Meditatioin

How should one meditate?

Published on April 4, 2004 By TARSIER In Religion

By now most people might have guessed I am a slightly dense person that never was the brightest crayon in the box. I ask anyone who has ever meditated to offer insight and instruction. Once in a great while I will try to meditate at night to clear my thoughts and calm myself, which sometimes works. My method (can I call it meditation?) I found in a book, which is I concentrate on one finger of flame, like a candle flame, and imagine it burning away all feelings, fears and hopes. I try to imagince myself in a complete void, where only I exist. There I try to pray, reflect, or think on one thing at a time. Please respond to this article, I would appreciate it. I don't care if the meditation is religious or not, but I encourage any Christian reflections or meditations, which would be helpful to myself. Thanks, and have a smoothy day.

QED
Jay

Comments (Page 1)

dharmagrl

on Apr 04, 2004

This is how I do it:
I have a little pillow that I put under my ass, right where my sitting bones are. This helps, I find, to keep my spine straight. I cross my legs..sometimes I sit in full lotus, sometimes half, sometimes just with legs crossed. I sit up straight, drop my chin slightly to relax the back of my neck, and place my right hand palm up in my left hand, with the thumbs touching. My face is relaxed, and my lips are closed, with my tongue resting lightly at the back of my upper teeth. My eyes are somtimes closed, sometimes halfway open.

I watch my breath. I pay attention to my breathing, feeling myself inhale and exhale and all the accompanying sensations...

..this is the most basic form of mediatation and is really good for beginners. You get used to sitting like that and concentrating on one thing. You'll find that thoughts will pop up in your head...just acknowledge them and recognize them for what they are, and they'll go away.

Once you get used to watching your breath, you can move on to more in depth meditations. My favorite one is this: I visualize myself leaving my body, and floating up into the sky. I float all the way out into the dark silence of space...I see the pinpoints of light that are stars all around me, then I turn to look at the earth..I take some time to watch her turning, a beautiful blue and green orb...then I slowly come back towards her. I see the continents moving below me, and I spot the country I live in...then the region, then the state, the city, the suburb, the street, my house...then I go into my house and I see myself sitting there, mediating. I call out my name, the name used for me by those who love me the most...and I can usually hear myself saying it..I see myself smile at the recognition of hearing my name...and I re-enter my body and slowly come out of my meditation.

There is a saying that prayer is when you talk to god - meditation is when god talks to you.

Hope this helped you out some.

Dan Kaschel

on Apr 04, 2004

"There is a saying that prayer is when you talk to god - meditation is when god talks to you."

Good stuff, good stuff.

Jay, I wouldn't suggest taking religious advice from Jordan. Great fiction writer, but the application only reaches so far.

~Dan

TARSIER

on Apr 04, 2004

Thanx, but it wasnt for purely religious purposes. It helps me to just clear my mind. Then the religious comes

TARSIER

on Apr 05, 2004

Hey, I tried the meditation, but all I got was a pleasurable spinning sensation. It felt pretty cool, but I doubted I was in a deep meditation. Any other tips, lol?

Dan Kaschel

on Apr 05, 2004

"all I got was a pleasurable spinning sensation. "

Sounds pretty good to me!

~Dan

new-age nomad

on Apr 05, 2004

I'M GOING TO TRY THAT!!! I really like that idea.

I have a problem with listening to God.

Trinitie

TARSIER

on Apr 08, 2004

The spinny thing doesn't work anymore. Im sad.

dharmagrl

on Apr 08, 2004

If you got a spinning sensation you were probably breathing too fast or too deep....it happens when you first try and watch your breathing. If you're no longer getting the spinning thing then you're on the right track. it takes practice, that's all. You're probably discourgaed because you sat for a while and thought that you weren't really meditiating, right? Bull Poo, you were. Just the act of sitting and trying to center and focus yourself is meditation. Like I said, it just takes practice and a little patience. You also have to time your mediations..some people find that early morning is good, others find that evening, before they go to bed is better..it's all an individual thing.
Keep trying, keep doing what you've been doing, and in the meantime I'll go and see if I have any books the have better reccomendations for beginner mediation techniques.

TARSIER

on Apr 08, 2004

ok, I keep having to swallow because the saliva gets in my throat and the back of my mouth. Any suggestions?

dharmagrl

on Apr 08, 2004

Swallow, dude!! Just be AWARE that you're swallowing...pay attention to what your body's doing and how it feels. People seem to think that meditations is akin to taking a nap, that you have to have your body shut down..and it's not like that. It's more about clarifying your mind...quieting the 'chattering monkey' in your head.

I'm still looking for more techniques for you..I didn't forget.

JeremyG

on Apr 08, 2004

Here's how I do it

Sit, or stand or lay, or kneel, any position that is comfortable but not so much that you could fall asleep. (it's easy to fall asleep on the way).

First just sit and listen. Dont listen and put words to the sounds, just allow the sounds to tickle your ears. After all the sound of a phone ringing is not the phone...it is the sound, just enjoy the sound and how it produces sensation in your ears, forget about where it came from. Meditation is about being in the eternal NOW, and the only thing that is actually NOW is the way in which your ears are stimulated.

Continue to do that for anything that comes about. If you have to swollow, thats not something that's wrong, its just something that happens....accept it as a happening, and just observe it with the senses like with the sounds. Do not think about any implications on what that swollow means, etc just let the swollow happen and when its done, let whatever is next happen, etc etc etc.

Dan Kaschel

on Apr 08, 2004

This is inspiring... I'm gonna try some of this. I'm going to Espresso bay now, so maybe I'll try it there.

~Dan

TARSIER

on Apr 08, 2004

*Dan is high on caffeine, trying to concentrate on meditiating, while all other customers are observing and laughing at him#

I can see it now

Dan Kaschel

on Apr 08, 2004

'cept I don't drink coffee, hence no caffeine. It worked well, by the way.

~Dan

JeremyG

on Apr 09, 2004

If it worked, you did it wrong.

Meditation does not DO or ACCOMPLISH anything. There's no benefiet from it....if you're doign it to get a result, you're not doing it. Meditation is simply about letting yourself "be" for a little while.

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