Am i meditating?

I've been trying meditation the last couple weeks everynight.


But i'm having problems, i dont know if the things i see, and hear are creations of my imagination and not my "minds eye?" as they call it.

Because sometimes i'll see things clear as day, lights that make pattarns, pictures, even voices sometimes that i never hear in my everyday life when i'm not trying to meditate.

I don't know if i'm trying to hard so i make up things to see and hear, or if i'm actually connecting some how.

What are you trying to connect with?

Meditation, at its basic function, is to relax the mind and body.

It sounds to me like you're getting into a hypnogogic state, which isn't as fancy as it sounds. It's pretty much the twilight right before you fall asleep. I always "see" vivid images and "hear" voices or people talking. Sometimes entire scenarios are played out in an instant.

I always focus on my third eye area. Not because of any metaphysical reason, I think the attention makes it tickle a little bit (remember that trick kids would do when they put their finger really close to you between your eyes and it tickles, that's the feeling). It keeps you a little bit more alert.

You could also check out some binaural beats. Not only do they put you into a really relaxed and calmed state, but some are designed to keep you awake with interesting noises.

If you're just starting out, I wouldn't be too worried about techniques or anything. You main focus should just be on getting into a really relaxed state.

Keep trying. Good luck

Howdy, svg.

There are three kinds of critters that a lot of people report.

Afterimages of various kinds. The simplest are when you close your eyes and still see a version of what you were looking at. Those are the retinal cells coming to rest, and the change is read as "something." Those go away after seconds to minutes. There are also higher-order afterimages, e.g. if I have been reading a lot that day, I might see the line structure of a printed page. And it's not just visual. If I have been swimming, I might feel the "wave pattern" when I rest.

Intentional visualizations. There are a lot of meditation methods that ask you to imagine something, a ball of light maybe. I also did some experiments with "controlled hallucination" (which is a practice in Tibetan meditation), but it's not the kind of thing I'd want to become too good at .

Spontaneous sensations. Stuff comes up for different reasons than above. A propos of nothing, I see a traffic light turning with the yellow light on. Uh, huh.

Usually, I can classify the different varieties of stuff fairly easily. There is sometimes interaction between the intentional and spontaneous - like a conversation, or maybe like a waking "free association" exercise, except with images or other sensations.

My guess would be that as you become more experienced, you'll sort things out. If there is something more specific that makes you wonder about the source of something that you are seeing, then maybe you could describe that.

In particular, I am unsure what distinction you would like to make between your imagination and your "mind's eye." Is that something in the specific method you have been trying?

Well earlier this week actually i came home from a friends in a really good relaxed mood so i decided i would try to meditate, then being me i thought of symbols i can betray or use to maybe help my meditation and of course i thought of triangles and pyramids, so with mybody i made in a meditative form as many triangles as i could. 7 trinagles i am able to make with my body ( not counting fingers but big triangles like legs, arms.)


anyways i do this close my eyes and INSTINTLY, i dont see a picture of what i was looking at before with light burned into my eyrish or w/e i use to do that alot as a kid i know what it is but instead, everything was black but about 100 lil bllue lights making the outline of a detailed hand giving me the middle finger and i.... started laughing i looked at it for about 20 seconds openened my eyes still laughing, closed them and it was gone.



another time where i felt like i was connecting, my body felt different, felt like i was in different parts of my head that i wasn't just looking under my eyelids that what i was looking at was above my head even, its a really confusing feeling i can't discribe it, but this particular time i was in my basement sitting on the couch and i heard a voice, 3am in the morning i'm the only one up. everythings turned off or down except my computer and xbox. i heard a voice as clear as i hear mine when i talk, but (SHE) a WOMANS voice that i've NEVER heard before only said 2 workds (Dont Move) so that freaken tripped me right out, right away i got up, checked the computer and tv, turned them off, and went up stairs and went to sleep.

it left me shook

i've told this one inparticular to a bunch of friends and they think i screwed up moving, but for some reason i feel like if i wasn't making the voice up, it was a deeper message not to move from where i live, and not as in dont move in general

[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

Sometimes i'll even feel worried and paranoid now when i start to or try meditate and it really holds me back from lettting go

reply to post by sv_gravity 800


Yeah that's sometimes normal.

That's why you need to learn how to trust yourself and relax. Concentrate on your breathing, but don't control it, let the images take you. Don't ask what they are, just trust them and keep a clear mind, then the answers will come.

Part of the letting go process of meditation is to quiet the mind and to not judge what you are experiencing.

When I was first learning to meditate, I would often get so excited about seeing or hearing something that I would try to focus in on it, which just activates normal thought and "poof" whatever I had just been experiencing disappeared.

I cannot recommend highly enough the importance of setting intent properly before going into a meditative state. The simplest way to do this is to think about those people that you LOVE the most. Feel this love in your heart, feel it swelling you and filling you with peace and joy.

Happy journeys and Namaste.

Originally posted by UrbanShaman

When I was first learning to meditate, I would often get so excited about seeing or hearing something that I would try to focus in on it, which just activates normal thought and "poof" whatever I had just been experiencing disappeared.

That happens all the time, even as a kid. I'm not trying to say i tried to meditate or even know what it was as a kid, but i use to close my eyes and concentrate because, i would see things, and i thought it was cool, but when ever i finally saw something and i tried to focus on it, bring it to the middle of my screen "minds eye" it would slowly or instintly vanish. and this has been happening alot now that i am actually trying to meditate, once something comes on my screen, i focus to try to center it then it dissapeares

reply to post by sv_gravity 800


Just repeat I-I-I-I and when ever you have thoughts or visions ask yourself

"who is having these thoughts and visions?"

I-I-I-I

The I-thought is the logical assumption for all other thoughts.

Then as you repeat I-I-I-I

the I-thought will congeal and you LISTEN to the source of the I-thought.

If you need to focus on something visual focus on the right side of your heart since that is the source of where the I-thought originates.

The logical inference of the I-thought is called jnana or mind yoga -- or "vichara" -- self-investigation.

As left-brain dominant meditation it activates the left side vagus nerve which then connects to the right side of the heart and it's called the "direct path" in Advaita Vedanta.

A great book to read on this is the biography of H.W.L. Poonja

"Nothing Ever Happens" by David Godman.

Another great meditation exercise is the "small universe" or "microcosmic orbit" -- you can check out springforestqigong.com... for more details.



[edit on 17-2-2010 by drew hempel]

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by sv_gravity 800

 

Just repeat I-I-I-I and when ever you have thoughts or visions ask yourself

"who is having these thoughts and visions?"

I-I-I-I

The I-thought is the logical assumption for all other thoughts.

Then as you repeat I-I-I-I

the I-thought will congeal and you LISTEN to the source of the I-thought.

If you need to focus on something visual focus on the right side of your heart since that is the source of where the I-thought originates.

The logical inference of the I-thought is called jnana or mind yoga -- or "vichara" -- self-investigation.

As left-brain dominant meditation it activates the left side vagus nerve which then connects to the right side of the heart and it's called the "direct path" in Advaita Vedanta.

A great book to read on this is the biography of H.W.L. Poonja

"Nothing Ever Happens" by David Godman.

Another great meditation exercise is the "small universe" or "microcosmic orbit" -- you can check out springforestqigong.com... for more details.

thats also very interasting because 90% of the time it doesn't feel like i'm looking dead centre with my "minds eye" but it feels like i'm on the left side of my head behind my eye, and i try to transfer to my right side but it feels dark and really dark, even though everything i'm looking at is black when i try to move to the right side it seems darker then black, it feels like nottings there its weird, and then i'll put my finger in the middle of my nose to try to focus inbetween both eyes rather then behind my left one

iunno its a really weird feeling but it feels like my thoughts and what i am doing when i meditate is all being created on the left side

[edit on 17-2-2010 by drew hempel]

[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

Originally posted by JohnBadger
What are you trying to connect with?

Meditation, at its basic function, is to relax the mind and body.

anything, i'm just learning right now.


But i remember one of the first nights i started seeing things i saw the weirdest stuff that i couldn't remember if i wanted to..

it must of been hundreads or even thousands of random symbols that were going threw my minds eye like a news bulletin would at the bottom of a news channel (from left to right) except these symbols were going from the right to the left at the top rather then the bottom and they just kept coming out of no where, everyone different then the next, and the one my mind wanted to to focous on would pop out for a second and become about 30% bigger then all the others for a couple seconds while they follow their path


that was another weird thing that happened, and i just wish i could remember but it was happening so fast and when i would concentrate it would dim out so all i could do was experiance it

reply to post by sv_gravity 800


Yes feels are electrochemical energy but thoughts come from electromagnetic energy so focus on the source of thoughts which is pure, formless consciousness that creates light. Consciousness appears to originate on the right side of the heart through the feeling of excitement as love turning into electromagnetic energy.

So who is feeling this? I-I-I-I-I

And listen to the SPACE between the I thought.

It might be easier for you to use music as the model for meditation -- this is what I use.

No one is listening to the source of your thoughts. Consciousness is always-already eternally creating spacetime as a vortex of rainbow holographic reality.

There's a very simple meditation exercise based on music -- you sit in a chair -- and you practice the music scale of 12 notes -- as the energy centers along the outside of your body.

The types of feelings you will have are described in this free book:

www.scribd.com...



[edit on 17-2-2010 by drew hempel]

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by sv_gravity 800

 

Yes feels are electrochemical energy but thoughts come from electromagnetic energy so focus on the source of thoughts which is pure, formless consciousness that creates light. Consciousness appears to originate on the right side of the heart through the feeling of excitement as love turning into electromagnetic energy.

So who is feeling this? I-I-I-I-I

And listen to the SPACE between the I thought.

Thanks to both of you suggusting the I-Thought. I really want to try it now but i'm going to wait untill i'm the only one here so less distractions





















Another question for more experianced meditators?


I tried meditating with my dog, and then another time i tried with my dog and mom, we were all connected, my dog wasn't trying to meditate but me and my mom were, and i have some weird experiances


When i try by myself usually the first thing i see looks like a bright star in the sky, i single light. I can see it starts to get brighter and brigher then dissapeares. When i tried meditating with my dog, i saw 2 lights, 2 stars that got brigher then disapeared, and then when i tried with my mom and my dog i saw 3 lights, i thought it was kinda creepy but this happens everytime i try to meditate with someone else (again i've only tried with my dog and mom) but depending on how many people i am physically connected with (my dog was in my lap, holding hands with my mom) i'll see lights equal to the number of beings.


and this even happened one night when my mom was on the couch so i just put my head on her lap and started to meditate and i still saw 2 lights.

its really wierd, but it does make sense to me but i just want to know if anyone else has experianced things like this?

[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

Originally posted by sv_gravity 800

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by sv_gravity 800

 

Yes feels are electrochemical energy but thoughts come from electromagnetic energy so focus on the source of thoughts which is pure, formless consciousness that creates light. Consciousness appears to originate on the right side of the heart through the feeling of excitement as love turning into electromagnetic energy.

So who is feeling this? I-I-I-I-I

And listen to the SPACE between the I thought.

I am about to try this, my house is empty, i'm going to go down to the basement and sit where i heard the voice that told me (dont move) for some reason ever since that happened i feel as if that spot means something.
[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

[edit on 17-2-2010 by sv_gravity 800]

reply to post by sv_gravity 800


Hey svg,
Everything that is written here above is true,
There are so many forms of meditation, depending on their purpous. I guess the most known form is meditation for relaxation, but you can also meditate in order to train your focus. Either way, when you meditate, you usually focus on one thought, or object only, because the mind isn't capable of thinking about nothing at all... so while you are focusing on one thing or thought you still your mind, combined with the right breathing you become relaxed. It takes a bit of practice before you can do this.

A lot of people who say they meditate, aren't really meditating but begin to daydream, or something like that... which ofcourse can be relaxing on its own

When you attempt meditation and you let your mind wonder free you get the results that you had, I think it starts when your relaxed enough and the brain starts to produce alpha waves. When you go further you reach the hypnagogic state while being fully conscious of it.
It's this state I use to go on 'vision quests' as I call it. In the beginning you only see random images or shapes, sometimes your other senses kick in, but you can also start to see images that seem more real then your awake state, like as if a movie is played before your eyes.
It's a very interessting state to experiment with and nothing to be afraid of.
And if you ever want to take things one step further, try going into this state and control it, then allow your body to fall asleep and you'll give yourself a lucid dream once you go into REM sleep. Just remember that with this last one, it comes with false awakenings and sleep paralasys, the downside of it all. Scary at first, but harmless.

Which ever your choose, good luck with your further attempts

False awakening / Sleep paralasys?

A couple years ago for at least 3 months every morning or everytime i fell asleep, when i would wake up i would be awake but not... i could hear everything around me, sometimes be able to open my eyes slightly and see a bit, it felt like i could only move a inch a minute i could feel everything, the tempature of the air i'm breathing in, eeverything but i couldn't move and to get out of this i would focus as hard as i could on moving one body part as fast as i could to kinda twich myself out of it, and i eventually got a hang of it and could twich myself out of it because it was happening to me everytime i went to sleep. It has stoped now i probably havn't had that experiance in over a year, but is that the same thing?

reply to post by GypsK


"more real then real life"


again when i was younger and use to try to stop thinking, one time i started getting like you said, images in my head that felt like i had my eyes open. there was lighting, shadows, the whole nine yards that gives you the perception of real, it was amazing.


i have yet to experiance that again, even though i have been seeing things, they are more of lil dots and shapes that look like direct light ( when your looking directly at a light source) but its 12pm, i'm in the darkest room of the house with my eyes closed? yet the light seems so bright..

i really want to experiance the real as life images again.... it was so weird, and like you said looked realer then life