Meditation for dummies

[sandandfoam]

Ymir,
I have seen something like you describe with my eyes. Like little fizzy bubbles passing across everything. lol sounds very odd but there you go. Have you had that?

 

[YmirGF]

Ymir,
I have seen something like you describe with my eyes. Like little fizzy bubbles passing across everything. lol sounds very odd but there you go. Have you had that?

On occaision, yes... something similar... It gets really interesting when you focus on the bubbles over the physical image too. Sort of like one of those pictures that have two viewpoints, depending how you look at them.

I think your biggest challenge, StephenW, is that you have to learn to accept your intuitive grasp of reality. No, don't throw your doubt out with the bathwater, but give yourself a bit of room and trust you obvious inherent appreciation of things you don't think you understand. If you are seeing tiny bubbles, you have either been entering into altered states of consciousness, listening to too much Don Ho, or consuming vast quantities of Champagne.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I'm bad at meditation.
But I'd like to be better
If anyone had any advice for a meditation dummy like me I'd like to hear it.
I was thinking of buying one of those meditation cushions on eBay. Are they a good idea?

What makes you think you're "bad" at it? We all need to work on our practice, no matter how quickly we allow our distractions to lead us.

If it makes you feel any better, I've had a consistent meditation practice going on 15 years.....one of the practitioners at our Dharma group has been doing this for over 30 years.....and others who have been practicing at varying lengths of time....we all feel that we still have a ways to go.

I see meditation as a ways of becoming familiar with our minds. There are many ways to accomplish and practice this. Sitting and counting the breaths or practicing vipassana is but a couple of ways, imo. I suggest you find what works for you, but I disagree with others who say that there should be no goals.

I hold the opinion that it is skillful to have a goal of awareness of the present moment, of non-attachment for things and people and reputation, and of loving kindness for sentient beings.

Paul above mentioned certain sensations that happen when explorations into the mind deepen and you discover the more subtle realms of awareness. It certainly doesn't hurt at all to listen to him and to follow his advice.

Soooooo, basically what I'm saying is that meditation is practice. It's useless to judge your progress in comparison to any arbitrary things like how long one sits and such. In other words, just pay attention.

Happy sitting! :meditate:

 

[YmirGF]

If it makes you feel any better, I've had a consistent meditation practice going on 15 years.....one of the practitioners at our Dharma group has been doing this for over 30 years.....and others who have been practicing at varying lengths of time....we all feel that we still have a ways to go.

Aye, I know what you mean. I have only been at this for 35 years, so I am still a wee novice. I am a mere pond-skimmer... perhaps one day, I will manage to get out into the depths.

I see meditation as a ways of becoming familiar with our minds. There are many ways to accomplish and practice this. Sitting and counting the breaths or practicing vipassana is but a couple of ways, imo. I suggest you find what works for you, but I disagree with others who say that there should be no goals.

*nods vigorously* In essence, if you have no expectations then that is exactly what you will get from your meditations. Set out clear goals, like stilling the thought process. I know it took me many years, but eventually I hit the point where I can simply turn off my internal dialogue and BE. Oddly, at that stage, you wonder what all the fuss was about. The thing is that the thoughts are still happening, but "you" are at the centre of their vortex in a "place" of relative calm. The next goal should be to try to enlarge the "eye" of that vortex and you do that by BEING there, within the calm.

I hold the opinion that it is skillful to have a goal of awareness of the present moment, of non-attachment for things and people and reputation, and of loving kindness for sentient beings.

Agreed. Having no attachment is not the same as having no desires. Having no attachment, to me, means not being worried about what is done and moving on.... the rolling stone analogy comes to mind here with attachment being the moss. The idea being is that compassionate beings don't need to worry about the implications of their actions.

Paul above mentioned certain sensations that happen when explorations into the mind deepen and you discover the more subtle realms of awareness. It certainly doesn't hurt at all to listen to him and to follow his advice.

I am not against people sending me rather large cheques as "love offerings" either.

Soooooo, basically what I'm saying is that meditation is practice. It's useless to judge your progress in comparison to any arbitrary things like how long one sits and such. In other words, just pay attention.

Exactly. Just don't get attached to your expectations... as everything changes...

 

[Ozzie]

If you find discomfort a problem, try lying down. What position you're in while meditating is irrelevant.

Not entirely. The problem for the novice is the tendency to sleep when lying down.

 

[Ozzie]

Discomfort is a big one. Hence I was thinking of the cushion?
Another is how long to sit. I've been thinking 10 minutes twice a day and working up.

Discomfort is an opportunity. Try sitting for 1 hour without moving. If you make it using a technique, you will have certainly have confidence in the technique, and wisdom forged in fire.

 

[zenzero]

Friend MS,

Both YmirGF and you are right, except that we must understand that each individual is in different time/ space zones which happens through evolution and our karma. Nirvana is the state / stage where all time / space zones are fully connected and so they no more exits the entity has no function anymore as a doer but his presence surely will be felt by others still on the grid of time /space.

So, if goal fixation has a meaning for you, it is irrelevant from the point friend YmirGF is looking.
The way one goes about joining or filling the gaps on the grid is by meditation or the process to *still* our *thoughts*. To reach a perfect *still* place is very very difficult and during meditations we all sometimes open that gap but in real time they are so minute that we cannot do anything else BUT to go after that * experience* . The experience is such that its thirst increases with every drop of nectar. This nectar [amrit] that draws meditators like us.
Yes, we all have desires but in differnt ways like YmirGf will have his desire as:

I am not against people sending me rather large cheques as "love offerings" either.

.
Personally it is all about awareness / consciousness of every breath, of every step of every thought. Yes as a BEING, the process is one continues love affair like Meera meeting his beloved Krishna.
Love & rgds

 

[Ozzie]

Friend MS,

Both YmirGF and you are right, except that we must understand that each individual is in different time/ space zones which happens through evolution and our karma. Nirvana is the state / stage where all time / space zones are fully connected and so they no more exits the entity has no function anymore as a doer but his presence surely will be felt by others still on the grid of time /space.

So, if goal fixation has a meaning for you, it is irrelevant from the point friend YmirGF is looking.
The way one goes about joining or filling the gaps on the grid is by meditation or the process to *still* our *thoughts*. To reach a perfect *still* place is very very difficult and during meditations we all sometimes open that gap but in real time they are so minute that we cannot do anything else BUT to go after that * experience* . The experience is such that its thirst increases with every drop of nectar. This nectar [amrit] that draws meditators like us.
Yes, we all have desires but in differnt ways like YmirGf will have his desire as:
.
Personally it is all about awareness / consciousness of every breath, of every step of every thought. Yes as a BEING, the process is one continues love affair like Meera meeting his beloved Krishna.
Love & rgds

There is no space/zone/grid.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Ozzie,
Thank you for pointing the *UNCONSCIOUS* mind.
It is time / space zone or grid.

Anything else?

Love & rgds

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

Just to clarify time /space.
Am sure one can understand that if dimensions of both time and space were taken we can construct a grid and or a zone of the same.
Well not being a science student may not be able to explain it scientifically but then am sure everyone can follow it.

Love & rgds

 

[Ozzie]

Friend Ozzie,
Thank you for pointing the *UNCONSCIOUS* mind.
It is time / space zone or grid.

Anything else?

Love & rgds

There is no conscious/unconscious "mind" distinction except in fantasy. There is no scaffold.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Ozziie,

Are you having AWARENESS?

yes / no?

Love & rgds

 

[Ozzie]

Friend Ozziie,

Are you having AWARENESS?

yes / no?

Love & rgds

Always my Zen friend, of each and every moment.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Ozzie,

There is no conscious/unconscious "mind" distinction except in fantasy. There is no scaffold.

Are you having AWARENESS?

Always my Zen friend, of each and every moment.

You know the answer dear friend that Awareness is consciousness; then why the confusion; if any where does it come from?

Love & rgds

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Not entirely. The problem for the novice is the tendency to sleep when lying down.

If one can't lie down without falling asleep, then they may want to form the habit of getting a good night's sleep before worrying about meditating.

 

[sandandfoam]

I read that posture is v. important.
It seems the view here isn't really in agreement with that.Thanks for the input.

 

[YmirGF]

I read that posture is v. important.
It seems the view here isn't really in agreement with that.Thanks for the input.

I will happily run from the pack, StephenW, as I say you should endeavor to keep your spinal column as straight as possible. How you do that is fairly unimportant, but the idea to lie down to meditate is not a good one as the body memory equates lying down with going to sleep. It is not especially wise to create a conflict in that pattern. I don't particularly care what others say to the contrary either.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I read that posture is v. important.
It seems the view here isn't really in agreement with that.Thanks for the input.

Whatever works for you. If you can meditate succesfully while lying down, and not falling asleep, then that's fine. If you have a tendency to fall asleep when you're lying down and relaxed, then try finding a comfortable sitting position in which you can relax. Just don't get fooled into accepting that arbitrary rules about meditation set by others are fixed, or even important.

 

[Mr Cheese]

If you find discomfort a problem, try lying down. What position you're in while meditating is irrelevant.

sigh thats actually very untrue....

postures have been worked out over millenia for a reason

of course I particularly like walking participation...

this involves walking....

so no posture is required, although one's sight is focused a certain way....

 

[Mr Cheese]

I read that posture is v. important.
It seems the view here isn't really in agreement with that.Thanks for the input.

of course its important....

its all about bodily energy flow...

be it siomply breath....or anythign else

this is whyt he "standard" eastern form is the lotus position
the standard western is sat in a chair...or just sat, upright, with your spine straight at all times......

this is especially true when it comes to the nuerous forms of "kundaline" or chakra meditations....tipified in western teachings by Israel Regardie's classic "the middle pillar"

here is a modern version by the manichaean orthodox church...
simply in nature...yet profoundly complex in its results....just as any good meditation should be..... as the sayign goes "From tiny acorns grow mighty oaks"

Sit upright in a relaxed fashion, neither slumped nor rigid. Quiet yourself and relax for a few moments, feeling your breath go in and out of your nostrils. Relax and just listen to your breath for a bit, thinking of nothing else but how it feels going in and out of your nose. Release any tension in your neck or other bodily area and be at peace.
Place your fingertips on your forehead and take a quiet but deep breath inward whilst ever so quietly saying Aumen as you breath air in, moving your lips but speaking almost inaudibly. Hold the breath for a comfortable moment while thinking about far off worlds of light and your Heavenly Parents who are there. Try to invision and feel your spirit rising up to them through the top of your head. After a moment or two of having your awareness focused upward, move your fingertips to your heart and whisper Hay-ya in a soft out breathing. Feel Life, Goodness and Love pouring forth from your heart like clean pure water from a spring, quenching the thirst of all outer worlds from the hidden source of Aumen. Feel life force flowing through you and pouring forth freely through your heart center.

(If you have trouble feeling it, then breath out a little more forcibly for a few rounds. If you still don’t feel anything, continue to do the exercise anyway.)​

Repeat this breathing and uttering of the divine name Aumen-Hayya for several rounds or a few minutes, feeling yourself connected with the Source of all goodness, love and light and channeling that goodness out into the world through the compassion of your own being. With each breath take new confidence that you have a right, as Their child, to connect with your Heavenly Parents above and receive love and light from them, especially when your motive is to bring in downward in order to share it outward from your heart center to help and heal all those in need. Become a conduit, forgetting oneself and concentrating on Aumen above and Their Life force flowing out of you into all the world. Feel empty of yourself, like a hollow tube, and full of Them like a gushing spring. Flow Their compassion and wisdom freely toward all, without reservation or direction. After a time, when it feels right to quit, let the word Aumen-Hayya, and yourself, melt into oneness with Them.

Release any and all thoughts in your mind and contemplate, or feel, your connection with Them in your heart and with all your being. Say a silent non verbal prayer to become ever more one with Them in the future and end with “Aumen”.