How do you meditate??

Carcano said:
There has to be some response, most of them being very strange indeed.

Theres even a book written by a modern Japanese master called..."You have to say something!"
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I think koans are designed to answer questions, whether then test people's wisdom. The natural reaction for a koan is surprise. Of course, if you take the koan out of context, then it's complete nonsense. But if you read the whole story on context, it makes sense.

Koans are designed to enlighten...
 
I go to my safety deposit box and count the 100's until I get a real big grin on my face. ;)
 
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TruthSeeker said:
I think koans are designed to answer questions, whether then test people's wisdom. The natural reaction for a koan is surprise. Of course, if you take the koan out of context, then it's complete nonsense. But if you read the whole story on context, it makes sense.

Koans are designed to enlighten...
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Koans are designed to test the attainment of the Zen adept. A monk could not become a master until he had passed hundreds of koans with an appropriate response...this was how the buddhist hierarchy of authority was organized, and still is in Japan's Rinzai school.

Some koans are very long, with a whole prologue leading to a question. And some are no more than a few words.
 
ha....

not funny...

There are no gods in zen, and no hierarchy. Nobody is more important then the other. Yes, some are more experienced, but true masters don't call themselves masters. They are just called "masters" by other people. That's part of the message of Zen. Of course, everyone likes spoiling everything that the Tao/God "says"... :rolleyes:

Notice how in nature we are not considered any more important then other creatures.
 
TruthSeeker said:
There are no gods in zen, and no hierarchy.
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There is certainly a hierarchy of attainment in Zen monasteries, and the strictest rules you'll find outside of the military.

Each and every student in Zen schools has a rank, based not only on their level of experience, but also their koan study, as determined by the master. They even line up for interviews according to rank.

About as far from new age hippiedom as you can get.
 
No. Those contemporary religious-like customs are not the real ancient Zen. In the original Zen, there were no rituals, no hierarchy, no worship of gods, no idols, no tests- nothing. Zen Buddhism has been spoiled by ignorance, just like pretty much everything else on this planet.
 
TruthSeeker said:
Those contemporary religious-like customs are not the real ancient Zen. In the original Zen, there were no rituals, no hierarchy, no worship of gods, no idols...
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There is no religion or ritual in Zen.

The words Zen and Chan simply mean 'meditation' in Japanese and Chinese, so what is practised in Japan, Korea and China is the 'meditation' school, with the emphasis on meditation.

There are however many relgious aspects of worship and ritual in Tibetan Buddhism, and to a lesser extent in south-east Asian styles.
 
We imagine many different things, action is integral to the existence of the mind. Nothin on the mind, in the mind, a static mind? That is death, not "mindfulness". Misappropriated terminology leads to misconceptions, and the deterioration of dharma.

In Patanjali's yoga sutras, a remark is made about samadhi that it is arrived at through the cessation of the senses. That is a mistake. During moments of unconsciousness, such as "senselessness", often after a concussion, the senses also cease, yet such a state is a very crude state of being for the mind at that moment.

The proper meaning and disposition that results in samadhi has to do with the unit mind merging with the cosmic mind, as a drop of water into the ocean, the unit mahat merging into the cosmic mahat:

"Sam' yogo yoga' itiuktho jiivatma paramatmana'"

Regardless of how we perceive a concept, the Universe, any part of the Universe, or ourselves, the continuities of the Universe continue as they are and do. Matching that mindset is a meditator's objective, arrived at with some common characteristics, including withdrawal of the sensory and motor organs into a point, which involves their cessation from our conscious attention. Even if we attain samadi, even if we attain liberation, our body may still work, both during and after samadhi, they do not cease. What does cease is our attention, especially for a steady period, focused on the singularity of the Universe in a fathomless and sublime rapport.

People's myopia and indiscipline make them argue pettily about forms, whereas those who have experienced samadhi witness all forms of meditation concurrently and have access to most anything within the Universe readily at hand, at mind, including the continuities of the Universe, and those that apply across the board for all minds and methodologies.


Wisdom_Seeker said:
Personally, I like sitting confortably, in a Buddha-like position, not quite like the Buddha images you see:

But similar, as in hand position, but not feet. I am not that flexible yet (=. And the important thing for me is to be confortable.

Next, I go to a dream-like state, were I try to get rid of every thought. Words come to my head, but I vanish them... Images come to my head, but I vanish them... Only a few minutes of an hour meditation are worth it, the rest is the mind trying to fight that state, going to the past or future.

I have realized the few moments I get of total darkness, are the moments with more light in them. Is not everytime I manage to reach this state, it is difficult for me, with the brain in the way.

I found that the best method for me is to concentrate on the deepest breathing humming the OMM to my inside while I breath.

But just yesterday I thought, that just thinking about OMMM is still thinking...

You have to be in total blank, no thoughts, no images, no sounds... It´s all in your brain... So, I have come to the conclusion that through many days of meditation, I´ve only being meditating a few minutes per hour...

I am curious, to hear from meditators their methods and conclusions so far...
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I do it in bed, at night, when the house is quiet. I have had one experience where I found myself in a dark void, without my identity, save only my awareness. It wasn't the spiritual experience that I was wanting, so I was a little disappointed, but maybe that is all there is--awareness without form. I'm still waiting for a sudden awakening that knocks my socks off. So I continue to look, even though the answer is supposedly as close as the nose on my face. More power to you, WS. ;)



Wisdom_Seeker said:
Personally, I like sitting confortably, in a Buddha-like position, not quite like the Buddha images you see:
buddha_thumb.jpg


But similar, as in hand position, but not feet. I am not that flexible yet (=. And the important thing for me is to be confortable.

Next, I go to a dream-like state, were I try to get rid of every thought. Words come to my head, but I vanish them... Images come to my head, but I vanish them... Only a few minutes of an hour meditation are worth it, the rest is the mind trying to fight that state, going to the past or future.

I have realized the few moments I get of total darkness, are the moments with more light in them. Is not everytime I manage to reach this state, it is difficult for me, with the brain in the way.

I found that the best method for me is to concentrate on the deepest breathing humming the OMM to my inside while I breath.

But just yesterday I thought, that just thinking about OMMM is still thinking...

You have to be in total blank, no thoughts, no images, no sounds... It´s all in your brain... So, I have come to the conclusion that through many days of meditation, I´ve only being meditating a few minutes per hour...

I am curious, to hear from meditators their methods and conclusions so far...
Click to expand...
 
If you have not read the book "Siddhartha", I strongly recommend it. I do not think that you will attain enlightenment by emptying your mind of all thoughts; Buddha remained enlightened even when he was not meditating. It is how you view yourself, the world, everything. To understand something, you must study it. Meditation is deep, directed thought. The relaxation is good, and the freedom from distractions (the blank state of mind) is good, but these are not your goals. For me the primary goal is introspection, studying and understanding myself. It seems like this is your goal as well. In that case, once you have "settled" in a session of meditation you would do well to think about yourself: your thoughts, actions, beliefs, and motivations. Do not force yourself, but be completely honest as well. If you are decieving yourself even in a small thing, then it will only cause you suffering.
 
At this point, I often meditate while walking down the street (sometimes while listening to classical music or rock and roll)... I usually feel deep inner peace when I meditate, and usually also feel the release of oxytocin, which makes me happy and my whole body kinda tingly... basically, I feel just like after I have sex and I have an orgasm, except I do it in the middle of the street, while meditating. :D

Yes, I have felt orgasms before while meditating. I have also felt very hot and sweated while meditating.
 
sorry for joining in the necroposting...

when I do meditate-not anywhere near the daily that I should-I just count breaths from ten to one, in a good upright seated posture.

I used to force myself into half lotus even though it hurt, but one of my knees started to pop and jam while walking-and that seemed to be the cause.

Yes, I have a high enough pain tolerance that I can do myself serious injury without necessarily realizing I'm doing so, or put up with anything short of fracture-level pain.
When I did have a badly-fractured arm, I only used half the painkillers they gave me so I could have some for migraines later.
The last time I fell on glass and got it imbedded...I just pulled it out (this time my arm. It was in deep enough that my hand was curled up, and I had to work it back out, so the glass must have dinged the tendon...)
The idea that I was slowly wrenching my own knee out doesn't surprise me.

I sit feet flat on the floor now.
 
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It depends. When i meditate to focus my agression and release it i mostly listen to the death & black metal. When i need to find calm i end up listening to some relaxing symphonies from movies or Within Temptation.

When i try to focus on an issue or a problem i mostly end up listening to my favorite bands, because the lyrics give me inspiration. Well, thats how i do it, and i works for me.
 
The best meditation technique is Original Meditation, which is nothing but a set of isometric exercises of the muscles around our tongue. This meditation is based on the fact that mind exists in the skeletal muscular system because isometric contraction has the same properties as that of mind.
By isometrically contracting and relaxing various parts of every pair of muscle around our tongue, we can bring about dramatic changes in our skeletal muscular system.
This meditation techniques gives absolute control over our entire mind. Other meditation techniques just blank our mind.
The Vedas, totally 72, 000 hymns, were written using this kind of meditation only.
All other kinds of meditation are just imitations of this.
 
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