That Old Chestnut

ThailandTom

So it has been more than three years and I feel as if I have made very little, if any progress with meditation. I understand how important it is to my practice, yet I do not have the effort a lot of the time, and when I do I do not seem to be getting anywhere.

So I have a few questions if they would be answered please

Firstly, what actually happens during a sitting meditation. What is the method behind it? Please do not reply with 'just sit' beacuse I have heard that throughout these three years. What happens chemically in the brain? I watched that video Leobasin posted and the woman spoke about her left cortex of her brain had shut down, or was it the right I forget, but anyway she said she felt totally at one with everything and the world but unabable to interact with it.

Secondly, what is a body scan? I have heard before people speaking of body scans in meditation, what are they and what are they used for?

I know that there is meant to be no goal whilst meditating, but surely there kind of is otherwise you would not be doing it.

I feel I need to crack this because I am pretty sound in most sectors of the religion, and totally fail here. Thanks for reading and thanks for replying in advance.

Dakini

There are different types of meditation; some have goals, some don't. I think a body scan is where you gradually tune in to each part of the body, checking for tension and releasing it.

If you meditate using a deep breathing technique, what some call "diaphragmatic breathing", that switches your body from the sympathetic nervous system (alert mode) to the parasympathetic (relax mode). That turns off the stress hormones, and allows your thoughts to quiet down. That means that the left hemisphere begins to shut down, the part of the brain that is analytical and "monkey mind". The right brain is intuitive, and given to experiencing oneness with all creation, as well as receiving intuitive knowledge. Researchers into OBE's say the right temporal lobe is the "circuitboard of mysticism", as well. When the right temporal lobe is stimulated with a probe, and OBE can be produced.

So a steady meditation practice can allow you to quiet the busy mind and bring up the capacities of the right brain. In day-to-day life, the left brain dominates.

But this takes time. Patience is key, as we always say.

ThailandTom

I first tried meditating gone three years now, and the longest I have probably sat was around 25 minutes. I do not think I have ever reached a jhanna, but there you go. I am aware of metta meditation as I have practiced that a few times, that seemed to help the situation I was in at the time, but as far as cultivating the mind from a buddhist perspective, I have yet to yield the harvest.

From day1 I have been using the counting or watching the breath method, sometimes I switch to telling my brain that I am 'touching, touching, sitting, sitting, sound, sound' etc. I must be doing something wrong but I guess all there is to do is to sit and sit and then sit again.

Dakini

I'd never heard of jhanas until I joined this forum. But I got interesting results from meditation. It's different for everyone, and I don't think it's realistic more the average person to expect to attain any jhanas after 3 yrs., but I don't know. I think it takes most people up to a year just to manage to quiet the mind for 10 minutes straight. 25 mins. at a time is pretty good, Tom.

It helps to have a clear mind. You've had some ups and downs with prescrip. meds and other stuff, that can get in the way. So maybe it hasn't been a steady 3 yrs. of regular practice.

ThailandTom

The problem with me and meditation, well there are 3 problems. Firstly I have adopted the same mind type as my mother, one that is not just like a monkey mind, but a monkey mind on steroids. It is so fast, so irrational at times, it is lunacy.
Secondly yes drugs. I have been using all kinds of drugs pretty much without a break since the age of 14. I often wonder what I would have turned out like if I had never touched a single substance, but then I stop myself beause there is no point in thinking of what ifs and buts. So my mind has been a monkey mind on steroids, whilst being clouded by drugs and anxiety.

Lastly simple laziness and lack of right effort. The want is there, the intention is there but the intention is weak. If I study my actions/thougts for the past 9 years, it seems I have not wanted to help myself, but more trying to kill myself slowly if that makes sense.