Do You Meditate? If So ...

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Mystical Sadhu, Oct 6, 2010.

  1. Mystical Sadhu Registered Member

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    There are many forms of meditation, with well thought-out prescribed techniques, some of which are full of siddha, while some times emotional contemplation is also referred to as "meditation". This question has to do with Intuitional practices, taking one from crude toward subtle: What form of meditation do you practice?
    Click here to learn more: http://bit.ly/MeditationPracticeSurvey
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2010
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  3. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Meditation is something that happens to you...traditionally considered a very difficult state to attain.

    Most of what people call meditation is really just concentration exercises.
     
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  5. BWE1 Rulers are for measuring. Registered Senior Member

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    I meditate. Do I have to follow your links?
     
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  7. Mystical Sadhu Registered Member

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    Hello, BWE1, the survey is more articulate than can be covered on the bulletin board, with individuate answers, some of which some folks would want to keep private. Request is a more appropriate concept, not "required".


     
  8. BWE1 Rulers are for measuring. Registered Senior Member

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    Mindfulness is all there is that matters to me in terms of meditation. Is that helpful?

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  9. Alien Cockroach Banned Banned

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    I do mindfulness meditation, but that's only because its benefits are well supported in clinical studies. I find that it has upped my tolerance to pain considerably. I could never have indulged in jogging, for example, if I had not practiced at filtering out the physical discomforts involved in order to allow me to focus on the pleasurable aspects of what I am doing. I have progressed to the point of being able to sustain a wolf-like cross-country lope for miles.

    I know meditation is usually done while sitting still, but I find that pushing my physical limits creates for me a special kind of inner quiet that I otherwise can't get. I am paying conscious attention to the beating of my heart, the movement of my legs, the tensing and flexing of my muscles, all as if I were playing my body like a musical instrument, if you'll pardon me for waxing a little poetic. The point is, when I evaluate my body parts as if they were instruments for my use, the important thing is NOT my emotional reaction to discomforts but rather how to get the best use out of every part, how to coordinate my breathing and pace in order to keep time with the beating of my heart.

    Oh...and the more I do this, the more I find myself using a powerful, long-legged stride. Lower tempo, faster movement. Personally, I am wondering if the means we use to cope with the discomforts of physical exertion could be considered to be similar to meditation.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2010
  10. Mystical Sadhu Registered Member

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    Operating within the confines of one's comfort zone is a place to start, some time, perhaps when one gets older, a person stumbles upon more fathomless realms so vast and resplendent that they regret not having been more adventurous earlier in life -- anchored in the surety of their truthfulness to guide them during serendipitous adventures into the, as yet, unexplored, for them.
     
  11. Alien Cockroach Banned Banned

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    Boy, you're talking about my childhood playground, there.

    I enjoy the feeling of being in the presence of something large, as if it were a huge weight bearing down on me. And it forces me to give it my all to hold it up. And, as I find a medium between the strength of the force and the level of effort I am capable of sustaining, I find myself suffused with a sense of peace.

    Do you do this?
     
  12. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    54,036
    I used to meditate when younger, but I don't feel the need anymore. It's damaging to your body to sit still, it's unnatural. It served it's purpose, but now it just seems silly. What do people think they will find that isn't already there?
     
  13. Mystical Sadhu Registered Member

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    Based on your description, it seems cumbersome, and resembles waiting to the last minute to get work done as if the pressure of that challenge is what creates or makes imperative the dynamism for getting something done, transfering the "weight" for "time". For some, it was their abused childhood that made them search for subtler realms, though that is a conspicuously sick way of attaining greater thresholds of being, and a healthy society would not condone such circumstances as a "lesson" for anyone, whether for present or past life remediation. Too much avarice in one's life makes such circumstances seem excuseable.

    In my childhood infinity was an easy concept and flying in my sleep was easy and nightly. In fact I shared dreams and flying dreams with neighbor kids, we'd even allude to what we "did last night" in our sleep in our efforts to play as we did "today", including jumping off rooves of our houses as we had in our dreams, and replicating the layout we had the night before in our efforts the next day.

    I thought everybody did that when they were kids. I thought remote viewing was something everyone did as well, or feeling remotely what was going on concurrently with a loved one. No pressure there, simply inclination to do what's natural.

    As a kid I'd see neighborhood dogs chase people down the street, often going "only so far" before stopping their run while continuing barking. That was their territorial perimiter, which may grow foot by foot over time, though we were humans and needn't suffer such constraints when we are ethically disposed towards all beings.

    I noticed too that people would not only have such geo-territorial perimeters, they would also have such shackles upon their minds as well. Down the street from us was a woman who chaired, some times, the group of people in Texas notorious for approving or disapproving textbooks for the nation's school systems. Things like American history books that mentioned not only the Haymarket Square riots, but also that those riots were initiated by the police were viciously branded as "COMMUNIST", despite the history book having accurate information.

    I witness the same behavior among people who claim they are "scientists" or have a "matter" of "fact(s)" disposition that they think is both "intelligent" and "scientific", whereas any ethical person with an ever expanding mind, even a single celled organism, could readily witness that such people are barking dogmatists much like the neighborhood dogs who would not go past some threshold of perimeter when there is a vast world, a vast Universe beyond their minimital myopia.

    Vast volumes of knowledge, far beyond what we could learn by reading books and articles, is available to those who have expanded their minds and engaged their hearts beyond the tiny perimeters of their known world, in the same Universe that manifests them as well as alllllll the various things such people continue to deny existing due to the small perimeters of their self-interested minds, closed hearts, and jackalsome dispositions.

    The capacity to discover new concepts, discover new objects in the Universe, discover new remedies for what ails people and other living beings, invent new concepts and objects that are exceedingly useful and liberates humans and others from toil so that they can pursue subtler realms more refelctive of our human evolution all necessitate preparing the mind for such mindframes of discovery and invention for them to even be perceived as what is possible is always with us, we just must adjust our minds to both perceive and be of service to others through our explorations. That is what "Sadhana" is, and why I posed the question originally.

    Ever sat or driven a new car, and in doing so you noticed myriad other people doing the s0 in a same or similar model? Or perhaps you've acquired some other personal object, and in doing so discovered such in the possession of many more people that you had noticed before your personal acquisition or use. Or maybe you've discovered and developed a relationship with a new life partner, and promptly after having done so, you experience many more people being lovingly nice to you. When a mind, resplendent with sincerity and implicity faith, explores the infinite and developes a rapport with it, all sorts of knowledge, insights, talents and capabilities dawn within one's being -- things that were always there yet untapped or unacknowledged, though put to use now that you've discovered them and did so with an escalating love and greater sense of freedom.

    Having experienced such, you'd never turn your back on anyone else who was searching also and not satisfied, showing them the ecstasy that could be once the simplicity of how to do it and the success in doing it has been demonstrated by your efforts and assured by your experience and their experience of you. That is one of the most magnificent feelings in the Universe, and one of the very best services we can convey to others.


     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2010
  14. Alien Cockroach Banned Banned

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    886
    Yep. In fact, I'm a pathological procrastinator for that very reason. The hell I was put through has left me permanently addicted to the techniques I used to keep from going insane. The pressure thing is actually a good temporary remedy if you're going through mental torture.

    However, I've gotten more lasting results from pushing the boundaries of my physical endurance, and that has actually gone a long way to remedy the procrastination. I might blow out my heart one day doing it, but it's better than the misery of realizing I've yet again let my addiction destroy me.

    And my background is also the reason I can be such a crass, hot-tempered dick given half an excuse. It's adrenaline addiction, really. I'm not like that at heart, you know: if my parents had supported me, I would have become a vegan at age 7, and I'm effectively a pescetarian as it is because I have trouble sometimes even getting poultry past my tonsils unless I'm doing something fancy for a friend, my raging contempt for sanctimonious, holier-than-thou vegans notwithstanding. Anyway, the running also helps with the adrenaline addiction and the anger issues.

    The thing is, there is a lot out there besides meditation that has similar effects on your mind. You sound like you're fairly experienced with your subject in particular, considering how well you read me, but forgive me if I am skeptical of any spiritual claims about your art. I chalk it up to body chemistry.

    I never had to act out the flying. I did like to imagine myself with wings, only they looked like an amorphous, whitish concept of an insect's wings except they were also like tendrils. I imagined my body being formless, and I felt that, if I reached out far enough, I could touch other souls, and we could become like parts of a more sophisticated whole.

    Imagine it this way. Imagine being a muscle cell in the lungs of a larger creature. Now, all you can do is PULL, and release. You can't make the creature's lungs operate on your own, obviously. However, if you could hold onto a neighboring cell, you and thousands of other cells can pump life into a creature more wondrous than any of you alone could ever be. Well, that's not quite what I was actually imagining, but that description gives the sense of the thing.

    The world around me fades to a mere glimmer, crowded out by my sense of self. My own existence swells, and the existence of other minds and their thoughts and ideas glows in my mind as if I could reach out and touch it.

    Actually, intraspecies territoriality is how animals keep from overhunting a particular area. If packs of wolves didn't drive out rivals by force, there would be too many of them in the same area to sustain their population. The same applies for primitive Man: the Ancient Greeks, in chafing against each other constantly, were really doing the most responsible possible thing in light of the circumstances. There is a purpose for warfare, even though enlightened minds must acknowledge it for the terrible and ugly thing that it is.

    Believe me, my buddy here has been fighting against this problem for his entire career, only his subject was the American South. He has gone before legislature, and he has pulled strings to try to get inaccuracies and omissions removed from the textbooks, but the problem is that nobody wants to hear a truth that conflicts with their illusions.

    As to your thoughts on the scientific mindset, here is something for you to think about: the abstract world is meaning itself, and reification only cheapens it. The human soul is not a thing that can be scooped up and transported elsewhere. It is not an object. It is a meaning, and a meaning is something that is truly timeless and immortal.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2010
  15. Alien Cockroach Banned Banned

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    Shit. So that's what mindfulness does. Mindfulness teaches you that the world around you is concrete, but it teaches you that value lives inside of you and is not concrete at all.

    Then what is the opposite of mindfulness? The opposite of mindfulness is to run away from the world around you, clinging to belief or dogma as if it can be used as a shield. Unmindfulness is fear. Unmindfulness is insanity. Unmindfulness is hate. Unmindfulness leads to rot. A mind that is unmindful must learn to struggle past its fear, insanity, and hate. It must find enough peace within itself to walk calmly into the flames, to weep gracefully and with dignity if its darkest fears or insecurities are realized. Only then can it be mindful rather than unmindful. Only then can I acknowledge that I am going to die yet still remember that I am alive. I survive. I endure. And I have hope.

    The mind that is mindful is that of the scientist who can nevertheless be religious and experience faith. The scientist sees and uses the world around him, but it is not the world around him that has meaning. He realizes that there is a difference between fact and meaning.

    If I think only about that which is factual, I will feel confident and perhaps smug, but I will be depressed because I have missed all of the meaning. If I think only about the meaning, I will feel happy and at peace, but it would be fragile and groundless; a stiff wind could knock it over, throwing me into confusion.

    A practical application of mindfulness, when we interpret it as recognizing the differential between external reality and that which is personally meaningful, is handling the judgments of others. If I deny that other people are judging and evaluating me, I will find myself in harm's way, or I may become a sinner by failing to deal with this fact in a productive manner. However, I must not misinterpret the necessity of dealing with other people's opinions for what I should feel about myself. I must deal with the fact that other people are not comfortable with my sexuality, for example, but I must not allow other people's discomfort with me compel me to feel insecure with myself. I must deal with the fact that I need to be especially tactful and careful about this aspect of myself, but I must not let this intrude upon how I feel about myself. Mindfulness meditation teaches us to recognize and to deal with the world around us without letting the things we don't like about it get under our skin. This is why mindfulness meditation is so useful for helping us to deal with pain. A person who has a problem with chronic pain could cause him or herself serious injuries if he or she were to attempt to deny that he or she suffers from pain, but that person must also learn that the pain is on the outside in order to be truly happy.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2010
  16. kutthanand Registered Senior Member

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    11
    lol

    And meanwhile, the pundits pundit, as they have for ages of time,
    and the barking dogs run
    in the streets
    of the mind.

    Alleyways and by-ways are many... like a spider's tangled web.

    That Knowledge you should seek, can be found, but not right here. There is what there is in books, lengthy discussions, personal opinions and interesting experiences....

    Everything but the breath may be a distraction...

    Clarity is what we need. Understanding is what we need.
    It is a rare thing.
    Fortunately, it is like a virus, and catchable.

    Respond to clarity because there is clarity within.
    Respond to understanding because there is understanding within.
    Respond to life. Recognize.
    Respond to Love. Melt.

    There are streets and avenues of the Heart where satisfaction and bliss run like a river
    without end.

    There, music is played, without a player.
    There, nectar flows from a well in the sky.
    There, light removes all darkness and confusion.
    There, the rhythm of life goes on ceaselessy. Join it.

    There, the Moon-Bird waits...

    Seek that Teacher with the Knowledge and the Keys.

    There is no other way to achieve it.
     
  17. BWE1 Rulers are for measuring. Registered Senior Member

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    312
    The evening news.

    also religion, materialism, atheism, theism, postmodernism, scientism, physicalism, reductionism, every ism but empiricism.
    Mindfulness is just learning how to see without value before you add value. You put a lot of poetry in there though which adds a nice flair.
     
  18. RobV Registered Member

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    9
    I've been a practicing buddhist since I was old enough to remember.
    Mindfulness is a very east concept, I think some of you are over-doing it.
    Mindfulness is being present in your mind.
    When you walk to the refrigerator with mindfulness, you're aware that you're walking to the refrigerator, you're aware of your in breath and your out breath, you're aware of your feet hitting the floor, your legs rising and falling in rhythm, you are NOT thinking of what you're going to wear to the club tonight, what the weather will be like tomorrow or trying to make out what the TV is saying in the next room.

    The opposite of mindfulness is a good ol' fashioned cocain buzz.
     
  19. answers Registered Senior Member

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    646
    Note to self never read another post by Mystical Sadhu.

    wow...just wow. Here I was thinking christians and muslims were good at talking crap.
     

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