I first discovered meditation practice over ten years ago when I was really just searching for a way to increase my focus for better performance in sports.  What really opened the door for me was when I first listened to Alan Watts Teaches Meditation.  Around the same time I also discovered Cheri Huber who has also written a number of very insightful books that helped me along the way.


What is Meditation? 

Meditation practice is simply sitting still and paying attention.  It is a way of disidentifying from the ongoing chatter inside our skulls while bringing our attention back to the here and now.  It is a way to see through all of the illusions we maintain about ourselves and the world around us.  It is a way to see through all of our conditioning...our judgements, our belief systems and our better ideas about ourselves.  It is a way to drop our ideas of good and bad, right and wrong, like and dislike...our desire to categorize everything.  It is a way to see through all of the constructs of the ego and experience our true selves.


Are there different types of meditation?

There are many different meditation practices out there.  Some ask you to focus on your breath, some ask you to recite some type of mantra, some ask you to sit with your eyes closed, etc.  I practice a type of Zazen (meditation) taught by the Soto Zen School of Buddhism called "Shikantaza" which basically means "just sitting" and amounts to just sitting still with open awareness.


Is there a god in Buddhism?

The simple answer is no...or more specifically, the question of god is really "beside the point".  Buddhism is not a theistic religion.  Buddhism is basically just a common-sense philosophy of living.