without enjoying the journey. The Buddha is present only in the here and now. We can only control the present--the past has already gone, the future is yet to be. That is why we need to stop,'' says SethAfter we have stopped, one can look more deeply into any element of life--be it emotions, our body or our mental formation of the world--to get some meaning out of it.

Our breath changes all the time with our emotions. When we get excited or angry, our rate of breathing also changes. Here, the other purpose of meditation to heal andtransform, comes to the fore. ``Meditation helps you to think positively and heal some of the hurt and transform negative emotions into positive ones. If you come into conscious breath and shine the light of mindfulness on these emotions, you can realise the reasons for these. Mindfulness is the central practice of this meditation. It means being fully aware of your body, feelings, the mind and the world, in the present moment,'' says Seth.

According to Seth, one can control the negative emotions of anger and jealousy through conscious breathing. ``When irritated or angry, instead of reacting, if you come back to your conscious breath, you will be able to move away from the scene and discover the reason for your anger. By practising it regularly, even before you get angry, you will know that you are getting angry. In psychological terms, we have the seeds of anger, suspicion and jealousy in our `store consciousness'.

Circumstances allow these seeds to germinate and come up to our living rooms. If we lookat these with the light of knowledge, we are compassionate toward these emotions. The anger is us and not somebody else. So you control anger, instead of letting the anger control you,'' he explains.

In physical terms, it means following this pattern: ``You first bring your breath to normal and say, `breathing in, I calm myself; breathing out, I smile.' Even though you may not be smiling inside, you should try since it relaxes the facial muscles (the face has about 300 muscles in all),'' says Seth.

Seth met Han at a retreat centre on the West Coast and was instantly drawn to the master because of his simple nature. He has come up with easy modern day interpretations of the practice. Some of the interesting ones are:Telephone meditation: When the telephone bell rings. Instead of going quickly and picking up the receiver, the person lets the bell ring thrice. This way one comes back to conscious breath, calms oneself and is peaceful while talking on the phone.

Walking meditation: When you don't walk toarrive somewhere. You walk just to walk.

Meditating while driving: When you see a red light, you treat it like a Bodhisatva, which tells you to stop and think. If you realise where you are and with whom, you become more peaceful. With this, the whole experience of driving changes. Instead of thinking of where you have to arrive, you will enjoy the journey.

How to go about it

It may be possible for you to meditate on your own, without a teacher or a Sangha (a Buddhist community of practice). But it goes without saying that to practise with a teacher and a Sangha is more advisable and much easier.

A teacher is someone who has had the experience of the practice, and has succeeded in it. A Sangha is a meditation community where everyone follows more or less the same kind of practice. In the Capital, such meetings are held every second Sunday of the month at: D-9, Defence Colony, (Ph:4616720 and on every fourth Sunday at 8, Padmini Enclave (Ph: 6862807).