Mod+ Meditation

This thread is for discussing meditation. It's Mod+ so please keep to the topics of meditation practices, different forms of meditation, how to do them, how to enter various states, sources of difficulties and how to overcome them, and research on meditation. If you want to discuss something else feel free to start another thread.

[UPDATE: I've added "research on meditation" to the subjects of the thread.]

To start off, here are a few links:

http://www.leighb.com/jhana3.htm
Instruction for Entering Jhana
by
Leigh Brasington
...
So to summarize the method for entering the first jhana: You sit in a nice comfortable upright position, and generate access concentration by putting and maintaining your attention on a single meditation object. When access concentration arises, then you shift your attention from the breath (or whatever your method is) to a pleasant sensation, preferably a pleasant physical sensation. You put your attention on that sensation, and maintain your attention on that sensation, and do nothing else.

The hard part is the do nothing else part. ...
...

In the linked web page, the instructions suggest smiling as the pleasant sensation. Thich Nhat Hanh also suggests smiling when meditating. It sounds strange but it has a profound effect. I was re-reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh recently and tried smiling and experienced pretty much what the link describes. That led me to search the internet for an explanation of what happened which is how I found the link. It's easy to enter the state if your mind is calm, but getting the mind calm can be difficult unless you are on retreat, but this might help: Why is it so hard to concentrate? Sources of distraction and obstacles to concentration during meditation. I've experienced this state now and then without understanding what it was and I've been in deeper states without going through it first ... but I think understanding and recognizing it can be helpful as it can provide a stable base from which to go into other states. It is a way of identifying when your mind is sufficiently calm.


Also...
http://www.leighb.com/jhana2do.htm
Essence of entering each of the 8 Jhanas:

http://www.leighb.com/jhana2a.htm
SHARPENING MANJUSHRI'S SWORD
The Jhanas in Theravadan Buddhist Meditation

by Leigh Brasington
 
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This thread is for discussing meditation. It's Mod+ so please keep to the topic of meditation practices. "Meditation practices" includes, different forms of meditation, how to do them, how to enter various states, sources of difficulties and how to overcome them etc. If you want to discuss something else feel free to start another thread.

To start off here are a few links:

http://www.leighb.com/jhana3.htm


In the linked web page, the instructions suggest smiling as the pleasant sensation. Thich Nhat Hanh also suggests smiling when meditating. It sounds strange but it has a profound effect. I was re-reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh recently and tried smiling and experienced pretty much what the link describes. That led me to search the internet for an explanation of what happened which is how I found the link. It's easy to enter the state if your mind is calm, but getting the mind calm can be difficult unless you are on retreat, but this might help: Why is it so hard to concentrate? Sources of distraction and obstacles to concentration during meditation. I've experienced this state now and then without understanding what it was and I've been in deeper states without going through it first ... but I think understanding and recognizing it can be helpful as it can provide a stable base from which to go into other states. It is a way of identifying when your mind is sufficiently calm.


Also...
http://www.leighb.com/jhana2do.htm

Interesting, I've never considered smiling during meditation, I'm going to try that out next time. I'll come back here with more relevant thoughts.
 
Interesting, I've never considered smiling during meditation, I'm going to try that out next time. I'll come back here with more relevant thoughts.

I'm working on a blog post on the subject... here's a preview related to your comment...
It can also help to hold you hands with the palms upward as if you are receiving a gift from above. Notice if you detect a little feeling of joy, keep your mind focused, and wait for the feeling to build.
...
The feeling is not something that you force yourself into, it is something that comes over you. A good analogy is drowsiness. You don't make yourself drowsy by an act of will, it just happens. The half-smile is not to force yourself to feel happy, it merely acts as a trigger to put you into a state where you are open to allowing the emotion to flow. The half-smile helps you to lower your resistance to the feeling of joy or showing emotion.
 
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http://www.swamij.com/yoga-nidra.htm
Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep. It is a state of conscious Deep Sleep. In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gently focus the mind, while allowing thought patterns, emotions, sensations, and images to arise and go on. However, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state, go past the Dreaming state, and go to Deep Sleep, yet remain awake.
...
(Yoga Nidra practice methods are linked below)
...
Delta brainwaves, not Alpha: There has been some degree of confusion circulating about Yoga Nidra and brain waves. Possibly due to the fact that many experience only the Alpha level of brain waves initially, many teach that Alpha is the goal of Yoga Nidra. While the Alpha or Theta levels can be very useful steps along the way, the ultimate goal of Yoga Nidra is the experience of conscious Deep Sleep (Prajna), which correlates with Delta brain waves (True Yoga Nidra practice ultimately leads to awareness beyond any level of physical brain functioning).
 
The most up-to-date version of this information is at:
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2015/02/consciousness-beyond-hypnogogic-state.html
Consciousness Beyond the Hypnogogic State

If you watch the activity of your mind as you drift off to sleep, you might notice going into a state where you experience vivid imagery and the mind wanders wildly from one thing to another. This is the hypnogogic state. I have a page on my web site that discusses how to recognize this state, how to enter it using relaxation exercises, and how to use it to experience psychic phenomena.

If you learn to recognize the hypnogogic state and practice being in it, you many find that it leads to another deeper state. I call this deeper state the "beyond-the-hypnogogic" state. The vivid imagery stops and one feels more alert but it is not normal consciousness. The body is deeply relaxed as in sleep and the mind does not wander. This state seems to me to be similar to other states I have read about. Robert Monroe wrote about a state he called "mind awake, body asleep" that is favorable to inducing out-of-body experiences. In the Buddhist tradition, there is a state called "boundless space" or The Base of Infinite Space. There is also the feeling of limitlessness in the beyond-the-hypnogogic state. In Himalayan Yoga, there is a recognized state between dreaming and sleep called Aladani, that also seems similar to this state.

If you are interested in out-of-body experiences, Buddhist meditation, or Himalayan Yoga, you might find that practicing being in the hypnogogic state is a short cut to attaining these states. Since the hypnogogic state is something most people enter naturally as they fall asleep, it is relatively easy to learn to enter. The page on my web site that discusses this state explains how to recognize it and how to learn to enter it by doing relaxation exercises.
 
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TM helped me get better grades and into a better college, and raise my IQ to qualify for Mensa. TM helps a moron become a genius. :) TMensa org
 
There is an on-line 8-day Buddhist meditation retreat available here:

http://www.dhammasukha.org/online-retreats-david-johnson.html

Detailed description (including links to source materials)
http://www.dhammasukha.org/online-retreat-details-dj.html

You can sign up for the retreat and work with an instructor, or you can use the source materials, videos etc, on your own at your own pace.
If you sign up, they ask for a donation, whatever you feel like paying, after the retreat.

This style of meditation is based on the teachings of the Buddha. Most "Buddhist" meditation taught today is based on later commentaries on what Buddha taught.

More articles here:
http://begintosee.blogspot.com/
 
Hi All, not sure if anyone's interested, but I've read many hundreds (thousands?) of books and texts on meditation over the years, and off the top of my head I feel the below 2 books are probably the best books on the subject I am aware of, at least available widely from online bookstores:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pointing-Out-Great-Way-Meditation/dp/0861713044

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Tradit...=1433672710&sr=1-1&keywords=george+feuerstein

I personally think the Pointing Out book is the best ever written in English.

Cheers.
 
Interesting, I've never considered smiling during meditation, I'm going to try that out next time. I'll come back here with more relevant thoughts.

I found out a little more about how this works.

https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/meditation-1#meditation_serenity
According to an article in psychologytoday.com, smiling causes the brain to release dopamine, endorphins and serotonin.
...

Once you start smiling [during meditation] and you notice the pleasant feelings that accompany the smile, those feelings make you want to smile more and it can create a feedback loop that you can keep up for as long as you care to maintain concentration.
I've found this feedback loop can get very intense. I don't know how intense yet because I am being a little bit cautious and increasing the intensity gradually because occasionally people run into trouble on meditation retreats: http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/09/bg-232-the-dark-night-project/

But I am interested to see how high it can go because Lester Levenson experienced extreme joy as the last step before realization.

If anyone is interested the link ( https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/meditation-1#meditation_serenity ) has updated instructions on how to produce this feedback loop in your brain. You don't need very intense concentration to experience it so I think most people are capable of it.
 
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I just watched these two videos from http://tripurashakti.com/ a web site on yoga meditation.


(8:03 min)

(5:46 min)

And they made a lot of sense to me. According to their way of thinking (I'm paraphrasing using Buddhist terms), a false sense of self is created by the activity in the mind: 5 senses, perceptions, impulses, attachments and aversions etc. By meditation and mindfulness, watching the interplay of these things, we can see how the illusion of self is created and see through the illusion of self and experience the ultimate reality - non-dual consciousness.

It seems to me a different point of view than I understood from Buddhism where I thought the point was to understand Buddha's argument that all things are not-self so you would drop your attachents things and experience the end of suffering. Looking into the activities in the mind would show you what causes suffering so you would also let go of attachments and aversions.

Maybe I misunderstand Buddhism, but investigating things that create the illusion of self in order to see beyond into the ultimate reality makes much more sense to me. It seems more like it's something I can really do. Observing attachments doesn't really cause them to disapear instantly. The yoga view is also consistent with a feeling I get from meditation that I am existing in a virtual reality. According to this way of thinking that is exactly what we are all doing.
 
I just watched these two videos from http://tripurashakti.com/ a web site on yoga meditation.




And they made a lot of sense to me. According to their way of thinking (I'm paraphrasing using Buddhist terms), a false sense of self is created by the activity in the mind: 5 senses, perceptions, impulses, attachments and aversions etc. By meditation and mindfulness, watching the interplay of these things, we can see how the illusion of self is created and see through the illusion of self and experience the ultimate reality - non-dual consciousness.

It seems to me a different point of view than I understood from Buddhism where I thought the point was to understand Buddha's argument that all things are not-self so you would drop your attachents things and experience the end of suffering. Looking into the activities in the mind would show you what causes suffering so you would also let go of attachments and aversions.

Maybe I misunderstand Buddhism, but investigating things that create the illusion of self in order to see beyond into the ultimate reality makes much more sense to me. It seems more like it's something I can really do. Observing attachments doesn't really cause them to disapear instantly. The yoga view is also consistent with a feeling I get from meditation that I am existing in a virtual reality. According to this way of thinking that is exactly what we are all doing.

You might enjoy this series from Scott Kiloby. I think there are four parts. In them he leads you through some inquiry to try and find the "self".

 
In the link I posted several months ago are what I consider to be 2 of, if not the, best books on meditation written in the west I have come across (I've read quite a few :)

However, imo without doubt the best & most comprehensive manual or text on meditation in the Indian tantric tradition is not the Patanjali sutras imo, as many consider it to be, I have found the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra to be far superior. It is available online in it's entirety for free and is worth searching out a few translations. A quick search provided this:

http://home.primusonline.com.au/peony/112_meditations.htm

If one understands it, there is no need for any other meditation manual! Though it has been many years since I read it, maybe my perspectives have changed.....
 
In the link I posted several months ago are what I consider to be 2 of, if not the, best books on meditation written in the west I have come across (I've read quite a few :)

However, imo without doubt the best & most comprehensive manual or text on meditation in the Indian tantric tradition is not the Patanjali sutras imo, as many consider it to be, I have found the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra to be far superior. It is available online in it's entirety for free and is worth searching out a few translations. A quick search provided this:

http://home.primusonline.com.au/peony/112_meditations.htm

If one understands it, there is no need for any other meditation manual! Though it has been many years since I read it, maybe my perspectives have changed.....

I think that is the same text that is elaborated on by OSHO in his Book Of Secrets. Both the text and the lectures are available online. Love me some OSHO.

http://www.oshoworld.com/discourses/audio_eng.asp?album_id=56
 
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2016/02/self-enquiry.html
To realize Self, to understand your true nature unobscured by the illusions produced by the mind, meditate on the feeling of "I am" by asking "Who am I?"

"The pure existence-awareness, 'I am' is not a thought;" ... "it is the very nature of our 'being'."

http://selfdefinition.org/ramana/sadhu-om-self-inquiry.htm
Self-inquiry is only an aid to Self-Awareness;
only Self-Awareness is the True Direct Path.


SELF-INQUIRY by Sri Sadhu Om

Chapter 7 from The Path of Sri Ramana, Part One

...
The nature of the mind is to attend always to things other than itself, that is, to know only second and third persons. If the mind in this way attends to a thing, it means that it is attending (attaching itself) to that thing.
...

On the other hand, if our awareness is directed only towards ourself, our knowledge of existence alone is nourished, and since the mind is not attended to, it is deprived of its strength, the support of our Grace.
...
The feeling ‘I am’ is the experience common to one and all. In this, ‘am’ is awareness. This awareness is not of anything external, it is the awareness of oneself. This is awareness.
...
The pure existence-awareness, ‘I am’ is not a thought; this awareness is our nature.
...
... for those who, instead of assuming that they have an individuality such as ‘I am so-and-so’ or ‘I am this’, attend thus, ‘What is this feeling which shines as I am?’ it is suitable to be fixed in Self-awareness in the form ‘Who am I?’.

What is important to be sure of during practice is that our attention is turned only towards ‘I’, the first person singular feeling.”
 
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And they made a lot of sense to me. According to their way of thinking (I'm paraphrasing using Buddhist terms), a false sense of self is created by the activity in the mind: 5 senses, perceptions, impulses, attachments and aversions etc. By meditation and mindfulness, watching the interplay of these things, we can see how the illusion of self is created and see through the illusion of self and experience the ultimate reality - non-dual consciousness.

Here is another way of saying it:


https://enlightenmentward.wordpress...shodo-harada-roshi-segment-4-of-7-transcript/
...
Often enlightenment or kensho or satori is considered to be some kind of unusual experience or something external or some kind of special phenomenon. But it’s not like that. There may be some kind of sudden revelation or some kind of sudden perception, but its not something that is that unusual or that strange or foreign that we come upon or that comes upon us. What it is, is the ability to see without any interruption of the ego, without any filtering of the ego. And since we are all walking around seeing things through our ego filter almost all the time, to suddenly be able to see without that filter is a surprise. But it is nothing that we have ever not had.

They say that the mind of a baby is something that we can compare this to. A baby isn’t seeing things from an egoistic place. It is seeing directly and clear. It is the exact same kind of thing when we are seeing without the ego filter. We see that there is nothing to be analyzed in it. When you are seeing a flower you are not thinking that it is red or seeing a bird you are not thinking what its name is. You are just seeing directly. When we talk about enlightenment we are talking about that mind which is perceive at every moment without the obstruction of an egoistic filter. The experience of that mind and realizing where it is and realizing where it is coming from is what is called enlightenment or kensho or satori. It is not some kind of supernatural state of mind that we are able to enter or that comes upon us. It is not like some kind of altered state of consciousness to think that we are trying to do this practice for some kind of narrow experience for the individual. Thinking that we are going to come upon some big experience some day. This is a very low level understanding of what this enlightenment is.
 
Someone sent me a private message and I thought others might be interested in my reply...

I don't know any good books on this subject, but meditating can help.

This is how I meditate:
https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/meditation-1#meditation_serenity

Meditation should quiet the mind in a relaxing way. If you try to use force and intense concentration to quiet the mind, you will repress thoughts and that just makes stress and irritability - the opposite of what you want. Quiet the mind by relaxing it, not by forcing it. The link will explain how.

After a meditation session, when you are feeling calm and peaceful from meditating, watch what happens as the effects of meditation wear off as you go about your life as your mind becomes turbulent again. Then, after the next time you meditate, again notice what happens as the effects wear off ... Keep doing that. Notice what makes your mind become turbulent. Try to notice that behind every unpleasant emotion: anger, jealousy etc, there is the thought, "I want this" or "I don't like that". Behind every unpleasant emotion there is an "I". If you stop thinking about yourself many unpleasant emotions will evaporate. Reminding yourself, "Stop thinking about yourself" when you notice an unpleasant emotion, can be helpful. But be relaxed not repressive. By observing the transition from the relaxed quiet state after meditation to the ordinary turbulent mind as the effects of meditation wear off, you get insight.

But it takes a long time and is a lot of work. You can make a lot of progress meditating once or twice a day, but unless you go on frequent meditation retreats, move to a monastery, or live like a monk, the odds of attaining perfection are low.

For the average person, it's fine to think of meditation as technique to help return to a calm and relaxed state if the mind becomes turbulent. After many years of daily meditation, noticing what happens as the mind becomes turbulent, as the ego arises, you start to get insight and you see the ego is an illusion, and progress accelerates.

http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2017/01/compassion.html
People think of self as different things, the body, the brain, the mind... Self is just a word. It means what people think it means. It is an opinion. When you notice how many unpleasant emotions disappear when you stop thinking of yourself, you realize that self is an opinion, an option, an illusion. Noticing how unpleasant emotions disappear provides positive reinforcement that can help condition you to dispense with the idea of self.​
 
When you develop non attachment, you stop disliking things. Some people are surprised when they realize that includes things that are called "evil". They start to feel compassion (love) for their "enemies". Some people might not want to go that far and that's okay. There is no rush, in my opinion.

People sometimes get caught in a trap where they want to develop perfect equanimity. They feel peaceful and calm after meditating and want to be that way all the time. But until they perfect their equanimity they sometimes lose it. When something disturbs them, they feel like a failure which disturbs their equanimity even further. So you will develop perfect equanimity faster if you don't hold yourself to very high standards. You can be quite advanced and still lose your equanimity sometimes, don't think it means you are not making progress. Try not to get upset because you are upset, it creates a negative feedback loop that has the opposite effect of meditation.

Also, when you stop disliking "evil":..
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2017/01/compassion.html
That doesn't mean you should indulge in uncompassionate actions or ignore uncompassionate actions by others. It means you can act out of clear sighted wisdom and compassion unpolluted by anger. And it doesn't mean you don't feel compassion, it means you feel compassion for everyone not just some people.​
 
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