Back to basics
misecmisc1
I am a HinduIndia Veteran
Hi All,
After being registered on this website for 7 years, I am asking a question regarding the basics of meditation (based on the type of stupid person I am), so the question is that - What should be done while meditating? If the answer comes to be aware, then the next question is - do we need to be aware of what is happening - or - just aware? The difference between these two is that in order to do the first, we can not be exactly in the present moment - to explain, if we observed a sound arose and then ceased, we would be thinking about that phenomenon and not be in present moment because theoretically the present moment arises and ceases simultaneously, in a way that theoretically the present moment does not exist. If the answer to the second question is the second option to be just aware but not aware of anything from an analyzing perspective of our brain, then what difference is there between relaxing while listening to music (and not thinking about anything rather just listening to music) and doing meditation? Thanks.
By the way, Happy Diwali to everybody.
Comments
Hi All,
I watched 2 you tube videos on the teachings of Vedanta and found them insightful, so thought of sharing with you all :
Thanks.
To me, Vedanta seems very similar to Zen. To me, what is referred to as Turiya or the fourth state seems similar to the True Self in Zen.
...And Happy Diwali to you @misecmisc1 .... It would seem Diwali is celebrated by the Indian diaspora around the world...and I might add many Kiwis also enjoy the festival...
Music can often put one into a trance-like state where the mind ( like the snake) is often carried way/charmed by the music's rhythm or the musician's movements/swaying.... whereas meditation is not meant to be a trance-like state .It's more a state of alertness and awareness...where awareness itself gently observes without judgement the goings on in the mind's eye... so to speak...( well something like that
)
Here's a riddle of sorts for you @misecmisc1
"There was a young Indian man who said 'Though it seems I know that I know...But what I would like to see is the "I" that knows me when I know that I know that I know !"
Well, that is too complex for me. Whenever we know anything, it is always through thinking - or is there another way to know anything? Thanks.
@misecmisc1 it would seem that you intellectualize way too much, you continually try to solve life's riddle with a thought...and always ending up in a mental bind...
I would suggest that you continue to practice ananpanasati ...It possible that in doing so you will eventually have the answer come to you...
Yup, @shoshin, you've hit the nail on the head.
There's your problem right there, @misecmisc1 . You think too much, and believe there has to be a definitive answer, and that we have it.
To be frank, you have made the most catastrophically stupid decision with your personal/family/home life.
Why you think there would be any successful remedy here, and that you would even implement it if we find it for you - is beyond me.
I'd say the main difference between being aware of music and being aware of our mind is that a major part of the goal of meditation from a Buddhist perspective is to unravel our conditioned mental patterns more so than developing concentration or awareness for their own sake.
Practicing meditation on the breath or sounds are a way of developing the skill of awareness and concentration. But just being able to focus on those things are not the purpose, I think of it like going to the gym. We may exercise, lift weights, run, etc. but the point isn't simply to be able to able to lift heavier weights or run further, the point is improving our health or being more physically capable in the world.
At any rate you're not going to come to an understanding on what these things really mean unless you actually do the practices and gain an experiential understanding of them. You can't meaningfully compare the tastes of two different kinds of apples unless you've actually eaten the apples.
@misecmisc1
It's important to ask questions in order to get a better understanding of a subject/topic...It is just as important to explore the answers in depth through contemplation and "meditation"...
However, if one is not careful ones intellect starts to work overtime ...
Eg, "Hmm if this is the case, then why is...........?" ,,,and so on ...Eventually leading one back to where one started.... none the wiser....No benefit.... purely an intellectual exercise (as if the intellect don't get enough exercise as it is
)
"Oh the bane of thinking" ...
Once we learn to think (feeling quite chuffed with our/the self and its achievement "I think there for I am") it can be difficult ( but not impossible) to stop... however we can at the least learn to be selective (through meditation) with which thought patterns to follow and which to drop....
Thoughts are tools that are at our disposal and not the other way round....So...
...and learn to drop the thoughts (if they are taking you nowhere) and be now here (here now)....
Food for thought to meditate upon
I have been absent for many months but somehow your threads, @misecmisc1, don't seem to change much.
If I may be allowed some blunt insight into your situation -as if coming from me it could be any other way,- in my opinion you overthink too much what does not belong in the realm of the intellect, but do not think through enough decisions which pertain to your personal life.
Could you be using your spiritual quest as an excuse to evade some really important issues in your life?