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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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 Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
| As Guru Sri Chinmoy says, "When I pray, I talk and God listens; when I meditate, I listen and God talks." |
The now "late" Guru Sri Chinmoy said that did he?
Hmmmm ... interesting.
Drop the thought, go back to the outbreath.
Can't be that difficult, eh? 
COGITO ERGO SUM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: |
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Meditation was used, in the past, to connect to the divine world, for looking for answers. When a Zen master is asked for answers, he often will tell the disciple to do more zazen. Personally, I can't do the sitting meditation of the lotus that some people do, but I don't think that's necessary, because the divine is supposed to be more than divine. Anyway, meditation is supposed to be good for your blood pressure, stress response... I haven't been practicing it enough, I admit, but I do listen to relaxing music that balanes the two hemispheres of the brain which I find relaxing. The Monroe company makes cool CDs of that nature. They are called Hemi-sync. You can get some off e-bay.
I have three of them... |
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stillnotking
Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Location: Oregon, USA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:45 am Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
| stillnotking wrote: |
"Meditation" is a misleading word, because a great deal of what people consider "meditation" is not meditation at all, merely visualization or reverie.
True meditation is not about how you sit or what you think about, it's the simple act of being consciously aware of your thoughts. (I say "simple", but in practice this is extraordinarily hard to do consistently.) Meditation produces dissociation from the ego, a decline in the mind's reflexive identification of "self" and "thought". |
Actually, meditation consists of emptying the mind of all thought. It s not so easy to do, especially when one is beginning so the next best thing is to concentrate on a single thought (beam of light, OM, etc.) |
There are different techniques, but the most universally practiced and effective one is simple awareness. You don't need to empty your mind of thought -- it is possible to do that, but it's unnatural and it has pitfalls. The important thing is to disconnect from thoughts, to let them enter the mind and then leave without attachment, like bubbles in champagne.
It's a little like the difference between giving away all your stuff and just becoming aware that your stuff is not what defines you. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| stillnotking wrote: |
| bacasper wrote: |
| stillnotking wrote: |
"Meditation" is a misleading word, because a great deal of what people consider "meditation" is not meditation at all, merely visualization or reverie.
True meditation is not about how you sit or what you think about, it's the simple act of being consciously aware of your thoughts. (I say "simple", but in practice this is extraordinarily hard to do consistently.) Meditation produces dissociation from the ego, a decline in the mind's reflexive identification of "self" and "thought". |
Actually, meditation consists of emptying the mind of all thought. It s not so easy to do, especially when one is beginning so the next best thing is to concentrate on a single thought (beam of light, OM, etc.) |
There are different techniques, but the most universally practiced and effective one is simple awareness. You don't need to empty your mind of thought -- it is possible to do that, but it's unnatural and it has pitfalls. The important thing is to disconnect from thoughts, to let them enter the mind and then leave without attachment, like bubbles in champagne.
It's a little like the difference between giving away all your stuff and just becoming aware that your stuff is not what defines you. |
Oh, great! That's a lot easier. I'll try it. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| stillnotking wrote: |
| bacasper wrote: |
| stillnotking wrote: |
"Meditation" is a misleading word, because a great deal of what people consider "meditation" is not meditation at all, merely visualization or reverie.
True meditation is not about how you sit or what you think about, it's the simple act of being consciously aware of your thoughts. (I say "simple", but in practice this is extraordinarily hard to do consistently.) Meditation produces dissociation from the ego, a decline in the mind's reflexive identification of "self" and "thought". |
Actually, meditation consists of emptying the mind of all thought. It s not so easy to do, especially when one is beginning so the next best thing is to concentrate on a single thought (beam of light, OM, etc.) |
There are different techniques, but the most universally practiced and effective one is simple awareness. You don't need to empty your mind of thought -- it is possible to do that, but it's unnatural and it has pitfalls. The important thing is to disconnect from thoughts, to let them enter the mind and then leave without attachment, like bubbles in champagne.
It's a little like the difference between giving away all your stuff and just becoming aware that your stuff is not what defines you. |
The touches to the idea of No-Mind in Zen or Mushim that was mentioned in the movie "The Last Samurai" to feel the moment, feel the colours around you, sense the sun, take in the elements, just feel the moment and be in the present. That is, at least, getting in touch with who you are in a way.... It's not typically what we associate with meditation, but it makes it easier to do sitting down meditation if you improve your awareness... |
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