Charles T. Tart, PhD, is emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Here he presents basic and simple ideas related to the practice of meditation. He suggests that there are two basic reasons why people meditate: to calm the mind and for self-awareness. When initiating a session, it is good to have a clear idea of one’s purpose for the session. With reference to himself, Tart notes that meditation has been difficult. Such difficulties occur when the mind races, and when one somehow expects an extraordinary experience. The key is to find a particular focus, such as the breath and to keep returning to that central focus each time one realizes that the mind has wandered.
