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Today I sat . . .
lobster
Crusty Veteran
Today I did not feel like sitting. Pah!
As soon as I sat, I was sitting (funny that). I tend to sit and think about how I feel, or sit while I think about sitting or sit instead of thinking about excuses etc . . .
What happened to you?
4
Comments
Nothing for 3 weeks due to ongoing dukkha, it just feels out of the question right now. It's the longest break I've had from meditation for many years. Hoping that the momentum of the last 35 years of practice will keep me going for a while!
^^^ Tell the cushion . . .
Mostly after a while these fade, just by watching them. At least the negative emotions fade.
I realise that when we have no intention then there is no tension. When I stop trying to control things, and just observe life. A huge weight is lifted.
And even when this doesn't happen, there's no point beating yourself up over not meditating. The point is to not suffer. Life goes on with or without my desires. No point flogging a dead horse as @vinlyn says
Ah the fly . . .
Yup!
Just try sitting seiza long enough without a zafu. A Katana and an accompanying orchestra will manifest just like ones inability to not walk like an old man afterwords.
I'm putting more emphasis on studying suttas right now, I feel it will help me to have a better idea of what following the path is like, and to give me a stronger foundation in my practice. By the way i'm loving the art, the meditator kind of looks like me but more handsome, and with nicer hair.
Today I felt like sitting. There was nothing else to do.
I've been mad and upset about something for 2 days, and Hubby has put me on 'ignore and silent'. The more he ignored me...the madder I got...finally, about lunch time today, I texted him..."Oh nevermind, I'm just goin' to sit with my feelings. I can be mad, you know...I don't have to make up"...hahahah...It sounds funny now coming out, but at the time I remember catching myself thinking and saying " I'm going to sit with this..... shit, there's nothing else I can do about it....I can get glad in the same pants I get mad in"....hahaha...I went outside sat for about 20 mins, the last 10 were relaxing and I felt it leave.....
Normally my sitting is pretty standard...but you caught me on a 'good' day...
Today I sat . . . Nothing special
Today...I locked my keys out of my van. While I waited for the road service to show up (a little over an hour), I stood at the front of the store looking out the window waiting for the tow truck. I said to myself, how can I while away the time, and there was a couple of young palm trees and I thought I will be mindful and just look at them.
There was a nice breeze blowing (although it was hot), and the sun gleamed off the slender green fronds. Nice. A couple of times, I was almost overtaken by thoughts of 'I could kick myself for doing such a dumb thing," but this little incident proved to me just how mindfulness and meditation can soothe the savage breast. I felt pretty cool how those feelings left as fast as they came...oh yeah.
@silver
I always have a skinny flat key to my truck inside my wallet because I so hate that moment just as the door is latching closed when you catch sight of your keys in the ignition.
As we know a lot of people mistakenly insist on torturing themself with postured leg entanglements when their cultural norm is to sit in a chair.
Personally I like sitting on the floor With Mr Cushion but have lately given up anything even remotely uncomfortable.
There is no point in not meditating. Beating yourself or anyone does not come into it. My plan is 'easy does it' . . .
If you don't like the cushion, try this advice.
Watching life go by.
Yeah, it would be nice but gals usually have a purse - which I tossed into the front seat along with my keys after I put the purchases on the back seat - the keys staring at me from the front seat after quickly shutting the door. I saw the guy use a new-fangled type of slim jim with a bulb on it, and I thought to myself I'd like to get one of those, but I have to solve the problem of where to keep it handy. The 'key' to my problem is, in a split nano-second, I decided to change my routine - fatal error - eek!
@ Silver
All your man parts have now been expunged from my mind and substituted with more appropriate ones. Now don't we all feel uncomfortable. LOL
I guess an alternative to the wallet is whether you trust one of those little magnetic key boxes to stay put in your wheel well or where ever you choose to hide it.
Ah yes, I remember my dad putting one on each of the cars a 'few years' ago. I haven't seen or noticed them in stores - I don't shop in the auto department very often.
I've heard that practicing mindfulness can help to prevent locking ones car keys in the car...Just saying
Um, I think that incident was one of my 'teachers' du jour.
[@How - you thought I was a guy all this time? Just wondering.]
@silver
I am pretty lackadaisical about connecting avatars or site names to gender unless one or the other has some cue to work from. The saving grace of my wallet key just turned me into a evangelist.
No offense intended/
That cat is meditating in Dzogchen style with eyes wide open. Obviously an advanced practitioner...
Another solution is to get rid of your car. It worked for me!
Anyone who meditates every day for at least 30 minutes, I highly recommend a retreat (preferably guided or taught by someone awesome) ... or if you have some materials you wish to deepen your understanding and appreciation of, go for it.
This thread reminded me of a moment right after a retreat where I was listening to a podcast/talk on dharmaseed.
The speaker spoke about how basically most of the brain and nervous system are wired so that your body is telling your brain area "everything is OK"
we, of course, become numb to it and focus on what aches, etc. With practice it's possible to regain this beautiful awareness of all the areas and parts of the body that are saying "hey man/girl/dude/he-she/woman, i'm good!"
So just some chomps for champs: next time something aches, think about all the areas that feel alright or aren't complaining.
Then we can tally the votes
Indeed. At the moment, for about the last year, my eyes are closed.
Dzogchen practitioners are always 'so advanced' so and so's in my experience.
Advanced meditator is an oxymoron. People who are genuinely 'advanced' don't differentiate between meditating and 'not meditating'. It is a continuum . . .
The predominant mudra I use has recently changed. I liked the advice @pegembara mentions as I used to meditate with a green tea for occasional mindful sips as a fidget substitute. Good advice from @sova too as I quite often do a body scan to be attentive to any body awareness arisings . . .
Six months into my Dzogchen sangha practice, I'm still figuring out what it's all about!
And meditating with eyes wide open is still so strange to me...
But well, every time I sit on my cushion, I begrudginly wonder why.
But I do it anyway.
When I rise from the cushion so at peace with the world, I got my answer.
This might be trite or profound and genuine, perhaps both . . . and ties in with the crippled meditator riser that @how mentions.
In Shamballah during a two hour session, we would do walking meditation after forty minutes of sitting. You can experience this online with the excellent Treeleaf zendo which also employs walking and sitting.
http://www.treeleaf.org
If you have entered limb seizure mode, then you are practicing 'morbid meditation' or 'limb stiffening'. It is not uncommon and it comes from unnatural tightening, very common in many sanghas.
What is this suited wannabe trying to do? That is a chair Mister . . . it works . . . but as a chair, sit properly . . . oh wait it's just a model banker using the 'counting the money' Mudra . . . m m m . . .
Yeah, Dzogchen types are continually told that Dzogchen is superior to everything else, and eventually they start to believe it. I know, I used to be one.
"I used to be conceited, but now (after working on myself) I'm absolutely perfect."
It is the meditator, not the technique. Just as it is the martial artist and practice not the style. With eyes up, down, open or closed (Yep done them all) or focus on chakras, sound or [insert style of choice]. There are nuances of arisings, even a graduated path for the 'Lego building' path to enlightenment.
Cushion. Sit. How hard is that? [answers for the next few years to the usual places] . . . too direct?
@lobster - now I am unbound again, I have to say, that fly video was brilliant! 'let the fly be', and it will never bother you...
Buzz!
anataman looks warily beyond his postacrostichial bristles for the swatter, and tries to wink with his compound eyes... but lacks any human anatomical detail any more, so goes to find a lady fly to look at producing some maggots
Anatamans compost bin is a great place to start...
...\lol/...
I think the type of cushion when meditating is of the utmost importance so Today I sat on a
I also meditate with eyes open have done for a number of years...It's interesting to observe the six senses and their contacts at work ...Observing the consciousness as it flows from one to the other, for example 'eye' consciousness 'ear' consciousness 'nose' consciousness 'tongue' consciousness 'body' consciousness and 'mind' consciousness (The mind sense being the common sense that in a sense (excuse the pun) binds it all together so to speak)
The point of sitting meditation, I think, is that you come to recognise that you get bored!
And what happens when you are bored - you look around for distractions, but the reality is the distraction is something that tries to take you away from the boredom AKA 'the frustration'- !...
So what do you do when you recognise that even when you are sitting you are frustrated? Sit... And Sit and sit and sit, and be frustrated, and recognise the frustration, or get off your fat arse and mobilise yourself to DO SOMETHING....?
Seriously! Am I the only one to realise how frustrating my efforts to relieve frustration, just create even more!
Consciousness is dependently arisen, since without a condition there is no origination of consciousness.
http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books9/Bhikkhu_Bodhi_Mahatanhasankhaya_Sutta.htm
Many thanks @bookworm, great link
Did you make up that word? Must've cuz I googled it - Nothing! They said: Your search for "postacrostichial" returned no results.
We recommend that you try the following:
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•Remove double quotes. Quotes indicate an exact phrase, removing them broadens your search. For example, try _recipes for almond croissants _instead of "recipes for almond croissants". One of them would make a nice incubator, anyhoo... the little darlin's.
In my experience my teacher isn't arrogant like sort of as her personality but she does believe that the meditation she teaches is the one that leads to enlightenment and that everyone eventually must do that meditation to be enlightened. This isn't really arrogance rather it is a belief which may or may not be true. I'm not sure but on the other hand from my assessment a lot of teachers do something pretty much same as our sangha in essence such as Ajahn Chah ?? or some others; a lot of them sound the same.
I am sharing this just so others know about such a belief. I am not telling anyone that they should agree with me or my teacher.
things to do . . .
These days I spend the first part of the meditation just chilling out and relaxing, maybe encourage a little of bliss. It's more enjoyable that way.
Somebody once said "If you get bored it means you're not paying attention closely enough." There's a lot of truth in that.
Well done! I am still enjoying a practice holiday, it's quite nice actually. I'll get some time in during the Quaker Quiet Day I'm leading on Monday though.
Sounds like we haz plan . . .
Chilling out and relaxing is the whole of my meditation. As soon as it gets enjoyable I stop.
. . . knew I was doing it wrong . . . ah well back to the butterflies . . .