Meditation

WolfmansBrother · 03-22-2005, 11:55 AM

Who here meditates? MY piano teacher suggests that i do that to lessen my anxiety and expand my mind. my only question was how long did you have to meditate for before it began to "pay off"?

Hedons · 03-22-2005, 12:21 PM

Once you learn to get "there" during meditation it will pay off.

-Hedons

pullmeunder · 03-22-2005, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hedons

Once you learn to get "there" during meditation it will pay off.

-Hedons

i've heard that it can take years of discipline to achieve enlightenment

snapshot · 03-22-2005, 12:50 PM

Not enlightenment. That takes a lifetime. It may take years or months to get into meditating though and get a good system to get "there".

Hedons · 03-22-2005, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pullmeunder

i've heard that it can take years of discipline to achieve enlightenment

I don't think I achieve enlightenment by any means, but I am definately in a very different state of consciousness.

-Hedons

Canuck Wisdom · 03-22-2005, 02:56 PM

I do.... but only sporaticaly and I find it difficult to do for long to be honest.

I'm doing it more now then ever though

so I have high hopes.... I gotta get to that, I really believe it would make my life better (if I believe, it will work either way, score!)

snapshot · 03-22-2005, 03:25 PM

I think doing it for any amount of time is good. Even for 5 minutes, just trying to clear your mind, whether it be by willing yourself a clear mind of by using a mantra (a windshield wiper for thoughts) can be beneficial.

Every night you should just see how long you can hold your position. After a while of sitting you'll realize the best way to be comfortable and have good posture for the best blood flow to the brain. You don't even really need to work on the mind to feel the effects. Just posture. After a while you'll be able to get into position much easier and with much less effort so the mind exercises become easier.

If you have any questions just keep posting. People here are constantly practicing and want to bounce ideas off the newbies as often as possible.

Also

Ace Channel on Winamp TV teaches Tai Chi (or Qi Gong, I'm not sure) practice. Just watch and study the positions and even mimic the guy you see. You'll learn about energy and how well it can work for your positive mindset.

Canuck Wisdom · 03-22-2005, 04:19 PM

I usually try and sit for a while in my dark room before I go to bed. It defeats the purpose if I lean my back against my bed eh? Usually I get a good 10-15 min in when I do it.

I really just get sore in my back, and occasionally a shoot in my neck/head.

I have good posture while standing, but maybe when I'm sitting in school and here at the computer I need to straighten up.

I do get alot out of even that though, I mean, I really become in tuned with my mind and its so much easier to clear thoughts from my head then it was when I first stated trying it out last summer. (I used to do it in the bush all the time... smoke bongs and sit there... I kind of stopped when it got cold outside).

Sometimes I use a mantra... sometimes I use like a visual one, where a wave comes and washes away all my thoughts and I have nothing but empty.

Thx for ideas.

snapshot · 03-22-2005, 04:26 PM

I dont think you should be getting a shooting pain. The posture should be good yet comfortable. You should feel it out for yourself. Don't have any preconceived notions about what good posture should be. Everyone's different. Feel out as many individual muscles as you can to relax the muscles by your glutes and to contract as few muscles as needed to straighten your posture. It should be a push and pull game until you find a good position. It should be calming enough just feeling out the muscles in your back.

Your posture should get better when you start using half and full lotus positions, as I have found.

Canuck Wisdom · 03-22-2005, 06:24 PM

What are these lotus positions.

I think I might need a new pillow or something, my neck bothers me everyonce in a while. And my back has been hurting for a while now, not sure if its from slouching in chairs or from working out, probably both.

I'll try this stuff out tonight.

snapshot · 03-22-2005, 10:46 PM

Sit in cross legged position. Then put both feet on top of your legs like an upsidedown crosslegged position. It may be hard at first but try your best. Half-lotus is only placing one foot on top of your leg.

Darkfire · 03-23-2005, 05:39 AM

you dont seem like someone who could make any use of meditation.

snapshot · 03-23-2005, 10:51 AM

Ya never know ^

WolfmansBrother · 03-24-2005, 06:59 AM

My Meditation problem is that i cant sit there long enough by like 5-10 minutes i find it very diffucult to control my thoughts.

Hedons · 03-24-2005, 07:28 AM

Try to actively think about nothing.

If that doesn't work, see if you can find someone to guide you in meditation so that you understand by experience what it is you're trying to achieve. It will be easier for you to duplicate on your own.

I have guided a few people through meditation; people who had never been successful on their own because they weren't quite sure how to do it.

-Hedons

WolfmansBrother · 03-24-2005, 12:39 PM

Well how do you think about thinking about nothing when you cant think?

the only person who could guide my is my piano teacher but he gets paid to much for him to not teach me piano i think. but meditation is worth it also

Hedons · 03-24-2005, 01:48 PM

You might be taking me a little too literally, but the basic idea is to think about nothing or to not think of anything.

Sounds cryptic, but really it's not.

-Hedons

Ego Tripping · 03-24-2005, 02:10 PM

The idea is focus on not focusing. Yes, its a contradiction and a paradox...thats why it takes tons of practice to attain. Your mind is not used to 'stillness' and will want to keep turning and turning with thought...the key is to not stop the turnings, but to turn WITH your thoughts. Allow your mind to race, accept that it is racing and do not control the thoughts, let them flow. Eventually, your mind starts to 'settle' and clarity (or the beginning stages of) is achieved. If you're just starting, it might take up to 20 mins for your thoughts to even begin to relax. Just keep at it, everything takes practice to perfect and Meditation is one of the most metally disciplined practices you can perform. If you keep an open mind and don't expect IMMEDIATE results, you'll eventually make it past the mental noise and its smooth sailing from there on out.

You don't even have to be meditating to practice that state of mind. Try it while walking, driving, anything where you just envelop yourself into the moment. I think the best advice I can give is to pretend you're shrooming. If I took one thing from my Shrooming experience(s), it's that clarity and ultra-ultra clear consciousness that you recieve during a Trip. Anytime I want to throw myself into that state of mind, I simply pretend that I am in that state of mind again.

I meditate everynight before bed for as long as I feel, then lay down immediately after. Not only does it help me sleep but also encourages really vivid dreams and for some reason, I always feel 100% better than normal when I wake up.

wanderlust · 03-24-2005, 02:10 PM

one mistake, which many people make, is they are trying to hard, meditation isn't something you can force yourself into. stop trying to meditate, just let it all be, just let your mind do what it will and you'll find that your thoughts will naturally slow, don't be disappointed if it takes a while and you still can't quiet your thoughts, your a beginner it's perfectly normal. also, part of the reason so many people find it hard to meditate is that they are afraid to stop the brain, they are afraid to stop thinking, they mistake this train of thoughts as to be what makes them exist. heres a simile for ya... say the brain is a lake, and you want it to be perfectly still, tranquil and calm, and we'll call the thoughts the ripples on the lake. everytime you have a thought it creates ripples on the stillness of the mind, but if you try to forcefully smooth those ripples back out it will only create more ripples. you have to just let your thoughts be, and one day the ripples will all disappear.

WolfmansBrother · 03-24-2005, 06:25 PM

no i was kidding about thinking about not thinking. I get the concept its just difficult for me to do it.

ill do some yoga so my body is relaxed then ill meditate and its cool for about ten minutes then my brain just goes everywhere.

03-22-2005, 12:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
Hedons Ribbed for her pleasure! Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Chicago Burbs. Delta(x) times Delta(p) is greater than or equal to h-bar over two. Posts: 4,645 Thanks: 23 Thanked 189 Times in 101 Posts	Once you learn to get "there" during meditation it will pay off. -Hedons __________________ New and improved! Now with flushable applicator.

03-22-2005, 12:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
snapshot no custom. customize Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The unOriginal Rorschach. Posts: 19,305 Thanks: 15 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	Not enlightenment. That takes a lifetime. It may take years or months to get into meditating though and get a good system to get "there". __________________ We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Richard Dawkins

03-22-2005, 03:25 PM	#7 (permalink)
snapshot no custom. customize Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The unOriginal Rorschach. Posts: 19,305 Thanks: 15 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	I think doing it for any amount of time is good. Even for 5 minutes, just trying to clear your mind, whether it be by willing yourself a clear mind of by using a mantra (a windshield wiper for thoughts) can be beneficial. Every night you should just see how long you can hold your position. After a while of sitting you'll realize the best way to be comfortable and have good posture for the best blood flow to the brain. You don't even really need to work on the mind to feel the effects. Just posture. After a while you'll be able to get into position much easier and with much less effort so the mind exercises become easier. If you have any questions just keep posting. People here are constantly practicing and want to bounce ideas off the newbies as often as possible. Also Ace Channel on Winamp TV teaches Tai Chi (or Qi Gong, I'm not sure) practice. Just watch and study the positions and even mimic the guy you see. You'll learn about energy and how well it can work for your positive mindset. __________________ We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Richard Dawkins

03-22-2005, 04:26 PM	#9 (permalink)
snapshot no custom. customize Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The unOriginal Rorschach. Posts: 19,305 Thanks: 15 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	I dont think you should be getting a shooting pain. The posture should be good yet comfortable. You should feel it out for yourself. Don't have any preconceived notions about what good posture should be. Everyone's different. Feel out as many individual muscles as you can to relax the muscles by your glutes and to contract as few muscles as needed to straighten your posture. It should be a push and pull game until you find a good position. It should be calming enough just feeling out the muscles in your back. Your posture should get better when you start using half and full lotus positions, as I have found. __________________ We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Richard Dawkins

03-22-2005, 10:46 PM	#11 (permalink)
snapshot no custom. customize Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The unOriginal Rorschach. Posts: 19,305 Thanks: 15 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	Sit in cross legged position. Then put both feet on top of your legs like an upsidedown crosslegged position. It may be hard at first but try your best. Half-lotus is only placing one foot on top of your leg. __________________ We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Richard Dawkins

03-23-2005, 05:39 AM	#12 (permalink)
Darkfire Old School Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 71 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	you dont seem like someone who could make any use of meditation.

03-23-2005, 10:51 AM	#13 (permalink)
snapshot no custom. customize Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The unOriginal Rorschach. Posts: 19,305 Thanks: 15 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	Ya never know ^ __________________ We are all atheists about most of the gods that society has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. -Richard Dawkins

03-24-2005, 07:28 AM	#15 (permalink)
Hedons Ribbed for her pleasure! Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Chicago Burbs. Delta(x) times Delta(p) is greater than or equal to h-bar over two. Posts: 4,645 Thanks: 23 Thanked 189 Times in 101 Posts	Try to actively think about nothing. If that doesn't work, see if you can find someone to guide you in meditation so that you understand by experience what it is you're trying to achieve. It will be easier for you to duplicate on your own. I have guided a few people through meditation; people who had never been successful on their own because they weren't quite sure how to do it. -Hedons __________________ New and improved! Now with flushable applicator.

03-24-2005, 01:48 PM	#17 (permalink)
Hedons Ribbed for her pleasure! Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Chicago Burbs. Delta(x) times Delta(p) is greater than or equal to h-bar over two. Posts: 4,645 Thanks: 23 Thanked 189 Times in 101 Posts	You might be taking me a little too literally, but the basic idea is to think about nothing or to not think of anything. Sounds cryptic, but really it's not. -Hedons __________________ New and improved! Now with flushable applicator.

03-24-2005, 02:10 PM	#18 (permalink)
Ego Tripping Are you in? Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 13,461 Thanks: 229 Thanked 657 Times in 438 Posts	The idea is focus on not focusing. Yes, its a contradiction and a paradox...thats why it takes tons of practice to attain. Your mind is not used to 'stillness' and will want to keep turning and turning with thought...the key is to not stop the turnings, but to turn WITH your thoughts. Allow your mind to race, accept that it is racing and do not control the thoughts, let them flow. Eventually, your mind starts to 'settle' and clarity (or the beginning stages of) is achieved. If you're just starting, it might take up to 20 mins for your thoughts to even begin to relax. Just keep at it, everything takes practice to perfect and Meditation is one of the most metally disciplined practices you can perform. If you keep an open mind and don't expect IMMEDIATE results, you'll eventually make it past the mental noise and its smooth sailing from there on out. You don't even have to be meditating to practice that state of mind. Try it while walking, driving, anything where you just envelop yourself into the moment. I think the best advice I can give is to pretend you're shrooming. If I took one thing from my Shrooming experience(s), it's that clarity and ultra-ultra clear consciousness that you recieve during a Trip. Anytime I want to throw myself into that state of mind, I simply pretend that I am in that state of mind again. I meditate everynight before bed for as long as I feel, then lay down immediately after. Not only does it help me sleep but also encourages really vivid dreams and for some reason, I always feel 100% better than normal when I wake up. __________________ God appears, and God is light, To those poor souls who dwell in night; But does a human form display To those who dwell in realms of day.

03-24-2005, 02:10 PM	#19 (permalink)
wanderlust Old School Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: various places in CO Posts: 1,276 Thanks: 45 Thanked 31 Times in 20 Posts	one mistake, which many people make, is they are trying to hard, meditation isn't something you can force yourself into. stop trying to meditate, just let it all be, just let your mind do what it will and you'll find that your thoughts will naturally slow, don't be disappointed if it takes a while and you still can't quiet your thoughts, your a beginner it's perfectly normal. also, part of the reason so many people find it hard to meditate is that they are afraid to stop the brain, they are afraid to stop thinking, they mistake this train of thoughts as to be what makes them exist. heres a simile for ya... say the brain is a lake, and you want it to be perfectly still, tranquil and calm, and we'll call the thoughts the ripples on the lake. everytime you have a thought it creates ripples on the stillness of the mind, but if you try to forcefully smooth those ripples back out it will only create more ripples. you have to just let your thoughts be, and one day the ripples will all disappear.

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