Meditation for dummies

[Mr Cheese]

you should endeavor to keep your spinal column as straight as possible.

............

 

[Mr Cheese]

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?

I'd say noise too....

its easy to meditate in a dark room, in silence

buy some ear plugs

go meditate in public....

 

[Mr Cheese]

Meditations « Prayers and Reflections



Today we explore walking meditation. This can be done in a number of ways. Here we explore the Wu Wei walking meditation.

A Kabbalistic version can be done by the following exercise also.


The Taoist practice of “aimless wandering” through places of great natural beauty is a wonderful way to cultivate Wu Wei. As we practice, little by little we revive our capacity to move in the world with the kind of joyful ease and spontaneity that we see in young children. At the same time, we are nourished deeply by the elemental energies – by the plants, minerals and animals, the earth and the sky.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 30-45 minutes, or longer if you’d like
Here’s How:
1. Choose a place to practice. This might be your neighborhood park, the courtyard of an apartment complex, a mountain meadow, or a forest with a gentle stream flowing through it. What’s important is that it be a place where you can connect with the elements of the natural world, and a place that you feel inspired by.
2. Sit or lie down directly on the earth. (You can use a blanket underneath, if you’d prefer.) Close your eyes. Take a couple of deep slow breaths, and feel your connection to the earth beneath you. Feel the breath moving into and out of your body. Let go of any thoughts of past or future, as though there were no past or future – only this delicious moment, here and now.
3. Now open your eyes, and let your gaze gently scan your surroundings, noticing and appreciating the beauty of this place. Notice also what you’re hearing (birdsong perhaps), smelling (the scent of pine needles) and feeling (a gentle breeze on your face).
4. Next, let yourself begin to wander – to stroll about in this beautiful place, without an agenda of any sort. Be guided by what catches your eye, or perhaps a mysterious sound, or perhaps just your intuition saying: “let’s see what lies in this direction.”
5. Feel free to pause whenever you’d like, to sit or lie down again, or to examine something in great detail: to notice the texture of lichen on a rock, or the innermost folds of a blossoming rose. As you explore in this way, do your best to remain at a feeling and sensing level, without a lot of mental analysis.
6. If you notice that you’ve gotten lost in thoughts of the past or the future, no problem – simply bring yourself back to the practice: to wandering about, carefree as a child, in this beautiful place, letting your curiosity and gratitude guide you.
7. When your allotted time for the practice is up, or when your intuition tells you it’s time to end the session, sit down once again, and take a couple of deep slow breaths. Generate a feeling of gratitude for having the opportunity to spend time in such a beautiful place. Notice how you feel, in your body.
8. Then bring that energy with you, though the rest of your day!
Tips:
1. Don’t worry if this feels a bit awkward at first. Many of us are so used to structuring our days with agendas and schedules and check-lists, that moving in a more spontaneous way can feel a bit odd at first. But you’ll soon remember how wonderful it is!
2. Be clear about the difference between this practice of “aimless wandering” and simply spacing out! Spacing out is what happens when we are drawn into thoughts of the past or future – when we get sucked into a “movie” being created by our thoughts. Aimless wandering brings us into the fields of our senses, and into a direct relationship with the elements of the natural world.
3. Notice the difference between honoring your own intuitive desire to move in one direction or another, and engaging in judgment. The sweetness of the “aimless wandering” practice is that there is no absolute “right” or “wrong” way to do it. Each of us discovers what’s right for us!
4. As you become more adept at the practice, your sensitivity to the energies of the place will increase. Enjoy this!
What You Need:
· a precious human body
· a place of great natural beauty
· a blanket to lie on, if you’d like
Suggested Reading
“A Guide To Walking Meditation” by Thich Nhat Hanh

….

 

[Mr Cheese]

Kabbalistic form:

As you are walking place your eyesight and awareness on the horizon, or whatever is close if you are in an urban area. The idea here is to focus your attention upward and forward, instead of looking down and skulking.
Calm yourself, breathe rhythmically or however you achieve a serene state
As you walk focus your attention on the four kabbalistic “power points.” The feet, the groin, the heart (or solar plexus) and the forehead (or just above the head).

As you walk focus on those points in your mind. Feel your connection to the earth, the feet
Then the groin
Then the heart or solar plexus
Finally the head (or just above the head).

This can be done by focusing on the energies of the sefirot,
Malkuth, yesod, tifferet, Kether
Variations of this:
Focus on the images, of
Malkuth:Earth
Yesod:Moon
Tifferet:Sun
Kether: Stars

Naturally we can go upwards or downwards, obviously the energy here has differing connotations.
This is of course related to the middle pillar exercise.
Another variation is to add the daath emanation, or Gnosis.
Here at the throat, or if you are male, the adam’s apple we can picture the Gnostic “power” center. Find a symbol of image or something to help you visualize this energy center. I personally use the grail symbol of one upward triangle, with a down facing triangle on top of another.

A further variation would be of course to use “energy balls” instead of kabbalistic emanations or imagery.

Feel free to change things to how you would like.

http://yogateacher.com/text/meditation/on-line/walking.html
http://www.wildmind.org/walking/introduction
http://www.dharma-talks.com/walking_meditation.htm
http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/subnav/walking.htm
http://www.innerself.com/Meditation/walking_10102.htm
etc.

 

[Herr Heinrich]

Meditations « Prayers and Reflections



Today we explore walking meditation. This can be done in a number of ways. Here we explore the Wu Wei walking meditation.

A Kabbalistic version can be done by the following exercise also.


The Taoist practice of “aimless wandering” through places of great natural beauty is a wonderful way to cultivate Wu Wei. As we practice, little by little we revive our capacity to move in the world with the kind of joyful ease and spontaneity that we see in young children. At the same time, we are nourished deeply by the elemental energies – by the plants, minerals and animals, the earth and the sky.


….

This was cool. Thanks for posting it Mr.Cheese.

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

Meditation : Its all about *waking* state.
How to be awake is the first step.
You be awake as when you get up from sleep and lie still in bed, just being aware. Its a fine start, posture too even buddha used sleeping meditation at night lying onhis right side using the palm of his hand as a pillow. BUT totally awake. He even told Ananda that he never sleeps, only his body takes rest.
Meditation is all about being *AWAKE*

When one is fully awake postures come on its own. Posture is important as the individual energy that merges with the universal energy has to rise from the base up to the crown and only a straight line makes the transition easy.
So one can either start with keeping his straight posture by lying down sitting straight up on a chair or on the floor on a mat in a comfortable posture o ensure a straight backbone or first try and connect somehow and then work backwards.
Buddha even used Walking meditation in fact his every act was a meditation as he was fully awake at all times be it eating, sleeping talking, walking etc.

so, one has to just find a way to be comfortably *AWAKE*.

Love & rgds

 

[Twilight Hue]

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

Actually position is not irrelevant. But it is true that there should not be too much discomfort present so as to unduly cause distractions. Alternate positions should be used only if there are real problems or physical issues.

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

How does physical posture lead to proper meditation?

 

[Twilight Hue]

How does physical posture lead to proper meditation?

I cant speak for other forms of meditation like Vipassana (insight meditation) but in Zazen and Kinhin it is the practice of body and mind as one. To overdo it either way with incorrect posture whereas there is too much pain and discomfort, or too little pain and discomfort causes a deprivation of body and mind, or perhaps more accurately, an unbalance of body/mind and essentially cheats a person out of experiencing body and mind wholly as one. Having a correct posture is paramount to fully experiencing oneness of body/mind.

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

So it depends on the style of meditation, not meditation in general? I have studied different meditation styles, and have found that posture isn't very important, but perhaps I have a different grasp. People develop on their own. I don't disagree that posture could help, I just don't believe it is paramount to successful meditation.

 

[zenzero]

Friend HH,

So it depends on the style of meditation, not meditation in general? I have studied different meditation styles, and have found that posture isn't very important, but perhaps I have a different grasp. People develop on their own. I don't disagree that posture could help, I just don't believe it is paramount to successful meditation.

Yes, that's about sums up the essence of meditation in a nutshell.

Frubals for the understanding!

Love & rgds

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

Thank you, ZenZero.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So it depends on the style of meditation, not meditation in general? I have studied different meditation styles, and have found that posture isn't very important, but perhaps I have a different grasp. People develop on their own. I don't disagree that posture could help, I just don't believe it is paramount to successful meditation.

Posture does affect the "quality" of meditation. The only way to really know is to see and try for yourself what the effects are.

Try likening this say to a person who does push-ups with his back arched and one who will keep their back straight using a little more effort. Who do you think will fare better and notice the results? I heard many of the arguments regarding posture, and I maintain that the only one who can cheat "you" is yourself, and certainly nobody else.

In paraphrasing Brad Warner's words here, One finds that the the best teachers are those who just let you do your own thing regarding posture until you get serious enough to do it correctly, and eventually noticing how profound the difference is.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Nowhere Man,

do your own thing regarding posture until you get serious enough to do it correctly,

That is EXACTLY what we are discussing.
Once the mind is made up to connect and *stillness of that very mind* is put into process, rest will follow.

If one has made up his mind to meet his grand-parents in a distant land then the rest of the decisions will follow. How and where to raise money, mode of transport, logistics, etc etc. They will all fall in place.

Love & rgds

Love & rgds

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

Try likening this say to a person who does push-ups with his back arched and one who will keep their back straight using a little more effort. Who do you think will fare better and notice the results?

I don't think that this illustrates meditation well. You see, push-ups are physical, and the body must be aligned properly for the maximum benefits to arise. The mind has little to do with the success of push-ups. Meditation is both, but more powerfully it is the mind, and then neither. Whatever posture you find which is comfortable enough for you to get into the right state, works.
I do know there have been many schools teaching postures and why they work, and that's great. There have been many schools teaching martial arts and why they work. The trick is, just as in martial arts, the real success depends on the person, not the technique.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I don't think that this illustrates meditation well. You see, push-ups are physical, and the body must be aligned properly for the maximum benefits to arise. The mind has little to do with the success of push-ups. Meditation is both, but more powerfully it is the mind, and then neither. Whatever posture you find which is comfortable enough for you to get into the right state, works.
I do know there have been many schools teaching postures and why they work, and that's great. There have been many schools teaching martial arts and why they work. The trick is, just as in martial arts, the real success depends on the person, not the technique.

Body/mind is an interrelationship. Noticing that one or the other is more powerful or dominant should be a clear signal that there is a deficiency present either with body or mind depending on your reactions. Corrective action should be made so as to bring body/mind back into perfect balance and equilibrium, whereas the two become indistinguishably as one. Granted this is far much easier said than done, and is incredibly hard to explain as well, especially in manners where a person has a particular condition or otherwise cannot maintain a prescribed posture so an alternate is arranged in its stead. In my opinion, this as a result sends the wrong message to those who actually can do a said posture, but prefers an easier one. See what I'm trying to get at here? Don't cheat yourself like that.

I would like to humbly re-emphasise and hopefully clarify my former example that it does take a strong mind for push-ups and is paramount for maintaining the optimum effect in way of continually maintaining the perseverance, determination, and discipline of push-ups.
(Like Zazen and Martial Arts )

A weak mind simply cannot produce a strong body because it will be too weak to do so in the way it procrastinates, complains of pain or irritation, or says that you can't or never will do it among other excuses etc.
A weak body on the other hand can handicap the mind in way of its many distractions in way of excessive sickness, pain, weakness so much as it can cause one to give up too easily.

Proper posture is simply an important physical discipline that keeps the mind in balance. Without this physical discipline in place, it becomes exceedingly hard to condition the mind properly because it may become lazy, comfortable, and deluded and say that it "works" in a sense that its already or almost "there". It shouldn't ever come to that.

With respect,
NM

 

[zenzero]

Friend HH,

depends on the person, not the technique.

Shall we say that humans developed techniques for others to use if they wish to.
The person comes first and then a technique which he too can develop or use any used and recorded by others.

Love & rgds

 

[Hevenly Heathen]

I understand what you are trying to say, Nowhere Man, I still disagree. Many really strong people aren't strong in mind, and many people strong in mind aren't strong in body. The relationship between mind and body can produce great effects, but strength in one is not required in developing the other. Look at the stereotypical nerd or jock. Not being rude, but physical strength can come through little effort of the mind, and a great mind can blossom with little help from the body.
No, meditation is a dance of the two, to begin with, but the physical posture is NOT important, rather, physical posture is AS important as what the mind focuses on. But as we develop ourselves in meditation, we must keep in mind that we seek to free the mind as well, and therefore it is not important. So in meditation one needs to focus on quieting not only the mind, but the body as well. So the importance of posture is only effective when it achieves this goal. When the body and mind are left behind, meditation happens.

 

[zenzero]

Friend HH,

meditation happens.

Yes, it Happens on its own accord.
One can make efforts to create then environment as finally meditation has to happen and it happens on its own accord. When there is no effort when that mind/body is also still and no struggle is there meditation happens on its own accord. The individual is no more.
Love & rgds

 

[Twilight Hue]

I understand what you are trying to say, Nowhere Man, I still disagree. Many really strong people aren't strong in mind, and many people strong in mind aren't strong in body. The relationship between mind and body can produce great effects, but strength in one is not required in developing the other. Look at the stereotypical nerd or jock. Not being rude, but physical strength can come through little effort of the mind, and a great mind can blossom with little help from the body.

What you are saying here is very true. I won't disagree with this at all. But perhaps you are viewing and regarding mind solely in way of it's intellectual properties? There are undoubtedly strong folks who lack Intellect, and weak folks who hold a supreme intellect, but this does not necessarily mean that an intellectually deficient person has a weak mind or an intellectually strong person has a strong mind. Say an athlete who does not do academically well can still have a strong mind in way of will power, determination, and maintaining discipline. Conversely a person who does very well academically can have a very weak mind in way of will power, determination, and maintaining discipline as it pertains to the body.
Just so you know, my intention is not to create any strawman here so if this is not accurate in what you were trying to initially relay, I apologise. I saw this as an opportunity to expand and explain myself a bit further based on the aforementioned stereotypical terms you used in way of jock and nerd which to me represents a subpar vs.supreme intellect. I am presuming here that you perceive mind in this light. If not, shame on me for presuming.

No, meditation is a dance of the two, to begin with, but the physical posture is NOT important, rather, physical posture is AS important as what the mind focuses on. But as we develop ourselves in meditation, we must keep in mind that we seek to free the mind as well, and therefore it is not important. So in meditation one needs to focus on quieting not only the mind, but the body as well. So the importance of posture is only effective when it achieves this goal. When the body and mind are left behind, meditation happens.

Please allow me to describe some of my experience here which might help offer a little insight as to why I feel a prescribed method of both posture and mind is essential.

I practice a very, very ordinary and boring and utterly goalless sitting called Zazen. My body continually twitches and aches, my mind wanders a lot, and for the most of the time I wish I was elsewhere. At times I skip it when I don't feel like sitting which is a no-no. My practice oftentimes is a mess. Yet in spite of all that, I know if I don't do it in the proper way and manner I'm told, I'll never be able to do anything "right" whenever I'm sitting and not sitting. Sure things quiet down whether I allow my mind to go lax or my posture to go lax. it always will. In fact I would love a sleeping "meditation" where there simply are no requirements whatsoever for posture (or mind for that matter) I would just zone out to Pink Floyd, Book of Love, Sixpence and a slew of others and completely leave body and mind altogether. That is until I return to my sitting again and maintaining (Ahem..trying to maintain.) proper posture, allowing thoughts to pass as clouds....and all the screaming chattering monkeys again and again and again.

But you know. I remember a Roshi mentioning in a passing conversation that once while opening a door to the zendo he could hear the tumblers click with startling clarity as a result from years of engaging Zazen practice. Of which, if your familiar with it, has strict guidelines for both posture and mind.

This is why I view posture as being so important here. Without it, I personally just don't see how such a clarity can come about using the mind first-most with the body in "tow".