can you meditate no matter where you are or what you're doing?

evolve

explain your personal experiences, I'm curious!

Tosh

I try to meditate when I'm running, stood in queues, waiting at red traffic lights (or waiting anywhere), when I remember.

Running is difficult; there's just so much going on, but I'll try to open my awareness and just perceive the surrounding countryside without adding anything to it; kinda just opening up my consciousness. Or other times I'll try and focus on my breath. It's not easy.

At red traffic lights, I try to follow a Thich Naht Hahn suggestion and practise - using the red light as a 'bell of mindfulness' and try to turn the negative 'darn, they've caught me, again' feeling into something positive, or at least neutral. If I'm in a hurry and feeling anxious (I normally am), I'll just feel the anxiousness - put my concentration into that.

In queues, I'll practise 'taking and giving' and I'll visualise the taking of suffering in dark black smoke from those around me, and breath out 'love' in the form of clear white light.

When I remember to do it, it does calm me, but other than that - I don't know if I get any benefit from it.

Amelia

Modes of practice: sitting, standing, walking, or laying.

Jeffrey

If you can meditate no matter what you do then what does it mean to meditate and how do you know if you are meditating or not?

BonsaiDoug

If you can meditate no matter what you do then what does it mean to meditate and how do you know if you are meditating or not?

First I laughed at this response (OK, just giggled) . Then I realized it's a pretty good question.

Not really certain, but if you define "meditation" as paying attention to the moment, or being in the moment, then I suppose you could make small meditation sessions throughout your day.

But that's truly just a guess. Personally I know when I'm meditating 'cause I've set aside the times and space for it.

person

I like @Tosh's answer. I don't think its really possible to meditate per se. What I do try to do is be mindful of my attitude and if I find myself getting negative I apply a mental antidote and try to reverse it, with practice over time this kind of exercise becomes more automatic. Or there is a tonglen teaching where we take on the suffering of others and give them our happiness. So like in a small situation where you're in a tie with someone to get in line, offer them the spot ahead or take the short end of the stick in any number of situations. These kind of things aren't really meditation but they are Dharma practice.

Amelia

If you can meditate no matter what you do then what does it mean to meditate and how do you know if you are meditating or not?

To me, my traditional mode of practice is sitting upright doing shikantaza. The state that results from that is a good measure of whether or not you are in the same state during other activities, though they can't really be called shikantaza or sitting practice.

evolve

on a busy street or in the quiet woods, does it really matter? yes or no maybe depends on you. peace starts in the setting of the mind, then we can enjoy the setting of our environment no matter at the mall or at the river..no?

how

My practise is zen meditation. Formal meditation is usually just meditation in a controlled environment. Informal meditation is just meditation in an uncontrolled environment.
Between these two, there is no where that isn't an opportunity to meditate.

Not that I cared about either when I had kidney stones a few years ago.

Tosh

Not that I cared about either when I had kidney stones a few years ago.

Ouch!! I've heard they can be uncomfortable!

But meditating into pain is something to try. Because I can't remember what the doctor called it, I had a 'dodgy shoulder' which if I jarred my body, it caused my shoulder to give me some excruciating pain; almost like getting a skewer pushed into it. It could drop me to my knees. When I got an 'attack', it didn't last long, maybe six seconds, but boy did it hurt; very acute.

Anyway, I remember a few times trying to meditate on the pain by putting my consciousness right into it, and not add any thinking, as opposed to trying to mentally to run away from the pain and add the thinking 'Why me?', or 'when will this go away?', and you know what?

It didn't help. It still hurt like hell and was highly unpleasant whether I tried meditating on it or not.

PrairieGhost

Hi again Tosh

It didn't help. It still hurt like hell and was highly unpleasant whether I tried meditating on it or not.

Yes, it doesn't work quite like that, the suffering in the pain is co-dependent with the perception of trying to meditate on it.

It's all or nothing, I'm afraid. But you can holistically transform your relationship with pain, if you learn to meditate all the time.

Tosh

@PrairieGhost, thanks, and I believe you're correct. I've read a fair bit of Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living (just out of interest, I have no major health or mental problems), and I have a fairly regular meditation practise - but sometimes I harbour suspicions that 'this stuff' works for other people, and not me.

I guess I'm just having one of those 'periods'; I'm sure it'll pass.