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What is meditation ?
Shoshin
No one in particularNowhere Special Veteran
Kia Ora,
What is meditation ?
Now this should be interesting......
Metta Shoshin 
0
Comments
This ought to attact posts like white on rice.
There's no such word as "meditation" in the Tibetan language. When refering to what we, in the west, call "meditation", they use a word, "Gom". Gom means "become familiar with". So, in a Tibetan context, meditation is an ongoing process of familiarization.
@Shoshin - I think it's encumbent on you to offer an opinion of your own. Or are you trolling ;-)
for some, it's stress relief
But most days are better.
for me, it's training my mind to be more calm and open to be able to approach the dharma in a more open manner. But while I practice sitting meditation, meditation can be found in everything in my life. Today, I've mostly failed miserably
Meditation, is allowing this nano second to unfold unmolested by conditioned impulses.
.
Kia Ora @Chaz,
For me it's about losing the self to awareness...
Metta Shoshin
kia Ora @Chaz,
For your information no I'm not 'trolling'(I had to look that word up), but thanks for asking though... Even if somebody was trolling, I would just see it as part and parcel of Buddhist practice on patience, tolerance, acceptance etc etc, and most importantly not to take things 'personally'...But then that's just me....
"Sabbe Dhamma Nalam Abhinivesaya !" (Nothing whatsoever should be clung to)
Metta Shoshin
PS When I said "Now this should be interesting!" I actually meant it, I'm always learning from others...
I don't know. And i've been doing it a while
For me it's about losing the self to awareness...
With sufficient awareness is there Self or No-self?
In trying to pick up your text, I inadvertently clicked on the LOL button. Is any part of that a meditation or losing?
It is sitting down and following a method. The mind is already there. The mind is like a movie that is different every time. And then there is 'big mind' and 'ordinary mind'. Both are not created by sitting. They are already there.
Kia Ora @lobster,
(Anything for a laugh LOL) __
_
There is no "I" in awareness....
Metta Shoshin
I would suggest that such formal practice, augments our capacity for non formal practice.
So for me this sitting down does not follow a method (that is the method I use) but it is a disciplined, strict and recognisable external still seating that would be recognizable by Buddhists, Yogis, New Agers and perhaps some Vikings . . .
http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/08/oseberg-buddha/
Kia Ora,
I guess one could look at the term 'losing' this way: "Letting go" so yes meditation and losing are one of the same in this context...
By letting go of the self and surrendering to awareness...and what is it that surrenders ? "the sense of self" I guess...
Metta Shoshin
I think the method is a form in the mind. But we do use a method. For example we could feel the body. Or just let everything be. That is still a method.
Meditation to me is the practice of voluntarily stilling the mind for a given period, in order to learn to ground ourselves in the present moment and lead a more mindful life.
We learn to evade the automatic-pilot-mode, reactionary living. We learn to act, not react.
Thoughts give rise to emotions, so these thoughts, unchecked, are at the root of our suffering. What we choose to tell ourselves through the detached observation of our thoughts, conditions our view of reality.
The practice of meditation, especially when we are able to carry the practice to our every day life, helps us sift through the mental chatter, and focus better on the reality at hand, rather than in the mirages projected by our mind. We develop right view.
We learn to make a more objective assessment of reality, the people in our life and our own role in our own life. And with the development of right view, we are better positioned to accept that reality and actually choose how to respond more skillfully to it.
Its about training the mind. The body is only helping by keeping still in a seated position, but the real exercise begins once we become grounded with awareness, and nothing breaks it, not even our own distracting thoughts.
Staying in the present.
Meditation: watching instead of doing.
Que?
Meditation: doing instead of watching
. . . not a form of meditation?
http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/4-moving-meditations-still-your-mind
Meditation is what you learn in hands on instruction from a teacher of Buddhist meditation, who if they are genuine, will tailor the precise form to your needs.
You will, of course, understand completely when I disagree..... :0)
Kia Ora @federice,
I guess as a mod it is your job to nip what could be seen as unwholesome things in the bud before they grow, which btw I fully agree with, however I was just pointing out that for "me" I use whatever comes my way as a practice tool, including what trolls attempt to do, ie by way of trying to disrupt the flow of the thread with the intent to cause disharmony...
Metta Shoshin
Meditation is clarity... which perhaps seems rather easier said than done. And conversely, if this thread stands as a testament, easier done than said.
Try tackling the kegon notional metaphor of the 4 dharma worlds JiJi Muge Hokkai @shoshin.
It works for me, as It is a mindful mental challenge which uses thought itself as an object of meditation; I find it really concentrates the mind. You first work your way through a thorough understanding of Gi (one in one) Then RI (one in all) then RiJi Muge (all in one), until finally you reach GiGi Muge (all in all), I find contemplating them leads me to a state one might refer to as meditation. But don't try to get it, because you won't. It will come of it's own accord, just meticulously go through one, all, one in all, all in all,...
sorry I can't describe meditation for you
@lobster I think basic/foundational meditation can be summed up as "watching the mind", but of course you're right that there are multiple forms of meditation. Some "interfere" more than others, and so do involve an amount of "doing".
Something we should do regularly as we know it's good for us...
It's probably a whole lot easier to explain what it's not....
Training mind.
A path from the selfish to the selfless.
Kia Ora,
Another way to look at it is 'the mind understanding (getting to know) the mind'...
Metta Shoshin
>
Integration.
With what?
The "whole" (well that's what I took it to mean)
Metta Shoshn
Today, I've mostly failed miserably
But most days are better.
This has been my week
...
Namaste,
Meditation to me is a chance to bring myself back to mindfulness.
Metta,
Raven
Everyone is meditating or meditative? Nobody is 'doing it wrong'? Can we read others responses and find more in our practice?
and now back to what is what . . .
Some days, we naturally 'do it wrong.' But at least we show up on the cushion.
And personally, even on totally off days when I have to drag myself to the cushion, I have never regretted going through it anyway. It totally changed my view of that day.
With everything. As a human being. With life and the world.
@MeisterBob This sort of thing?
“The idea of oneness or inter-connectivity in Buddhism is the idea that everything in the universe is intimately interconnected. The idea that we are separate entities, separate from both each other and the world around is considered to be an illusion. The true nature of both our ourselves and our reality is that complete unification or oneness. ”
http://buddhist-meditation-techniques.com/where-science-and-buddhism-meet-emptiness-oneness-and-nature-of-reality-part-1-video/
Understanding integration is one of the by products. Is it meditation? :wave: .
Yes. That said experiencing "wholeness" on a personal level -as a human being is as important for me as the big picture.
Breathing in and out!
Mindfulness sitting down?
Or just sitting down?
Sound greatly concentrates the mind, and can facilitate meditation. I often spend a couple of minutes playing with my dharma toy which is a singing bowl before formally sitting. The osscilatory sounds that emanate from it while performing the actions that generate the sound neatly cut across and drown out discursive thinking. I greatly recommend it.
It's the only toy I have, apart from my meditation mat and a cushion, as my altar is a visualised one, it keeps the environment uncluttered, and it's portable.