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Random Meditation

ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
edited February 2012 in Meditation
Yes, meditation. That thing that I understand to be so critical to ones path, but which manages to evade me. I have realized however that most of the times where I have had a good sitting is when I have woken up in the middle of the night. I may just sit up on my bed next to my GF and meditate. Does anybody else have random moments where they have had a decent sitting?

Comments

  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    Yeah for me it is pretty random to have a sitting that I am especially pleased with. One thing to remember is that the minds running monologue of 'good' 'bad' and so forth needn't drive us so much. It is just a conditioned thinking. If you put all your eggs in the basket of the voice that says 'good' 'bad' well then you are at its mercy.

    But that is a good question why meditate. If it doesn't please me as a sense pleasure then what is the purpose. Why do you think? I guess for me part of it is that buddhism is a path. Which is to say that buddha said "here is this great path I have discovered. I have become liberated from suffering and if you do this path you will benefit". So then I can try and see if it helps.

    At times there are doubts and sometimes you wonder if buddhism is all a bunch of bullshit. I admit. But then if you keep at it you can sense the progress. It's on a different dimension than the monologue 'good' 'bad' etc
  • weightedweighted Veteran
    The Pema Chodron talk posted on a few threads about "good" and "bad" meditation sessions and how we shouldn't think of them that way at all really helped me.

    I suppose for me, meditating only for just over a month now, I meditate as I feel better in my daily life and more mindful because of it. So it's less about the actual meditation practice itself and much more about how that session transfers itself into my everyday experiences, interactions, etc.
  • AMHAMH
    I recall when i started it made every day so much better, i was just calmer and less reactionary to life. I have never been a very long meditator in time chunks but that was okay.

    then it got hard for a long time. mostly that i would lose that edge I thought I needed to get through the day. In the situation i lived in for many years Ithink that was true. I was rather dreamy and out of touch. Then there were the hard ones where there was nothing to soften reality or make a story out of it, that got better as well as I got used to it and developed the self compassion.

    Now I find i am random. I find thngs moving too fast, too many directions, etc. I will sit anywhere comfortable for a few minutes (the only thing I MUST have is proper sitting posture). I also have those found moments where the beauty of something just whallops you

    Is that what we are talking about?
  • ZeroZero Veteran
    I tend to have more random meditations that standard meditations - in my case, the ratio has shifted so far the other way that sit down formal meditation tends to be more random for me... I prefer the every moment meditation as there is no disjoin between practice and everyday life - just makes things much simpler and more time for meditation or life or uuum... which one am I doing?
  • conradcookconradcook Veteran
    Tom, you may consider hypnosis as a useful mental tool preliminary to meditation work. Hypnosis itself is not important -- it's just a means of focusing. Like sitting with a straight back.

    Conrad.
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    Random meditation, I guess what I meant by it was those times when you really did not intend to sit formally but happen to find yourself there, and it ended up being a very productive moment.

    I am not as far down my path as Jeffrey or say zero, but they do speak a lot of sense and wise words.

    Conrad, I am not so familiar with hypnosis let alone related to buddhism. I try to keep a straight back during a sitting, afater a while I realize I am slouging or it hurts to keep it so straight.
  • ZeroZero Veteran
    :) made me smile - giving credit where it isnt due!! every day its like I'm starting my practice from scratch!!

    I get what you mean now TT - yep - last weekend, I was suddenly alone in the house and took the chance to meditate for an hour or so - it was a very pleasant surprise...

    A lot like great films that I have watched when I havent had a clue what they were about or whether they were good or not - guess the pleasant surprise just adds to the flavour...
  • conradcookconradcook Veteran
    Tom, what I mean is your complaint that your mind wanders. This is less of a problem for me after I learned hypnotism and self-hypnosis. Learning self-hypnosis is useful just for the purpose of quietening and stilling one's mind.

    In reference to spontaneous meditation... I think it's probably healthy and desirable. A scientist couldn't think on theoretical problems only while he is at work. An artist can't dream up his next work only while in the studio.

    Spontaneous meditations indicate your practice is becoming part of your daily walking-around life, which is the correct outcome.


    Conrad.
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