Meditation - where to start?

Not sure if this should go here or BTS, but as I haven't been on BTS in 4 years I didn't want to start visiting again now and so not sure of what boards are over there.

I've been trying to get into meditation recently, and a month ago began trying to open and heal my Chakras. Now looking back I'm going to presume (excuse my analogy) that I learnt a sentence without learning the alphabet, therefore trying to learn the alphabet from the sentence (I read this on a Buddhist page related to something else but it made sense).

I've began trying to work out where to start again and can't quite find it.
I think I am meant to begin with Shinay?

If there is anybody out there that can help me it would be greatly appreciated, I'd like a mentor of some kind because I want to find myself and create balance within myself.

I would like to direct you to this thread...

it will answer Everything you are basically asking...how to meditate (going down to alpha) How to heal and open the chakras and much more!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

here is a direct link to the webstie

www.psychic-stuff.com...

If you go through with the whole 6 week course, you will create and develop a skill and technique that some call the akashic construct. Going down to the Alpha and even Theta levels of the mind, to better connect with your inner self, solve problems, get guidance...and as you progress become even more psychic!

Thanks for posting but I wasn't looking for that sort of thing.
"- Remote viewing
- astral travel
- lucid dreaming
- speaking to guides/midwayers/angels " etc

I want to find balance and peace and relax my mind to prevent over-analyzing and consequently be able to channel my wisdom to my conscious better. I heard Shinay is the best for this.

The 2nd link is more what I wanted, yes, but it would seem in doing that I will be jumping ahead of myself. I am sure it is safer to walk up a ladder from the first step than to leap and catch onto a step midair.

EDIT: Upon re-reading I realise both links were helpful but still not quite what I was looking for. I want my mind to be a clean canvas before I paint it, I want to be able to relax before I attempt anything in your links because it seems to be underestimating the power of such thigns.

If it helps my Mother can see auras (most notably she almost chased a random man in a fit of rage that walked across the road while she was at a cafe, then the next week his photo was on the news and it turned out he was a murderer and had killed somebody 2 days before my Mother saw him.. she said he had a black cloud and she hasn't seen anything like it since but she can see when somebody is genuine.).

I can already sense peoples intentions and can feel peoples energies. I can feel when people lie. I work at a retail store and can tell if a customer is happy inside of themselves, angry, or depressed, with just them saying a few words to me regardless of their face or how they walk. I would like to strengthen my abilities to do that too, and I see you have links about it in your thread. Thanks

[edit on 21/4/09 by Nventual]

Oh, ok

You can try Trateka...It is basically just staring at a candle light, this builds concentration and is also a form of mediation. Can even lead to the opening of the third eye.

Trataka (in Sanskrit, n., त्राटक, trāṭaka, to look, or to gaze) is the practice of staring at some external object. It is used in yoga as a way of developing concentration, strengthening the eyes, and stimulating the Ajna chakra.

In its first stage, the practitioner fixes his attention on a symbol or yantra, such as the Om symbol, a black dot, or the image of some deity, and stares at it, paying attention to each thought and feeling as it arises, and letting them go, so that the mind is completely absorbed in the symbol. The practice continues until the eyes begin to water, at which point they are closed, and relaxed.

The second stage is staring at a candle flame. The practice is the same up until the eyes begin to water, after which the eyes are closed, and the yogi tries to concentrate on the after image, and hold it for as long as possible. At first, it will be a real after-image, but later, it will exist only in the mind's eye, and the exercise in concentration comes from trying to maintain it there for a long period of time.

Trataka is supposedly the technique which sadhakas use to develop psychic powers. Trataka on the Sun or one's own mirror image is considered to be extremely powerful, but without a guru's assistance it can be dangerous to try these.

more info here:
www.meditationiseasy.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

Ah, see, third eye.. I don't want to open my third eye when I have not even began to meditate properly. That is why I stopped before when I felt I was close.

I want to turn my mind from a waterfall to a slow flowing stream down a river. Do you get what I mean? After that I will begin Chakra meditation again.

Basically, I want to meditate to benefit my mind body and soul, not for "psychic abilities" etc.

gotcha,

you may wanna read over that first post that i gave...Or just try searching for information on alpha meditation...it is basically just relaxing your entire body, and thinking of a peaceful scene ( a favorite childhood place, or a scene that you enjoy)...and you could say an affirmation like "Everyday in every way i am getting better, better, and better" at the end. Simple as that really...

Almost any type of mediation will in the long run lead you to expereince things. But for the most part Zen mediation is the most peaceful one for mind, body, and soul.

[edit on 21-4-2009 by ATSGUY]

There are all kinds of meditation but fundamentally it's just you and your mind, alone and one-on-one. You can do with it whatever you will, or whatever you can, and watching someone meditate, it's always hard to tell what in the world they're doing in their mind. "Figuring it all out" however you can, making yourself more self-aware. Here are some strains of various ways of meditating I've come across:


"Philosophical" forms of meditation:

Zen/Satori meditation -- traditionally a student is given a logically incomprehensible riddle called a "koan" and told to solve it. Any attempt at a logical or even half-logical (or even the shadow of logical) answer on the part of the student usually results in a beating of some sort, as traditionally referred. Classic koans are "What was the original expression on your face before your mother was born?" and "What's the sound of one hand clapping?" An answer is definitely supposed to be found. That's about all that can be said about them, besides any answer you can verbalize would probably have you beaten or otherwise reprimanded. The point is to make the student "awaken."

Another Hindu meditation -- one for which I have forgotten the name, is very beautiful and is traditionally held to be "shocking" when first realized, and is very stirring. It is a meditation in which you seek to most fully realize that you ARE what you are "looking at," "listening to," "touching," etc. You ARE that! It may sound crazy but it's the simple, undeniable truth: your senses result from your brain patterns. These patterns, dependent in themselves upon sensory input, ARE your sense of thought, which is EXACTLY what you use to engage in this form of meditation, or any other form of "thinking"!! You are your entire environment around you, and realizing this is the entire point of the meditation, because "you" and "your environment" are both only in your own mind, and there they are one!!


For energy-raising:

New Energy Ways (NEW) System

I highly recommend the above system!

Unfortunately the rest of my post was cut off for the some reason and I'm not about to type it all again.

[edit on 21-4-2009 by bsbray11]

Originally posted by Nventual
I want to find balance and peace and relax my mind to prevent over-analyzing and consequently be able to channel my wisdom to my conscious better.

Tell me if I go too far astray but you find yourself being overly analytical? I do too, almost everyone is too analytical but because of today's society, where intuition takes the back seat anyway, not many people notice it as a problem. But it can even lead to chronic depression. Anyway, if this is the problem you're looking to balance, I found a particularly good technique.

If you're right handed, start writing with your left hand. Backwards, even. Da Vinci did it and Crowley also recommended his students do it, but those names are irrelevant. What matters is that your right hemisphere of your brain controls your left hand, and your left hemisphere controls your right hand. Most people are right-handed, and similarly most intelligent people in the West are overly left-brained, which is the analytical, technical side.

When you try to write with your left hand, especially backwards, it forces your brain to work in new ways, exercising your right hemisphere, which is more creative, imaginative and intuitive. This is just like a physical work out but it translates to your brain. As your fine motor skills in your left hand increase, so has your right brain's strength. You'll probably even find your right-handwriting and left-handwriting take on different characteristics even when you get fluent with both of them, which I guess demonstrates the fact that they actually operate differently from each other on a mechanical level.

Hope I've not oversimplified what I quoted you on; either way, if you're right-handed, try this out! If you're already left-handed, then I honestly wouldn't know what to tell you, but it's something to think about I guess.

[edit on 21-4-2009 by bsbray11]

your right hemisphere of your brain controls your left hand, and your left hemisphere controls your right hand.

Never heard this before. Any links?

Anyway regardless of its factuality I'll try writing with my left hand anyway, even though I've never even been able to write with my right hand either (incomprehensible handwriting even now at almost 19 years old and have never been able to draw a round circle that connects or a straight line for more than 2 inches.)


You are 100% correct in your post about that I'm overly analytical and always have been, it prevents my brain from flowing new thoughts when I'm trying to write (even now) because I get stuck on half of what I say trying to analyze it and in the end by analyzing everything to such a high degree I destroy it.

Type at 101wpm (words per minute) and yet it took me 5 minutes to type this trying to work out how to say what I wanted to say.

[edit on 22/4/09 by Nventual]

[edit on 22/4/09 by Nventual]

I would recommend a practiced teacher in meditation. Maybe a Yoga center has a course or could guide you in the right direction. I used to meditate but I have blocked it for many years. Sometimes I catch myself meditating, controlling my breathing, RAM - OM and it takes me back to when I first felt the peace of consciousness in a conscious way.

Seek and make progress.

You are your entire environment around you, and realizing this is the entire point of the meditation, because "you" and "your environment" are both only in your own mind, and there they are one!!

Yes this is what I was looking for, thanks.

The Zen/Satori you mention I do every day, without realising. Thanks for posting, you understand what I'm trying to say which is good.

mandroid, thanks for your input it inspires me to find peace and understand my consciousness better.

Its called being ambidexterous...

en.wikipedia.org...

I have just started practicing with my left hand and doing other things with it to help build up the area of the brain that connects the two hemisphers. Also i always wanted to write with both hands.

I know what ambidexterity is and it's quite rare unless you learn it but even then you will still use your dominant hand more without thinking.

I'm not sure what it's got to do with this though. I meant I had never heard of the right hemisphere controlling your left hand, etc, and that by writing left-handed when you're right-handed you open up more creative flows.

Originally posted by ATSGUY
I have just started practicing with my left hand and doing other things with it to help build up the area of the brain that connects the two hemisphers.

So have I; what are the odds!? I wonder if people have always been so guided along, almost as if subconsciously. After all, Leonardo was doing it hundreds of years ago for some reason or another!

When I write backwards for extended periods with my left hand, I don't necessarily feel more "creative." Well, I might, but what stands out most to me is the increased sense of "now," and an increased sense of the non-locality of concepts as they cross my mind. I feel more "here" in the present, and accepting of my current surroundings. These are just my personal experiences with it.


Here are the common scientific associations (source):

Left brain: Logical, sequential, rational, analytical, objective, looks at parts.

Right brain: Random, intuitive, holistic, synthesizing, subjective, looks at wholes.

Something similar to what I was saying earlier (emphasis added):

The left hand eye is connected to the right hand occipital lobe and vice-versa. The right hand side of the brain also controls the left hand side of the body.

www.singsurf.org...



And the other state of mind I was referring to was "samadhi," and Crowley talks about it in detail in this .pdf ebook: www.scribd.com...

[edit on 22-4-2009 by bsbray11]

Thank you for posting this as i have always been interested on how to learn Meditation. Being in a smaller town there are not very many options
available.

And with a name like Sth Hemisphere while we're talking about the hemispheres of the brain I find interesting.

so bsbray, what you say is that because the right hand side of the brain controls the left hand side of the body, that the left hand side of the body also controls the right hand side of the brain? Makes sense I guess, that if it can go one way it can go both ways.

reply to post by Nventual


Yes, your right brain controls your left hand, so if you force your left hand to learn to write, you're really forcing your right brain to learn to do something it's never had to do before. That means forming new brain cells, new connections between neurons, and all the other stuff that comes with learning and literally expanding your mind (learning ANYTHING new stimulates your brain in general). And that's all you need to do to stimulate the right hemisphere of your brain. There are other ways, but this one is particularly simple and straightforward.

Well after attempting to write a sentence left-handed I've realised that a true left-handed person must have such a hard time trying to see what is is they've written and where on the paper the previous word was. I could feel it stimulate my brain though, the same way its stimulated when I try to screw a super tiny screw into a super tiny hole on a device - mostly fustration. Is that how it's meant to be? Lol, well like I said I can't write with my right hand either so..

I cannot recommend this enough

www.centerpointe.com...

Very powerful, and simple, and DEEP, and therefore generative of fast results.

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
I cannot recommend this enough

www.centerpointe.com...

From the page

The lazy man's way to meditate

Besides, I'd rather not use technology to meditate.