- Whatever age you are now, whatever state you’re in, once you go forward, you cannot go back. You must go out there are get life: continue to meditate, let your self outweigh your egoic fears—love others the way you wish to be loved. There won’t be one more time.
- Is gratitude the most powerful human emotion?
- You know you've reached a trance state of meditation when a bug lands on your body and you don't react to it.
- “God’s voice is the silence.”_AG
- Has anyone here meditated for an entire day?
- Gave up on sitting cross legged and enjoyed meditation a lot more!
- I have been meditating for 3 weeks now but my depression is still strong. Am I doing something wrong?
- Boredom, not knowing what to do with free time - WISDOM
- Does anyone feel like meditation makes things worse ?
- At what time of the day do you meditate?
- Meditation making me weirder?
- Looking for a name of an author
- I want to explore this situation further and would like your insight into the what & how.
- 100 Days Straight of Meditation—Atypical Results, Experiences, Lessons Learned
- How do I separate from others?
- OBE/dissociating/sleep paralysis during new moon meditation?
- A question of dealing with inner rage
- Help!! I May Be Getting In The Way Of Myself!!
- I forgot my mobile phone passcode after meditating for 1 hour.
- How can I get rid of my stress headaches through meditation?
- Where to start?
- After a few months of meditation I feel like it's not working anymore
- I'm leaving too (inspired by a post I saw earlier here)
| Posted: 21 Jun 2020 09:48 PM PDT |
| Is gratitude the most powerful human emotion? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 01:32 PM PDT I once took a very high dose of mushrooms that caused my mind to completely fragment and made me feel like I was permanently descending into madness and would never come back. I lost all sense of myself and of time, unable to speak or even think coherently. Reality itself seemed to be disintegrating. It was at the end of the trip when I had the most intense moment however, as I was starting to come down and realized my faculties were in fact returning - I was swept away by this almost euphorically intense happiness that I was still alive and had a functioning mind and body. This easily ranks with the most powerful emotional experiences in my life, but I didn't realize until today that what I was feeling in that moment was just sheer gratitude, gratitude to be alive, gratitude that I had the privilege to be born into this human form and given the opportunity to experience life. This gratitude made me feel for a brief moment that existence was full of wonder and opportunity, and I should cherish each moment that I get to experience it. I quickly lost that feeling of course, but I'm wondering now if this is what underlies the life-changing effects that near death experiences can have - people realize that one day they are going to die so they become more grateful to be alive. If so, can we use meditation (like metta) to cultivate a sense of gratitude to be alive and increase our ability to cherish life? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2020 06:36 AM PDT |
| “God’s voice is the silence.”_AG Posted: 21 Jun 2020 07:01 PM PDT |
| Has anyone here meditated for an entire day? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 04:56 PM PDT |
| Gave up on sitting cross legged and enjoyed meditation a lot more! Posted: 22 Jun 2020 01:11 AM PDT I've previously posted about struggling to sit cross legged and have persevered for a month or so. I'm working on my flexibility but can often find myself readjusting my posture when meditation which distracts me. Today I just sat in a chair with a pillow at my lower back and hands on my knees. I found I was able to slip into the meditation a lot easier and didn't once get distracted by my posture. I just thought it might be worth sharing with some fellow newbies that sitting in a chair until you're more flexible might help you as it did with me today! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2020 06:51 PM PDT |
| Boredom, not knowing what to do with free time - WISDOM Posted: 21 Jun 2020 11:03 PM PDT
You have been struggling with the thought that says "I am supposed to know what to do in my free time"
You don't need to do anything, nor need to know what to do. Just relax. Do whatever feels good to you in the moment. Don't overthink it my g.
There is nothing to do in the present moment. Just be present, be aware of being aware. That is already full contentment and fulfillment. If you are actually grounded in the present moment, you will see you are blissful just being. You won't care about "things to do" because you will see that they are truly meaningless, impermanent. You better focus on the ever-present, which is the awareness of the present moment. Be aware of that.
There are no options. There are never any options. The only option you have, is to watch life unfold. That is the only option you ever have. Anything other than this is pure delusion. You have no control over this body nor mind that you can say "There are many options, I could do many things" No, in the present moment you simply are what is. There is nobody to "do" anything, there are no "options" for anyone. There is simply the infinite being the infinite. There is no need for anything other than that. It doesn't need anything to be added on top of it. Sure you can still do whatever you want, but obviously it is apparent that in fact this kind of mindset is making you overthink, and consequentially suffer. How is it possible that you need "advice" for nothing? I mean you literally don't need advice. You just opened up this thread because a thought told you so. A thought said "Actually I don't know what to do, this is a problem and I need advice about this" But in fact this is just a thought, there is no problem, you don't need any advice, but you believed the thought that said all these things. They are not true, not real, not present. Thoughts are never true. Never believe them. You are never them. You can be without thoughts, yet thoughts can't be without you (the awareness which is ever-presently aware, and naturally aware of all thoughts, emotions and sensations) You as the awareness (sky) don't need to give any importance to any thoughts, emotions or sensations. (clouds passing). You simply remain aware of yourself as the sky, let the clouds pass, and you'll be left with a clear, beautiful sky, full of love, joy, peace and compassion.
Boredom is not real. Boredom is just a thought. Boredom is when you are in the present moment, and comes a thought which says "This is boring" or "I am bored". If you believe these thoughts, it will appear in your reality as if boredom is present. In fact, boredom can't exist, because it is only a thought. So whenever you are bored, just notice the present moment, and the beauty, serenity, peace, love, compassion and joy that is ever-present. You can't be bored when you are aware of the infinite. It is impossible. [link] [comments] |
| Does anyone feel like meditation makes things worse ? Posted: 22 Jun 2020 02:16 AM PDT Whenever I meditate, meh.. I usually get a slight headache after. I breathe into my belly and out. I focus on the breath and when thoughts arise etc I turn my attention back. It just makes me feel more anxious after. Yesterday it made me super angry like in a really weird way. I worry I have too much negative bottled up emotions that it wont help At the same time , months ago i had pyschosis from pyschedelics and i feel like meditation isnt the same after that. Anything isn't the same after that I just want peace. I've tried every other option in life. I'm afraid meditation isnt for me and makes things worse. Doesnt help I was taught growing up meditation is demonic etc . Christianity was drilled into my head unfortunately. [link] [comments] |
| At what time of the day do you meditate? Posted: 22 Jun 2020 02:15 AM PDT |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2020 10:07 PM PDT Has meditation made anyone weirder in others' eyes? For example, I was speaking with my mom today and I've noticed when people talk I'll make a lot more eye contact with them and smile. Sometimes they'll say something and I'll smile and look at them for a bit and not rush to say anything. My mom today was like: "Are you ok? It seems like you're thinking about something else." I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this? I feel like I've become more reserved and quiet and tend to observe things rather than feel the need to talk right away. Maybe I'm not actually present? Not sure. I feel present. It may be that people think I'm not engaged because I don't engage in quick repartee or say things just to respond. I'm not entirely sure though. It may just be my ego secretly being like: "Oh these inferior beings don't notice how present you are." Lol idk. [link] [comments] |
| Looking for a name of an author Posted: 22 Jun 2020 01:28 AM PDT I remember reading a book a few years back, where the jhanas were described as well as some instruction on how to enter into the first one. The author had a eastern European sounding name, and told a story about how he had started meditating to wind down after work and started having weird experiences that no-one could explain before he met a Buddhist monk. The author mentioned having add/ADHD. If anyone knows the name of this dude, I'd really appreciate it! [link] [comments] |
| I want to explore this situation further and would like your insight into the what & how. Posted: 21 Jun 2020 07:10 PM PDT I was playing a game that was rigged for me to lose, but what happened whilst playing this game is what I want to talk about. I'll keep it as brief as possible. The game was to push a button and the bricks stack. At each stack up, you lose a brick and it gets faster. When I'm at the top, it's a single brick that needs to be stacked ontop of a single brick and is moving left to right at its fastest and the game has a timer. This was at an amusement park by the way. What happened was this...I put in 30 dollars (yes I know I know) and that gave me plenty of attempts. All I can describe is the following....In my mind, my vision, I slowed down the brick. All I could feel was my heart beating so so fast and the faster it was beating, the slower the brick at the top became. I could see the brick transition in each square as it moved left to right. It was the most surreal feeling. Everything slowed down for me in that moment. Time slowed down yet I was moving at speed. I even had some passers by watching me and one of them said whoa dude, i cant describe what I'm seeing on you right now but I cant stop watching you. I never won because I later learnt how the game can be rigged by a youtube video. But this feeling I got....I want to buy this game so I can recreate it. Any ideas what was going on or what I went into at that moment? How to recreate it without the game? Its gotta be some form of self hypnosis/concentration right? [link] [comments] |
| 100 Days Straight of Meditation—Atypical Results, Experiences, Lessons Learned Posted: 21 Jun 2020 06:57 PM PDT Today marks the 100th straight day of my meditation journey, totally around 4.4k minutes according to my insight timer. Wow. This journey has been extraordinarily transformative, but not for the reasons I see so often on this subreddit. I felt like it was important to share my experience to help my fellow friends on r/meditation see results that differ from what is shared so frequently on here. My practice started from a place of emptiness and high anxiety, in the midst of a global pandemic, with my entire life flipped upside-down as I returned home from college. I was actually raised Buddhist and went to a Dharma school on Sundays when I was in elementary and middle school, but I absolutely hated it. Needless to say, I never thought I would ever sit my ass on a zafu again in my life. I'm about to be 19 years old and have ADHD so I never thought I would be able to meditate for five minutes, let alone an hour at a time for such a streak. I was especially moved and guided by The Mind Illuminated and Nothing Special by Joko Beck (highly recommend for anyone interested in a book on Zen that is almost never mentioned on here). 100 days ago, I read peoples experiences of their anxiety melting away, boosted concentration and focus, heightened love and compassion, vivid clarity, and serene peace (some after just 30 days of meditation). These experiences spoke so deeply to the dark place I was in that I entered this journey longing for a taste of this "enlightenment." But here I am, 100 days later. Frankly, to be brutally honest, I don't think I've experienced almost anything remarkable or different since I started. But that doesn't mean that meditation has been pointless or deficient of beauty. I don't find myself with a new sense of clarity nor have I expressed deep bouts of sadness. But still I sit every day for an average of an hour and fifteen minutes, read countless books on mindfulness and metta meditation, and know this has been the most transformative experience of my life. Although I am not Awakened, nor see any objective differences in my life, I continue to plant seeds of intention. Equanimity, compassion, and joy can't grow from nothing. No tree grows without a seed planted. Even if 99% of my seeds don't sprout, a forest will grow soon enough if I continue to plant those seeds. And tastes of these states certainly have organically arisen in my everyday life many times since starting my practice—even if it's just a taste. I know that meditation shouldn't be defined by "accomplishments" like these, but I wanted to share a perspective that differs slightly from the other "100 days of meditation" posts. While the obvious changes aren't clear yet, so much is happening behind the scenes. I can't wait to see what this journey continues to bring. [link] [comments] |
| How do I separate from others? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 08:51 PM PDT How can I just separate from others? So this ends? Is this connection, that i hate. Keeps me in disgust. When they say something it "needs" to have an impact on me, regardless I want it or not. It "have" to be anxiety fear. I "have" to care about other. I "have" to love them when I don't. I don't want their suffering to have any impact on me. I don't want to have to deal with anyone. I don't want to deal with other people rubbish. If they suffer fine, I don't want to be bothered with it. If you suffer shut up, and keep it to yourself. I want to be free, in detachment, coldness, nothingness, we are human beings, we are warm, we "need each other", is love, is bond, right? Is just "nature", is natural to need to talk, to show others you are alive, to touch (not inappropiate touches like when you shake your hand or put your hand on someone's shoulder "it's alright man."). Abd since we are different all these things that seems good are bound to fail. Become something that is defineable as 'evil'. If you die I don't care, millions of people died already eijstence is the same. We are way too different. I want to see my life, alone, in nothingness. The way you come you go. I don't want others in my life, except for 'selfish' reasons. People come and go. You don't need them. Life goes in waves without them or you. So saying this, I want to be disconnected from others bullshit. I don't say this from hatred. Not even disgust. Is compassion somehow. This simply doesn't work. All this human ties, bonding, fear, empathy, etc. Are like cancer, once something goes wrong, it spirals. Look at your family, or others family. It's like disease these ties. I want to cut them. I want people out of my mind. I want to be emotionless, in the sense, that when others say something it doesn't affevt me in the slightest. Being fear, embarassment, whatever. Because this issues are borned in empathy. Pay attention to this. You say you don't care but if you feel fear and are not in front of a lion is bonding. Is human. Is bad. All this love, family, friends, and attachment misery needs to end. I want to feel like at 5 years old again: bilssfull, innocent, indifferent, cold, observer. This stuff created misery in my mind, tense, kept my mind occupied, I have only one life. I want to live it full without rubbish. Without others rubbish. These ties needs to die. They look good in the begginning but only creates misery. So many retarded people, only if you would be able to simply cut ties, and be free. They can do whatsoever they want, you cut the ties. You don't care. Good or evil people. Is irrelevant. I want this circus to end. [link] [comments] |
| OBE/dissociating/sleep paralysis during new moon meditation? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 08:45 PM PDT i know this is a long one but i need answers! every new moon/full moon i do a small ritual which involves meditation. i usually do some kundalini yoga as well but i was too sleepy and tired by the time the new moon peaked that i decided to just meditate. i have been practicing kundalini yoga along with meditation for 2+ years on and off (some time periods i would do it every day, other time periods i'd do it once every two weeks). during one of the time periods i was doing it consistently, i was able to reach a meditative state where i was beside me? sort of an extremely calm state where there are no thoughts and you forget you even think? just existing but not even thinking that you exist? just blank but very pleasant? anyways, i've been reaching that state every time i meditate nowadays since i'm back to kundalini and meditating every day. time for my ritual. the first thing i do is meditate. i reach that no thought state but this time i'm going from no thought to almost asleep. this happened several times (around 5). i'd jolt myself awake every time i'd feel myself almost falling asleep. i would feel extremely calm when in the no thought state but when i felt myself drifting off to sleep, i started panicking so i would wake myself up. i felt very unsettled every time i'd almost fall asleep and thought that there was some shadow in front of my feet (i was in shavasana) and i felt intuitively that i must not fall asleep? (i've never had sleep paralysis and have only had an OBE during an extremely traumatic event). at one point, somewhere in between—or maybe past—the no thought state and almost falling asleep state, i feel something completely different and alien to me that terrified me. i felt my consciousness? hover slightly on top of myself but everything was dark. nothing. it wasn't like i was looking down on myself or seeing/feeling/thinking anything for that matter. it felt like my soul wasn't in my body but slightly above it? that's what terrified me. it wasn't the peaceful, calm no thought state at all. the no thought state would be "blank," while this unsettling state would be "obscure." this lasted a second tops and i jolted myself awake again. i know for a fact all my chakras aren't open/balanced and that my body and spirit are nowhere near "kundalini enlightenment," or whatever unless i'm some kind of yogic prodigy. and the chances for that are slim to none. has something like this happened to anyone? what is it that i experienced? and how can i prevent myself from ever experiencing it again? am i going mental? PLS HELP. [link] [comments] |
| A question of dealing with inner rage Posted: 21 Jun 2020 07:48 PM PDT This is a complicated topic for me to write about. The experience is difficult to articulate. I am not new to meditation. I have remained fairly consistent for the last year and a half. During my meditation sessions I have the usual problems such as running thoughts and feelings of restlessness. However, lately, I have been feeling a huge surge of negative emotion. It never happens during meditation, but sometime after. The feelings are diverse but can be described as venomous, jealous, and rage filled. I never act on them but negative energy has a tendency to extrude in other ways. I have not had any major life changes. I wonder if anyone else has experienced anything similar. Almost as if my refinement of my meditative practice is leading to issues somewhere else. Again, I know this is a strange post. If anyone has any advice or direction let me know. [link] [comments] |
| Help!! I May Be Getting In The Way Of Myself!! Posted: 21 Jun 2020 08:02 AM PDT Hey all, i have a fairly quick question I'm hoping someone might be able to answer. I've been meditating (mindfulness/breath meditation 20 minutes a day, lately 2 to 3 times a day) consistently for about a year and have experienced various shifts in my ideas about what I'm experiencing while meditating. About 3 months into my practice, I started noticing that, if I could get into a session enough, it seemed as if I was "stepping back" and successfully observing my thoughts as they came and went, much like observing clouds pass across the sky. This was in stark contrast to my very early sessions, in which I would get carried away by these thoughts and literally forget that I was meditating! I identified with the thing that was "stepping back" and started calling it "The Observer". I basically came to the conclusion that my thoughts were not me (i read this multiple times in books, threads, etc., so this was not an idea born from nothing lol). I started thinking that the real me was this "Observer" that was stepping back to watch thoughts come and go. It was a pretty cool experience for me. After this, I started reading Sam Harris' Waking Up. In it, he talks about how the "Observer" is actually an illusion. He says that this is what we call the self and that meditation can help you to see this illusion and come to experience the selfless nature of the mind. At the same time, I had read an article stating that this experience of "The Observer" is actually just a series of smaller thoughts that should be identified as thoughts, not as the self. And indeed, as I experience this "Observer", I start to realize that it is also a thought! It's almost as if I had identified with the black screen behind my closed eyes and called it The Observer! Now, when I try to think about the thing that is experiencing all of the thoughts passing by, I can't find anything to identify with. However, there is indeed SOMETHING experiencing all of these thoughts passing through my head....right?? Where should I be taking all this? What is the thing that is experiencing all this subjective phenomena?? I feel like my practice is deepening, but is it really? Or am I getting lost?? Am I getting closer to the point, or further away? Thanks in advance for reading this. I hope to hear from you all soon. [link] [comments] |
| I forgot my mobile phone passcode after meditating for 1 hour. Posted: 21 Jun 2020 11:22 PM PDT |
| How can I get rid of my stress headaches through meditation? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 11:19 PM PDT I'm absolutely stressed by recent world events. Anyone have meditation techniques to lower their stress headaches? I tried the root chakra meditation and I end up losing focus and fall asleep. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2020 10:23 PM PDT I am really new to meditation, but want to start. Where should I begin? I watched some YouTube videos about it, but that can only go so far. How long should I meditate for and how often? Should I have background noise or should I be in silence? [link] [comments] |
| After a few months of meditation I feel like it's not working anymore Posted: 21 Jun 2020 01:36 PM PDT I started meditating when quarantine started. It really helped me feel okay about the things going on in my life and helped me feel better about my daily life. I struggle with mental health and focus, and often my anxiety about doing things makes it really difficult to do them. A few months down the line, after doing a head's pace course, in the past few weeks I've felt more frustrated while meditating. I have trouble focusing and I don't get the same feeling of peace that I used to afterwards. Also, I've had a lot more trouble being mindful in my daily life. I don't understand why this is happening. [link] [comments] |
| I'm leaving too (inspired by a post I saw earlier here) Posted: 21 Jun 2020 01:16 PM PDT As the title says I'm leaving this sub as well. I saw a post earlier from a guy who said he's leaving to "start fresh" and after giving it some thought I realized that this might be useful for me too because all I do is browse around here without actually implementing anything on long course. I tried meditating on and off for a while now, but I always failed. The information is present as I know about different methods of meditation, it just needs to be applied. I learned a lot of stuff lurking around here in the past 3 months. Thanks guys, [link] [comments] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Meditation. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment