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a collection of questions
ThailandTom
Veteran
I was meditating today and had quite a positive little session, but towards the end a couple of things sprung to mind and I thought I would post them here. Instead of creating several threads I thought I would compile them all into one.
Firstly, I have had a sensation today which I had a few times before in meditation but over a year ago. It is also something that occurred when I was younger just before drifting off to sleep. It is actually fairly hard to describe but I will give it an attempt. My eyes are shut and I have this notion that everything is bigger than it actually is. I sometimes may semi visualize a shape that is very large and takes up the majority of my vision, even though my eyes are closed. Or I feel that my face or fingers or something is larger than it actually is. This is one of two sensations, the other is that everything around begins to seem really loud and chaotic. Sounds become enhanced and almost intruding. I remember when I was a young lad that I had this lot before going to sleep and it often prevented me from doing so. I once had the situation where everything became very loud and chaotic whilst walking to school, I distinctly remember this.
Anyway, I had this today in meditation and was curious to know if anybody else has experienced anything similar and or knows what it may be.
Secondly, I start off by focusing on my breath in meditation. I then watch it flow into my body and out by focusing on certain parts of the body. I may then end up with a totally still mind. I then try to move onto insightful mediation or metta meditation and often find that my mind is too still, basically at a total halt. I read somewhere that people often first focus the breath and centre the mind before embarking on insightful mediation, is this correct?
Lastly, we are all aware of the precept that states we should try to prevent oneself from being intoxicated, but I was trying to think why it is such a bad thing with relation to the dharma. I mean obviously if you become addicted to something that is attachment, craving, but if you go for a drink with friends once in a while, why is that frowned upon if you do not become addicted...
Firstly, I have had a sensation today which I had a few times before in meditation but over a year ago. It is also something that occurred when I was younger just before drifting off to sleep. It is actually fairly hard to describe but I will give it an attempt. My eyes are shut and I have this notion that everything is bigger than it actually is. I sometimes may semi visualize a shape that is very large and takes up the majority of my vision, even though my eyes are closed. Or I feel that my face or fingers or something is larger than it actually is. This is one of two sensations, the other is that everything around begins to seem really loud and chaotic. Sounds become enhanced and almost intruding. I remember when I was a young lad that I had this lot before going to sleep and it often prevented me from doing so. I once had the situation where everything became very loud and chaotic whilst walking to school, I distinctly remember this.
Anyway, I had this today in meditation and was curious to know if anybody else has experienced anything similar and or knows what it may be.
Secondly, I start off by focusing on my breath in meditation. I then watch it flow into my body and out by focusing on certain parts of the body. I may then end up with a totally still mind. I then try to move onto insightful mediation or metta meditation and often find that my mind is too still, basically at a total halt. I read somewhere that people often first focus the breath and centre the mind before embarking on insightful mediation, is this correct?
Lastly, we are all aware of the precept that states we should try to prevent oneself from being intoxicated, but I was trying to think why it is such a bad thing with relation to the dharma. I mean obviously if you become addicted to something that is attachment, craving, but if you go for a drink with friends once in a while, why is that frowned upon if you do not become addicted...
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Comments
I can relate to this, it's nothing to be concerned about. It is simply your perception playing about. It becomes particularly apparent when your eyes are closed in meditation because you are intentionally cultivating mindfulness and are not distracted by other things. These type of effects usually occur after the thinking mind has quietened down.
I haven't experienced this, but I would say that it goes in the same "perceptions playing about" basket as with the above phenomena.
Why not just stay with the breath and see what happens?
Alcohol is not "frowned upon" per se. But it clouds the mind, it prevents us from being mindful. If we are serious practitioners we are aiming to be mindful 24/7. Perhaps only Arahants are capable of unbroken mindfulness 24/7, but if that's what we are aiming for then it makes sense not to get intoxicated. Even if that is not our goal, having a clear mind is certainly going to help us to achieve whatever our goals happen to be. Wouldn't you agree?
That is a decision you must make.
Buddhism is about being aware of your own thoughts. Alcohol is a depressant and is therefore not helpful in maintaing awareness. Mindfulness is what Buddhism is really all about.
My theory is that this results from the relaxing effects, as usually I am quite highly strung. Ironically, it is alcohol that actually keeps me keen on pursuing Buddhism. I'm easily distracted and influenced by alternative spiritual ideas, but after a drink reality usually snaps back into focus and I see the folly of ways.
Perhaps I'm just a weirdo though.
It sounds as though you feel incapable of starting your mind up again. Is that the case?
My own take on this is that the precepts started off as descriptions of behavior arising as awakened mind, as reflected in the Brahmajala sutta ("When a worldling<sup> </sup>praises the Tathagata<sup> </sup>he might do so only in respect of matters of a trifling and inferior nature, of mere morality...") and it was only as Buddhist practice was institutionalized that these morphed into prescriptions, as a mechanism for social control.
From this perspective, a "violation" of a precept isn't a matter of good or bad, but reflects an area of life where something other than awakened mind is at work, and worth looking at closely.
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Sort of, I got to a point where my mind was very still and peaceful/calm, but to a point where if I tried to engage thought or insight nothing much would happen and I would be fixed in that moment. It wasn't at all unpleasant, I just read or heard somewhere that monks/buddhists tend to do this meditation of focusing the mind before going onto insightful meditation.
i always thought it was because it leads to heedlessness. my best friend, for example, gets very angry when he drinks. i don't know why, he's normally not so argumentative, but have a few drinks and all he does is argue. in the past, i have said very inappropriate/hurtful things while drunk that i never would have said if i hadn't been intoxicated. or if i had said them, it would have been in a more tactful/compassionate way. in my experience, it does lead to heedlessness. it makes it more likely that you will hurt yourself or others. now, after ONE beer... maybe not. in my book, there is something to be said for the middle path.
In my opinion, the Middle Path is not an "in between" path where instead of being sober or instead of getting drunk you just get a slight buzz going. It is the middle between desire and aversion - i.e. awareness.
We can desire a beer, and we can follow that a little or we can follow the desire a lot. But as soon as we follow it we are no longer walking the Middle Path, we are following the path of desire. Even if it is only one, it is not the Middle Path.
Or, we can see that desire, lose our mindfulness and react negatively, thinking "this is terrible, I am such a bad buddhist, I shouldn't desire such things" and beat ourselves up about it. This is aversion, it also misses the Middle Path.
The third option is to see the desire for beer, make that desire fully conscious, not follow it, see it as anicca, dukkha and anatta - this is what I believe to be the Middle Path.
What do you think?
I've had this exact thing happen to me several times. I tried using the "huge hands" sensation as an object of meditation, and it gets interesting, keeps expanding etc etc. I was actually wondering if such sensation can be interpreted to be a "concentration sign" that is mentioned in books "Mindfulnness in plain English" and "beyond mindfulness English"...
Firstly: Yes, I too have experienced that. The good news is that it is apparently a quite common experience during meditation. The bad news is that it does not help you move down the path toward enlightenment. As a matter of act, in "Secondly", you yourself show how it actually hinders your practice.
Secondly: This is called "laxity" of the mind, and along with "excitement", these are the two main problems experienced during meditation. Copied from my class notes (a Tibetan monk since age 12), the antidotes for laxity are:
"Think about an object you like, but one you don’t desire (e.g., the value of developing calm-abiding mind, the value of intelligence). If mind is still too lax, end the session, go to a bright place or put cold water on your face."
I would like to add that if you meditate by trying to focus on visualizing an object you will be much more frustrated (!!) but you also will not go into that lax state of mind as easily, and when you do begin to learn how to focus it will be with a clarity and alertness which will naturally shift into introspective/insight meditation.
Thirdly: Yeah, the monks tend to be pretty black/white about this one. Certainly it seems harmless enough if one is not addicted, but still they are pretty adamant. Not sure why, except it is one of the precepts, so it's as strong a "no-no" as killing, stealing, etc. My teacher says that being intoxicated sets imprints for rebirth as a mentally-challenged person, and that makes sense from the point of karma/imprints. But I suppose it's irrelevant if one doesn't believe in rebirth.