Meditation.

[nevermindtime]

Over the last couple of months I've been infatuated with meditation. I searched and found some threads on here where people weren't too successful. The central idea is to relax and to stop thinking completely. This seems like it would be harder for INTPs, but I suspect that is inversely proportional to the gain.

Once you start practicing it you really start to realize how many thoughts you have coming to the surface of your conscious state of mind. At first, It was really hard to stop thinking. The trick was to simply focus, but not control, your breathing. Simply to study it without words.

I was honestly only able to stop thinking completely for about fifteen seconds. You start to be aware of the so-called "cosmic energy." Whatever this sensation was, it was immaculate in comfort. I started to become overwhelmed and the desire to study it caused far to many thoughts to continue.

Potentially, a thoughtless mind is a defragmenting computer.

The following day thrived with a "on top of everything" sort of attitude.

Before I began meditating, everyone who has meditated successfully recommends that everyone tries it and that is has changed them for the better. Now I'm doing the same >.<

 

[snowqueen]

hi nevermindtime,

I have been meditating, both formal and daily life mindfulness meditation, for around 25 years and I would agree it is one of the most useful and health-giving things to do and I would say especially helpful for INTPs.

I learned meditation within a Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The goal is not to stop thoughts though. The goal is liberation from being bound by thoughts and emotions - slightly different, but I'd be interested in discussing this further.

 

[nevermindtime]

hi nevermindtime,

I have been meditating, both formal and daily life mindfulness meditation, for around 25 years and I would agree it is one of the most useful and health-giving things to do and I would say especially helpful for INTPs.

I learned meditation within a Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The goal is not to stop thoughts though. The goal is liberation from being bound by thoughts and emotions - slightly different, but I'd be interested in discussing this further.

Wow, that's a long time.

So is this the goal when meditating? Or is it a passive state of mind?

 

[Dark_Amphibian]

I would never presume to answer for Snowqueen, but agree re: the goal being liberation from being bound by thoughts/emotions. With respect to your OP: you know how you mentioned observing your breath, but not controlling it? When you're meditating, that's what you're doing with your thoughts, too. Observing them, and your feelings...without getting caught up in them or trying to control them.

Your observation about how much thinking you do is (imnsho) key. Over time you'll notice your thoughts/feelings leaping around *outside* of meditation...and that's pretty cool. Turns the drama down several notches

 

[Kidege]

I tried some kinds of new agey meditation (the kind in which you control your breath, or imagine you're a tree, etc.), and I did it for a few years. I think I was reasonably good at it, and it did calm me down and made me feel more energized later. The problem was that one day I started feeling someone was watching me. About the second time it happened it was so intense I freaked and stopped.

A few years later my life got so weird I had some concerns about entities being "out there"... if they were, wouldn't meditation be a way of "inviting them"? That's why I don't do meditation anymore.

(Yes, I realise this sounds crazy, and I'd rather really not discuss any hypothetical entity "out there")

 

[nevermindtime]

I would never presume to answer for Snowqueen, but agree re: the goal being liberation from being bound by thoughts/emotions. With respect to your OP: you know how you mentioned observing your breath, but not controlling it? When you're meditating, that's what you're doing with your thoughts, too. Observing them, and your feelings...without getting caught up in them or trying to control them.

Your observation about how much thinking you do is (imnsho) key. Over time you'll notice your thoughts/feelings leaping around *outside* of meditation...and that's pretty cool. Turns the drama down several notches

In that case I was a lot more successful than I thought. I can relate with that description 100%.

So once your in this state should you generally try to ignore them as them come and go?

 

[Dark_Amphibian]

Yeah! As long as we define "ignore" in a very gentle way. So, you aren't rolling your eyes or berating yourself. Just go "thinking" and go back to your breathing. Sometimes you'll spend a whole session with your brain leaping off to make grocery lists, think up comebacks...and it's okay. Just "thinking" and back to breathing.

You're not hiding from anything. You're not pretending or imagining anything. You're just being fully present in the here & now. And being humbled by just how difficult and uncomfortable that can be!

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

If you like meditation check out yoga or tai-chi

 

[Agent Intellect]

If you like meditation check out yoga or tai-chi

Yoga is one of the least relaxing things I've ever tried...

 

[snowqueen]

Yeah! As long as we define "ignore" in a very gentle way. So, you aren't rolling your eyes or berating yourself. Just go "thinking" and go back to your breathing. Sometimes you'll spend a whole session with your brain leaping off to make grocery lists, think up comebacks...and it's okay. Just "thinking" and back to breathing.

You're not hiding from anything. You're not pretending or imagining anything. You're just being fully present in the here & now. And being humbled by just how difficult and uncomfortable that can be!

Thanks D_A for stepping into the breach - I agree this is the kind of meditation I practice and it is very simple (though not easy!)

I was taught it within a Tibetan Buddhist practice and it is called shamata or 'gentle abiding'. One benefit is that after practicing for a while, you start to notice that thoughts and emotions are impermanent so you can develop a healthier relationship with them. It doesn't mean you stop getting bound up in them or that you are not led astray by emotions - but you don't fully identify with them any more.