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About meditation
Greetings.
I was raised in a purely agnostic family and have no ties to either religion, but as i said my family never wanted to renounce the concept of a purpose to life and this concept is what drove me to try and seek enlightenment somehow. I've taken a look at several gospels, sacred texts and philosophies (recently i've finished reading through two of Ayn rands books, which preach religious devotion to the material world) but i've never really come across anything as powerful and as "right" as buddhism.
I've taken up meditation lately, and practiced it on my own without drawing attention to myself (as i am sure my father would ridicule me for it), and i have found that the calming, refreshing and enlightening thinking process of meditation helps me in all walks of life (as a musician i found my creativity to greatly increase through meditating).
However i feel like i could use some guidance, perhaps a bodhisattva would like to help me achieve even greater levels of enlightenment and calm.
Do you have any tips i could use to help me relax and reach out into my own mind during meditation?
-Peder
I was raised in a purely agnostic family and have no ties to either religion, but as i said my family never wanted to renounce the concept of a purpose to life and this concept is what drove me to try and seek enlightenment somehow. I've taken a look at several gospels, sacred texts and philosophies (recently i've finished reading through two of Ayn rands books, which preach religious devotion to the material world) but i've never really come across anything as powerful and as "right" as buddhism.
I've taken up meditation lately, and practiced it on my own without drawing attention to myself (as i am sure my father would ridicule me for it), and i have found that the calming, refreshing and enlightening thinking process of meditation helps me in all walks of life (as a musician i found my creativity to greatly increase through meditating).
However i feel like i could use some guidance, perhaps a bodhisattva would like to help me achieve even greater levels of enlightenment and calm.
Do you have any tips i could use to help me relax and reach out into my own mind during meditation?
-Peder
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Comments
I read about how certain buddhists even give up trying to achieve nirvana in the end, and ascend to an even higher level of conciousness.
How can one strive for nothingness and peace of mind if one cannot strive for anything? Surely you understand how mindboggling this is to an initiate?
Best regards:)
The path that the Buddha outlined was one of the cessation of suffering. Enlightenment or Awakening is a noble and worthy goal.
In the Buddha's words.
So a buddhist does not seek emptiness, but to understand it? Or perhaps becoming at one with it by renouncing the world through understanding it and realizing its insignificance?
Again, i realize that i am a fool probably asking stupid questions but atleast i am a curious fool.
Nothingness is a fake concept. No one has ever known a “nothingness”. When we speak of nothingness we are imagining a negative something. There is no such thing as an Absence, only an absence of something, that affirms the presence of something else..
In practice notions of nothingness and somethingness, being and non-being, resolve into practice. Even notions of “suchness” , “this”, “pure presence” and so forth are as relative and dualistic as “being and non-being”. All these thought tools and pointers resolve into Practice. Doing practice.
Assuming from the title of the thread (which almost always leads me in the wrong direction in internet discussions) I'm guessing that you are looking for an answer to number one, possibly number two. If that's the case, enroll in a meditation class. I know in the states they offer them at YMCAs, community centers, local colleges, and some therapy centers. I've even heard of them being offered at Yoga centers. Or if you want a more Buddhist perspective, try and find a local Buddhist community and inquire as to a meditation class with them.
If you are looking for an answer to number three, you are going to have to narrow it down.
Lastly, if you are looking for an answer to numbers four or five, I can't help you. In fact, no one here can help you. I have yet to meet anyone (online or in person) that is either enlightened, omniscient, both, or willing to help anyone attain either (other than scam artists and conmen). In fact, if enlightenment or higher states of consciousness is all that you seek, many on here would claim that you can't even help yourself!
Not much of an answer, I know. But it's all I got!
I can't be of much help either because I'm still a beginner to meditation myself. The only thing I do when I meditate is watch the breath. As soon as I notice that my mind is wandering I gently bring it back to the breath. In other words, as soon as I notice thoughts starting to distract me from focusing on the breath, I neither run after or indulge those thoughts nor avoid or suppress them. I just let them float away gently, like bubbles in the breeze, and bring my attention back to the breath. Thoughts, like all phenomena, arise and fall away. That is their nature. So by allowing thoughts to naturally fall away when I notice them arising during meditation, they don't become a problem.
I don't do Insight meditation yet as I'm still practicing at the beginner's level.
Welcome to the forum, by the way. How has the winter weather been this year in Oslo?
The first three (at least) of the Four Noble Truths: 1) All things are in a state of unsatisfactoriness/suffering. 2) The cause of human suffering is our craving; our attachments and desires. 3) As per logic, eliminating the cause of suffering (our craving) eliminates our suffering.
Impermanence, which states that all things we can directly experience have an end, be it death (in lifeforms) or change (in other phenomena). There's really nothing you can point to as being a permanent fixture in life. Even the shape of the Earth itself is inconstant.
Selflessness, which extends impermanence to the body. Nothing within yourself can be said to be a solid "core" that is unchanging. The body and mind are both subject to aging, disease and death; and the entire mind-body complex that you call your "self" is made up of many parts that are all dependent upon each other, and upon the environment.
Dependent Arising, which states that all things come into being based upon conditions (such as a fire requiring an ignition source, oxygen, and a fuel source), and also cease to be dependent upon conditions; if even one condition fails, then the object/phenomena in question ceases to be, or to be as it was.
Basically if you can conceptually combine the first three of the Four Noble Truths with the concepts of Impermanence, Selflessness and Dependent Arising, and meditate with one-pointedness upon each until you "realize" for yourself that they are absolute truth (like seeing the sunshine for yourself, as opposed to living underground and merely understanding it)... then you awaken.
It is of course recommended to understand all of the Buddha-Dhamma and to follow the Noble Eightfold Path that is meant to be the most direct way to realize these truths, but not strictly speaking a requirement.