Hey, I’m looking for an experienced meditator to give me the rough outline of meditation, I’ve read guides online and stuff but I can’t really “get the hang of” clearing my mind completely, I always have thoughts running through it. How do you feel when you meditate? What advantages does it have? (over sports/fitness, mental health) etc. THanks.
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Hi Jon,
There are quite a number of different meditation techniques, but one very useful and widely-practiced approach to meditation is mindfulness of the breath. I’ve offered a description of it on another recent post:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20090211124215AAaEuvV
I’ve also answered a good many other questions about meditation on YA; feel free to check my profile.
As for the specific issue of having thoughts in your mind during meditation, you don’t really have to clear your mind completely. It’s more about just being present with whatever experience you are in fact having without getting caught up in a lot of thoughts about it (or about anything else, either). Thoughts will usually be there, coming in and out, but we don’t have to identify with them or encourage them during the time we’re meditating. Treat them more like sticks floating by on a stream or clouds passing in the air — no need to follow them or indulge them. When you notice you have “gotten into” some thinking, know it’s a typical tendency of the mind to do that, and just matter-of-factly return to your breath (or whatever other object you are using to connect with and collect your awareness).
It is in fact possible to experience extended moments of a restful, wakeful awareness without any thoughts occurring, but there’s no need to really push towards that as some kind of goal. (Having a fixed idea of what meditation is supposed to feel like is kind of opposite of the process of meditation — because meditation is about letting go of what we cling to and try to make happen, so we can just be more naturally present with what is already real.)
.
Try this very simple, yet powerful meditation in the article ‘Effortless Meditation’ at http://www.awaken2life.org/published-articles/74-effortless-meditation.html
It can be done for a couple minutes or an hour.
Also of possible interest is a 15-minute audio podcast episode called ‘The Art of Meditation’ (ep. 6) at http://www.awaken2life.org/podcast-more-oom.html but you would need to register first to get access to these older episodes.
I feel calm, peaceful, and content when I meditate. I’ve never meditated for advantages…I do it because it is fun and I enjoy it.
Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen
Here is a very basic meditation, but one that you could spend your entire life practising and perfecting:
Sit comfortably, but with your legs elevated at least to the height of your hips.
Close your eyes. Breath in very slowly through your nose.
Breath out very slowly through your mouth.
As you breath in and out, count each breath. Try to focus your mind only on the number: 1…. 2…. 3…. 4…
You can picture the numeral, or just the sound, or what the number represents (a quantity of something).
Do this, counting only to 10, every day for one month. It should not take very long each day, but will get you in the habit of doing it regularly. Then you can increase your time.
For me, being a writer, it helps me clear my mind and focus. I also do, what is called, guided visualisations. You do not need anything for these, like a CD or tape or anything. Just breath as described above and imagine something (a place you like, or something from your memory, or something you create) as clearly as possible. Imagine going there, and every detail of what it’s like. For me, I imagine the beach at Hawaii or the streets where I grew up.
Always breath slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
I wrote the following in amnswer to another similar question.
It may be helpful … or not.
It’s an opinion only.
Meditation
Don’t let people confuse you about the object of meditation.
It’s simply the lengthening of the gaps between thoughts and slowing down the thoughts by NOT buying into their dramas.
It may take some time before you can just ‘observe’ the thought and let it ‘float’ way into the ether.
The mind is like a two year old – it wants ALL your attention ALL the time.
Don’t fight it – go with the flow.
Learn to ‘manage’ the mind … softly softly catchee monkee.
It may take some time for you to ‘control’ it.
“is it good or bad?”
Pure pleasure.
“And how long have you been meditating?”
Since the mid 80s.
“has it affect you in anyway?”
I don’t know anymore; it’s all so second nature.
“Any dreams or out of body experiences?”
Sure.
The best (although very rare for me) are the OBEs whilst you wide awake.
To explain, I was giving a talk at a conference in the early 90s and I seemed to step out of myself and become ‘the watcher’ for almost a minute.
It was very amusing – on one level I was talking without missing a beat – on another level I was watching the man (me) give a talk.
I know one of ‘us’ was smiling.
You could say that I was multi-tasking, aye?
Dreaming?
I love them … these days.
(After I came back from Vietnam I used to have a few nightmares …
I’d like to think they’re a thing of the past)
There is no set amount of time you ‘should’ do it.
(Take should, ought and must outa your vocabulary)
I’ve meditated from a few seconds to hours.
Any moment spent stilling the mind is beneficial.
There is no RIGHT or WRONG way to meditate.
Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant, a liar or has some other agenda.
You can meditate eyes open or closed.
You can do it in silence or noise.
You can ‘focus’ on anything or nothing at all.
You can use noises (clock ticking, kids laughing or fighting, cars and sirens, etc) to intensify your meditation … with every sound I hear I will become even more relaxed.
You can do it sitting, standing, lying, walking, driving, washing, cooking, etc.
How often have you been so intensely doing something or driving somewhere and suddenly become ‘conscious’ and wonder where the time went?
Enjoy.
It is said that those who meditate don’t need to and those who don’t, need to.
~
I play some native American music , drums flute . I get comfortable , close my eyes and visualize the spelling of a word [ love ] then mentally spell out the word over and over again in a slow way saying the word after spelling it . With the concentration on the letters of the word through the spelling your mind is not distracted . This takes some time . Good luck .
Read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Meditation is about mindfulness; being fully in tune with the present. It is also about a lifestyle in which the affects of ego are incrementally diminished as one progresses in the stages of maturity. Detachment is very much a part of this. Among the things we should detach from is the expectation of success. If we expect to cultivate an ability to clear our minds fully, we never will because we shoot ourselves in the foot. Accept that you have a monkey mind and don’t fight it: that will merely feed it. Just quietly accept yourself as you are; do not use meditation to try to fix yourself. Just come back to your breath. Also, try yoga and japa with a mala. Personally, I prefer OM. Hope this helps a bit, but seriously: read the book. You may find it at your local library. Namaste.