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How is your meditation practice going? (Let's Discuss)
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
Today I have a simple question - How is your meditation practice?
Do you sit regularily? What challenges are you facing? What ponderings about your practice do you guys have? What questions about your practice do you have? What advice might you give for our newer members?
Do you sit regularily? What challenges are you facing? What ponderings about your practice do you guys have? What questions about your practice do you have? What advice might you give for our newer members?
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And my self control is improving because I no longer explode emotionally, internally or externally.
I saw mybest friend's ex the other day and he is still living.
:om:
I sit regularly but some days I am just antsy, It's like I don't want meditation to be a duty, I want to be in the moment. But I at least meditate once because it helps my body and mind. I do also try one hour walking meditation for fitness.
Sometimes it is good to be very driven and into it. Sometimes it is good to just take a deep breath and feel your body. That's my advice to people. Experiment. And don't be hard on yourself.
@Jeffrey, is posture really important? If so why, the only reason I can think of is to do with energy flow or something along those lines?
But in the beggining it can Be hindrance for some and turn them off to meditation because they are always having to check their posture.
In the beginning not so much, but to further your practice, I would perhaps suggest it. I have a teacher from a Zen Temple, but I do need a teacher further down the road. However, I am combining Tao/Dao and Zen. That is my practice. I practice Zazen and QiGong/Tai Chi and such.
I know what you mean, and it can be a tricky balance sometimes. But I've found from experience that both quality and quantity are important to develop a meditation practice, so it seems like some personal discipline is needed. Otherwise it's a bit like wanting to be physically fit but not actually doing much exercise...
I also have to give my new zafu/zabuton a lot of credit - very comfortable; without any discomfort I'm able to sit within the moment without the distractions of pain in my back, legs or neck.
In Sault Ste. Marie there is no teachers. A problem I think I have is I don't know how to do it other than reading books or suttas or commentaries or different ideas on suttas. So you see variations
I met a monk from the Southern School, on his website he mentioned that without a teacher on the buddhist path meditation can only take you so far, that it is essential.
he also mentioned that faith in the instruction a teacher gives you is something we should have. For example when you go on retreat and recieve an instruction don't worry or think about whether it is the incorrect method but just do it and sort of expect to get benefit from it.
that's all i can say about that.
You live in Thailand, Tom (no pun intended) why not open up and find a teacher?
I gently tie my elephant to a post.
I don't fight and I don't flee. When I feel like I can't do it anymore and want to get up...just one more minute.
For me, after 15minutes, the elephant gets tired of struggling against the calm watcher so she just lays down.
See?
I'm thinking of increasing my 20-30 minute sessions or at least meditating twice a day. Right now I just have time to do it in the evenings, but I know many say morning is the best time. I may well have to make time to meditate - in just a few weeks I do feel meditation has been helping me in daily life. I feel some changes and some acceptance.
1. I sit cross-legged on my bed during meditation;
2. I rarely ponder about anything;
3. How to get motivated to meditate daily;
4. I don't have any pieces of advice to share right now;
Mostly, I'm like Tom... I'm my own worst enemy. Consistency... consistency... I wonder if that word will ever describe my practice.
To be honest, lately I've been feeling like I'm in a bit of a slump. Even when I sit, I wonder why I do. I wonder what is the point.
I was at the supermarket last night, going through the self-check out with a small basket of items. I was behind an elderly woman who, it was becoming clear to me, had never used one of these before. I began to feel irritated as I watched people who arrived at the other lines after me zoom through. The red 'problem' light started flashing in our line and an attendant came over and helped the elderly woman with the machine. I began to notice my irritation and instead decided to develop compassion as I watched the very kind attendant teach the elderly woman how to look up produce items. I wondered why I was so bothered anyways, I wasn't in a rush. The extent of my night involved dishes and making vegetarian chili. I realized that I was bothered because I was wishing I was somewhere else than I really was. In my mind, I was already at home, starting my chili... looking at the clock... wondering if it would be done before my girlfriend got home. I decided to just BE there, in that supermarket checkout line. It seems a stupid thing to have to tell yourself to do, because well, I WAS there. The woman began to apologize to me, but I told her it wasn't a big deal. It was my day off and I had all the time in the world.
I wonder, is this the point? Is it all of these trivial matters that combine to make the big picture of why we meditate? I think in the past, I might have had some grandiose ideas about meditation and Buddhism. I don't know why... But this is it, isn't it? Just being kind to each other? Not vomiting my personal baggage/wrong perceptions onto another human being...
If I miss a day, I don't punish myself. I let it arise naturally. The body has its own clock.
So I don't force myself to meditate. My body tells me exactly what it needs...when do you eat?
Well, I eat when I'm hungry
My teacher has said that there is a stage of meditation called hot boredom. In this we are very restless and irritable and hard to sit. We are thinking of all the other things we can do. Eventually we let go of that idea or the penny drops or whatever and we enter cool boredom. In this it really doesn't matter if we sit or don't sit, but nonetheless we sit. And we appreciate it in the way that we appreciate a stream we find or sit by. I think of a river in a park in my town. Or something like that. The stream doesn't have to do anything other than just be a stream. But nonetheless we appreciate it for what it is. Same thing with the meditation. It is cool and refreshing but we don't get anything and we don't need to.
No wonder I always see a little petulant child running around and a sadist...and the victim, and the seductress, the saint, the friend, the survivalist, the...
I doubt I'm insane...these are personifications of the ego in various roles ...but the only difference between "normal" humans and a person who is insane is that the voices in the head are internal.
But I can very much relate to the suffering homeless man I see everyday who talks to himself outwardly.
Compassion.
Sorry I got off topic.
I've been having, well, an interesting time with practice lately. I've been doing my particular practice for months now and I am feeling strangely sensitive. After practice I feel drained, tired and emotional. It's very unpleasant. But on the upside I've noticed that since I've started I've felt more compassionate to the people around me; more motivated to help others and I can see the difference with my interactions with other people. In a very almost funny way letting go of past fears recently is just scary.
Consult doctor.
Otherwise good job on compassion.
Meditation should feel good, not draining.
I can't really relate my actions or emotions to my practice at the moment because of medication and certain events that are arising, but being easily irritated is sometimes a familiar foe. I can relate to what you are saying though zombiegirl, however I think compassion comes from openeing the heart and mind, or so I remember reading somewhere. There is so much emphasis on meditation in buddhism as being the corner stone, because I have gotten pretty much nowhere in 3 years with it seems as if I am like that student who keeps getting put back a year at school, the dunce :dunce: The only relizations I have gotten have come from merely observing the world around me, thinking to myself, watching how my words and actions effect me and those around me,not from sitting in silence.
I think I already mentioned, the buddha never had a teacher and he stated that teh only teacher you should have is the dharma. Another thing that he is to have said is that one should not take any word as truth, you should find the truth for yourself. I have also heard of stories of bad teachers, this is not a secret. Teachers who lead people in the wrong direction. I look at it in a similar way as doctors. Doctors are there to try and help you stay healthy and get better, a buddhist teacher tries to do the same but trying to keep your mind healthy and cure the suffering in life caused by the mind. Doctors sometimes get things wrong and people sometimes die because of it.
If you're struggling with meditating for 10-20 minutes and only every once in a while do it you shouldn't feel bad about 5 minutes a day, that is a big step forward.
In my own practice I haven't had a 'blissful' or 'profound' type experience in a long while and most of my meditation isn't filled with amazing feelings as mostly I'm butting up against my negative emotions. I feel that my practice is productive as my life outside meditation is greatly improved. If I don't do my meditation I'm more irritable and feel pulled around by cravings much more.
finally catching a little break from work.
felt great, but no where as deep as i would like to go.
now back to work another 70 hours this week (being poor sucks, no time do to anything but work;) )
@person I notice a difference in myself when I'm not meditating as well. I don't know why, but I just do. Without it, I feel more negative. More apathetic.
@tamm What sort of practice are you doing? In the past, I went through a period in which I worked very hard on cultivating loving kindness towards someone who had assaulted me. It was difficult, draining, but ultimately rewarding. So I think I know how you feel.
Does anyone else use sound during their mediation?
It's hard not to when you do experience a "good" sitting, and all too easy to when you have a "bad" one!
All practice is practice, though.