[quote]Nards wrote:
[quote]krebcycle wrote:
[quote]DeterminedNate wrote:
[quote]krebcycle wrote:
Do you always speak in riddles?[/quote]
Hahahahaha. That was good.[/quote]
I’m sure he may have some decent input, I just didn’t get his point in that message![/quote]
You recommended meditation, Stefano said it was the first step in ‘waking up’.
Quite salient I think. You should meditate upon that.[/quote]
haha, yeah sorry I should not have been so dismissive of Stefano…
After meditating for a few years I realized that for me, at least, there’s an extraordinarily small difference in the feeling that I get between doing your stereotypical lotus position and really anything else that gets you into a form of trance. Last night I hit a tire with a sledgehammer for about fifteen minutes, but I didn’t do it with a challenging weight or pace, just to enter that state of mind where you can embrace the most minimal aspect of your being (in this case, keeping beat and hitting the shit out of piece of rubber). Another good one is shooting a bow- your focus gets fucked up every time you have to go an retrieve arrows, but it’s amazing for sustaining a long, tranquil state. Distance running works wonders too, but that’s not really an option for a lot of blokes on this site.
I don’t know if it works for everyone, but anyone who’s worked in a gym and just entered that state where your mind is completely blank, that’s what the feeling is. Standard hippy meditation got a bit dull for me, so I just started doing new things and it’s worked pretty well so far.
[quote]Ithiel wrote:
After meditating for a few years I realized that for me, at least, there’s an extraordinarily small difference in the feeling that I get between doing your stereotypical lotus position and really anything else that gets you into a form of trance. Last night I hit a tire with a sledgehammer for about fifteen minutes, but I didn’t do it with a challenging weight or pace, just to enter that state of mind where you can embrace the most minimal aspect of your being (in this case, keeping beat and hitting the shit out of piece of rubber). Another good one is shooting a bow- your focus gets fucked up every time you have to go an retrieve arrows, but it’s amazing for sustaining a long, tranquil state. Distance running works wonders too, but that’s not really an option for a lot of blokes on this site.
I don’t know if it works for everyone, but anyone who’s worked in a gym and just entered that state where your mind is completely blank, that’s what the feeling is. Standard hippy meditation got a bit dull for me, so I just started doing new things and it’s worked pretty well so far.
[/quote]
Sounds pretty cool, never thought it that way.
[quote]krebcycle wrote:
[quote]Jereth127 wrote:
Not trying to derail the thread but and English man, with Quinny as his avatar…? WTF?![/quote]
London born but Irish parents. Plus I’m a huge Munster fan hence Quinlan ‘master of the dark arts’ as my Avatar.
[/quote]
Master of the Dark Arts, haha awesome…
I meditate several times a week, I especially like to walking to a small body of water when doing so. I’ve used brain sync also, it’s alright but nothing spectacular. I agree with the sentiment the OP mentioned – with all that information bombarding us constantly we need to take time to get away from the programming.
I feel like a nice long walk is akin to meditating.
I’d like to meditate, but I fucking suck at it. I mean I can’t stay in the no-mind state at all. My ass gets itchy, I think about other things, I try counting my breath but stop doing it by about 7. FMM.
It’s good, and can be used for many different things. The type you are talking about is essentially a de-frag. You just essentially daydream and your mind clears out thought fragments and extra shit. When things come up, ponder them and release them so they don’t keep recurring. You might actually need to take action on some of them also.
Once you do this for a while you can clear out a lot of old clutter and similar to a newly scrubbed computer, you will be sharper in the mind. You can also then proceed to deeper states of meditation without getting so antsy. That is where you can get deeper information, ask questions and get answers.
You can also meditate for focus. If you have trouble keeping your focus, either with sport, or work, meditate on a candle flame in a dark room. It’s easy to focus on because it’s the brightest object in the room. You can connect with the flame so completely that you either CAN or think you can control the flickering of the flame. The object isn’t to move the flame though, it’s just a side effect of being so focused on it.
These are a couple I like to do from time to time. But even just enjoying a daydream is a form of meditation. so if you realize you are daydreaming and you are not supposed to be doing something important like working or whatever, don’t snap yourself out of it, just let it keep going.
V
[quote]Puddle wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
Don’t listen to the Buddhist.
http://www.nwjesuits.org/JesuitSpirituality/SpiritualExercises.html A month long plan planned out for you that has been working for a long time (450 years).[/quote]
Is this a joke?[/quote]
Lol, I don’t know if it’s a joke, but it’s pretty funny.
Maditating, in it’s original sense, is to focus on something simple, like a shape, a color, a sound, etc, for so long and so completely (this takes years of practice) that some of your brain waves cease to dominate most of your atention, and some others start to became more percebtible. This, I think, is what some Asian religions try to achieve (budhism, hinduism, etc), this feeling of “ilumination” by a change of perception. I’m no expert though.
I used to try to meditate frequently but I found that, as some others have said, it is really tough for me to sustain the no-mind state if I am just sitting there in the dark. My thoughts will gravitate to big ass titties within seconds. I end up getting frustrated and in the end instead of being relaxed and peaceful I am angry with a zealous hard on.
I have found though that “action meditation” works like a Chinese math student. If you play an instrument you’re all set. When I play guitar I’ll usually spend most of my time trying to write or learn something, focusing hard, getting frustrated, etc. --which can be pretty stressful. When I get tired of that though I will just choose a key and start to jam (sometimes with a song on in the background, sometimes not), improvising solos–all feel, no thought.
My brain empties; my fingers become the only discernible testament to my continued being. Sometimes my fingers decide to play aggressively, as if to shred out the energy and rage that builds in all of us over the course of a day or week. Other times I play soft, beautiful, melodic. Either way, it feels great afterward AND it usually sounds awesome too.
If you don’t play an instrument there are so many other ways to do this. Shoot some arrows as someone mentioned. Go for a walk. Juggle a soccer ball (‘keepy-uppies’ if you are gay and/or British). At the gym–forget the music and the sounds of clanking plates and everything and everyone around you and just live in the burning of your muscle as you pound out a set.
Speaking of pounding, sex is an awesome time to meditate. Becum (get it?) one with your penis/va-jay-jay. Just make sure you don’t start chanting creepily or anything, especially if it’s a one night stand.
I struggle like a bastard to focus on the breath. Most times I find myself concentrating on the fact that I can’t concentrate on the breath which is counterproductive (and mildly obsessive).
I did find a book called “Turning the Mind into an Ally” by Sakyong Mipham which has been a help. I highly recommend it.
Buddhism is, according to the Buddhist calendar, 2553 years old dating back to the 6th century BC. Certain sects make claims about reincarnation, but in general it doesn’t advertise itself as having knowledge of things that are impossible to know for certain. It teaches the practitioner to question it constantly and not accept anything as true unless the person is able to prove it to themselves through application.
It’s laughable to suggest that a 450 year old practice done by catholic monks would be a more knowledgeable course of information on mediation:
[quote]Puddle wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
Don’t listen to the Buddhist.
http://www.nwjesuits.org/JesuitSpirituality/SpiritualExercises.html A month long plan planned out for you that has been working for a long time (450 years).[/quote]
Is this a joke?[/quote]
Nope.
[quote]Daniel-San wrote:
[quote]Puddle wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
Don’t listen to the Buddhist.
http://www.nwjesuits.org/JesuitSpirituality/SpiritualExercises.html A month long plan planned out for you that has been working for a long time (450 years).[/quote]
Is this a joke?[/quote]
Lol, I don’t know if it’s a joke, but it’s pretty funny.
Maditating, in it’s original sense, is to focus on something simple, like a shape, a color, a sound, etc, for so long and so completely (this takes years of practice) that some of your brain waves cease to dominate most of your atention, and some others start to became more percebtible. This, I think, is what some Asian religions try to achieve (budhism, hinduism, etc), this feeling of “ilumination” by a change of perception. I’m no expert though. [/quote]
Both are oriental religions; however, you’re correct in Buddhism they attempt to “clear” their minds. We see this in the New Age movement, and it has infiltrated some of the of the Christian sects. However, just because Buddhism attempts to clear the mind in meditation doesn’t mean that is the correct way or the only way.
Catholicism is unwavering when it comes to the New Age movement, which is Buddhism by a different name in some cases. Catholic Church does not support it, because it perpetuates that you’re God yourself.
However, Catholics have their own meditation which is meditation on certain things, either scripture, announcements, questions, &c. We don’t ditch our reasoning faculties in order to figure something out. We use our reasoning skills to figure out which our reasoning skills will figure out.
That is is why I posted the link, because it helps with that process. It was common before Ignatius to use that system for mediation, just finally got written down.
So, no it is not a joke. And, stop acting like only Buddhist can meditate that is ignorant.
[quote]Oleena wrote:
Buddhism is, according to the Buddhist calendar, 2553 years old dating back to the 6th century BC. Certain sects make claims about reincarnation, but in general it doesn’t advertise itself as having knowledge of things that are impossible to know for certain. It teaches the practitioner to question it constantly and not accept anything as true unless the person is able to prove it to themselves through application.
It’s laughable to suggest that a 450 year old practice done by catholic monks would be a more knowledgeable course of information on mediation:
[/quote]
Older makes it better? You know that’s just plain fallacy. I’ll make it clear, St. Ignatius of Loyola’s contemplative prayer and meditation has been studied and written down for 450 years, contemplative prayer has been going on since the Jews. It’s laughable to suggest that contemplative prayer has only been around for 450 years.
The reason I put this down is because I like this best out of the contemplative prayers that I have done.