Meditation

[Cryss Winters]

I've tried to meditate a few times, over the years, but it never seems to work. I've tried different positions, candles and breathing exercises. I get distracted and such.. any suggestions?

 

[Hawkeye]

I think it all boils down to concentration. I tried it myself recently by closing my eyes, breathing slowly and deeply whilst focusing on the sensation I got from drawing slow circles with my finger on my hand. It seemed to work well up until I became aware of what I was doing.

Every time I felt myself going into a meditation state it would be broken by the immense sound of the sweep hand on a clock. It breaks my focus everytime because I start thinking about it.

 

[Fred_is_dead_7x]

I've tried meditation and put in several hours, but my constant need to only act on impulse prevents me from doing it with any regularity.

What I have learned from what I have done is that distraction is the point. How disappointed would you be in someone who walked into an AA meeting, didn't instantly stop feeling the need to drink, and left? Meditation, if it has a purpose, is meant to stop distraction. That takes a lot of trying, appearently. Good luck to anyone more disciplined than me.

 

[Toad]

I have been practicing Zazen for the past couple of months. Zazen essentially means meditating. But it actually compromises three words: Concentration, meditation, and contemplation.

Something I learned while reading about Zen is that people find it very difficult. The reason for that is because it is! People don't understand that meditating isn't meant to make you relax and feel better. It takes work and effort to meditate, sometimes even pain. Meditation brings clarity. Your thoughts and feelings are like a mist in your mind. They keep you from thinking clearly. Meditating helps you control and suppress those thoughts and feelings to make more rational decisions and in turn feel better.

There is actually so much more to add to that, but that is just kind of the jist of it.

Oh another important thing is persistence! Meditating is like working out. You have to continue to do it. When meditating you will get distracted many times. Just keep going back to it. It takes A LOT of concentration and persistence.

 

[Cryss Winters]

I have been practicing Zazen for the past couple of months. Zazen essentially means meditating. But it actually compromises three words: Concentration, meditation, and contemplation.

Something I learned while reading about Zen is that people find it very difficult. The reason for that is because it is! People don't understand that meditating isn't meant to make you relax and feel better. It takes work and effort to meditate, sometimes even pain. Meditation brings clarity. Your thoughts and feelings are like a mist in your mind. They keep you from thinking clearly. Meditating helps you control and suppress those thoughts and feelings to make more rational decisions and in turn feel better.

There is actually so much more to add to that, but that is just kind of the jist of it.

Oh another important thing is persistence! Meditating is like working out. You have to continue to do it. When meditating you will get distracted many times. Just keep going back to it. It takes A LOT of concentration and persistence.

Wow. Good job, that helped.

 

[Toad]

Yay! I finally helped someone!

 

[Cryss Winters]

Yay! I finally helped someone!

Yeah, I especially made note of it because I knew it would please you. =)

 

[Toad]

I am pleased. In your face Dentan!

 

[Fred_is_dead_7x]

I have been practicing Zazen for the past couple of months. Zazen essentially means meditating. But it actually compromises three words: Concentration, meditation, and contemplation.

Something I learned while reading about Zen is that people find it very difficult. The reason for that is because it is! People don't understand that meditating isn't meant to make you relax and feel better. It takes work and effort to meditate, sometimes even pain. Meditation brings clarity. Your thoughts and feelings are like a mist in your mind. They keep you from thinking clearly. Meditating helps you control and suppress those thoughts and feelings to make more rational decisions and in turn feel better.

There is actually so much more to add to that, but that is just kind of the jist of it.

Oh another important thing is persistence! Meditating is like working out. You have to continue to do it. When meditating you will get distracted many times. Just keep going back to it. It takes A LOT of concentration and persistence.

Wow, believe it or not thats what I was trying to convey in my previous post. But after reading that, I realize my failure. Zazan is doing nothing, it has no purpose. The whole its tough, stick with it thing was all most there (in my post)... I may have to give up explanations.

 

[Tyria]

Find somewhere quiet that is comfortable, and where you will not be distrubed. Relax your body slowly, starting with your feet and moving up. Slowly release the tension in each muscle group and slowly breathe in and out. After you have relaxed your body, sync your entire being into your breathing and relax everything at once. When you have gone deep enough, begin to lose all thoughts in your head. Clear yourself of everything but your breathing, and empty your head completely.

After you have done that, just be. Don't wait or have expectations, just exist from moment to moment. You may find something beautiful, but do not force or expect it. Just be.

 

[Android]

I go through periods when I expend a lot of effort on meditation, reading books like the Tao Te Ching, I Ching, or Buddhist Sutras, etc.. then I go months or less often years without. What I've found to be most rewarding is to lay flat on my back, eyes shut, with relaxing music (whatever that means to you) that preferably doesn't have a lyrical component (vocal is okay for me.. Sigur Ros has no lyrics to me as I can't understand any of it.. just a vocal instrument). Then I focus on my breathing and try not to think, but just to take in what I'm sensing without analyzing it. I sometimes put a phrase, question, etc on a piece of paper and tape it somewhere in front of me, then when I've reached the right point, I open my eyes and my thoughts start from the prompt I've given myself. At this point I've already integrated my environment into my brain, and it moves to the back of my mind, and the only thoughts running through my head are a lot more focused than normal, and it often leads to insights that break me out of my meditative state like a needle full of amphetamines. Hope that helps.. it's what works for me.
edit: It all hinges on whether or not I fall asleep first though.

 

[Toad]

After I can get to the point of complete meditation, I plan to use LSD and sativa to enhance it~~I use everything as an excuse to use drugs haha.

 

[Android]

Getting yourself into a meditative state before taking a rip of DMT can have some interesting results. For instance.. I had a pretty normal DMT flash with a sense of falling one time then ended in empty, black space.. just floating - what I imagine a sensory deprivation chamber would be like. That lasted for what felt like 10-15 minutes (though time was really hard to fathom) before a wall of color came rushing forward at me - starting as a pin-point of light and the trip was over when the wall hit me. That was also one of my longest DMT trips coming in at 37 minutes. The trick is learning to take the hit without breaking your concentration. Did you mean salvia or sativa? Sativas and weed in general can be a great help with meditation, but not for everybody. I like Indicas better than Sativas for this purpose though (and in general) - sativas tend to make pretty sleepy, and combined with meditation I often fall asleep. Salvia on the other hand would probably work pretty well, considering that it hits you pretty quick, but I can't be sure.. my experiences with it are pretty limited and lack-luster, but I know a couple people who compare it to DMT at higher doses. I've never had success with LSD and meditation, but I know some have.. it's definitely worth a try.

 

[Toad]

Yea I meant sativa. Hey what is dmt?

 

[Android]

Dimethyl-tryptamine - it's often called the most powerful hallucinogen known to man - it's definitely a contender. It's naturally produced in your brain in the pineal gland, and is a major constituent of a near-death experience - a huge dose is dumped into your brain when you die or your brain is put under extreme stress (near death). It also has some involvement with dreams I think. It's nearly impossible to find for sale, but is easily extracted from many common plants on your own with legal "ingredients". The longest I know of the effects lasting is around 50 minutes.. most trips are in the area of 20-30 minutes in my experience. It's common to forget who you are or even what you are or to think that you have died - though that tends to go away with experience. It's normally smoked though it can be snorted or injected It's inactive orally without MAOIs which potentiate the effects in what is known as Ayahuasca which lasts much longer.. 8-12 hours I think, but with less intense effects. When smoked most people go completely comatose and are unresponsive until the end of the trip. It's not normally considered a recreational drug, but some people see it as one (me). Once I got over the intensity of the first few trips, I came to thoroughly enjoy it 99% of the time. My first trip took a couple weeks to recover from. It sends you into hyper-space and beyond. Proceed with caution and Google.

 

[wadlez]

My advice, listen to this radio station while doing it http://www.stillstream.com/
I think what your thinking about really matters. I find it good not to concentrate on relaxing or being detached but rather think about deep things which in turn will make you relaxed and become detached