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    Meditation: Meditation is the most useful skill you can master

    June 30, 2021

    Meditation: Meditation is the most useful skill you can master

    Meditation is the most useful skill you can master

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 11:47 AM PDT

    "It can bring the mind to the end of suffering, something no other skill can do. But it's also the most subtle and demanding skill there is. It requires all the mental qualities ordinarily involved in mastering a physical skill — mindfulness and alertness, persistence and patience, discipline and ingenuity" - Thanissaro Bhikkhu

    I've been notably seeing a lot of post about how hard is meditation and I thought this would be of help to someone. Meditation is really as hard but it is a skill that must be master and if it's well achieve in brings invaluable benefits to oneself

    Source

    submitted by /u/Optimal_Boot_1359
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    How to Achieve Enlightenment in Just One Sitting

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 09:33 AM PDT

    In the hills outside Kyoto live an order of holy men, known to Westerners as "The Marathon Monks."

    They believe that enlightenment can be achieved in this lifetime. But only through extreme self-denial and only if you're willing to die for it. So, they created a challenge they call the Kaihogyo.

    You either complete the challenge, or you kill yourself. Seriously, they run with a rope and a short sword.

    The Kaihogyo goes something like this: in year one, two and three, you run 18 miles a day for 100 days in a row. Then, in years four and five, you run 18 miles a day for 200 days in a row. In years six and seven, you build up to 52 miles a day for 100 days in a row.

    During the first 100 days, you can withdraw without penalty. But on day 101, the only way out is to join the graves that speckle Mount Hiei.

    In the last 130 years, only 46 men have managed it.

    The purpose of this crucible is to exhaust the mind and the body until nothing remains. And when you're finally reduced to nothing, something comes to fill that space.

    Is this what it takes to achieve enlightenment? Do you have to run 20,000 miles? Do you have to be willing to die for it?

    What if you could do it in one sitting? What if it was already right here, right now? How would that work exactly? What would that look like?

    Seriousness

    Not too long ago, I stumbled across the work of Kapil Gupta.

    He seems to suggest that you can do exactly what I describe (though he'd probably shudder at the use of the word enlightenment and probably substitute Truth. Actually, he'd shudder at all of this as he's pretty picky about words, in general).

    Our ability to see the Truth, he says, is not a function of effort. It's not a function of following some prescription but a function of our Seriousness.

    "Siddhartha essentially said, 'I will sit under this tree, in this one spot. My skin may whither. My bones may break. But I will not rise from this place until I reach Enlightenment. It's Enlightenment or Death'
    Make no mistake. Siddhartha's enlightenment was not the result of sitting under a Bodhi tree.
    It was the result of his Seriousness," Kapil wrote.

    When I read those words, I felt this sinking feeling in my chest. Am I serious? I think I'm serious. But what if I'm not? I must be. If I weren't serious, would I agonize over whether I'm serious or not?

    What would happen if I sat under a tree and didn't get up until I had achieved enlightenment? Could I be that serious? And if I succeed, do I, like, dematerialize and cease to be? And what happens if I do? Will my Mom be sad? Am I really ready to let go of everything?

    I'm not sure. But at a minimum, it would be awkward to cancel my dinner plans.

    But then another feeling washed over me. Resolute, maybe? Curious? I just felt this puffing up in my chest. I felt emboldened. And I made the most serious decision of my life: I decided to sit in my meditation chair, under this tree in my yard until I achieved enlightenment. Or died.

    Yes, I'm fully aware of how crazy that sounds.

    And so I sat.

    I called upon all of my training. I focused more intensely on my breath than I ever had. I could feel little dancing bundles of muscles in my abdomen that I'd never noticed before. I noticed the coincident fluttering at the tip of my nose, the back of my throat and the pit of my solar plexus. I was relaxed. And focused.

    But nothing resembling the enlightenment that I was seeking.

    So, after some time, I switched tactics and called up the non-dual practices. Surely, this was the way. I let go of my focus on the breath. And I tried to sink back into that familiar place where the guy focusing on his breath was just another cluster of sensation arising in awareness. I started to feel a little dizzy and disconnected.

    But nothing resembling the enlightenment that I was seeking.

    So, I sat some more.

    Suffering

    By now, some time had passed. And the sun arced across the sky, as if it didn't give one shit about the important work I was doing. It was hot. I was shirtless and hatless. I tried to remember if I'd drank any water yet today. And if maybe the dizziness from a few minutes ago wasn't me shaking loose from my ego, but rather, was the early stages of heat stroke.

    I didn't plan for this. I figured I'd be enlightened by lunch. Surely, I can't get up and move my chair. That would be breaking the rules. This whole thing had better hurry the F up or I might become enlightened, but done Medium-Well.

    How long could I hold out? How much of this could I stand? That thought gained steam, rolling to a boil and hissing at me. Or was that my sizzling skin?

    I was desperate. But I'd rather die than get up unenlightened one more time. The thought of going back to my normal life, neurotic as ever, having set out to do this thing and failed at it was too much to bear.

    And so I sat.

    By now I'm in pain. Not the 'Oh, yeah, I must have got a little sun today' kind of pain. Searing pain. The sweat that once adorned my brow was now dry and in its place were salt crystals sandblasting the sunburn of my forehead, a particularly perfect torture when you think about it. It was no longer the fear of being in pain in the future. Now, I was in it.

    And that's when it happened.

    Inquiry

    I asked myself a rather poignant question. Well, a series of them actually.

    What happens when you achieve enlightenment? In other words, how will you know that you've found this thing that you're seeking? What does it look like? What does it feel like? What are the physical or psychological manifestations of enlightenment?

    I had never really considered that before. At least not consciously. But I did now. In my mind's eye, I imagined being lifted from my chair like a marionette on a string, slung into the sky, the clouds parting and opening to the dark and twinkling beyond.

    I imagined being awash in the warmth of some cosmic love. The world I knew would end. And a new one would begin. Inside me, the never-ending doubt would be scrubbed by a deep knowing. A knowing that I, whatever "I" means now, had arrived. And then I wouldn't exist at all. Not in a scary way. More like a reabsorption.

    But where did that conception of the nature of enlightenment come from exactly? I hadn't read anything like that anywhere. In fact, I don't remember reading anything that describes the moment of enlightenment clearly.

    Was this just some romantic fantasy I had developed? Surely so. So, the chances it looks like I'm describing are near zero. It probably looks very different. And if that was true, that would mean that if enlightenment did strike me as I sat in this chair, I might not even recognize it.

    And if I wouldn't even recognize it, how did I know I was looking in the right place to begin with?

    Surrender

    A wave of sadness washed over me. The air hung heavy with futility.

    I thought about getting up. I really did. But there was still some thread of me that thought better of it. Perhaps these insights about this futile enterprise were just temptations. Ruses to throw me off the path, the devil himself drawing me into the wilderness. And if that was true, the weight with which they landed might be indicative of how close I am to the answer I seek.

    After all, the defense is always strongest at the goal line.

    And so I sat.

    And I sat.

    But then I broke.

    I have to get up, I thought. I have to get out of the sun.

    I scrambled, wrapping my conscious mind in knots, searching for a rationalization. Anything to give me an out. A reason why I could break my commitment without betraying my oath. I thought of the monks who must've bowed out on day 99 year after year, hoping that next year they'd have the guts to go all the way...

    Out of the darkness of that desperate moment emerged the most profound question yet.
    It didn't feel like the others. I didn't come from me. It felt as if it bubbled up through the lava in my guts and erupted into consciousness. It came from somewhere else. Somewhere deeper.

    What would have to be true about the nature of enlightenment so that you could achieve it right now?

    Acceptance

    Well, I answered the voice silently, it would have to be here already.

    And that knocked the wind out of me. Tingling with excitement, I went on.

    Enlightenment would have to be right here, right now. Just the way everything already is. Nothing could be outside of it. Everything would have to be within enlightenment. There could be no rules, no boundaries, no qualifications.

    It couldn't be a thing you achieve. It must be ever present. In everything. Everywhere. All the time. Including right here and now in this very moment, where I sit sunburned to all hell.

    AHA!

    And so I sat a little longer. Like a pig in shit, rolling in my newfound insight.

    I felt the sun burning and a little voice popped up inside me: Enlightenment is feeling the sun burn sometimes. And I just knew that to be true.

    And then I would want to get up from my chair, and the little voice would say: Enlightenment is wanting to get up from your chair sometimes. And I knew that to be true.

    And then I would feel bad for wanting to get up from my chair and the voice would say: Enlightenment is feeling bad for wanting to get up from your chair sometimes. And I knew that to be true.

    And then I would be certain that this was all bullshit, that I was fooling myself and the little voice would smile and say: Enlightenment is being certain that you're full of shit sometimes. And I knew that to be true.

    Everything that appeared in consciousness was met this way: Enlightenment Is...and then whatever I was feeling or experiencing in the moment...sometimes. And I would know that to be true. Not "knowing" in the logical, intellectual sense. But a deep knowing.

    This space in which I found myself included everything arising in consciousness. It wasn't muddied by thoughts or sensations. It had nothing to do with transcending them. It enveloped those thoughts and loved them, no matter how antithetical to the idea of enlightenment they happened to be.

    It was a wholeness, a deep realization that all experience was the experience.

    And this was always true and always available to me. The only difference was whether or not I could accept it. Sometimes that takes a lot of work. But sometimes you can realize it in just one sitting. All it takes is changing your conception of what enlightenment is.

    But is this such a radical idea? Isn't this what our great spiritual teachers have been telling us all along? That this thing we're seeking is within us? That enlightenment is already here and now?

    Or maybe I'm just fooling myself. Maybe I was tricked by my mind. Maybe this insight I thought I had was just a thought. A potent thought, but a thought nonetheless. And if it was just a thought, it couldn't possibly be enlightenment.

    I can't logically argue against that point. But I know what I experienced.

    Obviously, I got up from my chair eventually. And I'm not enlightened. It didn't 'stick' so to speak. You might call it a non-abiding awakening, a la Adyashanti.

    But whatever word you use is going to be profoundly flawed. So, I just chose the one I thought you'd click on and read. Because this insight, enlightenment or not, is profoundly helpful and comforting. At least it was to me.

    It released me from the fantasy that I had to be like the Marathon Monks to find what I'm looking for.
    Life went back to normal a few days after this. I still do all the normal human things. Sometimes I forget about enlightenment altogether.

    But every once in a while, I remember that enlightenment is doing all the normal human things sometimes.

    And so is forgetting about enlightenment altogether.

    ---

    P.S. Here are some of my earlier/similar posts on this sub:

    Why I Dumped My Meditation Timer

    How to Get Caught in the Mindfulness Trap

    These all originally appeared on my blog, which you could find if you were crafty enough.

    submitted by /u/mattgangloff
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    Expanded Awareness And The "Car Body" Phenomenon - "Your mind takes the shape of the things you interact with. The 'car body' phenomenon is when we experience a car’s body and shape as an extension of ourselves and our own bodies. Have you ever felt this?"

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 10:18 AM PDT

    Today I felt every possible urge to just ran away from work, my anxiety was almost through the roof, but I stayed :)

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 02:02 PM PDT

    This is so huge for me. I have a past history of running away and finding relief from leaving the room, but this time even though I allowed myself to leave when I wanted to, I chose to stay. And ended up having a really fun day!

    submitted by /u/shawtyb6
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    Once everything is meaningless, there's no turning back

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 03:08 PM PDT

    I've been meditating for about two years. The first substantial realisation I had—and the one that unleashed a cascade of realisations that followed—was a classic: there is no self at the centre of my consciousness. POV: all that which appears to emanate from a centre really isn't tied together by anything; I am just a bundle of habits and deterministic neural circuitry.

    Initially, I found this extremely disconcerting, but I was also pleased to finally be let in on the joke. Eventually, I came to terms with the sporadic recurrence of that feeling of absence and subtle hollowness. I am surprised that I cannot maintain a constant, visceral awareness of so fundamental a realisation, and that I perceive a difference between thinking about the fact that I have no centre, no self, and experiencing it. It flickers on and off like an old bulb.

    It is certainly pleasant to be temporarily relieved of the burden of being invested in the various battles of my life. I understand what it means to find solace in detachment, although to the uninitiated, that must seem rather cold and lonely. It's not.

    At times, selflessness gives way to that all-encompassing love, for myself and the world, in which I simultaneously feel deep affection for my mother and know what it means to be okay with her eventual death. That glow tends to stick around, and I become gentler.

    The pressing urge of the human condition makes me want things, and inevitably I return to be confronted by my desires, and I remember that I must plan for the future, and devote energy to predicting and anticipating the outcomes of my actions. Yuval Harari said that language permitted humanity to convey a transgenerational belief in something bigger than the individual was capable of achieving alone; in the same way (but on the smaller, me scale), I know that any meaningful progress—inconsistent as that may be with the vital necessity of presence in this moment—requires my sustained investment in an uncertain future. Presence would appear to demand total denunciation of planning. I guess I don't understand the Middle Way.

    But the most horrible of realisations—at least insofar as I feel it has left me in the proverbial desert with no water—is that it is futile to seek satisfaction, since yearning is incompatible with genuine acceptance of the world I find myself in. I am left with irrefutable, irreversible knowledge that nothing—not a cup of coffee; not a long walk; not a budding, exciting romance—can bring me meaning or alleviate my constant dissatisfaction, and that performing those or any actions in pursuit of lasting happiness is completely misguided. I know that there is no real joy to be derived from anything I do, and yet, I am yet to find any joy within myself.

    I look around and see people chasing their five year plans, and I can't believe how radical it is that I, too, was once unquestioningly devoted to the belief that the attainment of some future objective will render unto me total, final satisfaction. Behind me now the floor is littered with evidence that kicking goals does not bring lasting happiness. It's like someone showed me a fourth spatial dimension, and I don't have the language to describe to anyone else where it is.

    Now, I know that none of my belongings, or my friends, or my hobbies, or my work, can be a source of true happiness for me. Sure, I am grateful for the existence of such pleasant things in my surrounds, but I recognise that the brief distraction they provide is tinny and unsustainable.

    Upon realising that contentment is a state of mind, a lens through which to view the world, everything else becomes meaningless, and that is a sorry state of realisation to occupy. It's like turning off the light before lighting your candle: there's only darkness in the interim. I can't go back and take refuge in those temporary pleasures, because I see right through them.

    I think they say this is the dark night of the soul—I look forward to the other side.

    submitted by /u/SnapfreezePea
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    It feels like an addiction now...

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 07:30 PM PDT

    Meditating started to feel so good and blissful that I can't stop doing it. Granted I can't sit for more than 20 minutes at once but I keep doing several sessions throughout the day

    submitted by /u/ATG1001
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    Your life is like a movie and meditation lets you choose the genre.

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 05:13 PM PDT

    Your life is like a movie and meditation lets you choose the genre.

    submitted by /u/MardyBum1242
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    For me, meditation is about letting go without judgment. What is it about for you?

    Posted: 30 Jun 2021 01:21 AM PDT

    I have come across so many meditators and everyone tells me their different experiences and stories. I am happy that meditation means differently to everyone, and the experiences differ from person to person. I would love to know what meditation meant to you, and why you do it.

    submitted by /u/shivaom
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    What is the illusion of self?

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 06:09 PM PDT

    I never understood that statement~ but I find it quite interesting.

    submitted by /u/tay_tot
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    Ears ringing and body shaking during meditation?

    Posted: 30 Jun 2021 12:45 AM PDT

    (Sorry if this isn't the right sub for this I will redirect it if asked)

    Tonight I was listening to a guided meditation. Near the main part of a visualization, my whole body started shaking/shivering quite hard. Along with that both of my ears were filled with a sort of buzzy white noise. It sounded like a fan or TV static. I also cried a bit but I've heard that crying isn't unusual. The noise sort of reached a crescendo and then I felt very still. After that I had a few intense visions (another first.)

    I feel like I might have "broken through" something deep down. I'm both slightly proud and worried. What the heck was that? Has anyone else had this experience?

    submitted by /u/Juturna_7
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    Starnge experience

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 12:38 PM PDT

    I go to sleep after mediation. Today I started to play rain sound and did some mediation, when I felt I am gonna sleep.i said something like - I wanna talk to my subconious. My brain went into some state of hurricane of memerios , thoughts , feelings , emotions. Where I actively started speaking to myself and answering to my self like debate.those are happened super fast in my mind for 3 hrs. Slept at 10pm - 1 am. My whole sleep was restless constantly rolling over bed and it felt like drug . Now wondering wt just happened to my brain.

    submitted by /u/sundeepsam
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    Do most people who practice meditation conclude "the self is an illusion"? And what exactly do claims like "you are not your thoughts" mean?

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 09:08 AM PDT

    Do most people who practice conclude "the self is an illusion"? What do most mean by this or claims like "you are not your thoughts"? These seem pretty metaphysical or specific given the practice can be as simple as paying attention to your breathe nonjudgmentally. I have a different relationship to my thoughts now, for sure and I'm less reactive to them, but I'm very curious what many exactly mean when discovering the ego/self to be illusory altogether

    submitted by /u/Darius-Mal
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    Dreams

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 11:45 AM PDT

    I've noticed that whenever I start meditating regularly my dreams are so intense, memorable and seem more meaningful. Do the rest of you notice this too? Is it a benefit of meditation?

    submitted by /u/JohnOnWheels
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    Meditation is not a cure. It is a tool for learning how to center yourself.

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 03:48 PM PDT

    I see too many posts here where people think their mental health issues or life stresses are going to just disappear by meditating and they stop practicing because they aren't getting the results they think they were going to get. Meditation was never meant to be a magic pill for your problems or any other expectation you have. It is meant to be there as a tool for you to come back to yourself when you feel your consciousness spiraling. It is meant to teach you about the conscious being inside you, your self, that you ignore as you autopilot throughout your daily life. It is meant to enrich your well being just like eating healthy does. When you eat healthy, your body is more able to fight off diseases and ailments. Did your life suddenly become a utopia of everything going your way just because you changed your diet? Of course not. That's the same with meditation. You're still going to have your problems, you're still going to have mental illnesses and trauma, you're still going to be growing until the day you no longer take breath. Meditation is ONE tool in the toolbox of a healthy life.

    Whenever you feel fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, you can center yourself much more manageably than when you don't meditate. If you really aren't thinking you are benefiting from it, then stop doing it for some time. You'll notice the old habits, feelings, and the unmanageability that was there before start creeping back in. If you don't feel the difference, then you haven't released enough (practiced for enough time). 40 days isn't going to do it, 70 days isn't going to do it, one year isn't going to do it. You need to keep going and stop treating your conscious awakening like it's going to make you feel better instantaneously or feel anything at all. Not everyone gets the same results or at the same amount of time, just like exercising.

    Tl;dr

    Meditation is for you to connect with yourself which is important for your well being whether you consciously notice the difference or not. There is science to back up the benefits of meditation and it's not always going further than your immune system strengthening or your blood pressure stabilizing. Do it for your health just like exercising, just like eating healthy; do it for YOU.

    submitted by /u/noclipgate
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    Remembering really dark/painful repressed memories

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 07:45 AM PDT

    21f here. I've lived on my own for 3 years now. I'm barely surviving. To get through the daily grind and stress I've been meditating daily. I meditate as much as I possibly can.

    Trying to save on the electric bill? MEDITATE!

    Can't sleep? MEDITATE!

    It's raining outside? Awesome! MEDITATE!

    My meditation has greatly improved over the last few months. But I find that I'm starting to notice a specific thought pattern while I'm at work. While working, I'll suddenly remember a repressed memory of my mum doing something really awful or messed up towards me. She's done a lot of bad things to me while she treated my older sister and twin brother better; all while I worked harder than them both. Our relationship is okay now, but it's hard for me to trust if she really does love me or not sometimes since she did so little to raise me.

    Anyways, I was wondering why this happens? Is the fact that I'm being more aware of my thoughts/emotions suddenly causing me to subconsciously open up my Pandora's Box of painful thoughts? Does my mind think I'm ready to acknowledge and face that too? It's kind of scary to think about it since I have a lot of sadness and anger stuffed inside that I don't express. What are your thoughts?

    submitted by /u/baencakes
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    Where to start? Thinking of getting headspace

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 11:38 AM PDT

    Hi everyone,

    I (25F) have been thinking of starting meditation but don't know where to start, I've heard many benefits to doing it.

    I've recently hit my rock bottom and applied for private therapy, where I live in the UK, I could get it for free under the NHS but I've been assessed and now I'm on a waiting list and I can't wait anymore so I applied for private therapy which costs. Besides the point

    I wanted to see if meditating can help me but I don't know where to start, I've heard about the app headspace. I suppose I want to hear if anyone has this app and if it's helped you or of I could go anywhere else to get help meditation wise, what's everyone's take on meditation and what apps do you use or what platform you use or something, what do you do. I want to see some benefits and it sounds like a good thing to do

    Thank you in advance!

    submitted by /u/Little-Miss-Ali
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    Mind Mapping for a Better Life Unlock Your Creativity

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 12:54 PM PDT

    How to mediate

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 06:37 PM PDT

    Can you meditate lying down or do you have to be sat?

    submitted by /u/Curt1243
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    Squeaky Joints?

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 06:33 PM PDT

    I've been meditating for a while now and it's taken me a long time to really experiment with it and branch out from guided meditations and breath work only. But, as of recently i've been focusing on my body movements and noises associated with it and i've noticed what can only be described as a "squeakiness" just ever so slightly in different areas at different times in my arms and shoulders. It's very hard to pin point exactly what it is im feeling because I'm lying perfectly still but the subtle movement of my chest caused by my breath is enough to induce it. Would love to hear some feedback if anyone knows what this is or has experienced the same thing. Like I said before, it's taken me a while to experiment with meditating so this may be a very common occurrence i'm just not familiar with!

    submitted by /u/donnieintj
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    The Meditative Paradox

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 04:42 PM PDT

    The idea of meditation can be daunting. It's safe to say that most people do not want additional routines piled on to their already busy schedule. As the world tugs for our attention, we shift our focus from one thing to the next, day after day, without thinking much on the absurdity of it all. One of the more common reasons for not starting a meditative practice is the sheer time allocation required to reach the traditional sense of enlightenment. For many Buddhist ideologies, this state of mind is often regarded as the end goal -- a state in which the person is free from thoughts.

    Goal oriented teachings help many in their pursuit for long lasting peace. Without the goal, they never would have started. Many argue, however, that the goal of enlightenment presents a paradox to the ideology. In this article, I will be comparing a form of meditation against the general idea of enlightenment. In doing so, I hope to extract the objective benefits from the practice of meditation to show that subjective differences can be felt the moment one begins to engage in the practice.

    The Paradox:

    When starting a meditative practice, the benefits become apparent: less stress, a clearer mind, and the feeling of being present. Having the trained ability to observe thoughts as they appear and not be overtly controlled by them is a superpower on its own. Why, then, do so many meditative ideologies have the end goal of enlightenment? Therein lies the paradox. If enlightenment is the goal for any practitioner, they are pulling themselves out of the present moment with the thought of future gratification. This, in itself, goes against the very idea of being free from thought and suffering. As we will see, the secular benefits of meditation do not have to be found at the top of the mountain. Rather, the metaphorical act of climbing the mountain (maintaining a practice) is where the beauty of meditation is found. (Yes, the classic trope of enjoying the journey, not the destination.)

    The logic of Mindfulness meditation is just that -- attaining a feeling of being present with no strings attached. The teachings that correlate with this type of meditation are often aligned with other traditional practices: relinquishing the ego, deep introspection, abolishing the idea of the self, and recognizing your stream of consciousness for what it is. To realize that the present moment and previous memories is all we have seems trite, but it's the truth. And with this truth, one begins to find that attention is a limited currency, and its value is priceless.

    Objective Benefits

    The science surrounding meditation is growing and improving. For most, the subjective benefits are enough to continue a practice. But, if a little coercion is needed to start, there are plenty of objective benefits to be found. To name just a few: -Reduced stress (Bonus: Stress induced conditions are also put in check)

    -Lowered anxiety and depression -Improved self-image, greater emotional health

    -Lengthened attention span -Improved sleep -Decreased blood pressure

    This matters, a lot. Secular meditation provides the general practitioner the ability to reap benefits from a presence of mind without the need for the ideology in which it began. This is not a knock on eastern philosophy. It has cultivated a skill over the past few thousand years that is raising eyebrows within the scientific community. My goal here is for the reader to recognize that the benefits of meditation are not found at an end goal far off in the future -- which is what often scares people off the practice itself. This is also not to say that anyone can sit down and begin without proper instruction. Just as physical fitness requires training and dedication, mental fitness requires a serious paralleled effort. Some train their whole life… But this is not necessary to begin seeing results.

    Beginning a practice can be extremely frustrating. Realizing that one has no control over the wilderness of their mind is enough to make them want to quit. Thoughts and feelings arise in consciousness from the moment we are born to the moment we die, and few stop long enough to realize just how out of control their mind truly is.

    Why This Matters:

    What does "being present" really mean?

    Being present allows you to better engage with friends and loved ones. Being present allows you to work more efficiently. Being present relinquishes you of ruminations.

    Being present reduces mental suffering. At the time of this writing, (June 9th, 2020) a deadly pandemic has swept the globe. Unemployment rates are sky high, and international tensions are growing. It's important that we are present and have clarity when navigating these waters.

    I still remember the first time I sat down to meditate. To most outsiders, it would appear that I have an easy environment to exert control over: a one bedroom apartment with a cat. How hard could it be to sit down and focus on my breath for ten minutes?

    Within these first ten minutes, I realized just how little control I had over my own mind. How long had I been navigating the world this way? Often, our realities are so distorted by the stories we are formulating in our mind that we are missing the present moment for days on end. At that moment, it hit me. I needed to get this under control. How can I be expected to navigate the world and reduce suffering for others when I have no control over my own mind?

    Not all problems can be solved through meditation, but it's a good place to start.

    submitted by /u/TheInformedOptimist
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    PANICK ATTACKS!!!!

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 05:32 PM PDT

    Did meditation help anyone get rid of panic attacks?????

    submitted by /u/Responsible-Bee-1925
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    Listening to nature meditation, what are your thoughts?

    Posted: 29 Jun 2021 05:00 PM PDT

    I have done meditation in nature the sound of trees and the wind birds and water feel very soothing and relaxing. I feel like listening meditation is very powerful and very transformative. I forget about time and enjoy the space of peace I am in, unfortunately it rains a lot in the UK and it's very cold most times, if I could meditate in nature daily that would be great. What are your thoughts and experiences about this specific style of meditation.

    submitted by /u/houcine1991
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