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Hardcore/Powerful/Fast Meditation--- is there a way to achieve meditation's benefits in short time?
buddhistok
Veteran
Is there any method or technique for meditating that will give you results faster?
This is just an example, but could you spend hours meditating over several weeks perhaps? It would be good to hear about anything that will provide results faster and safely.
The reason I ask is because I feel the need to achieve a quite, calm mind very soon.
Another complicating factor is that I often find my mind wandering for several minutes at a time while meditating.
Thanks in advance!
This is just an example, but could you spend hours meditating over several weeks perhaps? It would be good to hear about anything that will provide results faster and safely.
The reason I ask is because I feel the need to achieve a quite, calm mind very soon.
Another complicating factor is that I often find my mind wandering for several minutes at a time while meditating.
Thanks in advance!
0
Comments
Namaste
But still... From my own experience I would say, that the more you do it, the deeper you can get in your meditation. More in the sense that the bigger part meditation is of your days.
And of course the technique can play a role also.
But yeah... As long as you keep seeing it only as a means to get "from here" to "there" really fast, I don't see how you could get very deep in meditation. It seems to be a thought-pattern, which is totally the opposite of meditation, in which "the aim" is to let go. And it seems as it might cause much restlessness instead.
But of course there's this possibility, that in your meditation you are pretty much able to let go of these thoughts.
-time: early in the morning, soon after waking up
-place: a quiet place, dedicated solely to meditation. It may help to have statues, pictures, or other symbols of faith, dedication, concentration, etc.
-preparation: start off with loving kindness, then reflect on how valuable and important meditation is and how grateful you are to be able to do it. It would probably help to spend the first part of your meditation doing a purely concentration practice, such as: 1. fixing your breath attention on a very specific location (rather than "chasing" the breath), 2. counting breaths, and/or 3. focusing on the length of the in breath and length of the out breath. (I pretty much do this entire preparation as a sequence).
-daily life: Try to stay mindful. Avoid activities that reduce mindfulness (such as, perhaps, watching TV or Facebooking). It helps to have periodic mindfulness "triggers", when you consciously reassert mindfulness for a time. For example, every time you enter a room, do it mindfully. Perhaps eat mindfully. Finally, be ethical and wise, as in those sections of the 8-fold path.
Do not underestimate the importance of all these things, especially the last one.
I imagine that if you shut up, pay attention, stop relying on others, and set aside the desire to 'improve' things, you would be home free in an instant.
just let go. accept. surrender. to whatever is here right now. be it a sound, smell, taste, thought, sensation, etc.
repeat until it works.
nothing to do. nothing to calm. just let go.
But it's kind of like saying "waste less time clearing the path to exit from the burning house" - - I mean, if the path has to be cleared, then that's as important as exiting the house. But you could develop a habit of keeping the path cleared.
I think I just accidentally likened meditation to a house fire. Sorry.
What is the fastest way to get calm?
I need to know right away!
mix in a few longer sessions once or twice a day,
this worked very well for me to increase my concentration after only a couple days.
this is a good thread to grasp the kasina meditation instructions and answer most questions:
http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/102060
kasina meditation in general helped me develop concentration far faster than breath meditation.
Worked so much better for me to learn to concentrate.
but now i can do breath meditation and have the same results as kasina.
some people are more visual, some people are more this or that...
some methods are just silly or work for only certain types of people... (not talking about Buddhists methods)
Thanks! I'll be looking at that!
can't believe i didn't think of this answer before...
meditation retreats is the obvious answer!!
vipassana or whatever serious meditation retreat where all you will do is meditate 10 hours a day for a week or more.
indulge in meditation and do only this for a predefined period of time
An analogy of the theory may go like:
Imagine a huge pile of rubble tightly packed... at the base, deep within the maze of concrete is the calm place you're looking for... there are 2 ways to look at this scenario if your aim is to reach the calm place as quickly as possible...
1) One way is that the searching you (the consciousness that typed the query) is outside the rubble and you have to dig down to the calm place... This will take a long time and take a lot of energy but at the end you will dig through the rubble and reach the base (the calm place I suppose would open to the surroundings so would it even exist???) - either way - this is how youre looking at your meditation quandary at present... whatever turbulance your mind is experiencing is akin to the concrete - you feel that it stands between you and the calmness...
2)Another way to look at it is that You are infact the calm place - there is no distinction between you and that place - you are already there looking out from under the concrete... your confusion is the claustraphobia... you feel trapped in the loop of your thought prison... or so you think... it is just a matter of perception - by accepting your true nature, as irrelevant and mundane as it may seem, the concrete becomes irrelevant... You are the calm place already - what does it matter if a million tons of concrete is piled on top?
In practice:
you could try just walking... nothing more - dont aim for anything and dont take any particular time to do it... just walk whenever you naturally walk and as you do feel your steps and your movement through the universe... it doesnt matter if youre thinking aloud or what your mind is doing - just concentrate on your steps and your movement - if your mind strays then dont worry - just walk - the gaps in between your steps are as important as the steps... as are the gaps inbetween your working thoughts... it also works with anything not just walking... any task that you may undertake in your life - so innately life is a meditation and you no longer need to search for a quick or slow route...
Many of the Goenka Vipassana meditators in the west have little or no meditation experience before taking the course, and the only course available for beginners is ten days long.
But there is nothing wrong with taking a evening introductory course at a zen center or Tibetan center as well...
Nothing wrong with trying to learn all by yourself with youtube videos and books as well.
But i would certainly recommend someone who choose to do everything by himself to experience some kind of retreat eventually.
Doing 1 hour meditation is something, but doing 12-15 hours meditation everyday for a while is a whole different animal.
People who do this usually come out of them with very good things to say about their unforgettable experience.
@buddhistok -- To the extent you are offended, to that extent I will apologize. The suggestion, however, remains unchanged.
the traditional teaching is that there are three facets of learning: insight, peace, and goodness. Or wisdom, concentration, and ethics. Goodness keeps crapola out of your life which helps you to remain peaceful. If you have just had a drag down fight with your spouse and treated eachother unfairly you will be too upset to have a calm meditation. That is an extreme to make a point, but it is pretty simple to see the effects of grasping or even the physicality of sexual obsession, binge eating, alcohol, drugs, sitting in front of tv/puter for 5 hours... All of those things make it hard to have peace. Similarly peace makes it easier to have insight. If we have no peace we are too overwhelmed with suffering to have the energy needed in our bodies to get clarity, maybe thats not true but at least it leaves the problem of insight in a way to understand.. insight is a letting go of false ideas we are holding on to and turmoil causes panic causes grasping.
So this is an upwards spiral and insight also helps ethics we get more skilled. Insight helps peace as we have more trust and freedom from wrong views. Peace also helps ethics as we naturally radiate love. Etc etc
So you can work on peace now. And work on goodness and insight more later. But really if you do one you have to do all three.
In his interpretation, loving-kindness is a way to cultivate short-term compassion that helps you meditate. And the insight you gain through meditation is a way to cultivate long-term, deep compassion.
You have had a lifetime to develop bad mental habits. Meditation combined with mindfulness in our activities is practice in using our clear mind. On either a physical or mental level, some people might have a natural advantage, but the reason to practice is to get better at it. That is true if you are kicking a ball, running a race, or sitting with legs crossed keeping a quiet mind. No champion athlete ever got that way without years of practice, no matter how naturally gifted they might be.
So does more practice cause you to improve faster? Only to a point. After that, you are only repeating mistakes and building frustration. How about retreats or short intensive bouts of practice? Only if you are ready for them. If not, again all you do is cause frustration.
The biggest reason people quit meditation is they feel there has been no progress so they became frustrated. Progress to what? So in my school we say the meditation is its own end. An example. We chant and prostrate in our particular tradition. Some people set a goal of a certain number of prostrations each day. What is the result if someone practices to the point they can do a thousand prostrations instead of ten or a hundred? It doesn't make them more Holy or better Buddhists or more Enlightened. It makes them really good at prostrations and is perhaps a sign of their determination. Or obsession. Either way, you must choose your own path.
So patience. Bad mental habits you've spent a lifetime acquiring take a while to disappear.
"About a decade ago, Merzel created a program he calls “Big Mind.” It combines Zen teachings with Western psychology and promises a quicker path to enlightenment. The training can be pricey: His “5-5-50 program” offers five days of training for five people for $50,000." quoted from this article: http://spiceyourday.com/?p=101
Maybe that would work for you.... (sarcasm << in case it's not obvious)
It give the opportunity to deal with them and progress; that is if you are willing to work hard and deal with them.