Meditation

[aryaman]

I'd like to start meditate, lately... it's some time I'm thinking about, I think it's now time

and well, I just don't know where to start from. Over the years I've read many things on meditations, and realized there are several types of meditations, ways, ecc., so I feel, you know, a bit lost!

Can you give any tip, help, introduction about it?

thanks guys, I love you all 8)

 

[Forkbender]

Just sit or lie down comfortable and let it happen. Don't try to turn off your thoughts, but just observe them and let them go, sooner or later (probably later) they will just stop by themselves.

 

[BrainEater]

motionless meditation is a good and easy form of meditation.
all you need to do is to be in a comfortable position... be it lying, sitting or standing ...
and then just observe your surroundings and yourself ... become aware of them and become aware of your own unconscious or subconscious thoughts , but don't force anything... let it happen naturally and avoid to feel a urge of needing to do something or take action.... l
et it happen and don't make it happen. you can close your eyes if you want but it isn't neceessary... try to maintain a focused but sort of loose state of consciousness. with time the experience will get more profound and you will enter the realm of deep consciousness, which is very fascinating.
i think i read somewhere that it is really important that you really let it flow and don't try to force anything or influence the experience itself by letting your conditioned mind take control.

i hope i could help a bit and if you want to know something just ask, i will try to answer the best i can.


peace and have fun :weedman:

 

[Mozzy]

One thing i found that helped me when i first started was to count to 10 with each breath you take and start over. You will start to notice its not as easy as it sounds because your mind starts to wonder and focus on other things. The idea isn't necessarly to focus on the numbers, but to put your mind in a more neutral position. sit down and experiment with different methods. Just remember a goal in meditating is to be calm and free minded. As thoughts come, let them come. Dont dwell on them but dont try to rid of them either... just let them pass through. It takes practice and patience.

 

[grifter7]

make yourself extremely comfortable like imagine youre in a brilliant place

 

[toogoodforyou]

I'd like to start meditate, lately... it's some time I'm thinking about, I think it's now time

and well, I just don't know where to start from. Over the years I've read many things on meditations, and realized there are several types of meditations, ways, ecc., so I feel, you know, a bit lost!

Can you give any tip, help, introduction about it?

thanks guys, I love you all 8)

There are many techniques out there. Just pick one and start.

Starting and not analyzing is the solution.

I like the 'Sudarshan Kriya' by the organization Art of Living. Don't care about the organization but the technique is pretty good.

 

[????????]

stop reading this thread right now and just turn off any electronics and sit/lay somewhere still for a prolonged lapse of time. whatever works for you. when i started i could only feel "different" if more than half an hour to forty minutes had passed. right now i can more easily slip into deeper states of consciousness by fifteen minutes. be patient, when you think about it, stopping the internal monologue is something of the most difficult tasks conceivable. it's like: "think about nothing" and one doesn't, one thinks about thinking about nothing..

 

[JJJ]

I always practise 'zen' meditation. I would say that for 'learning' meditation it can be very helpful to take some lessons or some kind of course with an experiences teacher. For my type of meditation, I think I know quite well what it's 'about' and how the technique works. But on the side of actually applying it and going 'far' into mediation, I am an absolute beginner lol. (I am far from zen in most of my daily life )

What I do, is sit crosslegged (half lotus) on a small cushion. My back is straight, shoulders relaxed and eyes are half closed looking down. The posture should be very stable, 'like a mountain' as buddhists say, resting on the three points of your bottom and both knees ideally. Especially for learning a good meditation posture I think having lessons can be nice. And well, what I 'do' basically comes down to 'do nothing else than sitting'. That is the most important idea, besides that concept I think you just need a certain openness of mind and your meditation is right automatically. Of course what happens when you try this, is all kinds of thoughts come into your mind and 'you' start to do all kinds of things in your mind that distract you from 'just sitting'. Thus, you move your attention from your head into your belly, by very very attentively following your breath. Counting helps with this; normally one counts from one to ten repetitively, inhaling at 1, exhaling at 2 etc. 'Be' your breath. Whenever your mind wanders off, you miss the count or count further than ten, draw back your attention to your belly and start again at 1. You will see how hard it is for a human to just sit and count from one to ten for attentively for a couple of times in a row lol! Do not 'identify' with your thoughts; when your mind starts wandering off it means you have identified with a thought; you became the thought and started to wander off with it. As long as you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, you 'are' not them, and where you are is somewhere peaceful. And this peaceful place is what zen mediation learns you to find more and more easily. The essence is not in whether or not you still have thoughts in meditation, but in your perspective towards them. Do you observe them as clouds passing the sitting mountain that is you, or are you drifting with them towards anywhere but Now? The breathing should be slow and come from very deep, around or even below the belly button. Also keep paying attention on your posture and the straightness of your back.

In my experience, after a while, when you do it very mindfully, this gets you in a very peaceful state. But what also happens very often, is that you get really really really bored of it. Because your mind wants to go somewhere, make plans, solve problems etc., wants to be anywhere except Now because it feels uncomfortable there. This is an annoying feeling, but if you can observe it (just observe the feeling of boredom in your mind, instead of 'being bored'), it can really point you towards where you should be in meditation.

Well that is more or less how I practise meditation. What it does for me is that most of the times it gets me into a nice and peaceful state that can last for hours afterwards. Also, I feel that it really does something for me on a deeper level, in a way regular meditation changes the way you see or identify with your ego and deeper levels of your self in a subtle but important way. When I meditate alone I can usually only do it for 15-20 minutes or something, after this my boredom :twisted: gets too strong. In a group it is nice (but sometimes tough) to sit for an hour and do walking meditation in between.

 

[Brugmansia]

Well, this is written in Dutch but it has brought me into inner realms of which I could only have dreamed:

Met mescaline, peyote en andere entheogene middelen als psilocybe kun je je visioenen sturen en een richting geven. Als de trip eenmaal op gang komt, ga je op een stil, afgezonderd, halfduister plekje zitten, zo gemakkelijk mogelijk, op een bank of een stoel. Leg je handen op elkaar in je schoot, met de handpalmen naar boven (linkerhand boven) en sluit je ogen. Ontspan. Dit is de gemakkelijkste houding. Concentreer je op het middel dat je hebt genomen en visualiseer, dat wil zeggen verbeeld je, de plant, of boom, of paddestoel of cactus waarvan het afkomstig is. Wacht tot er een beeld of een beeldenreeks voor je ogen verschijnt. Spreek met jezelf af dat dit de Geest van de plant is en stel jezelf aan deze geest voor. Wees niet verbaasd als je bijvoorbeeld in je fantasie knielt. Wacht tot je voelt dat er een soort energiestroom ontstaat tussen jou en wat je ziet. Dit is niet moeilijk; het gaat als het ware vanzelf. Als je nu een vraag stelt, of aan iets of iemand denkt, begint het beeld te veranderen. Ga daarin mee, laat je rustig drijven op de golven van de stroom. Na verloop van tijd kom je daar terecht waar je wilde zijn. Als je verder wilt, of je drijft weg van waar je was, stel je een nieuwe vraag of je laat je gaan en ziet wel waar je uitkomt.

Kom je ergens terecht waar het je niet bevalt, dan trek je je terug. Lukt dat niet, roep dan de Geest van het middel te hulp. Je vraagt gewoon van binnen, "Geest, help me." Wat er ook gebeurt, laat het middel rustig zijn gang gaan. Drijf mee, zweef mee. Als het natuurlijke middelen zijn en het is je eigen, bewuste keuze geweest om te trippen, en je hebt je gehouden aan de regels van voorzichtigheid en soberheid, zal alles goed gaan. Soms moeten we eerst door moeilijke gebieden heen om vervolgens iets moois mee te maken. Juist op de moeilijke plekken leer je het meest. Daar worden we gewezen op onze zwakheden, fouten en ijdelheden. Alles wat je meemaakt en tegenkomt, kun je je later herinneren, en kun je later verwerken.

De ene keer ga je steeds verder en kom je in de kosmos terecht; een andere keer kom je steeds dichter bij je jezelf, tot je geboorte en daarvoor. Als je eenmaal geleerd hebt te vertrouwen op de Geest van het middel en op jezelf, zijn er geen grenzen meer.

 

[UniversalConsciousness]

Well, this is written in Dutch but it has brought me into inner realms of which I could only have dreamed:

Met mescaline, peyote en andere entheogene middelen als psilocybe kun je je visioenen sturen en een richting geven. Als de trip eenmaal op gang komt, ga je op een stil, afgezonderd, halfduister plekje zitten, zo gemakkelijk mogelijk, op een bank of een stoel. Leg je handen op elkaar in je schoot, met de handpalmen naar boven (linkerhand boven) en sluit je ogen. Ontspan. Dit is de gemakkelijkste houding. Concentreer je op het middel dat je hebt genomen en visualiseer, dat wil zeggen verbeeld je, de plant, of boom, of paddestoel of cactus waarvan het afkomstig is. Wacht tot er een beeld of een beeldenreeks voor je ogen verschijnt. Spreek met jezelf af dat dit de Geest van de plant is en stel jezelf aan deze geest voor. Wees niet verbaasd als je bijvoorbeeld in je fantasie knielt. Wacht tot je voelt dat er een soort energiestroom ontstaat tussen jou en wat je ziet. Dit is niet moeilijk; het gaat als het ware vanzelf. Als je nu een vraag stelt, of aan iets of iemand denkt, begint het beeld te veranderen. Ga daarin mee, laat je rustig drijven op de golven van de stroom. Na verloop van tijd kom je daar terecht waar je wilde zijn. Als je verder wilt, of je drijft weg van waar je was, stel je een nieuwe vraag of je laat je gaan en ziet wel waar je uitkomt.

Kom je ergens terecht waar het je niet bevalt, dan trek je je terug. Lukt dat niet, roep dan de Geest van het middel te hulp. Je vraagt gewoon van binnen, "Geest, help me." Wat er ook gebeurt, laat het middel rustig zijn gang gaan. Drijf mee, zweef mee. Als het natuurlijke middelen zijn en het is je eigen, bewuste keuze geweest om te trippen, en je hebt je gehouden aan de regels van voorzichtigheid en soberheid, zal alles goed gaan. Soms moeten we eerst door moeilijke gebieden heen om vervolgens iets moois mee te maken. Juist op de moeilijke plekken leer je het meest. Daar worden we gewezen op onze zwakheden, fouten en ijdelheden. Alles wat je meemaakt en tegenkomt, kun je je later herinneren, en kun je later verwerken.

De ene keer ga je steeds verder en kom je in de kosmos terecht; een andere keer kom je steeds dichter bij je jezelf, tot je geboorte en daarvoor. Als je eenmaal geleerd hebt te vertrouwen op de Geest van het middel en op jezelf, zijn er geen grenzen meer.

That roughly translated into english (not perfect grammer) is;

With mescaline, peyote and other entheogene means as a psilocybe, you can steer your visions and give a direction. If the trip comes once on course, you go on a quiet, isolated, sit half-dark spot, as easy possible, on a bank or a chair. Lay your hands on each other in you shot, closes with the palms to above (left hand above) and your eyes. Relax. This is the easiest attitude. Concentrate you on the means that you have taken and visualize, that will say depicted you, the plant, or tree, or mushroom or cactus of which the originating is. Watch till it an image or an image series for your eyes appeared. Speak with yourself finished that this the Mind of the plant is and put yourself at this mind for. Ups and downs you amazed do not kneels as for instance in your phantasy. Watch till you feel that it a kind of energy stream arises between you and what you see. This is not difficult; it goes were as it by itself. If you put now a question, or think of something or someone, begins to change the image. Go in that with, let you calm drive on the waves of the stream. In time come you that correct where you had to be. If you further want, or you drive way of where you was, put you a new question or you let you go and sees well where you come out.

You do not come gives birth somewhere in the right place where it you, pull then you yourself back. Succeeds that not, call then the Mind of the means to help. You ask normally from in, "Mind, help me." What it also lifted, want to go the means calm its course. Drive with, float with. If the natural means are and it you are own, bewuste choice been round to trips, and you have loved you at the rules caution and frugality, will everything good go. Sometimes we must to make firstly something through difficult areas away then well with. Right on the difficult spots you learn it mostly. There we are pointed on our weaknesses, mistakes and vanities. Everything you experience and meets, can remind can process you yourself later on, and you later on.

One turn go you always further and come you in the cosmos correct; someone else turn come you always closer to you yourself, until your birth and for that reason. If you once learned have are the Mind of the means and on yourself, there to trust no borders more.

 

[UniversalConsciousness]

I personally think entheogens/psychedelics significantly improve meditation and make it easier.....it certainly cranks up your meditative awareness to 10 or beyond.

Use some pot for the everyday meditation, whether it be breathing or mantra meditation.....but it also works especially good for the light meditation when you focus on the different imagery with your eyes closed...as pot is known to increase that imagery anyways. I find that the whole state of consciousness of pot feels so eastern in general.

The same can be done with shrooms once a week.....except it will be cranked up a notch from pot of course, especially if it is a heroic high dose. Ego dissolution is a lot more possible with shrooms in conjunction with meditation done with the pot. Yes it's the same principle with lsd or mescaline too, but they too should be at a heroic dose. Though I suppose a heroic high dose of pot would be of similar magnitude.

It would be awesome if a religion exists that meditates in conjunction with entheogens......that way the said spiritual practice would take the best from shamanic medicine-based voyaging and mystical practice into one religion. A school of buddhism should develop this....it would be quite interesting. The monastic life would consist of meditating everyday with pot as an aide and meditating on the weekend with 5-7 grams of shrooms.

This would be an easier religion to preserve too as pot and shrooms can be easily grown by the monks of this order. Oh and tantric orgies among monks and nuns would be a wise thing too, for more boundary dissolution.

 

[aryaman]

Hey guys, thanks for all the precious answers

I started from when I opened this topic to practice, with many difficoult to be onest!
I found usefull the thing of counting 'til ten and again with my breath, also I've read about it a Osho book time ago.

The pot tip... well, I don't smoke, but the shroom part is interesting

I've tried many times every day, but... well, every time I think "am I doing right? Should I change position, or is it ok?". I definetly would like a guide, just to start.

Today I went to a little bosque near here, and tried again. Was a very sunny day, with no one around. First I sit, but the thoughts continued to come and after a while i felt really tired of stop them (I know I shouldn't, and should let them go, but it's a hard perception for me!)

Then, I lay. I like to meditate in a lay position, but there's a usual problem: at the beginning I feel good, and things seems easier, but after a while i just fall asleep.

I guess it shouldn't happen!

But... I hope those problems are normal (except that I can't keep an half lotus for a leg problem, right now), and I'll continue trieng. The little I've done since now (especially walking, when I walk I really feel I can clear my mind) was effective and seem very usefull, especially for a high-dose-psychedelic situation.

To let just go, don't panic, and let be.

UniversalConsciousness, thanks for the translation of Brugmansia, I really don't understand dutch

 

[????????]

I think "am I doing right? Should I change position, or is it ok?"

hint: there's no "right" position.

 

[Crimzen]

I've tried many times every day, but... well, every time I think "am I doing right? Should I change position, or is it ok?". I definetly would like a guide, just to start.

First I sit, but the thoughts continued to come and after a while i felt really tired of stop them (I know I shouldn't, and should let them go, but it's a hard perception for me!)

You can meditate in any position that is comfortable enough

dont try to stop the thoughts just be quiet and let your mind be quiet
it takes a little practice but if you keep at it you'll be fine

 

[UniversalConsciousness]

The pot tip... well, I don't smoke

Well you don't have to smoke it, cooking and eating pot works fine too . In fact the effects of it maybe more and of longer duration, depending on the amount ingested.

 

[Guest]

The best thing about meditation is, it helps to calm yourself a bit and focus on things, amidst several chaos happening around.
There are several types of meditation and depending on the one, the method of meditating differs. You would get the best result, when you are properly learning this from a guru. There are lot of meditation classes and you can enquire about the same in your locality and join one.
Live Bing