Meditating my Mind!

Danye

Hey hows it going?

Before I start I think I should mention im not a Buddhist, so if this is in the wrong place im sorry for that and im sure the mods could lock it / move it or whatever.

I just have a question about meditation, Since the new year I have been doing some meditation, not for any particular reason as such but I have always heard about the benefits and I thought it cant do no harm.

I take a deep breath and allow my face and kneck to relax when exhaling, and work my way down with each breath, my body feels totally relaxed. My body does feel extremely relaxed and it feels fantastic but my mind doesnt be. It goes wandering thinking of all sorts and in some ways I dont feel completely relaxed because of this. I have read here that when new to this you shouldnt get annoyed but it is hard, so I jam just wondering what you guys do to help with such problems?

Or maybe I am suppose to let my mind wander, and listen to it and heed what my "internal voice" is saying?

Any help guys? Thanks:)

KamikazeKenny81

Hiya!

Im no expert on meditation, but I can recommend a book I found very helpful, Its called Meditation in Plain English. You can buy it online handy enough, or you can find it here in pdf form:

http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/mindfulness_in_plain_english.pdf

Hope you find it helpful

Daftendirekt

Hi Danye.

First I'll point out that I'm not a Buddhist either, but I've been meditating on and off for a while and just started getting back into it. I found a very simple beginners' technique recently, that might be of some help to you.

First, you sit in a comfortable position, keeping your back straight. For me, it works well if I sit cross-legged with my back against a wall. Just find something that works for you, and make sure you can remain in that position for a while.

Now all you do is close your eyes and count your breaths (an inhale and an exhale is one breath). Become completely aware of each breath, and try not to think of the number that comes next. If you start to drift, simply start again. But the important thing is not to get frustrated. Even if you can't get past ten, it doesn't matter; your goal here isn't to count as high as you can, or get into a deep spiritual trance, your goal is to simply sit and count your breaths.

If you find yourself beginning to nod off, I've discovered another little trick that can help. Apparently, in Zazen (I think) the eyes are kept partially open and partially closed, in order to prevent the practitioner from being distracted or falling asleep. This might work for you, but I found it really uncomfortable. Instead, it can help if you put yourself under some small amount of physical exertion while you meditate.

I don't mean you should meditate while standing on your head or anything, but you could try keeping your arms slightly raised, rather than resting them on your lap. It should be just enough to keep you awake and focused, but not enough that you start to feel fatigued. Maybe find a simple mudra that you like, and try that.

Anyway, best of luck!

18AD

I recommend you try all sorts of meditation and find out what results you are after.

If you are looking to clear your mind then I suggest you find a mantra that you can chant. This will keep your mind engaged on one thing as you practice your breathing. In a sense you be distracted by fleeting thoughts. It may seem like a more concrete experience.

Another approach is to just let your mind wander and be content that that is what your mind does. Just be aware of your thoughts as they pass by. Don't try to focus on any one thought and let your mind take its natural course.

Another good one I have found is called The Century Count. In this you are aiming to count to one hundred breaths. If you forget what number you are on or make a mistake, you start from the beginning.

Good luck.
AD

Blackhorse Slim

Be aware of everything around you, be in the present, "now". Your mind should not be elsewhere, allow it to settle into the moment. Focusing on your breathing can help with this. If your mind wanders, bring it back to here, to now.

Visualisation can help too - your mind is a pond, your thoughts are ripples. Allow the ripples to subside, and the pond becomes still.

Asiaprod

Tough question, with many answers. My own experience is that it is natural for your mind to wander to many different things. Thats what the mind does. What I do is imagine that this is the sea. The different areas my mind goes to I view as waves. What I try to do is sink below the waves and just observe them as they pass over me. Do not interact with them. Do not focus on them. Just let them pass over you.:)

pkr_ennis

It's really important not to let your mind wander or to listen to that voice there. I mean, one of the points of meditation is to direct the power of the mind towards a peaceful state. What you would be doing by letting it wander like that is letting your mind get out of control, and the mind can come up with anything and eveything if you allow it to do that, just watch the news.

You should be directing the power of your mind towards peace and it's inate nature which is infinately spacious, joyful and peaceful. There really is only 1 meditation, the 1 that helps you to have contact with your inate nature. There are many practices that sound like meditation and are even called meditation, but frankly they are not even close e.g. look at that 1001 meditations book etc.

So, here goes- From my Master, Sogyal Rinpoche, a Tibetean Buddhist. The mind is like dirty water, when you stir it, it becomes cloudy. On the other hand, if you let the water settle it becomes clear.

This is your goal- to allow your mind to become clear. There you will will find the peace and all that is said above.

In order to achieve this you have to do a meditation called shamatha or peacefully remaining. It's possible to do this without a support, but for the beginning you will need a support. All traditions use the breath as a support.

Here's what you do- Sit up straight! With you back like an arrow. Fix your gaze openly and spaciously, so you're not focusing on anything or looking at anything in particular, and rest your hands in your lap.
Now, when a thought rises in your mind, you are not to grasp onto that thought and go off thinking about whatever the thought was about. You are to let the thought rise, recognise it, and let it dissolve back into your mind. It takes a little getting used to, but with practise it comes easily.

It is said that at first your mind is like a waterfall with thoughts coming all the time and with great power, then slowly as you continue to relax the thoughts come more passively like a river leading down to the sea. And finally your mind becomes quiet and spacious like a wide angled view of the sea.

The Tibeteans are aiming to recognise their own inate nature and they describe it like a sky. They say "May a sky dawn in you" or something like that.

Here's the how to direct the power of your mind. 25% has to be concentrated on the breath. 25% has to be concentrated on watching that you are watching the breath and the other 50% should be 'resting in natural peace'. When you become distracted, simply return your mind to the practice, without beating yourself up about getting distracted. Your mind is supposed to create thoughts, it's one of it's amazing qualities, so it's not like you should be giving out to your mind for doing what it naturally does. You should however just return your mind to the practice and carry on as if nothing had happened. All this takes training obv.

As stated above, when a thought arises, just let it settle back into your mind. There will eventually be gaps between your thoughts, thats where the peace and joy can be found.
It is however important not to conceptualise those thoughts or feelings of peace and the like as that would be thinking. It's just that you have to experience them and not go off thinking about them obv.

Finally, the mind has 2 aspects. Movement and still. Movement is connected to thought and emotions, and the stillness is connected to joy peace etc. We are trying here to awaken the still aspect of our mind, that has always been with us, but is difficult to recognise because of the movement aspect being so dominant.

Good luck and don't get disheartened. This is training and discipline is paramount. The more you do it the better you will become.

C

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KamikazeKenny81 wrote: »

Hiya!

Im no expert on meditation, but I can recommend a book I found very helpful, Its called Meditation in Plain English. You can buy it online handy enough, or you can find it here in pdf form:

http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/mindfulness_in_plain_english.pdf

Hope you find it helpful

Nice, I'm just reading this now. Thank you.

I also just finished Zen Meditation in plain english by John Daishin Buksbazen. It was very useful and is a great introduction with some gems inside. http://www.booksunlimited.ie/Books/Buksbazen-John-Daishin/Zen-Meditation-in-Plain-English/9780861713165.htm

Stephentlig

Hi, I am Catholic Christian, and I understand what you mean, the mind is like a muddy jar thats just been shaken and it takes patience and time for it to settle.

When meditating on the Holy name of Jesus, or reciting ''ma-ra-na-tha'' which is aramaic for ''Come Lord Jesus'' I often find myself going off on a tangent, thinking about the silliest of things like ''would love a cup of tea'' etc etc

but I allow it to come in, understand it for what it is, then I gently allow the Holy Spirit to take me back to my prayer maranatha ...I find that the more we try to control our thoughts, the less power we have over them and it tends to get worse.

just let the thoughts come, and let them go, eventually the muddy jar will settle and you'll find that plenty of practice will bring about a good result.

Pax Christi
Stephen<3

Asiaprod

Stephentlig wrote: »

Hi, I am Catholic Christian, and I understand what you mean, the mind is like a muddy jar thats just been shaken and it takes patience and time for it to settle.

You are very welcome here, it is nice to hear a different variation/perspective on meditation.
Thanks
Asia

pkr_ennis

Stephentlig wrote: »

I find that the more we try to control our thoughts, the less power we have over them

Totally. . . as stated above, thoughts are a natural occurrence of the mind, so they will never stop. It's just important to find the still element of our mind and get more and more used to recognizing it, so it becomes the norm as opposed to this whirling cloud of thoughts and emotions that many of us take as 'me'.
Do you aim to concentrate part of your mind on the stillness?