[Fe] Do any of you meditate ?

[Scheherezade]

Np. Have you tried binaural beats? The overall effect isn't entirely the same, but for many, they promote focus. I personally believe they function as a mantra.

I actually have for some time now but they don t help with mantaining a calm and conscious state,
I found recently that the tibetan singing bowl produces a sound that works better for me, it sounds more organic to me

 

[Ginkgo]

I actually have for some time now but they don t help with mantaining a calm and conscious state,
I found recently that the tibetan singing bowl produces a sound that works better for me, it sounds more organic to me

 

[Scheherezade]

Don t mock me ) everything is really new

 

[Ginkgo]

Don t mock me ) everything is really new

I'm not Lol. The chirping of crickets, rain, and the hum of an air conditioner produce similar effects for me. As for rain, once I forget about questioning what caused the thunder, I know it's having its effect.

 

[INTP]

I think the ideea would be to focus on the order of the numbers as a singular thing into your head and see if that is interrupted by other random ones

the idea of meditation is to empty your head completely, or in mindfulness meditation from anything else than sense perceptions(but still not form any sort of rationalization or judgments on the sense perceptions)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I do. I do it every morning for 10 minutes after I come home from the gym. Atlest that is what I tell myself that I do.

Anyway there are two main branches of meditation: samatha/samadhi and vipassana.

Samatha is what most people do and most mediation techniques are a branch of/variation of samatha (including yoga). Basically samatha is a concentration meditation where one way or the other the purpose is concentration. The benefits of samatha are as in many emperical practices such as studying or sports etc are improved with practice and concentration. However one of the main weakness in samatha is its requirement of isolation or non disturbance to practice.

Then there is vipassana which is also called samadhi which was discovered (technically speaking re-discovered in buddhist terms) by buddha. Contrary to samatha, vipassana would benefit when disturbed because the practioner would experience more emotions, internal conflicts etc when occupied, bothered, when interacting etc.

Without going into much detail; a main difference between samatha and vipassana is; samatha suppresses, vipassana observes (one's thoughts, emotions, feelings and sensations).

I love meditating. I also observed that there were two different types, at least, which produced two very different states, but I didn't realize that this was samatha vs. vipassana. Both are really helpful. I think I have a preference for vipassana more because I feel more embodied and "aware".

 

[Mole]

Meditation is a subset of trance. And a trance can be induced by any repetition.

My favourite form of repetition is walking, but not walking to a destination but walking back and forth in one spot.

To learn about trance, "From Magic to Technology", by Dennis Weir is a good place to start.

 

[Mole]

The Way of Trance

The problem with meditation is its provenance. In other words, meditation comes from religion.

And the religious purpose of meditation was to make followers suggestible to delusion.

So the problem is how to learn to meditate without relying on religion to teach you. And this is a real problem for it seems only religions are teaching meditation.

But still, we can start to learn a natural form of meditation with, "The Way of Trance", by Dennis Weir.

 

[Scheherezade]

Meditation is a subset of trance. And a trance can be induced by any repetition.

My favourite form of repetition is walking, but not walking to a destination but walking back and forth in one spot.

To learn about trance, "From Magic to Technology", by Dennis Weir is a good place to start.

I strted reading it yesterday morning but did not have enough time, i like the pov though, the way he describes trances, i thought about something similar to that

The problem with meditation is its provenance. In other words, meditation comes from religion.

And the religious purpose of meditation was to make followers suggestible to delusion.

So the problem is how to learn to meditate without relying on religion to teach you. And this is a real problem for it seems only religions are teaching meditation.

But still, we can start to learn a natural form of meditation with, "The Way of Trance", by Dennis Weir.

Meditation without changing volition you mean?
i like that "natural meditation" concept
I ll try and finish both of the books asap
Ty btw

 

[Scheherezade]

i`ve been kind of busy lately with exams and did not have time to finish the book, i also stopped meditating - but i m on it now and will come back when i finish it (i find it very easy to grasp tbh, thank you again [MENTION=3325]Mole[/MENTION]

 

[zago]

People who meditate suffer from perfectionism.

 

[Scheherezade]

do you meditate? i m curious [MENTION=4489]zago[/MENTION]

 

[Lark]

People who meditate suffer from perfectionism.

You make a lot of sweeping and categorical statements.

 

[Lark]

I read a book called positive addiction by someone called Glassner recently which talked about making running or meditation forms of positive addiction for those who'd struggle with experiencing other sorts of deadly or harmful addictions. Thought that was interesting.

I've decided that I cant really meditate, I dont really have the patience at this stage in life and prefer reading, surfing the net, stuff like that.

 

[zago]

do you meditate? i m curious [MENTION=4489]zago[/MENTION]

Zazen meditator from 2007-2013. Stopped in January after an extra-strong kick.

Meditation truly is the logical endpoint of perfectionism. If you can't have a perfect job, house, social life, and body, why not go for the perfectly calm mind so that stuff won't bother you? Bad news - it's never gonna happen, not with any sense of permanence.

The idea of it now just makes me feel sorry for people and resentful of all the time I spent on it. They are beyond listening and having it explained to them, they have too much hope to hear anything but whatever supports their goal. At best, you'll get hardly noticeable relaxation effects. It is kind of relaxing.. kind of. It's also really fucking boring. Any number of activities would have similar, if not more profound and extensive benefits. Playing a musical instrument, keeping a reflective journal, spending the time exercising, making a conscious effort to do anything really. The only difference is that those things don't sound as cool and mysterious as meditation and don't come with the possible benefit of enlightenment.

 

[zago]

You make a lot of sweeping and categorical statements.

This particular one I am very well qualified to make if anyone is, as you'll note from my previous post. I've studied and practiced meditation intensively. As for any others I make, well, I dunno.

 

[Mole]

I read a book called positive addiction by someone called Glassner recently which talked about making running or meditation forms of positive addiction for those who'd struggle with experiencing other sorts of deadly or harmful addictions. Thought that was interesting.

I've decided that I cant really meditate, I dont really have the patience at this stage in life and prefer reading, surfing the net, stuff like that.

Meditation is a subset of trance. And we enter and leave trances all during the day.

A trance occurs when our critical mind starts to go to sleep and our creative mind starts to wake up.

So we have the driving trance, the television trance, the internet trance, the sexual trance, the exercise trance, the trance of ritual, the trance of art, the trance of religion, and just before we go to sleep, we enter the hypnogogic trance, and just as we wake up, we also enter the hypnogogic trance.

Most of us though are unaware of the physical and mental changes that occur as we enter and leave a particular trance. However it is easy to learn to enter and leave a trance, and so we become sensitised to all the other trances we enter and leave during the day.

A trance can be induced by any repetition. And the kind of trance we induce depends on what parts of our critical mind we put to sleep and what parts of our creative mind we wake up.

And so we can design a trance for a particular purpose.

 

[zago]

We should tell the president about this.

 

[Mole]

We should tell the president about this.

I believe he entrances us with his rhetoric.

His speeches, with their cadence, their repetition, and authority, are designed to enchant us for a political purpose.

 

[Scheherezade]

[MENTION=4489]zago[/MENTION] don`t you think you are somewhat projecting some of your personal feelings into the concept? it would sure seem so to me, i personally think that i need meditation in order to obtain insight, a better knowledge of myself that i lack at the moment, from what i`ve read about it, is very true(and proven by monks) that you can train your mind by use of meditation. What did meditation mean to you, i m curious again, since you seem to have such strong feelings against it