basic meditation naming in this meditation ,nothing is a distraction, whatever grabs your attention in the moment, becomes the meditation object, focus on it for a second, name it let it go and return to the breath, if it is a distracting thought, you can hold it at a distance, which disarms it, it dosent matter how often you do this, just recognise where your mind is: on the breath or on the distraction,naming is a meditation that leads to insight or self awareness, it helps to see what your moment to moment reality is like,naming can be done in many ways, it is usual to say the naming word two or three times, to slow the momentum of the mind, a naming word can be very precise or very general, try this but it is what suits you the best, it may be a thought from the day before, if this is so them you could say past; past; if you think of something tomorrow say future, future, name the senses if you like, or emotions, it makes no diffrence as long as it suits you, do any regular meditation, if your mind wanders them follow it, shift your attention to the distraction, and name it,two or three times,then return to the meditation object, dont pursue thoughts or get intrested in them, dont speculate ," why am i thinking of this?" be quite loose and relaxed as you shift your attention from the meditation object to the distraction and back again, dont hold a tight focus and censor out some things, let anything come intoconsciousness, including those you habitually try to ignore, literally everything is grist for the mill. learn to see all things equally and with detachment this is your experience of life, right here and now, can you accept it? or do you want to pick and chooseas you continue, the extraneous thoughts may become less insistent, you may want to remain with the breath, or enjoy the spaces where there are no thoughts, If anyone has any feed back on the meditation guide posted here i would love to hear it.
try this spot meditation being present this excercise is to help you find yourself if you feel scattered or simply not with it, it shifts the mind quickly from thought into the immediate senseworld around you, you can do this anywhere at any time it is easy to do even when you are active. first ask yourelf where am i? shift the mind from thought to sensations notice how your attention moves from point to point, you may be holding your toothbrush turning the tap hear the sound of the running water feel the movement of your arm as you lift it the tang of the toothpaste, also notice the emotional tone liking disliking hurried restless enjoying tired excited. watch these with equal detatchment as they pass before younotice how quickly the mind can escape back to thought, draw it back to any immediate sensation however trivial. passively observe the sensations and emotions that come and go as long as you wish, dont think or analyse, as you notice what you are doing you may find your movements becomming more harmonious. this can be done even when you are getting dressed in the morning, try to do it with every piece of clothing, from stripping off the night wear, to locking the door in the morning as you leave your house.
There are some great meditation methods suggested here. However it is not made clear what their purpose is beyond feeling better, or being a nicer person or whatever. Surely one is preparing for death as much as life, aiming for blissful and eternal non-existence with no thought of or need for a return to suffering, loving existence but renouncing it, abandoning the 'I' of the mind. I'm no Buddhist but it seems that without some reference to their goals meditation methods become self-serving and likely to achieve little.
having goals sounds too much like real life. just do it for the sake of itself. familarize yourself with the meditative state. feel good. do this for a few years. see you then! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Spookz - I agree with you advice but still feel that it is worth explaining to interested parties that meditation is about investigating/experiencing ones existence, not just a good way to chill out after a stressful day. Otherwise it seems trivial or equivalent to some religious ceremony. 'Goals' was probably an unfortunate choice of word on my part. 'Consequences' might have been better.
meditation imo is not about investigating or any other process by which we claim to know something. one does not rationalize or use logic or even attempt to think in the meditative state. it is not the easiest of thing to put into words because langauge is not very good at this type of thing. however....awareness and knowledge in this state somewhat analogous to the process of intuition and insight. one just gets it. immediately! subsequent meditations will get it in more depth. you will be aware of the deeper levels. i guess this shit goes on until enlightenment?
typically i think the average joe spends a good number of years merely trying to get a handle on the thoughts that clutter the mind. even now after a good number of years of meditation, i cannot meditate for 10 minutes straight without some meaningless shit cross my mind! i need more discipline! maybe a meditation boot camp would work. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Sometimes I think it's better to very conscientiously follow all your thoughts for a while. If you're lazy like me you get bored after a while, lose interest and start ignoring them. It's when you worry about following them that they become intrusive. In other words being purposely mindful some of the time helps you be mindless at others. Of course there is every chance that this is complete nonsense.
not at all. it is similar to blastoff's "naming meditation" post on this page. you will examine and reflect on the thought that arises.
Usualy my mind is extremely active. So much so I often have trouble sleeping because I just lie and think about my existance. This is when I've spent perhaps a week without a good meditation. Usualy I meditate daily, but I notice how the stress always builds when I can't find the time to meditate. Now it isn't simply about 'stress' ofcourse, I want to find myself and my spirituality, and when I'm meditating I can feel the 'closeness' to myself and the world. The closeness is always there but I don't notice it when I'm not meditating for a while and the makes me feel asif I've lost it. I can never lose it ofcourse because in a sense there is nothing to lose and nothing to gain, only something to be found something that is just not realized. So what the hell do I want to say, enlightenment is not a goal, if you make it a goal you will never reach it, best is never to think about it, a peacefull state of mind is not a goal either, the goal is to be without goals if there must be a goal.
as i promised i will try to explaine why people meditate, i get suprised when i am asked why do you meditate,? it is like asking why do you breath? when my practice is strong, i sleep well, rise early and the freshness of the morning seems to last all day,it gives you that feeling like you could take on what ever comes your way, you like people more and you can even tolerate the nuisances, your thoughts are lucid and you feel on top. The benifits of meditation ripple through everything we do, it is like having more energy, to be healthier, to think and work efficiently and enjoy life more,being relaxed and aware is the same as being fit and healthy. some people have a precise reason to meditate, to heal an illness or to study better, meditation can help some people with insomnia and even find there relationship improves, it has been said that meditation cures cancer, i beleave that meditation supports a cure, rather than causes it, even doctors dont cure anything, they only assist the natural healing process of the body,as support meditation may be vital for healing, if we dont support a young tree, it may blow overand die, but it would be only one of many factors in producing a healthy tree, wonderful as meditation is i feel ashamed of the way some people promote it, practising meditation is like building a good health, but it does take time and effort,but there are some new age advertisements which say it is a magical route to boundless wealth,sexual vigor power over others and physical immortality. i teach people to meditate for good reasons, like Relaxation, Health, Inner peace and harmony, Concentration, To improve sporting or theatrical performabnce, Inspiration and creativity, Quality of life, SELF-UNDERSTANDING AND THERAPY, spiritual awakning, shall i carry on explaining.
Those are certainly some of the reasons why people meditate, but it is not an exhaustive list and does not cover my reasons.
I am reluctant to state my reasons here since for the time being I need to avoid being labelled as a crackpot in other discussions, (or here!). Sorry to be difficult. As to whether I do it right I doubt if I'll ever know. Right but badly is probably the answer.
canute/ why worry what other people think of you? it is only there opinion it is what you think of your self.
Quite right. But I'm people are very quick with their judgements around here. I don't want to be banished to alt.sci just yet.
Sit still in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed. Make sure you are comfortable, and then quieten your thoughts. When you think they are quiet, know you are thinking. Then stop thinking. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! In truth, meditation for me is acheived when I feel like I'm sat on the bottom of the ocean, safe and far from from anything that is normal to me.
This is a great thread, I'll be sure to try some of blastoffs many techniques. Can anyone shed any light on the form of meditation where a person rids his mind of all conscious thought? Attaining nothingness is certainly not a goal for a beginner, but I'm interested in what steps one use to get there?
The simple breathing techniques will work wonders. Just focus on your breathing, count to ten as you breathe in and out. Do not breath any quicker than you wish to, or any slower than you wish to. Just breathe. When you reach ten, start again. If any thoughts come to mind, let them go. Do not even try to supress them, only your breathing is important. Give it time, and you will find a state of quiet consciousness when you suddenly realise that you are very much aware of how alone you are. This is that moment you were looking for. Without intending to sound too dramatic. :bugeye:
