I think it's an awareness problem. Tich Naht Tahn is the most clarifying teacher of mindfulness to me. An interview done by Ram Dass I found particularly enlightening. |
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I have tried quite a few times to practice mindfulness/awareness but eventually a cloud of cog fog envelops my mind and I slowly stop practicing because of fatigue, and soon end up forgetting the whole thing. This is the longest that I've been with it and I want to keep it up, but it's mentally exhausting. |
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I think it's an awareness problem. Tich Naht Tahn is the most clarifying teacher of mindfulness to me. An interview done by Ram Dass I found particularly enlightening. |
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I'd like to share some thoughts regarding the passive observation method of meditation, both in relation to the teachings from which it arises and in relation to my experience and the experience of those of respectable attainment. |
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When somebody says they are "trying" that normally means you put in effort to do something, effort is what is exhausting, effort makes you tired and stressed. |
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Last edited by Memm; 01-09-2015 at 04:58 PM.
It is important to understand the different between right and wrong effort. Skillful effort applied to meditation leads to more wholesome states of mind, deeper peace, tranquility, and joy, and the arising of insight into the nature of the mind. Wrong effort leads to further stress and suffering. Meditation is a practice that requires the development of skill, because you want to do it right. Even "letting go" requires effort. In fact, it is much more difficult for many people than it may sound, as it is something that most people have never done and goes against the dominant habitual tendencies of the mind. Once you get there you can let go of the effort, but until the practice becomes effortless, it is required, no different than the development of any other skill. Effort doesn't mean that stress and strain needs to be involved, it simply means that one applies their mind in a skillful way. In fact, skillful effort, by definition, necessitates the absent of stress and strain. Otherwise it is not skillful. |
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I prefer the term effortless action rather than skilful effort, I think we're talking about the same thing but "effort" has a fairly negative connotation in english in my opinion and by that definition includes stress and strain and all the other things that are unnecessary. |
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Last edited by Memm; 01-09-2015 at 07:08 PM.
Maybe I should have specified. By mindfulness I meant lucid living/ADA. >.< This is all really great info though and will help regardless. |
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Last edited by VagalTone; 01-10-2015 at 01:11 AM.
Check your memory, did any suprising event happpen ? does the present make sense ? visualize what you will do when lucid, and how. Reality check as reminder of your intention to lucid dream tonight. Sleep as good as you can; when going to sleep, relax and invite whatever comes with curiosity. Grab your dream journal immediately as you awake and write everything you can recall (if only when you wake up for good). Keep calm, positive and persistent, and don't forget to have fun along the way
Interesting, not once have I ever associated any negative connotations with the word effort. |
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Last edited by VinceField; 01-10-2015 at 05:23 AM.
I don't actually know that much about Tibetan Buddhism, I've read lots on Theravada and I sometimes go to a Mahayana temple, although to me while some practices might be a little different the teachings are all really the same, also after watching a lot of the teachings by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche I've come to really like the Bon approach to certain things. Everything is the same to me, just different traditions have their own added quirks. |
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Last edited by Memm; 01-10-2015 at 07:56 AM.
Sooo, you were asking about mindfulness in the context of LDing?! |
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Last edited by Sageous; 01-10-2015 at 09:09 AM.
Memm, your view in that post is actually in agreement with tibetan budhism. |
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Last edited by VagalTone; 01-10-2015 at 11:49 AM.
Check your memory, did any suprising event happpen ? does the present make sense ? visualize what you will do when lucid, and how. Reality check as reminder of your intention to lucid dream tonight. Sleep as good as you can; when going to sleep, relax and invite whatever comes with curiosity. Grab your dream journal immediately as you awake and write everything you can recall (if only when you wake up for good). Keep calm, positive and persistent, and don't forget to have fun along the way
That's interesting. There are other examples of practitioners who firmly decide that they would sit down and not get up until they reach enlightenment, ignoring any physical pain and suffering they suffer in the mean time. Basically enlightenment or die trying mentality and at least in some places I've read it states this sort of determination is necessary. Also Buddha basically said enlightenment doesn't "just" happen, it takes working through the path and the right conditions. |
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Last edited by Memm; 01-10-2015 at 02:52 PM.
While the sentences as a whole may have a particular tone leaning towards positive or negative depending on the situation they are describing, the word effort itself remains neutral in all of them. |
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Last edited by VinceField; 01-10-2015 at 03:54 PM.
Wow. |
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Chogyam Trungpa on awareness and effort: |
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Stephen LaBerge's tips for MILD: (http://www.dreamviews.com/lucid-expe...ml#post2160952
Lol well, if it continues this way then we can talk about shoving it back to ED. |
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Let's take a look at the OP and see how valid your argument is: |
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Last edited by VinceField; 01-11-2015 at 12:55 AM.
^^ I wasn't making an argument, VinceField, just a statement. But if you must: |
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Last edited by Sageous; 01-11-2015 at 02:46 AM.
It wasn't an interpretation, it was simply reading what she wrote: |
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The conversation did not get sidetracked. The subject was changed by you; there is a difference. Also, the thread was already derailed by the time I came in; that was sort of my point. |
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Last edited by Sageous; 01-11-2015 at 05:53 AM.
If the issue so far is just this one thread, could just toss it into ED and salvage the subforum. |
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^^ Might as well. The OP's done, but maybe Vince et al will be able to continue their conversation there without nitpicky rummies like me bothering them.... |
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So I didn't want to say anything to derail this further but since the train seems to be heading for the cliff either way I think that if you just delete all posts starting at #15 up, except #16 which is on topic, we can air lift this sucker a few kilometres back onto the tracks. |
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^^ That actually seems like a decent idea...maybe if the thread is scrubbed clean of all this recent crap (much of it mine), it'll find on-topic life again sometime. |
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Last edited by Sageous; 01-11-2015 at 09:05 AM.
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