Hey!!
I can recomend a great book for meditation "meditation for Dummies" it is trully an awesome book. Well written and exelent explanation about meditation.

And IF you r looking for a nice group of people to meditate with

/www.meetup.com/Zurich-Meditation/

Maybe you know meetup, its free and it is a tool to find people with simiar interest that get togehter: night life meet up, out dors meet up! you can find meet ups for lots of stuff. like the Chiguagua dog meetup

I organized the Zurich Meditation Group (its free) so if you are still interested in meditation check it out!!

cheers
santi

www.santiagopalacios.com

How does group meditation work?

Well, traditionally meditation was and is practiced in groups. This is how monasteries work. Groups of monks sit together in meditation.

Meditating in a group has its advantages because you have the support of the group, feelings and sensations are much stronger than when we meditate on ou own, or so they say.... Many people actually find it hard to concentrate when they try to meditate ont heir own. This is more common if you are just starting.

So this is one of the advantages of group meditation. Its much easier to concentrate and there is usually a person holding the meditation that will guide you and remind you to relax and focuse...

We dont follow any guru or specific technique (such as mantras or prayers)
we do a simple concentration exersice for the first 10 minutes and then we simply sit in silence noticing the alive presence that is who we are. You can say: we sit withourselfs. Making contact with who we are may seem irrelevant and boring, since there is not much to it the first time you do it.. yet I can asure you that this is what brings sanity into our mind.


hope this answers your question, if not, let me know and ill be happy to answer.

cheers
Santiago

I belong to a Tibetan Buddhist Sangha in Basel and have been meditating for about 9 years. I can highly recommend it.

I can remember members of my family and friends at primary school asking me where I was when I wasn't there. Strange as it may sound it seems they would at times experience my presence and my absence all at once. To put it more simply I would be standing still and looking into the distance and they would observe me for a while and then it seemed that when they spoke to me I sort of 'woke up' and I was 'back'.
I didn't think anything of this at the time as it was simply how I was. I did have some medical checks and it was not epilepsy or deafness or autism or anything else that doctors could find. It was decided by my family that I was a 'dreamer' and that was that.
As a teenager I became increasingly interested in Buddhism and Meditation and I seemed to find a perspective on life and a practice that linked into who I was and how I wanted to be. After Yoga I progressed on into martial Arts practice and became a practitioner and teacher of Kongo (diamond) Zen.
I find that the concentrative forms of meditation (i.e. looking at a flame) help with the necessary discipline. The mindful forms of meditation help with changing your outlook on life and your awareness of yourself (i.e. REALLY experiencing walking or eating). Both can come together in any martial art, sport or repetitive form of physical activity. Chanting, singing or playing an instrument can also be a meditative activity. A prolonged period of quiet (as on a retreat) is also another meditative practice. In almost all the forms of practice the breath, focusing on the breath is the first and final aspect of being in a meditative state.
None of these are however a 'quick fix'. Many years of regular and repeated effort slowly but surely get you to a place where you are what you are and living life as you chose to be. A more peaceful and accepting frame of mind is a common result. Being able to cope better with stress and being a 'better' person can occur. You may become aware of the limitations of your 'self' and the limitless nature of what you are when you are not 'yourself'. Altered states can occur but are not the goal. A deep sense of comprehension of existence does develop but is only one development amongst many.
I now meditate when swimming and riding my bike. I walk and I look at the sky for long periods. At night I breathe and seek to lose myself in the breathe. I read many books on spirituality and meditation. There is currently much good work being done on integrating Buddhism and psychotherapy.
I hope to be a good husband and father. I hope to lead a responsible life helping others with their suffering. When my time comes I hope to have a 'good' death. And I do of course regularly 'fail' to be these things.
I would like to then be 'free' to be a part of the larger space around us. And the part of me who will be there doing that is not the ‘me’ who is writing this. My 'self' is an important part of 'me' but is not where I will eventually be. At least my experience persuades me it is so. It is important to understand that this is not an idea or a concept but an experience.
With good intentions! Please try and persist with meditation!