Thread: Meditation Question:

Thoughts ceasing is a good thing. You can then just revel in that calmness and use it as a stress reliever, or you can take the opportunity to think about one thought, one specific thing you would want to meditate on.

Effortlessness

How hard is it to not do?

Drop the words, and die

1. Relax body. Feel it as cotton wool, completely relaxed. Forget your body, let it die to you. It's not the body that wants to move, that twitches and causes restless feelings, it is the mind. Completely disregard, and release your grip on the body. Let it sway or drop, as it pleases, without your holding.

2. Feel the breathing. In and out, all there is. Forget it. Lose your grip on the breath. Lose control of it. Let it die to you.

3. Thoughts. Watch them as they are. Don't indulge then look back at them when you've had you taste. Watch them. Relax the mind. Let them drop. Let them die.

4. Looking at nothing, immerse yourself in your very presence, without words nor concepts. The inner flame, awareness. Sleep/meditation is the same. Sleep is unconscious. Be conscious and watch nothing, dropping everything.

Drop these words, don't start repeating them.
Dive and die

You'll have plenty of time to not think when you're dead.

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

You'll have plenty of time to not think when you're dead.

Let's see when you die, then.

Im taking you with me.

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

Im taking you with me.

No-one will hold your hand.

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

You'll have plenty of time to not think when you're dead.

How do you know death isn't one big calculus exam?

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

How do you know death isn't one big calculus exam?

Calculus isn't needed in Heaven.

Originally Posted by Schmaven

Has anyone experienced their thoughts ceasing while meditating? If so, what did you do after they stopped? It happened to me once, and within moments, I started worrying about why they stopped and got to thinking again.

Never completely. When I started I thought I couldn't meditate because I kept thinking, and that was a good excuse to give up, but I realised I was just more aware of what was going on in my mind and persevered. I try to think (haha) it's not bad, its natural, keep returning to the object of meditation again and again, don't force it, let it happen by itself.

There is that analogy of your mind being the sky and you watch the clouds/thoughts drift by freely without chasing them. I prefer the analogy of our mind being an ocean and our thoughts the waves in it. Just like our thoughts the waves arise out of it and then return back into the ocean.

I don't know first-hand what happens but I think the absence of thoughts would be one-pointed concentration or Jhana - Pali word from Theravada Buddhism.

Originally Posted by ClouD

No-one will hold your hand.

I'll grab your leg and bring you into the Abyss. I dont hold hands with men......not my thing...maybe its yours...

Originally Posted by Semja

I prefer the analogy of our mind being an ocean and our thoughts the waves in it. Just like our thoughts the waves arise out of it and then return back into the ocean.

That is a good analogy. I've heard the thoughts are clouds one a bunch but never that one.

If death is a big calculus exam, I'd pass it! woohoo for math class! I don't think death would be that easy though.

Intentional (ego) death is the hardest test you will ever experience: Will you die for the unknown?

Originally Posted by really

Intentional (ego) death is the hardest test you will ever experience: Will you die for the unknown?

Would that be equivalent to giving up emotion? How do you define the ego?

I don't think meditation is about stopping your thoughts! It's more like focussing your thoughts. Imo meditation is attention training, keeping your thoughts on the same thing all the time.

When most people talk or think about thoughts, they mean inner speech. But imo, thoughts are everything that your imagination comes up with. Thoughts aren't only inner speech, but also visualisation, emotions, feelings, etc...

You can't silence your thoughts. But you can silence your inner speech, the little voice tlaking in your head, the verbalization of your thoughts. Your thoughts are always there, but they are all over the place! The purpose of meditation, imo, is to concentrate your thoughts. Concentration of thoughts on one single object... thus, attention training. You can even meditate on the inner speech, putting your attention on the inner speech by repeating mantras or prayers. (praying is also a form of meditation)

I'm still a nub at meditation, so I could be wrong about this, feel free to correct me! But the insight that meditation is actually another word for attention training suddenly made the whole process clear and straightforward for me. Before I thought you needed to "silence and calm your mind", but you silencing and calming your mind can't be done activily! Just like you can't calm a body of water, the body of water will calm itself when left untouched.. If you would be standing in a pool, you need to wait and not move if you want the pool to be without waves. What you need to do is focus your attention on one thing and not move your attention away from that thing, and the silencing and calming of the mind will come just like that... moving your attention from one thing to another is what causes the ripples in the water imo.

Has anyone tried meditating as they are going to sleep? Most of the time, I completely forget what I'm doing, and the next thing I know I wake up the next day.

I meditate in bed before sleep, it brings very pleasant and interesting intuitive states of mind; very relaxing. This is usually followed by profound dream recall.

Originally Posted by Schmaven

Would that be equivalent to giving up emotion? How do you define the ego?

Briefly, the ego is the inherent animal mind which is dualistic in structure. By this divisive nature, it does not have the capacity to discern truth from falsehood (essence from appearance) and thus is always judging and forming its own illusory realities. It does this in order to survive; i.e it is a survival mechanism; and its primary duality is that it is "me" and separate from all "other" things. Other dualities include "perpetrator vs. victim", "innocent vs. guilty", "good vs. evil", "right vs. wrong" and "ally vs. enemy".

When it is silenced with some integrity and understanding, it relies less on the "negative" emotions (shame, apathy, anger, greed, lust, pride, fear etc.) which are formed through ego-inflation and glamorized vanity. Instead, it gradually loses its illusory value and thus its arbitrary projections and opinions become less dominant. Increased tolerance, patience, compassion and humility result.

It is not necessary to give up emotion, but rather, their value, and their dominant attachment.

Originally Posted by Schmaven

Has anyone experienced their thoughts ceasing while meditating? If so, what did you do after they stopped? It happened to me once, and within moments, I started worrying about why they stopped and got to thinking again.

Just sit and close your eyes for 2 hours, trust me your thoughts will cease.

There are no thoughts.

There is no God.

Alone. Residue fading.

Originally Posted by ClouD

There is no God.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh

Theism Revenge Machine Activate.

That is the right moment. Now you are nearing the answer. When no answer comes, you are near the answer because mind is becoming silent -- or you have gone far away from the mind. When there will be no answer and a vacuum will be created all around you, your questioning will look absurd. Whom are you questioning? There is no one to answer you. Suddenly, even your questioning will stop. With the questioning, the last part of the mind has dissolved because this question was also of the mind. Those answers were of the mind and this question was also of the mind. Both have dissolved, so now YOU ARE.

Originally Posted by ClouD

That is the right moment. Now you are nearing the answer. When no answer comes, you are near the answer because mind is becoming silent -- or you have gone far away from the mind. When there will be no answer and a vacuum will be created all around you, your questioning will look absurd. Whom are you questioning? There is no one to answer you. Suddenly, even your questioning will stop. With the questioning, the last part of the mind has dissolved because this question was also of the mind. Those answers were of the mind and this question was also of the mind. Both have dissolved, so now YOU ARE.

Yes, yes.



And what has the mind done to You? What use are these sticky thoughts? How unnecessary! How ridiculous to stick them on everything, like to paint make-up on your face. Do not be afraid; wash your Face, wash your Life. And how ridiculous is the familiarity - the familiarity with anything. Identifying with this, identifying with that... I am here I am there I am this I am that... How ridiculous...

Where else but Here? What else but Now? What else but Me? What else... How ridiculous to ask... (not even this - without words and questions)

Even now - your thoughts distort the words... the shapes... Drop thoughts...ajhshd doai dhsuuhe... wiuwbos sis s foiifl. Pjiiidhh sooifowind soid oiwiuysn ampf aoi Josbbe aois fif aoa sk Kattsss. Greftangle enfoqnesh coovez coovass, ywpp wuu. (shhs shhh hushhh shhh husshhh ssshhhhhhhh sh-sh-shhh-sh-shhhhh)...

As I understand it, meditation is the act of lowering activity in the part of the brain that identifies "self" and separates us from our surroundings. Thus, during meditation there would not appear to be a discontinuity where your "body" ends and where the floor begins. And really, that is the correct, albeit not so useful truth. The universe doesn't 'know' that there are people, it just knows about energy fields between wavefunctions.

Check this out:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/j...f_insight.html

Originally Posted by drewmandan

Check this out:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/j...f_insight.html

Wow, great find. Definitely worth watching.

Originally Posted by Schmaven

Wow, great find. Definitely worth watching.

YOU'RE NOT MISSING IT

fucking parrots