Meditation

[Cainite]

Cainite....honestly asking. Do you think our lazy moments can be set aside for introspective work and do you find you are able to push past the "feeling" of laziness to either do introspective work, reflective work or just simply say, "time to rest!"

Sometimes yes.. I had always been depending on drugs for causing change in consciousness. pills were like candy to me and the friends I had.
That was more exciting than meditation.. u know.

Maybe I'm somehow spoiled?

I'm still relying on drugs. and not the meditation itself.

I envy your talent for music. I love it but cannot play it or read it just sit back and enjoy it.

What talent?
It really doesn't have much to do with talent anyway.
''Taste'' though has a good role I think.

[RitaJC]

Not gonna lie I'm having difficulties in meditating on a daily basis or just for longer periods of time (5-10 minutes).

I know I want to, and I know that it's good for me. I tried a few times meditating while laying down, but always end up falling asleep..

I understand somewhat why meditating inside a large pyramid in the desert might be beneficial, beside the energy related part, more to the calmness/silence or just absence of outside stimuli.

I'm learning something new about myself each time I meditate, and am able to respond with much clarity both to self and other-self.

But more over, it's the lack of social interaction relating these spiritual practices that gets me out of mood to meditate.


So, could we talk a little about meditation?

Do you manage to meditate daily?

Have you close friends who enjoy meditating just as you do? Does it help meditating with others? And does it feel weird at times?

What benefits does meditation bring you about? Do you believe it directly heals?

And have you ever managed to meditate while laying down?


I appreciate your time and energy, thank you, each and every one of you.

Two things are coming up to be shared with you:

1. Do you realize that there are many ways of entering and staying in a meditative state? Sitting alone in the position you described below might not be the right one for you, at least not for now (it has never been for me). As was mentioned already, meditation is being aware of Being (present in the now) and can be experienced in many ways and positions.

2. For me, the meditative state never gets disrupted any more. When I am not sleeping I am constantly in that state of being present as the Creator. No matter what is happening in the dream of forms. And it doesn't feel like an achievement or something I "do", I just AM aware of that I AM experiencing myself in a dream. It has become the most natural state for me.

And one more thing: you don't have to do anything to "deserve to be with the Creator", you never stopped being Him.

[Ray711]

I personally started meditation about 13 months ago, and I instantly got into it in a very serious manner. I've been meditating 3 to 5 hours per day, and my problem might be that I've taken the practice too seriously. Sometimes I meditated in a manner which wasn't relaxing at all, focusing too tightly on the breath and becoming somewhat obsessed with reaching single-pointed attention as fast as possible. I've learnt to balance that, and I would say that my concentration is good enough, but thoughts can still pop up very often in my mind, depending on the day.

I've gotten to spend a lot of hours meditating while laying on bed, so I can offer my thoughts on that. While I would say that I've completely gotten over the issue of dullness in the vertical position, horizontally it was still an issue, *especially* if I was even remotely tired. Some people have no choice but to meditate horizontally, and this position certainly solves a lot of problems, but from my own experience, it's not something I can recommend. I wouldn't say it was wasted time, but I know that the big amount of hours I got to spend in the horizontal position would have been much more fruitful in a vertical position.

It's hard to say how meditation has affected me, because I implemented the practice at around the same time I both started having actual spiritual beliefs and I implemented a vegetarian diet. So while the improvements that I've noticed in my life are huge like nothing I've experienced before, it's hard for me to pinpoint what benefit is the result of what, exactly. No doubt meditation is responsible for a lot of good, though, so I can't but urge to meditate any amount of time you can, no matter how little it is.

[flofrog]

If you read some interesting writings by Yogananda or Sri Yuktesvar, or really other Hindu sages you will notice that the vertical position is considered an essential of meditation. The verticality of the spine is pretty important for aligning the chakras

[ShMLJ]

I read a lot of the same: active mind/active thoughts and inhibit to get into a meditative state.
Had that also one thing that helped me was "creating my island" while meditating.

So it's really a game with yourself:
First you breath in and out and automatically you relax more, then you get on your (private) island and start building it as you wish.
As you have a "purpose" you create and the distracted elements are more "concentrated". An island is calm so you think of the sea, the loneliness, the waves, the sun, ...
After a while you just get deeper into it and then you can go anywhere while meditating.

For me it helped a lot to get into a "deeper meditative state" and I use it often - go to my island and then drift calmer away in meditation.

In the beginning meditation was hard and now it is a part of my daily life ... It became vital for my mind and realization how powerful the mind can be and flexibel. (It's really you that make you so agitated and narrow minded, you can't really blame anybody else...)