Silencing my mind

cavs12

Hi! I am new here and it is very nice to view and come to this community.
I am very excited to talk about buddhism and meet new friends!
my question is I have recently started trying to meditate. I am just focusing
on my breath. My mind is constantly thinking of random or dozing off not focused on the breath.
I was just wondering if I am doing something wrong, or is this the point? If I keep trying every day will it
eventually just keep getting better?
Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Shambhala

first, you need a point of focus. again and again i repeat " my body is light and eternal". next you need to understand the importance of breathing and meditation. through the proper technique, you can alter chemical properties in your body. i breathe in for 4 seconds, hold it in for 4 seconds, the release it over 8 seconds, only to breathe in again. this however produces quite interesting results. i myself hear a ringing, chiming, or whooping sound in my head when im not focusing, and have since learned how to suppress and quiet them to hear my inner silence which is peace and serenity. make sure youre in a quite room where you wont be distracted and if youre physically ably to, sit up-rite in the lotus position. discipline comes with time, but for the more stubborn of us, it is also a task of mind over matter : D hope this helps!

Love and Light!

StaticToybox

One point of meditation is observing the mind. So observe it, don't try to silence it. Whatever random thoughts pop into your mind let them be. "Go with the flow", as the saying goes.

SherabDorje

You will probably never actually "silence your mind". The idea is just to allow the chatter and distraction to arise and dissipate, and gently redirect your bare attention to the breath. This takes a lot of practice, and some people spend their entire lives just working on the basics as you are.

Just say to yourself gently, "thinking, go back to the breath", "dozing off, go back to the breath", and leave it at that. Too much struggling in the beginning just leads to more struggling. Just gently redirect yourself back to the breath.

pegembara

You can't silence the mind. All you can do is to let the mind do its thing and go back to watching your breath. Hopefully with practice the mind will go silent by itself.

SherabDorje

There is another thread going on here, "How to practice Vipassana meditation correctly?" You might want to take a look at that for the most current discussion.

cavs12

ok thanks everyone for all the help!

much love!

patbb

There is another thread going on here, "How to practice Vipassana meditation correctly?" You might want to take a look at that for the most current discussion.

i think concentration meditation is what he was looking for.


concentration meditation:

watch this series for great instructions


basically just stare at the breath and refocus your attention gently on it every times you realize you were distracted.
Eventually your mind calm down and you enter stages of concentrations called Jhanas (altered states of consciousness). There are 8 of them.
I suggest you buy a book by Ajahn Brahm "Mindfulness, Bliss & Beyond" which can be your guide for the rest of your concentration meditation life journey.
http://www.ajahnbrahm.org/books.html



Many have experimented with Kasinas meditation and many (including me) have found that it was much easier for them to attain the first 2 jhanas using this technique.
Kasina are basically a circle shape object of a earth color (you could cut out a circle out of brown paper) that you will prop against a wall, and simply stare at it (as opposed to stare at the breath).
(weird things will happen pretty quickly
here is a very interesting thread about this
http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/102060


My contention about why it would be much easier for people to attain the first few jhanas using this technique is simply because of our lifestyle, which is very hectic and busy.
So when we close our eyes, we are overwhelmed by so many thoughts and it is very difficult for beginners to deal with. I believe it was different for people 2000 years ago.
The Kasina is a much stronger object to focus on than the breath, and many visual things happen to you when you start to stare at it. So it can attract our attention much more easily than breath.

Dakini

Well, the first thing is to check to make sure you're practicing the breathing technique correctly. The slow, deep breathing should quiet your thoughts, that's what it's for. Otherwise, keep bringing your thoughts back to the breath when you notice they wander off. Over time, you'll get better at it. Patience is key.

cavs12

@pat- Thank you so much for the video it was a great help!, and I will definitely check out
the book!

@Dakini- Thank you for the suggestion! I think the problem has been my patience
lol