Meditation: To teach or not to teach

What would you do if your Nihilistic SO came to you wanting to learn more about your beliefs? Normally, someone might take their SO to church, or Mass, or maybe out into the woods. Not for me and him. No, I had him sit comfortably and close his eyes while I spoke softly and tried to lead him through meditation.

Anyone else see a problem here?

I do. I can't teach. I can show someone how to do something, but that is it.

I believe meditation is the bridge to all knowledge of the universe. That is all. It is the portal to enlightenment and peace. Others believe differently. I begin my meditation by simply closing my eyes and breathing regularly. Sometimes I count backwards from ten, sometiems I picture a candle...

My questio is, should I attempt to teach him my way of meditation or encourage him to learn by himself, as I did? I'm terrible at telling people what to do or how to do it, especially someone I care about. Any ideas?

I don't think that this is something that you can just teach anyone based on qualification, like you can do with an academic thing, but on the other hand if the conditions are right, then you will teach and he will learn.

Only way to know is to see what happens.

I believe you've got it right, show your SO, the basics, then tell him, each individual constructs their own path to enlightenment in the meditation process, and that he must find what is best for him. I need a meditation in which I am actually doing something interactive,because that's my temperament. It all comes down to the temperament.

Show him different meditations and have him experiment on his own. It's up to him if he wants to meditate or not but you can provide a small starting kit with materials.

I'm a nihilist as well - but I enjoy the act of meditating.
I don't do it often. But when I do it, it's to feel more peaceful.
Being the nihilist I am, I don't connect it with anything spiritual - it's just a sense of tranquility I'm going for.
If he's any similar to me, then let him reach just that: a sense of tranquility, because I don't suppose adding in spiritual things will prove any help. Then again, it never hurts to add in the spiritual side and quite frankly I would encourage to do so because HE was the one asking to learn more about your beliefs.
So, what I would do is kind of do a mixture of both: tell him about the sense of tranquility (something he can relate to (and you as well, perhaps)) and about the spiritual aspect of it (something you can relate to).

Good luck with it!

Originally Posted by Sanityhatesme

My questio is, should I attempt to teach him my way of meditation or encourage him to learn by himself, as I did? I'm terrible at telling people what to do or how to do it, especially someone I care about. Any ideas?

You could do both. Say 'this is what works for me' as a starting point but explain if it doesn't seem to be working for him there are other methods. A meditaion diary can be a good idea for a newbie. Keep things short to start with, someone who is not used to sitting still can find even 30 seconds a long time! Instead of diving straight into meditation you could try some yoga first. After some serious poses he'll be glad to just sit still and breath! lol.