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Hello, a question
TravisMago
Explorer
Hello, I am new to these forums as you can see.
I have a question regarding sitting meditation.
I find myself unable to do it. It seems unnatural to me - I do not want to do it.
All of the gains I have made during my life in regards to my goal of attaining enlightenment have come unforced. They did result from a desire for certain things (such as an understanding of the truth) - but they did not have to be forced. There was great effort involved but it was always what seemed right to me.
As of now I would rather walk or lay down(and eventually fall asleep) than sit. And I currently do both, at times.
However I understand that great gains could be made if I brought myself to sit.
Should I attempt to force myself to do so? I do realize that believing I must "force" myself is just an illusion - but nevertheless it still obstructs me.
Anyways,
Thank you.
I have a question regarding sitting meditation.
I find myself unable to do it. It seems unnatural to me - I do not want to do it.
All of the gains I have made during my life in regards to my goal of attaining enlightenment have come unforced. They did result from a desire for certain things (such as an understanding of the truth) - but they did not have to be forced. There was great effort involved but it was always what seemed right to me.
As of now I would rather walk or lay down(and eventually fall asleep) than sit. And I currently do both, at times.
However I understand that great gains could be made if I brought myself to sit.
Should I attempt to force myself to do so? I do realize that believing I must "force" myself is just an illusion - but nevertheless it still obstructs me.
Anyways,
Thank you.
0
Comments
I rarely 'sit'.
But I do meditate in my fashion.
Actually, Thich Naht Hahn's fashion, really...
Walking, 'doing', driving, many ways.
Just very little 'sitting'.
I keep thinking I 'should' too.
I guess, when 'should' turns to 'want', I shall.
Until then, I'm comfortable being imperfect.
Many ex-Buddhachat are currently at buddhaforum.org
With metta
DDhatu
My view is it is important to be natural.
Walking meditation can be useful for general reflection about one's life and for slowing down the mind. Then one can sit if it feels natural.
Sitting can be in a chair, on a log, on a rock. It does not need to be cross-legged.
Kind regards
DDhatu
Irrelevant posts have been removed.
Thank you. *
I have actually been rather neglectful of "sitting" these days. I have found, however, that my mind will "force" me to deal with my emotions/habits/life during the night, while I'm in bed. I will find myself waking to intense emotions or an emotionally-charged memory or recollection of something that happened during the day, and I have to remind myself to practice "Radical acceptance" and breathe with i in exactly the same manner as in sitting meditation. Does this happen to anyone else?
I think setting up a regimented practice is helpful in the beginning. If I hadn't sat in formal meditation for a few years, I never would have really discovered how to sit in the middle of my life with unconditional friendliness/equanimity instead of anger or reactivity/curiosity instead of aversion/etc. Cultivating the method helped me deal with my impromptu meditation sessions at night, as well as the problems of mundane daily existence during the day.
There are also practices that actively call up emotionally charged scenarios - death, anger, grief and loss, loneliness, etc. - in an effort to make you face life in all it's magnitude. I find, however, it's better for me to work with what life gives you as it comes. The arrows of Mara that come your way in daily life - even recollections of past arrows churned up by memory - and turn them into flowers, if you will.
Whilst our practice does not constitute just sitting, still, sitting cannot be undervalued - even if it is just 1/2 hour a day it seems to be very important to those serious about our practice.
Day by day the flower has to be watered - it just works like this, even if the process is then invisible to the naked eye. But magic does work like this perhaps.
Anyway here are some words from Pema, which might help anyone:
The Key to Knowing Ourself is Meditation
I don't think you have to have a sitting Meditation discipline to be fully practising the Dhamma.
"When am I NOT Meditating?" was the reply from one senior monk to another, when challenged about his methods.
Now, I would not elevate myself to such lofty ideals, but to say that those not sitting and meditating are not full practitioners of the Dhamma, is qute a leap.
Thanks for the link, though!
What I said was: I suspect that those of us who can't and won't keep up a sitting meditation discipline are not yet truly practicing the Dhamma in full earnest.
In a strict sense, every moment is meditation. All postures are meditation, everything is meditation.
But as my kid would say "It's only true when it's true"
Most of us can mouth those words, but for most of us, it is not yet the truth of our lives - and our meditation.
So until then, I think a disciplined sitting meditation is helpful - even Lord Buddha continued to sit years after Full Awakening, let alone a pleb like myself - she says.
Of course, we are here just to exchange opinions -- so this is mine - and also my own personal experience. i.e. the steadiness of the posture, of that discipline, can be very helpful.
Thankyou _/\_
Sorry, Fede. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.:)
For me, this just enforces the idea that it truly doesn’t matter how you meditate as long as you do. When it all comes down to it we are trying to liberate our mind and the body nor any other form can affect this result. Following a strict routine helps in eliminating distractions and focusing attention (in my personal opinion of course).
planning our next shopping trip, figuring out what bills to pay, etc, etc. We never just sit and be with ourselves. So of course it feels strange. Why wouldn't it? That's why we do it tho. It's a way to break away from our usual, well-worn rut that has only produced suffering and pain in the past. We come to Dharma because we feel that somehow things just aren't right, or maybe we have personally experienced great suffering of some form or another. We're looking for relief, for answers. The answers we get, however, always involve change of some sort, and change is always scary. It is for everyone. But it's like taking an unpleasant medicine. We do it because we believe or hope that it will work as advertised and offer us relief from whatever is ailing us. So we sit. If you feel uncomfortable or strange, it is just part of the practice. If you feel great and have conversations with deities (!), it's just part of the practice. It's all the same. You just keep doing it. You don't have to figure it out, just do it. But initially we have to make that leap or otherwise we just stay stuck forever, like a gerbil on a treadmill.
Palzang
What you said makes me feel relieved because it simplifies the practice of sitting which I think I've been making more and more complicated over the past few months and getting somewhat frustrated as a result. I feel liberated, like it's okay to let go of all the things I thought I was supposed to be achieving, or at least developing, while meditating and just do the practice without analyzing it.
So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go back to the beginning before I piled all sorts of opinions and ideas on top of my meditation practice and I'll just do it. I totally get what that means now, when people tell you to just do the meditation.
Thank you so much, Palzang. My sitting practice is going to be new and fresh again and I'm excited about it.
Meditation is original research into the nature of your mind. Further as mind is seen as friend rather than foe confusion slips away.
On a lighter note the Ravens I mentioned are now a family. Mom, Dad and the two kids. Happily qwoking at each other.
grackle
Don't mention it. Oh wait, you already did!
Palzang
but personally
meditation ok, is when u can seriously just still ur mind.
like Expletive deleted, it doesnt matter where u are, what ur doing, if u can STILL ur mind, and you will know when it happens, thats it.
what helped me one day , is when i realized or said to myself, this one phrase
"there is NO discontent"
u know, u gotta realize the universe everything- ur hand is the universe,
i always wondered what is my life , i decided its the universe experiencing itself, or something close to that, i working on it...anyway
YOU ARE everything around u..easy to say hard to experience properly
Certainly, there is a benefit to developing the self-discipline to sit, but remember that this isn't an edict from a god who commanded that 'Thou shalt sit!' As long as you're attending to the mental and physical states and developing your grasp of things as they really are, you're meditating, IMO.
Disciplining your mind is worth the effort.
I'm going to start with 5-10 minutes at a time and go from there. I hope you do the same!
Urizen - thats a good idea. Little and often. I need to stick at it.
Don't forget to be a good friend to yourself and give yourself the same attention and care you give others because you deserve it just as much as they do. You will also be a better mother and caregiver if you are whole and calm. You can demand time for yourself. It doesn't make you less of a mother, it makes you a better mother.
Don't we all?
Crazy enough it does! Wow, I just figured my brain was more active at night. But this makes so much sense, the only way i've found time to even sleep is when i'm in that meditative state, trying to stay with the breath.
Heh opened up my eyes that much more Glow thank you.
The Buddha noted that there were five hindrances to meditation which are desire, aversion, sloth, restlessness and doubt. These are normally seen as during the meditation period. Sometimes, it can be before the practice I've found. For me, doubt and restlesness are two big problems. I don't subscribe to any religion and doubt much. But in working with it, I've found that meditation works for me. I had to start somewhere and I took an online meditation course and then a live one. I learned that I had to have some basic trust in the instructors. I get restless mentally so fast. If you have ever heard of the monkey mind, mine is a monkey on speed. It sometimes seems that I've done nothing for a meditation period but I give myself credit for trying. If you don't try, you will never know if it works.