Help With Meditation

I have been meditating for about a year on and off, but lately im practicing more and more because i have more time on my hands. I think that im getting it.

I use breeding techniques and focus on my breeding, Sometimes at night i can sit still and meditate for up to an hour. I focus on my breathing until i loose consentration and then i realise my mind has drifted and im thinking about stuff again i go back to the breathing.

The thing is i dont realy know if im meditating or not, i have never realy had any experiences where i drift out completely, i am always thinking i can never quiet my mind for that long.

So lately i have been reading books and listen to cd's and i now sometimes meditate to the cd's telling a story where i imagine im in a forest and all that stuff, meeting spirit guides and shackra workouts. And now im starting to get confused to what meditation is really about.

My question is am i supposed to be tryin to quieten my mind or imagine im in a forest meeting spirit guides and stuff.

I would realy like to hear other peoples experiences and how they became more spiritually awoken or more enlightened. What teqniques did you use. Love to here it thanks guys.

Also im a serious stoner and im always stoned meditating, is this ok. I dont think i be able to sit there and not be stoned altough im willing to try.

Well, here is some advice I can give you. Breathing is the most important thing you can do while meditating, if nothing else, let this always be the main focus of you concentration while you are sitting. Also, a way to help focus your mind/breathing is to count your breathes 1-10 and back. you can start by counting your inhalations as 1, exhalations 2, inhalations 3...and so on to 10 silently to yourself then back down to 1. AS you advance your inhalations/exhalations will count as 1, While you silently count to youself draw your numbers out too following your breath. like wooonnnnnnnnnn, twooooooooooooooooo, threeeeeeeeeee, and so on.


There are some strict postures also accompanied with different forms of meditating but they are negligible to the fact that you should allow your self to be comfortable and not rigid, however you should envision yourself as being a young prince sitting respectfully, with distinguished royalty, if your can envision that.

There is a significant difference in falling asleep, and the body falling away..... When the body falls away, you are still aware of yourself and surroundings, this is probably what you have been on the brink of.

Also, smoking is a useful tool to spark the higher mind, but when you meditate it like weight training, meaning weed makes you think deeper, but it's usually your lower mind thats doing all the talking drowning out your higher mind. So until you further advance yourself, I would suggest smoking afterwards. It's not impossible to do so, just makes it quiet difficult to nearly impossible while learning without a teacher on hand to correct you.

However, no matter the situation, even if you do, thoughts are not the problem you must conquer, it's attaching yourself to those thoughts, examples: did I lock the door, I need to pick up some groceries too, I wonder if Jane is going to the store

Thoughts will arise on just about any and everything, just let them rise and float on by. Don't try to force yourself into having a blank mind, this is counter productive with what your are trying to achieve.

Also, having a dark, low lighting, quiet room is important in the novice stage as well, but soon with practice it won't matter the conditions, place, or time...Speaking of time always try to meditate at the same times once in the morining and at night, mainly, just be consistent when you do. Also, only 30mins is sufficient but that is something you can work towards as well, sitting for 10-15mins and adding 5mins weekly until you are sitting for a total of 30mins.

So much more I can share but what I have shared should be sufficient enough to help. If possible, before buying anymore books, I would see if there are experienced teachers in your area to take a few lessons from for about 2-4wks, thats really all that is needed to help give you a good starting base, although it is not necessary....

OK, i'm going to stop now

Thank you Brazko this info should realy help me. I think as you were saying i was just on the brink of falling away. I can remember about 2 wks ago i was almost just about to fall away and i think the fact i felt like i was falling away i got a little frightened i was loosing control and this stopped me from goin as deep as i could. I just think with practice it will come.

Thank you Great info.

pppp1984 said:

Thank you Brazko this info should realy help me. I think as you were saying i was just on the brink of falling away. I can remember about 2 wks ago i was almost just about to fall away and i think the fact i felt like i was falling away i got a little frightened i was loosing control and this stopped me from goin as deep as i could. I just think with practice it will come.

Thank you Great info.

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That's exactly right, it does feel frightening, just don't panic and break your concentration. Press on and you will come to understand the beauty of this event and the great serenity that it promotes.

excerpt from Teachings of A Grand Master by Richard Behrens

When the body falls away, the lower mind, the higher mind, and you are left; When the Lower Mind falls Away, then only the Higher Mind and you are left. And then, when the Higher mind finally falls away, only you are Left!! That is the Miracle.

TheFaux said:

The Mystique of Enlightenment

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Very, very, Insightful & Helpful... Thanks for Sharing

Yes this is a great help to me i can understand it much clearer now thanks guys.

Sorry...I thought it said help with medication..never mind.

I used to get high and turn on the japanese chamber music while doing tai-chi, that always got me there. tai-chi is simplly moving meditation =)

TheFaux said:

The Mystique of Enlightenment

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great post! gunna read the whole thing later..

personally ive been taking a yoga+meditation class for about 3 years now.. and it is amazing. it has really changed my life in a very positive way.

Autobiography of a yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda is a LIFE CHANGING book and a must read if your into yoga and/or meditating. im almost done reading it and as soon as im finished im going to read it again and again its that good. and REAL.


first and formost its all about b.a.r.b
balance
alignment
realse tension
breath

once you have done the first 3 you can focus on the breath

anyways.. the advice i can give to you a meditational technique i use that is very simple, easy and effective.

breath in count 1,2,3,4,5
hold for 1,2,3,4,5
exhale 1,2,3,4,5
repeat 5Xtimes

then do it all over with 1,2,3,4,5,6, 6X times etc....

its all about controling the breath. let the thoughts come raging in then just go back to your breath.. you can do it

once you felt the divine moment in meditation where you feel complete.. you will strive to reach it everytime.

Relaxation Response is a great read too if you need the medical/scientific point of veiw.

peace

olishell said:

Sorry...I thought it said help with medication..never mind.

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LOL!!

pppp1984 said:

I have been meditating for about a year on and off, but lately im practicing more and more because i have more time on my hands. I think that im getting it.

I use breeding techniques and focus on my breeding, Sometimes at night i can sit still and meditate for up to an hour. I focus on my breathing until i loose consentration and then i realise my mind has drifted and im thinking about stuff again i go back to the breathing.

The thing is i dont realy know if im meditating or not, i have never realy had any experiences where i drift out completely, i am always thinking i can never quiet my mind for that long.

So lately i have been reading books and listen to cd's and i now sometimes meditate to the cd's telling a story where i imagine im in a forest and all that stuff, meeting spirit guides and shackra workouts. And now im starting to get confused to what meditation is really about.

My question is am i supposed to be tryin to quieten my mind or imagine im in a forest meeting spirit guides and stuff.

I would realy like to hear other peoples experiences and how they became more spiritually awoken or more enlightened. What teqniques did you use. Love to here it thanks guys.

Also im a serious stoner and im always stoned meditating, is this ok. I dont think i be able to sit there and not be stoned altough im willing to try.

Click to expand...

Try getting deep into your meditation and then ask yourself this question:
"Who am I?" Then just wait for the answer, remain in meditation. If you wait you will get an answer. My meditation has spread into daily activity as a result

Wow thanks guys this info has been real insightful and a real help. I know now what its about and i feal im getting further already. Last night i almost fell away again but my hearth felt like it was beating rely heavy and this kind of distracted me from completely falling away.

I followed the breathing techniques for a while and gradualy queitened my mind and i felt realy deep relaxation, kind of tingling in my body arms and legs and then felt like i couldnt feal my body like i was completely relaxed. I was realy fallin deeper into my self and then my hearth started beat louder and it kind of distracted me. But i know with practice i will get it, its only a matter of time and patience.

Thank you so much for your extremely insightful intutition on meditation which has explained so much.

pppp1984 said:

of distracted me from completely falling away.

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remember meditation is a very CONSCIOUS act. you dont fall away anywhere you want to remain in control and when you have reached true enlightenment you will know right away.

The Dalai Lama on Enlightenment:

WIE: The goal of Buddhist practice is said to be enlightenment. While the word “enlightenment” is now commonly used in the West, there are many vastly different definitions of what enlightenment is. In your approach to your own practice, when you think about enlightenment, what are you striving to achieve? What does the goal of enlightenment mean to you personally?


H.H. THE DALAI LAMA: So, enlightenment! “Consciousness” or “mind” has cognitive ability–there is something through which we know. Usually, we say: “I see, I learn, I know, I remember.” There is one single element that acts as a medium for viewing all objects. At our level, the power or ability to know is very limited, but we have the potential to increase this ability to know. “Buddhahood” or “Buddhahood enlightenment” is when the potential of this ability to know has been fully developed. Merely increasing that capacity of knowing is also a level of enlightenment. So, the term “enlightenment” could refer to knowing something that you did not know or realizing something that you had not realized. But when we speak about enlightenment at the state of Buddhahood, we are speaking about a fully awakened state.
That is why, according to Buddhism, all our efforts ultimately should go to training or shaping our minds. Emotions such as hatred or strong attachment are destructive and harmful–we call them “negative emotions.” So how can we reduce these negative emotions? Not through prayer, not through physical exercise, but through training of mind. Through training of mind we try to increase the opposite qualities. When genuine compassion, infinite compassion, or unbiased compassion is increased, hatred is reduced. When equanimity is increased, attachment is reduced. All of these destructive emotions are based on ignorance, and the opposite, or antidote, of ignorance is enlightenment. This is why it is very important to analyze the world of the mind and find out what its basic nature is. What are the different categories of mind? Which minds are destructive? Which minds are constructive? and so on. Once we have analyzed all these questions, then we should try to control our minds by adding more good and removing the bad. Some modern scholars describe Buddhism as a “science of mind” for this very reason


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Just remeber its' nothing you have to do, adhere 2 Patience, Know Less is More, Yield & Surrender, and Keep Falling

Why do you feel like you need to be different?

TheFaux said:

Why do you feel like you need to be different?

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Whats that suposed to mean.

Koan - An enigmatic question posed to a student by his master which, once solved, produces a realization experience.

maybe this was his intentions

similar in principle to the implied question posed by Newgrowth....."Who Am I?"

here's another excerpt from Teachings of A Grand Master:

" A classic Koan, and one that many people have heard before, is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" If I were to pose this question to you, how would you answer? What would you say? But understand that any delay whatsoever in your response would immediately tell me that you do not know the answer. Why? Because a delay in your answer would indicate that it was coming from your lower mind. This is wrong. The answer must come spontaneously from the depths of your higher mind. Any true master would be able to tell the difference right away and never accept an answer, regardless of how correct it sounded, if it is the product of reason. But then, that is the whole point of the koan, to transcend reason.

To solve a koan, you must probe its depths twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, year after year, exhausting every avenue of logical thought until, at last, the answer breaks forth in one great luminous flash of knowing. Still, when this occurs, you will have only a glimpse, a momentary insight into the "truth" of the nature of the illusion of the World."

Brazko said:

Koan - An enigmatic question posed to a student by his master which, once solved, produces a realization experience.

maybe this was his intentions

similar in principle to the implied question posed by Newgrowth....."Who Am I?"

here's another excerpt from Teachings of A Grand Master:

" A classic Koan, and one that many people have heard before, is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" If I were to pose this question to you, how would you answer? What would you say? But understand that any delay whatsoever in your response would immediately tell me that you do not know the answer. Why? Because a delay in your answer would indicate that it was coming from your lower mind. This is wrong. The answer must come spontaneously from the depths of your higher mind. Any true master would be able to tell the difference right away and never accept an answer, regardless of how correct it sounded, if it is the product of reason. But then, that is the whole point of the koan, to transcend reason.

To solve a koan, you must probe its depths twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, year after year, exhausting every avenue of logical thought until, at last, the answer breaks forth in one great luminous flash of knowing. Still, when this occurs, you will have only a glimpse, a momentary insight into the "truth" of the nature of the illusion of the World."

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That is amazing man. This has realy helped me. I realize the world is not as it seems but an illusuion in the mind but i my mind i just cant understand or see it but its what im searching to undersatnd.

pppp1984 said:

That is amazing man. This has realy helped me. I realize the world is not as it seems but an illusuion in the mind but i my mind i just cant understand or see it but its what im searching to undersatnd.

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Just be Patient P, I'm 10yrs deep and I still don't know shit (awww No, I lie) but still, Even Masters in their 80's & 90's continue to search for further Enlightenment, the limitations are boundless and Infinite, Limited only to your Chosen..

don't worry you got this under wraps, I can tell your gonna be alright