I must admit; I feel a certain amount of anger when I see books with titles such as "Meditation Made Easy." At the same time, I almost want to laugh at how ridiculous such a concept truly sounds. These books are so obviously written and published for the sole purpose of making money. Nothing more.

As a meditator for a few years now, I can assuredly state that I find nothing easy about meditation. Nothing. Anyone who says it's anything but excruciatingly painful probably hasn't even tried to quiet his/her mind. Granted, several mental exercises exist which some people define as meditation, which I do not. Activities like guided imagery, trying to "blank" your mind (however you do that), and sessions of repeating positive affirmations have all fallen under the term "meditation," but, in reality, fall far short of that definition.

I'm not bashing guided imagery or positive affirmations. I've both seen and experienced how these tools can improve your life. They are also extremely easy. They are not, however, meditation.

Meditation, as the Buddha taught it, has one single topic of focus. Usually that topic is the breath. Try, for a few moments, to focus only on your breath, at the entrance to your nostrils. If you can hold your attention there for more than 5 seconds or so without distraction, your focus is stronger than most.

Meditation is hard work. Period. It's well worth it, although the benefits are not immediate, and therefore most westerners will probably shun it.

This should come as a surprise to nobody. Last night, for instance, I watched "March of the Penguins" on DVD. In my own living room. While eating a pizza and drinking coke. Afterwards, I ate some chocolate. When I had to go to the bathroom, guess what I did? I paused the movie.

The floor in my living room doesn't stick to the bottoms of my shoes. The guy who always sits behind be while providing his narration and moment-by-moment critique was happily absent. My 20 oz. coke cost about a buck, the chocolate about 75 cents. Compare that to a trip to the movie theater, where a medium, watered-down coke costs well above 2 bucks, a small box of chocolate about the same, and the movie alone costs about 10 bucks. Double these if you have a date.

Yes, I know the atmosphere in a theater is different than at home, and if you go to the movies for that, maybe it's not a bad thing for you. I, however, only want to see the movie. I can wait a few months until it comes out on DVD. I can even invite my family and friends to watch it with me, and all it costs is about four bucks.

That way, I can drink all the inexpensive coke I want, and never have to miss a moment of the movie when it hits my bladder.