Meditation: How Do I Get There

I have been reading many differrent posts here and there that point to mediation and what it can do for the human body. I have been trying to look it up on my own, but keep getting sites that really look like junk or want mme to pay alot for a teaching. Does any one have any good sites I can get into. I havent been feeling well and keep getting told nothings wrong with me, but i feel very unbalanced and sick all the time. Im thinking this may help me. Thank you in advance for any help.

reply to post by stonebutterfly


try to relax.

actually dont, trying is not relaxing.

relax, don't try.



also do not feel like you have to wipe out your thoughts or empty your mind, its actually more stressfull to the brain not processing information.

instead picture your thoughts like a tree during the fall, aknowledge your thoughts like brown leafs that fall and get blown away.

but if anything, dont follow mine or anyone else's advice, you are your own guide.


plus very important, don't believe anyone telling you that meditation is a specific process that you need to sit in "x or y" position and hum this or that, while visualizing gibberish.

true meditation is a constant mental process.

when walking, walk. when breathing, breathe. when cleaning, clean. etc etc etc

the more you use your own muscle the more you will get to know it and how it works.

Take a left at Albuquerque.

*crickets chirp*

Alright.. funniness aside.
Meditation isn't hard, but it is different for everybody. You need to find your place of least distraction where you can really let go of life, thought, and feeling. For some its as simple as closing their eyes. They could be sitting on a crowded bus, or at a concert and reach their meditative place. For others they need a quiet room with no sound. Others need sensory assistance through either smell (incense, candles, etc), sounds (flowing water, crackling fires, music), some need sensations (acupuncture). For me, nothing works better than getting into a pool, lake, ocean, or the tub, releasing all the water from my lungs so that I sink, and then I sit at the bottom for 3-6 minutes. Not a long time to meditate, but I get more out of these precious minutes than most get out of hours of quietly sitting. That's all the advice I can give, I'm afraid. Find your nook, and it'll be easy from then on.

I'll S&F this so that you get a few more responses. See if we can't get you a little more advice.

reply to post by stonebutterfly


You can do some reading here and here.

And you can watch this guy's series of videos on YouTube, it's quite helpful: www.youtube.com...

No one can tell you how to meditate, achieve enlightenment, or practice zazen. You can listen to "guided meditations" or read zen koans to contemplate over, but really there isn't a single path.

Simply be mindful; of yourself, your surroundings, your actions, everything.

I realize my answer may seem vague to you, so I'll give you some examples of my "meditation".
- Sitting in the typical lotus pose either in contemplation or just being aware, usually outside so I can hear nature and feel the wind.
- Going for a walk in the woods, without music, while taking my time to appreciate everything.
- Noticing and finding joy in almost everything, being aware of what's going on as if I'm an "observer"
- Being aware of everything I do, and doing it all intentionally with complete focus (from pouring water in a glass to driving)

I hope this helps somewhat. At first it may seem tough or daunting, but I promise it becomes easier and is very worth it. I got my foot in the door by reading Eastern texts and contemplating their philosophies outdoors, and everything grew from that point.

For books to contemplate during meditation, you could try; the Gita, the Tao Te Ching, or the Confucius Analects. I recently read Zen Mind, Beginners Mind and enjoyed that.

youtube usually gets slammed in this neck of the woods but

www.youtube.com...

hope it helps u i enjoyed it and its free like u are looking for

Thank you guys so much, this already feel more real that the info I was looking into.

You could try meditation 'aids' such as brain entrainment which will get you to that relaxed state of mind. It's a form of meditation and is easily accomplished through the use of specially recorded audios with each one targeting a specific result.

Be sure to listen to the silence (It has a frequency you can attune to).

Breath deeply in through your nose and out your mouth 3-4 times and if your mind wanders return to the breath.

Good Luck

I would suggest just meditating- doing it daily for 15 minutes- and just observe what is happening, if there are any rules I would give, there are only two.

1- keep the spine straight and erect (not too tense), imagine your vertebrae are coins one stacked perfectly above the next.

2- Have a firm, comfortable seat- if you cannot sit comfortably cross legged, then sit in a straight back chair with your feet grounded in front of you and your hands on your knees.



This is where I would say different schools start to emerge in what you should be thinking, how you should be breathing, controlling thoughts versus letting them go... those sorts of things are up to you and inevitably part of your journey.


If I had to sum up Meditation , I would quote the first few sutras of 'The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali' -

1. Now concentration is explained.
2. Yoga is restraining the mind - stuff (Chitta) from taking various forms (Vrittis-or Modifications).

Check out this book, see if it hits a note in you - his opening introduction on `the science`of Raja Yoga really puts a lot of things in their place-

Vivekanada- lectures

I've been meditating for quite some time now and what is best for me (it may be different for you) is I go for a run of about 1.5 miles to a local park. Once there I find a quite place where not many people go in the park and sit next to a small pond.

Once you have found your spot, open your mind and let it wonder. Don't think about the things that your mind conjures up as it will only hinder your ability. Be an observer of your minds thoughts and just let them happen until they pass. Often times it is your minds way to release any suppressed expressions, feelings, fantasies, thoughts and ideas. Once the things in your mind have passed, you will feel more relaxed and a state of meditation is possible. In the meditation state (as I like to call it), you can focus your concentration to various aspects of your well being for health, mental capabilities, physical energy, and a sense of feeling good about yourself. When you feel like you have been in this state long enough, slowly come out by gently moving your extremities and slowly open your eyes.

Once I've completed this, usual run the 1.5 miles back to finish the workout as well.

I'm not a master at this technique yet, but I find it works best for me. You may find that a different technique works best you but basics of meditation are pretty much all the same.

I don't do it nearly enough, but when I do... It helps me to visualize either a candle flame in the dark flickering as I breath, as though it were right in front of me or else waves that are ebbing and flowing, washing up on a shore. If I vizualize the waves, I can also imagine the sound of the waves, in time with my breathing. Sometimes I can't hold one for long and it switches to the other, pretty spontaneously. Usually, I'm able to maintain the focus for a few minutes before the thoughts creep back in - once you notice your mind wandering, let the thought go and bring your attention back to your focus. You can also "set an intention" before you start and let your subconscious work on it while you are meditating. You could use whatever visualization pleases you, like waving grasses, fallen leaves blowing, etc. Ultimately, the goal would be not to visualize anything, but it helps to keep the random thoughts at bay. There is a nifty iPod/iPad app called "Breathe" that can help you get the hang of the breathing, if you feel like you need help with that part. I sometimes listen to shamanic drumming or binaural beats, but they generally zonk me right out plus I often don't want any noise when I am meditating. Personally, I can't sit in lotus without a huge amount of discomfort. I either sit in a comfortable armchair with my feet up or stay in corpse pose for a while after yoga. Hope this helps!

The best way... Ive put it for others is to literally concentrate on the breathing fully.

And I dont mean like feel the inhale and exhale like life force or soemthing but just everything to do with breath.. Just "watch" it.

Of course youll have thinking and ideas floating around about what you should exsperience etc. and this is kind of what screws you up int he first place.

Have no... preconceptions or ideas about whats going to happen. Its liken to holding anticipation without the knowledge of whats coming like a surprise.


all that? literally sends my students over the edge if they can do it.

Sitting with legs legs crossed is ok, wierd thing i fall asleep in my bed with my legs crossed then undo them as i move around. maybe that position is best cause i get so relaxed in it. Im gonna look up that tribal drum beating, that sounds good .

reply to post by stonebutterfly


I thought this was cool and possibly helpful, good luck!

Source: www.globalone.tv...


"It makes no difference
what technique or method
you practice,
it is that you give yourself completely
to that practice
that matters.

It can be as simple
as watching your breath.

If you really give
your full attention
to watching your breath
then you will move
beyond yourself,
you will find freedom.

If you are willing to
let go of the idea that
you know better
and really plunge yourself
wholeheartedly into
a spiritual practice
without looking
for something in return,

then somewhere along the line
something will happen,

the floor will fall out
from beneath you
and you will disappear
into a place that has no
words, no teachings,
no attainments,

just the complete
contentment
to be silence
or to love God
or however else
it may be for you.


Blessings,


Kip"

reply to post by stonebutterfly


the falling asleep issue is why some people like to keep an ambient sound, white noise, something audible yet not distracting.

once you stop noticing the sound but know its still there is when you sort of know you are on the way, then you become happy you are on the way, and suddently you are not there anymore.

like everything else in life it starts with baby steps

Let it flow. Let yourself go. Slow and low. That is the tempo.



Don't follow a book, follow your heart. Feel instead of See.

Let go of expectations and it will come to you when the time is right. Listen to your breath and let everything else slip away. Observe and Be instead of analyzing and thinking... all of that can be done later.

Let your mind rest. She's sleepy!



A friend of mine gave me this link, it really helped clear a few issues clogging my mind. Helps someone who tends to be over analytical!

www.vipassana.com...

There is a lot of good advice in this thread already so I will just add this:

Just sit. Just Be. If you cannot do this, if your mind wanders everywhere but here in the now, if your body becomes anxious and must get up, then you are full of distractions. This is your first insight. Now begin to search for what these distractions are, why these distractions arise, and how these distractions affect you. That will be your second insight. Peace of mind is soon to follow.

Good luck friend.

Originally posted by AnotherYOU
reply to post by stonebutterfly

 

try to relax.

actually dont, trying is not relaxing.

relax, don't try.



also do not feel like you have to wipe out your thoughts or empty your mind, its actually more stressfull to the brain not processing information.

instead picture your thoughts like a tree during the fall, aknowledge your thoughts like brown leafs that fall and get blown away.

but if anything, dont follow mine or anyone else's advice, you are your own guide.


plus very important, don't believe anyone telling you that meditation is a specific process that you need to sit in "x or y" position and hum this or that, while visualizing gibberish.

true meditation is a constant mental process.

when walking, walk. when breathing, breathe. when cleaning, clean. etc etc etc

the more you use your own muscle the more you will get to know it and how it works.

edit on 18/5/11 by AnotherYOU because: (no reason given)

Yeah i completely agree. I sit in my chair like normal when i meditate. I have had much success.

You can't "get there" since you are already there. You must realize you are there.

An imperfect thing can never become perfect. The only way is if you realize you are already perfect but have just forgotten. Thus you do not need to become perfect, but realize you are already perfect.

You need to observe the thought structures that you have, for example, often you might experience an inner arguement in your brain, and with enough observation, you can pinpoint there is an actual physical origin point of each thought within the brain. They are basically "portals" that allow information to enter your mind, as well as "implants" that alter the frequencies of your mind. When you can sense and feel where the origin points of your thoughts are, you can observe them, and basically, like plugging holes, you can subdue the conflicting thoughts with your silent awareness of them.