Julia, welcome to sciforums. Like many here, you have just graduated to the padded cell....Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
zero for you and who ever/ follow the general instructions in inner conscious relaxation no 1 through the first phase and the second phase. Right become aware of the contact between your physical body and the ground beneath you.. wherever your body meets the ground bring your attention to that place, beginning with your right leg and the ground just become aware of the popint of contact and focus your attention on that space..stay with that for a few moments. do the same with your left leg always stay with your awareness, now bring your awareness to the meeting point of your right arm and the ground.. awareness of that space between your arm and the ground, now do the same with your left arm always focus your attention on the space. Now bring your attention to your buttocks and the ground..awareness of the meeting point and the space stay with this awareness, now bring your awareness to the point of contact between your back and the ground..focus on the space between the two..stay with this for a few moments. Now bring your awareness to the meeting point between the back of your head and the ground..now to the meeting point of the whole of your physical body and the ground..just focus on theat space where your physical body and the ground meet get closer to the awareness of this space. this will help you let go and enter into a deeper sense of relaxation and ease. Now become aware of heart centred breathing, when we bring the breath into the heart and release the tension in this area and awaken the love within,simply focus awareness in the centre of your chest the heartspace and watch as you breath in and out..count the breaths, starting at one and going up to ten, one number with each breath, when you reach ten begin to count down to one, if you lose the count just start at one again, feel as if you are sinking into your heart and entering a vast ocean of love, your breath is like a raft carrying you on this ocean. Lets go the the fourth phase now visulise yourself in a far off tropical island there are animals living there;lion,tiger, cobra,elephant,monkey,and deer,..they are living in peace together,visulise yourself walking into a beautiful forest with trees and flowers all around you..the air is pure,fresh with the sweet scent of the flowers..you feel alive and part of nature..birds singing..it feels familiar.. you feel at home, then you see in the distance a fire burning..you feel drawn to the fire..you notice people sitting in a circle around the fire making offerings of herbs and sacred ash..a holy woman is sitting with them and is chanting "OM" there is a great feeling of joy in your heart..a sense of happiness is awakened by this sight you are invited to join the circle..as you come closer you notine that the people in the circle are all your friends..people you have always known..the holy woman appears like a goddess..radient..luminous..compassionate..as you sit together there is a great feeling of oneness..a realisation that you are loved totally and completely and that all beings and creatures are your friends..that in essence there is no seperation, only the one pure light that illuminates all hearts, the realisation of unconditional happiness fills your heart, peace peace peace become aware of the resolve that you made at the beginning of your practice..repeat three times to yourself.. now become aware of your breathing watch the inhalation and exhalation..continue for a few moments become aware of the room you are in now move your fingers and toes..externalise your consciousness..keeping your eyes closed.. the practice of ICR is over whe nyou are ready slowely roll over on your side then gently sit up, have a smile on your face. the next technique i post will teach you to use the power of your mind.
Mindless Twaddle One of my favorites, circa 13th century: The Practice of Meditation by Dogen Truth is perfect and complete in itself. It is not something newly discovered; it has always existed. Truth is not far away. It is nearer than near. There is no need to attain it, since not one of your steps leads away from it. Don't follow the advice of others; rather, learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become one, and you will realize the unity of all things. Even the slightest movement of your conceptual thought will prevent you from entering the palace of wisdom. The Buddha meditated for six years; Bodhidharma for nine. If such effort was required of these ancient Masters, how much more is required of you. Your search among books, sifting and shuffling through other peoples words, may lead you to the depths of knowledge, but it cannot help you to see the reflection of your true self. When you have thrown away all your conceptions of mind and body, the original person will appear, in his fullness. To obtain the inestimable benefits of meditation, you should first make a firm decision to meditate every day. Your meditation room should be clean and quiet. Wear loose clothing and remove your shoes. Sit on a cushion, with legs crossed, in as comfortable a manner as possible. Keep your back straight. Don't lean to the left or right; don't tip forward or bend back. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders. Keep your tongue at the roof of your mouth and close your lips. Your eyes should be slightly open, unfocused on the floor at a forty-five-degree angle. Breathe through your nostrils. Before you begin meditation, take several slow, deep breaths. Hold your body erect, allowing your breathing to become normal again. Many thoughts will crowd into your mind. Don't dwell on thoughts of good or bad. Don't desire to attain enlightenment. Let your thoughts come and go, without getting involved in them or trying to suppress them. Think the unthinkable. In other words, think no-thinking. Meditation is not a way to enlightenment, nor is it a method of achieving anything at all. It is peace and blessedness itself. It is the actualization of wisdom, the ultimate truth of the oneness of all things. In your meditation, you yourself are the mirror reflecting the solution of your problems. The human mind has absolute freedom within its true nature. You can attain this freedom intuitively. Don't work toward freedom; but allow the work itself to be freedom. When you want to rest, move your body slowly, and quietly stand up. Practice this meditation in the morning or in the evening or at any leisure time during the day. You will soon realize that your mental burdens are dropping away one by one, and that you are gaining an intuitive power previously undreamed of. There have been thousands upon thousands of people who have practiced meditation and obtained its fruits. Don't doubt its possibilities because of the simplicity of its method. If you can't find he truth right where you are, where can you hope to go in search of it ? Life is short, and no one knows what the next moment will bring. Cultivate your mind while you still have the opportunity. You will soon discover the treasure of wisdom, which in turn you can share abundantly with others, bringing them happiness and peace.
zero and everyone else are you ready for more, This is called Hot Hands, this technique teachs you how to use the power of your mind, try using different heat creating images to bring warmth to cold hands or feet, find a comfortable place to sit whee you will not be disturbed for a few minutes, close your eyes, take a deep breath and let go, spend a few moments just watching the flow of your breath as it enters and leavs, feeling yourself relaxing and getting quieter with each breath, now focus on your right hand, or whichever part you want to get warm, do nothing and think nothing-just put all your energy into this area, and imagine that your hand is getting hotter and hotter, it may help to imagine the sun beating down on your hand, or imagine that you are holding a red hot coal, focus all your attention on feeling this hand getting hotter and hotter, you may even find that it begins to perspire, keep doing this for at least four to five minutes, if you need to visualise your hand cooling down a little before you move on,now direct your attention to any other part of your body that needs warming and repeat the process,when you are ready to finish take a deep breath and gently open your eyes. If images dont come readily to meet your physical requirement, let your body tell you what it needs, do this by spending a few moments relaxing and then visualise the part of your body that is in need, or bring your attention to focus on that part, just breath into this part, getting to know it ,feeling at ease with it, breath into any tension or painthen gently ask it what it is trying to tell you, what it's needs are and how you can help.
Right now lets practice trading places with Buddha, one way to help you go beyond your limitations or conflicts is to re-create scenes in your mind but with a different player, imagine a situation you are trying to resolve; a problem in your life , or an area of stress and conflict, re-create all the details in your mind but,instead of yourself, visulise either a meaningful religious or spiritual teacher or someone whom youconsider really wise, such as buddha or jesusstanding in your place,whatch what happens, how do they deal with the situation? how different is it from the way you deal with it? what effect do they have on the other people in your visualisation? what can you learn from this? remember, whatever wisdom or compassion this person comes up with in your mind visualisation has actually come from your own imagination; it is already within you. And remember the power of the mind is, after all unlimited
thanx BLASTOFF! I only now discovered this thread already saved all in a .doc for printout Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!thanxPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Wow thank you all who put meditations on here. I just started on the forums today and this has helped a lot. I have all ways wanted to mediate but never know how. THANK YOU AGAIN
one of the practices taught to me was walking meditation, a variation of vipassana meditation. be mindful at all times so as not to stumble and fall down! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! "While meditation is usually associated with the sitting posture, insight meditation exercises can be practised while walking. Walking in insight meditation is essentially about the awareness of movement as you note the component parts of the steps. When walking meditation alternates with sitting meditation it helps to keep the meditation practice in balance. Walking meditation is also a skilful way to energise the practice if the calming effect of sitting is making you dull or you are becoming over concentrated. Actually, it can be the preferred mode in insight meditation as it is meditation in action. How to do it ... Establish your attentiveness by first noting the standing posture and the touch sensations of the feet at the start of the walking track. (You will need to find a walking path with a level surface from five to ten metres on which you walk back and forth). The arms should hang naturally with the hands lightly clasped in front. Allow the eyes to gaze at a point about two metres in front of you on the ground to avoid visual distractions. Then as you walk keep the attention on the sole of the foot, not on the leg or any other part of the body. For the first five minutes you can note just three parts of the step: 'lifting', 'pushing', 'dropping'. Then mentally note or label each step part by part building up the noting to its six component parts: 'raising', 'lifting', 'pushing', 'dropping', 'touching' and 'pressing' - concurrent with the actual experience of the movement. While walking and noting the parts of the steps you will probably find the mind still thinking. Not to worry, keep focused on the noting of the steps if the thoughts are experienced just as 'background thoughts'. However, it you find you have been walking 'lost in thought' you must stop and vigorously note the thinking as 'thinking', 'thinking', 'thinking'. Then re-establish your attention on the movement and carry on. Also be careful that the mental noting does not become so mechanical that you lose the experience of the movement._ Try to do a minimum walking period of half an hour and build it up to a full hour. Strategically it is better to do a walking period before a sitting session as it brings balance into the practice. If you can alternate the walking and sitting sessions without any major breaks it will develop a continuity of awareness that naturally carries through into the awareness of your daily activities"
for those who find the floor uncomfortable use a chair preferably one without armrests. since a straight back is essential (head will get heavy after a while), do not lean back on the backrest Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
for most of us that do meditate or have in the past (me) thats what it is, a form of relaxation. this relaxation will carry over to your day to day living. you should notice that you handle stress better, physical benefits become apparent do not go into meditation with expectations. that is self defeating. focus on simple breathing exercises only. get back to me in a couple of years and lemme know your progress Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
sorry i have not posted more on meditation but being a farmer i have been busy in the fields but more will come.
right now practice this- journey to your inner truth, 20 to 30 minutes) start by finding a comfortable place to sit or lie down and make sure you will not be disturbed, if you are sitting use a straight backed chair and place both feet flat on the floor( not crossed) and your hands on your thighs, palms upwards. if you are lying down place your feet slightly apart and your arms by your sides, palms upwards, you may want a light blanket to cover you, and a small pillow under your head, close your eyes, begin by relaxing your body, start at the feet tighten the muscles, hold, then completely let go and relax your feet, now the thighs; tighten, hold, and release, both legs are relaxed and at ease, breath into your legs and feel them letting go, noe go to your buttocks; tensing,holding and releasing, work your way up the whole of your back; tensing, holding and letting go, then the lower abdomen.. the midriff.. the chest, then move to your hands.. the lower arms and upper arms..then the shoulders;tensing,holding and releasing, both arms and shoulders are completelyrelaxed and letting go, now your neck..relax all the muscles in your face..and then the whole of yourhead. feel your whole body relaxing,letting go sinking into the ground,now become aware of the movement of your breathas it enters and leaves your body. begin to feel yourself letting go as you breath-breathing out tension onthe out breath,breathing in relaxation on the in breath, as you watch your breath, begin silently to count one number at the end of each breath, start at ten and continue down to zero, with each breath feel your body becoming heavey and relaxing, your mind is releasing, becoming quieter, repeat silently to yourself, 'My body is released and relaxed. My heart beat is normal, My mind is calm and peaceful, My heart is open and loving, repeat this three times, now begin to imagine that each breath is actually the waves on a lake breaking softly on the shore, imagine you are walking along a beautiful lake side, the sun warming you, the water a clear azure blue, allaround you are mountains and tall trees, birds swooping in the sky, you are alone here but you feel wonderfully safe, as if being held in the palm ofa hand, it is so warm and safe that you take off your clothes and lie on the shore close to the water, and the waves and your breath merge, as you breath in you feel the wave break gently over your body, as you breath out the wave recedes, taking with it any tension you may be feeling, stay with this for a few moments, then you rise and enter the water,your body able to swim and play as the cleansing and refreshing qualities of the water revitalise your whole being, you laugh at the beauty of the sun catching the splashes, at the purity of the water, at the feeling of being loved and caressed, you float and merge with the gentl rhythm of the lake, stay with this for a few moments, as you swim further into the lake, you notice a cascading waterfall on the other side, falling over rocks and ferns and creating deep pools, you swim to the waterfall and play there, standing beneath the cascading water or diving into pools,like a child carefree and timeless, here the water splashing,smell the freshness, after a while you notice beyond the waterfall a cave;a gentle light seems to be glowing from it, the closer you get, the stronger the light becomes, the sweet smell of rose or sandlewood is in the air, as you enter the cave you see in the centre a large crystal, glowing with pure white light, it seems to welcome you in as if you are expected, then you see facing the crystal an old woman,sitting quietly,white hair falling down her back,a look of profound peace on her face silently you sit beside her,the light illuminating you,and a warmth comes from the woman the warms your body, after a few moments she speaks to you, she has words of healing for you, in response you speak to her.sharing your heart,your troubles or your dreams, she gives you a guidance and words of wisdom, as you look at her you feel a depth of love you have never known before, then she hands you a gift, something special which represents that love, you hold it to your chest and it dissolves into your heart, it will always it will always be there for you to draw strength from, stay a few moments more before you rise,then make your way out of the cave and on to the bank above the lake, there you find a set of new clothes waiting for you the softness of the clothes that feel like silk and are the palest of colours, as you walk back along the edge of the lake you pass your old clothes, discarded on the shore, you do not need them any more, there is a relief in letting them go, gently you walk back into your normal life let the visuliation fade, take a deep breath and become aware of your body on the floor or in the chair, spend a few moments breathing and reconnecting then streach your legs and arms,when you feel ready, very gently open your eyes and greet your world.
zero and Avatar are you practicing and if so is it doing any good for you/ good, rigyht practice just breathing find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes and feel your body relaxing, spend a few moments appreciating yourself, your seat and the worls around you, now bring your attention to your breath, where do you most feel the breath? folow the movement of the breath from where it enters at the tip of the nose all the way to the belly, and see where your attention is most keen, feel the breath entering and leaving, what sensations are there? does it feel hot or cool? is it short or quick/ is there a pause between breaths or between the inhalation and exhalation? just watch the breath, observe its natural movement, be aware that you are breathing, closely observe every detail about the breath from the place where your attention rests, the tip of the nose, chest or belly, watch one whole breath entering and filling and leaving and emptying, then watch another, and then another, do this for a few moments or for as long as you like whenever you like, when you are ready gently become aware of your body and the room around you and take a deep grateful breath.
zero and avatar how is your meditation going, has it helped how do you feel with your life is it better let me know.
Blastoff, your posts are great!! Just what I need. Keep it up! I am just starting to meditate and I just want to share some basic things that I did 'wrong' in the begining. Firstly, I was concerned with wether I was doing it right or wrong. There is no right or wrong realy. I tried to force something upon myself, a feeling or visions etc. Don't worry it will all come naturaly. And a big missconception I had was that I had to somehow clear my mind for it to work, don't try to do that. Even simply sitting on the buss staring out the window engulfed by the moving road below is a form of meditation!
I am doing it a bit more seldom these days. I need summer and warmth for it. Atm I make my thoughts flow with help of some death, gothic and black metal
moonman/ thanks for the vote have been busy over the past few months being a farmer, but will post more in the weeks to come, which i hope will help as well.
"Observe yourself. Then observe yourself observing. Then observe yourself observing the observer observe, until there is only observing." - Steven S. Sadleir
I took up TM in 1977 and became a TM-Sidhi in 1987. I think very little about the technique now I just do it. I couldn’t mix my technique with any others it would be totally confusing. TM was attractive to me because of the medical and scientific findings. The background: The mind and body are inextricably linked. If you worry (mental activity) you can make yourself physically ill. If you are physically ill (fever etc) then that can affect the mind (weird dreams, delusions, hallucinations etc). Every thought you have will have some effect on the physiology. Every physical activity you undertake will have some affect on the mind. Healthy physical activity tends to result in a lively and active mind. And freedom from worry tends to result in a healthy body and longer life. When we rest physically that also tends to allow the mind to rest to some extent. But how does one allow the mind to rest so that the body can properly achieve true rest? This is where mediation has a major role. If one can STOP the mind from thinking, e.g. de-link the mind from the body then the physiology will achieve levels of rest otherwise unachievable. The TM technique allows the mind to become still. This is not as easy as it first appears. Just try sitting still for a few minutes and try not to think. You will soon be aware, within seconds that you have been experiencing thoughts. With the TM technique and some practice you can sit still and enter a state of zero thoughts for about 20 minutes. Something that I don’t believe is possible with any other meditation technique that I have examined. The level of physical and mental rest achieved in such a short time is likened to 8 hours of extremely deep sleep but in 20 minutes. I believe that any technique that involves any type of focusing or thinking will destroy the effectiveness of achieving true rest and reduction of built-up stress, assuming that is what one is trying to achieve. The basic technique involves a simple very silent mantra that is allowed to fade away into the background where it will disappear. The mantra is a meaningless sound that the mind cannot latch onto and thus becomes bored quickly and ends up in silence. The more advanced Sidhi technique involves some breathing exercises and physical activity as well as the use of a number of sutras – kind of mantras but are really very carefully designed thought packets that invoke very specific effects. Don’t attempt the Sidhi technique until you are using the basic TM technique effectively. Hope that helps a little. My guideline is that if you are thinking or focusing then you are not meditating.
