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A Meditation Thread
- Thread starter DmnStr8
- Start date
really enjoyed the direction this went
332211
Rising Star
working with this at the moment, and getting pretty fast, stable results:
it may be the best guide to enlightenment, connecting ancient texts with neuroscience.
and it goes into detail, where the traps are laid out and how to avoid them.
i reached an almost stable focus on the breath in my first 60min session today (which, in the beginning, is pretty uncommon and mind-wandering is totally fine and part of the process), which i am pretty proud of. walking meditation is complementary advised, and it is necessary.
my progress so far is, that my awareness of the world gets sharper. dropping my smartphone helped in that too and my struggle with addiction gets a bit easier, although i have my bad days...
if you have any questions on the stages 1-3 or the apendizes, feel free to pm me.
it may be the best guide to enlightenment, connecting ancient texts with neuroscience.
and it goes into detail, where the traps are laid out and how to avoid them.
i reached an almost stable focus on the breath in my first 60min session today (which, in the beginning, is pretty uncommon and mind-wandering is totally fine and part of the process), which i am pretty proud of. walking meditation is complementary advised, and it is necessary.
my progress so far is, that my awareness of the world gets sharper. dropping my smartphone helped in that too and my struggle with addiction gets a bit easier, although i have my bad days...
if you have any questions on the stages 1-3 or the apendizes, feel free to pm me.
Tara123
Rising Star
This thread is really helpful, thank you so much DmnStr8.
I started my meditation practice with Jon Kabat-Zinn (mindfulness) but shortly after got involved with a Buddhist group who's practice was based on Lamrim. This basically involved a set of prayers/ritual practices and then a 20 minute analytical meditation on one of the Lamrim stages (for example, you may analyse the fact that you may die today/take lower rebirth in your next life etc). Having done the analysis you would try to come to a conclusion and focus single pointedly on it for a period of time. There are a number of different stages and you do the meditations on a cycle.
This is extrememly powerful.
It does, however, require faith in the Buddhist doctrine, which I had a bit (or a lot!) of a crisis with recently (I think some of you commented when I posted on here about it). So I would say the Lamrim is absolutely worth looking at but just be gentle with it...
Now I'm focusing on breathing meditation as a daily practice. I was very frustrated with this for a while (I also posted on here about that) but I've made some progress recently and this thread has helped a lot. I can see why a lot of people just give up on this because there are no immediate 'results' and it requires patience, something I struggle with massively hahaha.
What has helped me a lot has been to hear/read about people's experience of, with practice, finding peaceful states with this type of meditation. That has encouraged me to continue.
Thanks all
I started my meditation practice with Jon Kabat-Zinn (mindfulness) but shortly after got involved with a Buddhist group who's practice was based on Lamrim. This basically involved a set of prayers/ritual practices and then a 20 minute analytical meditation on one of the Lamrim stages (for example, you may analyse the fact that you may die today/take lower rebirth in your next life etc). Having done the analysis you would try to come to a conclusion and focus single pointedly on it for a period of time. There are a number of different stages and you do the meditations on a cycle.
This is extrememly powerful.
It does, however, require faith in the Buddhist doctrine, which I had a bit (or a lot!) of a crisis with recently (I think some of you commented when I posted on here about it). So I would say the Lamrim is absolutely worth looking at but just be gentle with it...
Now I'm focusing on breathing meditation as a daily practice. I was very frustrated with this for a while (I also posted on here about that) but I've made some progress recently and this thread has helped a lot. I can see why a lot of people just give up on this because there are no immediate 'results' and it requires patience, something I struggle with massively hahaha.
What has helped me a lot has been to hear/read about people's experience of, with practice, finding peaceful states with this type of meditation. That has encouraged me to continue.
Thanks all
332211
Rising Star
Tara,
Lamrim + analytical meditation sounds like a great tool to form solid motivation to begin/keep practicing.
The crucial stage of making progress is to develop regular practice. And regular means "cast in stone" regular. try to combine your practice with something, that you already do regularly for years, might be something really simple like brushing your teeth in the morning or taking a shower. Attach your desire to practice to that and it will be much easier.
The first chapter of the book i linked above goes into depth on developoing a practice, might definitly be worth your time.
alright, it is cushion time rigth now.
Lamrim + analytical meditation sounds like a great tool to form solid motivation to begin/keep practicing.
The crucial stage of making progress is to develop regular practice. And regular means "cast in stone" regular. try to combine your practice with something, that you already do regularly for years, might be something really simple like brushing your teeth in the morning or taking a shower. Attach your desire to practice to that and it will be much easier.
The first chapter of the book i linked above goes into depth on developoing a practice, might definitly be worth your time.
alright, it is cushion time rigth now.
Wakinyan
Rising Star
Some do walking mediations. Some use archery as meditation. Some use prayer songs, music, chi kung, inipi/sweat lodge, vision quests, etc. Grafting is one of my meditation practices.
I look at meditation the same way I look at different physical exercises. You might do pull-ups and that helps your back and arms. You might do pushups and that helps your chest and arms. Running for the heart. Deadlifts and squats for ones back. You put these practices together in a consistent manner and you develop strength. Your form improves.
All these things practices take the same thing to improve:
Desire
Will
Consistency
Time
Desire has to come from within. If you are constantly judging ones efforts or trying to reach 300 lbs on your exercises and you can barely move 45 lbs your likely going to loose desire.
For me, it is more effective to simply be content with the path rather than focusing on the destination. It is the path that I find exciting as the goal may or may not prove fruitful that day. Yes, there is a goal in mind, but it is the path that one must find ones happiness in. If the path does not bring you happiness then the goal soon becomes a moot point as time eats away at you.
Will is tied into desire in that if you are not finding peace or happiness through the path or practice you have chosen then your willpower will soon be over run.
Consistency only comes if one has desire and willpower. If one is missing then it is only a matter of time before the consistency starts to falter. Consistency is best maintained when the short term goals are focused more on quality of effort and one gives oneself rewards for quality of effort as well as consistency of effort with built in laziness days. Meaning, it is okay to sometimes give less quality of effort so long as the consistency remains true. An example of this is realizing that you don’t feel good one day and you have finally reached the point where you can push 200 lbs 10 times. You would do much better to push 200 lbs 1 time with quality effort and speed that day rather than miss a week of effort altogether. Miss enough and you will find yourself having trouble with half that weight in no time.
Time… everything comes or goes in time. Each day or moment in time is a choice as to what to do with your time. This ties into your intent, which can be focused intensely over time or with the use of pejuta.
So for me, pejuta becomes the one tool I may use to push through the barrier of time. Essentially giving a cheat or a push which might be looked at in weightlifting terms as doing a negative or forced reps. Pejuta allows for a magnification of sorts, but it may magnify the good and the bad… so it is important that intent and willpower are there when one chooses to utilize that boost.
Grafting is one of my personal tools for meditation as it is something I am happy doing. Now, I would love for each and every graft to come out perfect from the start. But that is not how it started. Very little is perfect the first time. If one judges oneself on some ideal that one can not reach then there will be little happiness and much frustration.
The path one chooses must be one that brings one happiness or you will find it is immensely harder to accomplish those goals one is after. The goals being secondary to the happiness one finds on the path. It is like a hybridizer who finds joy in pollinating a flower. Joy is found in watching the pod mature. More joy is found in watching the seeds go into the soil. And again, more joy is found as one watches the flowers unfold for the first time. And at the last moment, the flower itself is ugly. It is not what you wanted… but it is still beautiful to you as it is the journey that excited you. So, another round is done and another and the happiness and the focus comes more into play as one continues to refine and to learn from the path already taken.
I look at meditation the same way I look at different physical exercises. You might do pull-ups and that helps your back and arms. You might do pushups and that helps your chest and arms. Running for the heart. Deadlifts and squats for ones back. You put these practices together in a consistent manner and you develop strength. Your form improves.
All these things practices take the same thing to improve:
Desire
Will
Consistency
Time
Desire has to come from within. If you are constantly judging ones efforts or trying to reach 300 lbs on your exercises and you can barely move 45 lbs your likely going to loose desire.
For me, it is more effective to simply be content with the path rather than focusing on the destination. It is the path that I find exciting as the goal may or may not prove fruitful that day. Yes, there is a goal in mind, but it is the path that one must find ones happiness in. If the path does not bring you happiness then the goal soon becomes a moot point as time eats away at you.
Will is tied into desire in that if you are not finding peace or happiness through the path or practice you have chosen then your willpower will soon be over run.
Consistency only comes if one has desire and willpower. If one is missing then it is only a matter of time before the consistency starts to falter. Consistency is best maintained when the short term goals are focused more on quality of effort and one gives oneself rewards for quality of effort as well as consistency of effort with built in laziness days. Meaning, it is okay to sometimes give less quality of effort so long as the consistency remains true. An example of this is realizing that you don’t feel good one day and you have finally reached the point where you can push 200 lbs 10 times. You would do much better to push 200 lbs 1 time with quality effort and speed that day rather than miss a week of effort altogether. Miss enough and you will find yourself having trouble with half that weight in no time.
Time… everything comes or goes in time. Each day or moment in time is a choice as to what to do with your time. This ties into your intent, which can be focused intensely over time or with the use of pejuta.
So for me, pejuta becomes the one tool I may use to push through the barrier of time. Essentially giving a cheat or a push which might be looked at in weightlifting terms as doing a negative or forced reps. Pejuta allows for a magnification of sorts, but it may magnify the good and the bad… so it is important that intent and willpower are there when one chooses to utilize that boost.
Grafting is one of my personal tools for meditation as it is something I am happy doing. Now, I would love for each and every graft to come out perfect from the start. But that is not how it started. Very little is perfect the first time. If one judges oneself on some ideal that one can not reach then there will be little happiness and much frustration.
The path one chooses must be one that brings one happiness or you will find it is immensely harder to accomplish those goals one is after. The goals being secondary to the happiness one finds on the path. It is like a hybridizer who finds joy in pollinating a flower. Joy is found in watching the pod mature. More joy is found in watching the seeds go into the soil. And again, more joy is found as one watches the flowers unfold for the first time. And at the last moment, the flower itself is ugly. It is not what you wanted… but it is still beautiful to you as it is the journey that excited you. So, another round is done and another and the happiness and the focus comes more into play as one continues to refine and to learn from the path already taken.
Doc Buxin
Pay No Mind
Wakinyan said:
Wakinyan said:
All very profound observations & advice there Wakinyan. I wholeheartedly agree and greatly appreciate your sharing this.
Wakinyan said:
Creating beautiful bonsai trees is one of my main meditation tools, so I can relate.
Talk about having to have patience!
When I first got into it, about 20 years ago or so, a friend of a friend happened to be visiting and saw my (then rather small compared to now) bonsai tree collection that I had built special shelves for on our back porch. He made the comment, "bonsai, isn't that an old man's hobby?" I just looked at him quizzically and replied something like, "um, yes, I suppose that you could call it that, yes...". I could tell just from the guy's body language and tone of voice that he held very little patience for anything not immediately gratifying. I was slightly amused and thought about all my years of meditation and psychedelic work that had brought me to enter the world of bonsai trees and all the joy and wonder that the hobby brings to those who practice it.
Anyway,
May we all find our Peace
Simply_Me
Live the Life you Love
Great conversation. I love the real life applications because if there is a goal for me, it is to carry what I have learned into all aspects of my life.
Questions for you all:
Is the ability to have single minded focus for ____ (grafting, archery, cooking, gardening, etc.) the fruit of meditation or do you believe that anytime that you can achieve single minded focus you are meditating? Is there a difference between concentration and meditation?
Wakinyan, you state "Desire has to come from within" yet Happiness comes from small goals, achievement, being on the path, etc.
Do you see a contradiction here? I believe happiness must come from within by cultivating acceptance and gratitude for "what is" first before even considering what I desire. If I am not happy first then I attach my happiness to this "outside thing" and the path to achieve it. Waiver from that path and happiness is lost.
I like your post and what you have to say so please take no offence as none is intended.
Questions for you all:
Is the ability to have single minded focus for ____ (grafting, archery, cooking, gardening, etc.) the fruit of meditation or do you believe that anytime that you can achieve single minded focus you are meditating? Is there a difference between concentration and meditation?
Wakinyan, you state "Desire has to come from within" yet Happiness comes from small goals, achievement, being on the path, etc.
Do you see a contradiction here? I believe happiness must come from within by cultivating acceptance and gratitude for "what is" first before even considering what I desire. If I am not happy first then I attach my happiness to this "outside thing" and the path to achieve it. Waiver from that path and happiness is lost.
I like your post and what you have to say so please take no offence as none is intended.
332211
Rising Star
*Every concious attempt* to keep your focus on an object *of your choice* is meditation. Therefor, training any skill is meditation.
The difference in training "just" meditation is, that you can put the sharpened focus you attain there *on any object*, no matter how interesting or dull it might appear to you. Meditation is the mastery of willingly directing focus and attention.
Hmmm, the first chapter of "The Mind Illuminated" deals with this question. As far as I remember, concentration (focussing your attention exclusively on a single object) lacks two things: Introspective awareness (things that happen in your mind/thoughts that arise while you do the task) and peripheral awareness (the ability to take in other stimuli in your surroundings). So concentration is a good thing, but meditation goes deeper.
Somebody who can conenctrate pretty well has mastered about one third of the way master meditation. But as long as the person does not get proper training, s/he is "stuck" on this level.
DmnStr8
Come what may
I got my first Tibetan singing bowl a few days ago! I love it! I got the 6th chakra bowl or also called the third eye chakra bowl. I thought it may further assist my DMT journeys, dreams, creativity and sleep. I always wanted one of these bowls and I think I am hooked! I want all seven chakra bowls now.
I found interest in obtaining these cool singing bowls after watching quite a few videos on a youtube channel called templesounds. Check out the channel! Really good stuff for meditation! Below is just one of many videos.
[youtube]
I found interest in obtaining these cool singing bowls after watching quite a few videos on a youtube channel called templesounds. Check out the channel! Really good stuff for meditation! Below is just one of many videos.
[youtube]
Simply_Me
Live the Life you Love
DmnStr8 said:
in the past eight months I have been attending quit a few singing bowls sessions around my area and my Kundalini Yoga Teacher finishes our sessions with 15 minutes of them. The first time I heard them I woke with tears flowing and thought WOW... A woman in my community has many sets including gongs, Crystal bowls and Tibetan singing bowls and once a month does an hour long session with all of them.
Good luck with it
Attachments
neurohack
Rising Star
This summer brought significant development in mediation practice. On top of the basis of sitting and breathing from hindu, buddhist & taoist teachings, I came to learn a few things.
One is to deepen the belly breathing practice into being able to remove resistance from the deeper muscles by doing body scans very often. Next is to breath down to the perineum, forward just below the navel and on the backside (having the tailbone move a bit). Like a ball expanding and contraction with each breath. Forceful at first and later on more gentle. The perineum movement is like a pump allowing circulations to occur. I usually do this lying down btw.
Next is something that inspired. You may want to look up what Ho'ponopono is, for it is a meditation based upon this tradition. From this tradition in it's simplified new age form come 4 mantras:
- I'm sorry
- Please forgive me
- Thank you
- I love you
So sitting, with each full breath one of the mantras is repeated with the inner voice, gently and attentively. Cycling through the fours and repeating it countless times. Get involved and feel the heart. Releasing the tension in the deeper layers, freeing the breath and spirit from emotional debris.
Basically it's a cross pollinated mantra meditation.
One is to deepen the belly breathing practice into being able to remove resistance from the deeper muscles by doing body scans very often. Next is to breath down to the perineum, forward just below the navel and on the backside (having the tailbone move a bit). Like a ball expanding and contraction with each breath. Forceful at first and later on more gentle. The perineum movement is like a pump allowing circulations to occur. I usually do this lying down btw.
Next is something that inspired. You may want to look up what Ho'ponopono is, for it is a meditation based upon this tradition. From this tradition in it's simplified new age form come 4 mantras:
- I'm sorry
- Please forgive me
- Thank you
- I love you
So sitting, with each full breath one of the mantras is repeated with the inner voice, gently and attentively. Cycling through the fours and repeating it countless times. Get involved and feel the heart. Releasing the tension in the deeper layers, freeing the breath and spirit from emotional debris.
Basically it's a cross pollinated mantra meditation.
I am finally able to spare a few moments to reply to this lovely thread. Granted, when speaking of being time-starved and the process of meditation is somewhat contradictory (as time does not exist in deep meditation ), it's better late than never.
This month marks my 45th year practicing meditation. Honestly, the training spills out into just about every aspect or my existence and is far less about attaining anything, than finding a steady attunement. The meditater has gotten to be much less in the way. Thoughts were once a deterrent but nowadays they are brief guest who take their leave as the attention returns to the immense emptiness... from which all arises and returns.
I have found that the subjective witness has been turned inside out and the definitions betwixt this and that becoming less distinguished from one another. I will have to add more, later on. Right now my 15 minute work break is over and I must melt back into the workforce. Namaskar to you all, beautiful souls. :thumb_up:
This month marks my 45th year practicing meditation. Honestly, the training spills out into just about every aspect or my existence and is far less about attaining anything, than finding a steady attunement. The meditater has gotten to be much less in the way. Thoughts were once a deterrent but nowadays they are brief guest who take their leave as the attention returns to the immense emptiness... from which all arises and returns.
I have found that the subjective witness has been turned inside out and the definitions betwixt this and that becoming less distinguished from one another. I will have to add more, later on. Right now my 15 minute work break is over and I must melt back into the workforce. Namaskar to you all, beautiful souls. :thumb_up:
xss27
Rising Star
I think one should definitely engage in multiple types of meditation rather than just relying on the traditional idea of sitting quietly with eyes closed. Different body types require different techniques, and a contrast of experiences can really help in triangulating, as well as increasing efficiency too.
Confrontational/Productive Thinking. Being introspective and teasing apart thought processes, past traumas and history, really examining critically why you thought or did something, where motivation comes from, what thought is etc.
Walking meditation is great, it allows the body to do something other than constantly nagging the mind about how numb your bum is getting sitting on the carpet. Natural surroundings require no dynamic attention - we're wired for it, we feel it succinctly. Look up 'Attention Restoration Theory'. My most productive introspection happens in my local park.
Lying meditation (corpse pose). There is a propensity to have visionary experiences lying down. I've had OBE's this way, seen through the roof of my house to the star lit sky, two DMT style experiences, lots of weirdness. There is definitely something to maintaining your awareness whilst allowing the body to fall asleep in the horizontal position; astral projection makes use of this technique. Which leads to,
Dream meditation. So powerful. Lucid dreaming being the starting point, becoming aware within the dream with the same clarity as you have right now. Learning to face fears, manipulate the dream, and pose questions - incidentally this made me realize there is a sort of inner guru, higher self, superior aspect of yourself, because it would literally drag me and show me an answer when I prostrated enough.
Being intently focused on the 'I am' seems to be the key to the door, through the different types of meditation. I find great resonance with the writings of Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi in this respect.
Confrontational/Productive Thinking. Being introspective and teasing apart thought processes, past traumas and history, really examining critically why you thought or did something, where motivation comes from, what thought is etc.
Walking meditation is great, it allows the body to do something other than constantly nagging the mind about how numb your bum is getting sitting on the carpet. Natural surroundings require no dynamic attention - we're wired for it, we feel it succinctly. Look up 'Attention Restoration Theory'. My most productive introspection happens in my local park.
Lying meditation (corpse pose). There is a propensity to have visionary experiences lying down. I've had OBE's this way, seen through the roof of my house to the star lit sky, two DMT style experiences, lots of weirdness. There is definitely something to maintaining your awareness whilst allowing the body to fall asleep in the horizontal position; astral projection makes use of this technique. Which leads to,
Dream meditation. So powerful. Lucid dreaming being the starting point, becoming aware within the dream with the same clarity as you have right now. Learning to face fears, manipulate the dream, and pose questions - incidentally this made me realize there is a sort of inner guru, higher self, superior aspect of yourself, because it would literally drag me and show me an answer when I prostrated enough.
Being intently focused on the 'I am' seems to be the key to the door, through the different types of meditation. I find great resonance with the writings of Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi in this respect.
DmnStr8
Come what may
My meditation practices have evolved over the years. I would like to explain that evolution a bit if I may. First off, I have been meditating daily for three years and was a dabbling meditator for quite a few years before that. I have tried many forms of meditation over this time. I thought I would write about my experiences in hopes that others may feel a sense of validation or find some direction in which to approach meditation.
When I first started to meditate I found myself very uncomfortable and irritated by the whole practice. I would sit down and would feel constant itches and frequent aches here and there in my body. My mind would race and seemed to just become agitated by sitting this way. I was afraid to move to scratch an itch or ease an ache because I thought that the point was to sit still with an upright back. When I would finally give into the ache or itch I would feel like I had failed. What a terrible approach! I watched videos on meditation. I read books about meditation. I learned everything I could on meditation. I thought I had everything I needed enable to make it work, and it just never felt like it did anything for me. So there is the dabbling for years like this. Off and On, off and on......
One day I made a choice to really get a practice going and quit with the dabbling. I bought a nice zafu and zubutan. I bought some alter itens and created an area just for meditating. I got my candles and incense. I bought a meditation blanket. I got everything I needed. I began. Every single day I would meditate for at least 20 mins. I did this every day for two years, I think I missed a couple days during the holidays, but overall, every day. Some days I would meditate 20 mins and other days I could make it to an hour.
During this time I had a thought during meditation while feeling an itch coming. I thought what harm will it do to itch? What harm will it do adjust and get rid of the ache in my behind? I mean I have to swallow saliva build up from time to time as a normal bodily function so what if I have to itch. Ignoring the body is good to a certain point, after that point it becomes ignorance I feel. I mean I sit there trying not to itch an itch that just will not quit. Sometimes a whole meditation wasted by constantly feeling this itch. 20 mins of having an itch or ache and not doing anything about it. I thought... that is just ridiculous.. just start itching and adjusting. And I did... I threw everything out the window and started meditating my own way.
I now would move and sway. I would adjust and itch to my hearts content. I would stand and walk around. I would return to sitting when ready. I started taking a day or two off from it from time to time. I found that on these days off, the meditation would continue or follow me. I ended up somehow meditating anyway... without all my trinkets, blankets and comfy zafu and zebuton.
I started to meditate while doing anything really. Simply weeping the floor and I would allow the sound to trance me into being here and now. Fixing the car I would suddenly find myself with no thought whatsoever and completely into the task at hand. I would paint and disappear into my painting. Pick up my guitar and disappear into the music. Every chirp of a bird suddenly became a reason to be present. Every thing became beautiful all of the sudden. All of these beautiful and wonderful things were all around me the whole time. I never really saw them before as I was now.
I still make time to meditate with my trickets and blankets and candles and incense and what not. I still make time for it. I take more from the time I meditate and I don't even know I am doing it just from constantly switching off those constant and repetitive thoughts. There is a certain letting go with meditation. A willingness to be present and accept everything as it is in the here and now. Example.. I would meditate and hear neighborhood dog barking and it would piss me off. Dang dog ruined my meditation. Now.. I hear a dog barking during my meditation and it becomes the meditation. A dog barking is a wonderful sound when it is acccepted for what it is. No longer an annoyance but accepted in a grateful way. I feel that it is meditation that taught me this certain gratitude. I apply this gratidude to every aspect of my life as best I can now. More and more I can remain in the here and now.
Meditation can happen anywhere... anytime... just don't tell your mind what your up to.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread!!
NAMASTE
When I first started to meditate I found myself very uncomfortable and irritated by the whole practice. I would sit down and would feel constant itches and frequent aches here and there in my body. My mind would race and seemed to just become agitated by sitting this way. I was afraid to move to scratch an itch or ease an ache because I thought that the point was to sit still with an upright back. When I would finally give into the ache or itch I would feel like I had failed. What a terrible approach! I watched videos on meditation. I read books about meditation. I learned everything I could on meditation. I thought I had everything I needed enable to make it work, and it just never felt like it did anything for me. So there is the dabbling for years like this. Off and On, off and on......
One day I made a choice to really get a practice going and quit with the dabbling. I bought a nice zafu and zubutan. I bought some alter itens and created an area just for meditating. I got my candles and incense. I bought a meditation blanket. I got everything I needed. I began. Every single day I would meditate for at least 20 mins. I did this every day for two years, I think I missed a couple days during the holidays, but overall, every day. Some days I would meditate 20 mins and other days I could make it to an hour.
During this time I had a thought during meditation while feeling an itch coming. I thought what harm will it do to itch? What harm will it do adjust and get rid of the ache in my behind? I mean I have to swallow saliva build up from time to time as a normal bodily function so what if I have to itch. Ignoring the body is good to a certain point, after that point it becomes ignorance I feel. I mean I sit there trying not to itch an itch that just will not quit. Sometimes a whole meditation wasted by constantly feeling this itch. 20 mins of having an itch or ache and not doing anything about it. I thought... that is just ridiculous.. just start itching and adjusting. And I did... I threw everything out the window and started meditating my own way.
I now would move and sway. I would adjust and itch to my hearts content. I would stand and walk around. I would return to sitting when ready. I started taking a day or two off from it from time to time. I found that on these days off, the meditation would continue or follow me. I ended up somehow meditating anyway... without all my trinkets, blankets and comfy zafu and zebuton.
I started to meditate while doing anything really. Simply weeping the floor and I would allow the sound to trance me into being here and now. Fixing the car I would suddenly find myself with no thought whatsoever and completely into the task at hand. I would paint and disappear into my painting. Pick up my guitar and disappear into the music. Every chirp of a bird suddenly became a reason to be present. Every thing became beautiful all of the sudden. All of these beautiful and wonderful things were all around me the whole time. I never really saw them before as I was now.
I still make time to meditate with my trickets and blankets and candles and incense and what not. I still make time for it. I take more from the time I meditate and I don't even know I am doing it just from constantly switching off those constant and repetitive thoughts. There is a certain letting go with meditation. A willingness to be present and accept everything as it is in the here and now. Example.. I would meditate and hear neighborhood dog barking and it would piss me off. Dang dog ruined my meditation. Now.. I hear a dog barking during my meditation and it becomes the meditation. A dog barking is a wonderful sound when it is acccepted for what it is. No longer an annoyance but accepted in a grateful way. I feel that it is meditation that taught me this certain gratitude. I apply this gratidude to every aspect of my life as best I can now. More and more I can remain in the here and now.
Meditation can happen anywhere... anytime... just don't tell your mind what your up to.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread!!
NAMASTE
xss27
Rising Star
^
It's funny that.. my face never itches during the day but if I sit down to meditate within about 5 minutes I get the feeling like there's hair or spider webs tickling my nose or part of my face :lol: There is a part of us in our minds that does not want to engage in such meditative practices, because it knows what it will eventually lead to.
You get the mind games.. do I itch it? Is this failure? I think this is probably quite a common experience and interestingly no one told us to think this way, which leads credence to the idea of our mind deliberately trying to get us to not look within.
In the end none of it matters, itching or not, wearing robes or kneeling at some guys feet; everything yields to earnestness. Scratch the itch and get right back to it :thumb_up:
It's funny that.. my face never itches during the day but if I sit down to meditate within about 5 minutes I get the feeling like there's hair or spider webs tickling my nose or part of my face :lol: There is a part of us in our minds that does not want to engage in such meditative practices, because it knows what it will eventually lead to.
You get the mind games.. do I itch it? Is this failure? I think this is probably quite a common experience and interestingly no one told us to think this way, which leads credence to the idea of our mind deliberately trying to get us to not look within.
In the end none of it matters, itching or not, wearing robes or kneeling at some guys feet; everything yields to earnestness. Scratch the itch and get right back to it :thumb_up:
woody
Rising Star
DmnStr8 said:
Beautiful. It was literally the chirping of bird that made me realise that I was at one with everything. Normally in meditation I experience sounds and sensations as external phenomena, something to accept and let go of and no longer something to be distracted by. During a meditation recently I had reached complete inner silence and tranquility, then I heard a bird chirping, except I didn't hear it as such, it was just part of me, it came from the same place that my peace came from. There was no separation.
In my own experience the meditation you talk about in daily tasks is the fruit of meditation, what we practice when we sit seeps into our daily life, being present in the moment. This for me at the moment is still a conscious process most of the time, remembering to come back to the present moment. Until one day without really noticing it just becomes a natural place and life is meditation.
What is exciting though is that this is really just the start of the journey.
Excellent thread! I'm also a long-time meditator. Recently I've begun using a great meditation app from Sam Harris -- noted (atheist) author and public intellectual. His interest in meditation began in response to his use of LSD and MDMA. He claims the culmination of a search for truly fruitful meditation was found in Advaita Vedanta and also Tibetan Dzogchen. His current method uses Vipassana (mindfulness meditation) as a base, from which to introduce Advaita and Dzogchen techniques. He also thinks highly of the work on "Headlessness," from Douglas Harding.
I highly recommend his app for his constant reminders of the real goal: transcending BEYOND the idea of a "self." It's far, far too easy for well-intentioned meditation practices to devolve into something too much like "thinking practice." The app consists of guided meditations every day plus "lessons," which are talks from Sam about the practice and the goals. This app course is called "The Waking Up Course," and it's available for both iPhone and Android.
Attached below are a few "lessons" and a recent meditation:
(Keep in mind that the guided meditation is 10 minutes long, and is interspersed with some long silences)
(unfortunately, there's a lot of subtlety involved in the meditation which had been gradually introduced over the preceding hundred or so guided meditations. The real object is to be doing this meditation "selflessly." That is, to have "let go" of the "idea" or "feeling" that you are an individual person who is "doing" something. Thus an important part of it is "looking" for the "one who is watching the breath" -- and finding, in fact, that there is no one -- and seeing clearly that all this is simply "objects in consciousness" which occurs without dualism: i.e., not as subject and object, as we generally habitually approach life).
I highly recommend his app for his constant reminders of the real goal: transcending BEYOND the idea of a "self." It's far, far too easy for well-intentioned meditation practices to devolve into something too much like "thinking practice." The app consists of guided meditations every day plus "lessons," which are talks from Sam about the practice and the goals. This app course is called "The Waking Up Course," and it's available for both iPhone and Android.
Attached below are a few "lessons" and a recent meditation:
(Keep in mind that the guided meditation is 10 minutes long, and is interspersed with some long silences)
(unfortunately, there's a lot of subtlety involved in the meditation which had been gradually introduced over the preceding hundred or so guided meditations. The real object is to be doing this meditation "selflessly." That is, to have "let go" of the "idea" or "feeling" that you are an individual person who is "doing" something. Thus an important part of it is "looking" for the "one who is watching the breath" -- and finding, in fact, that there is no one -- and seeing clearly that all this is simply "objects in consciousness" which occurs without dualism: i.e., not as subject and object, as we generally habitually approach life).