Meditation

Ask questions, share tips and experiences. This is the best tutorial I've come across for zanzen meditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL2XUTeoUsM (turn on subtitles for English translation).

Sorry, zazen not zanzen.

What's the best meditation practice to follow? Vipasana? Shikantaza? How do you view the anatta paradox? How can one "not be" if the "not be" itself is already to 'be' a thing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta

I love mixing meditation with evocation. I began my practice with the goal of emptying my mind. Now I've learned a couple of other techniques using visualization. It's pretty rad, also if you like psychedelics my waifu says that the interaction between meditation / visualization / substances can be pretty powerful.

>>847 I like following my own path. I've had a couple of teachers, but consciousness comes from within. There is much to be learned alone, many lessons that are meant only for you.

>>873 So, do you think that your thoughts align with the "Wittgensteinian fideism" or fideism in general? >(2) that religious concepts and discourse are essentially self-referential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideism#Wittgenstein_and_fideism That's interesting. I'm personally atheist-agnostic, but I really like Buddhism. What's the reasoning behind not using some well known meditation practice? You don't actually believe that other people achieved Samadhi/Nirvana? Is your world view animistic then? Just trying to understand...

I don't know a lot about meditation practices, but meditating at the frequency of the heart chakra (approx. 350-600Hz) daily has eliminated my need for my psych medication. I typically spend 20-40 minutes to a session. I empty my mind, then stop thinking and begin feeling. The words to describe exactly how it is I meditate escape me, though I encourage all to find a way that works for them.

This is my form of meditation: I like to walk. I walk around my town. I sit down, anywhere, sometimes with homeless, sometimes with strangers, sometimes with friends. I'm inspired by Joyce, about how all his works are about the love he feels for Dublin. Although this may sound pretentious, I love my city too, so I follow suit. When I write, I write about my city. I write about people I know, people I see, the buildings, I write about the empty swathes of farmland miles beyond the city limits. I write about drug abuse, friends who have been lost to drugs, and I write about destitution too, I write about the weather; rain, sun, sleet, hail, the sporadic nature of it all... It's cathartic, it really helps me dump all these feelings out of me. I mediate too, but truly art and my city are my most important venues for dumping my brain. I feel like catharsis is a higher state of mind than one spent sitting, I understand the importance of meditation, it's why I do it nightly, but the euphoric dream-like feeling of finishing a lengthy poem after hours of wandering around is truly one the highest feelings that I can achieve. People ask me to write for them too, and I do, I enjoy it, but I know they don't understand the whole of my writing, but I appreciate that they enjoy it, nevertheless.

Im pretty much ignorant in this topic. I havent read much about meditation or buddhist stuff. I just sit down or lay back, with my back straight, and breathe deeply. Really deep, as imitating a sleeping person. I try to control (slow down) my heart beating, and synchronize it with the breathing. Of course i never can consciously control it, but after a while it slows down a bit. I just breathe and breathe, and often im distracted or lost in thoughts, and i forget about the breathing: it becomes automatic again. So i come back to the deep and conscious breathing. Thoughts seems to be purified or cleansed with this, becoming less heavy and more manageable.

>>877 >(2) that religious concepts and discourse are essentially self-referential In a way I guess I do. Religion is a way of speaking to the divine, for me. The divine being the truth beyond the veil. >What's the reasoning behind not using some well known meditation practice? I practice chaos. What works I absorb, what doesn't I release. What i believe is mine, and mine is my belief. >You don't actually believe that other people achieved Samadhi/Nirvana? I'm pretty certain that a divine connection is possible. I've had some experiences that make me believe that it can be done. >Is your world view animistic then? ??

>>877 Also what >>883 says is key. One's own practice can be a teacher that takes you to unseen heights, but this takes vision and observation.

>>932 Walking is an excellent form of meditation. When my waifu trips she loves to walk, as it turns the psychic trip into a physical one.

>>1063 This technique is great. When I've practiced this often I begin to see a real change in my behaviour. Thanks for sharing.

>>847 I don't think there is a ''best'' way to meditate, however, loving kindness meditation has been shown to have an effect on your mind. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matthieu-ricard-meet-mr-happy-436652.html Check his wiki page for more resources. I also found the following books has a clearer outlook on meditation than others. Siddhartha's Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment Book by James Kingsland The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works Book by Shinzen Young The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science Book by Jeremy Graves and Matthew Immergut all can be found fro free.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GSeWdjyr1c

>>1540 What did you get out of those books? I'm sure that the science of meditation is fascinating, but I'm interested in how that knowledge shaped your practice.

What should you practice during meditation? Removing spirituality.

anybody into suizen here? or just standard meditation. I made few shakuhachi from PCV pipes and play them frequently, but i am also growing a bamboo, to make "wood" one.

>>1649 How do you do suizen? I don't think there is such a thing as 'standard meditation'. Different cultures have different conceptions of meditation. I'd say that the phrase standard meditation is like saying standard art. What it is, at its core (for me, anyways) is the exploration of one's mind and its limits. You can try to turn it off, you can try to visualize gods, you can try mantras, you can program yourself, you can de-program yourself... etc.. so many possibilities.

>>1819 i sit down with straight back and start playing, improvising rather, i don't think about what i will play i just do. It's kinda like drumming with frogs, but better, cause you can feel when things don't go in right direction. I think it's kinda hard actually to play like you aren't there especially, because improvisation isn't "build" on that principle by standard i meant what most people link to meditation(it's kinda gross oversimplification).

>>1822 Cool. What you do sounds really cool. Music is one of the favourite tools of some people. I think it is similar to mantras (which are sounds you repeat without change). Mantra means tool of the mind. Which is very accurate. When I meditate my tool is more often than not my breathing. You know that your mind WILL drift, but if you keep returning to your breath then you can stay here, even if your mind doesn't want to.

>>1833 drumming is kinda like that too, you HAVE to keep your breathing calm and slow, because otherwise it will seem like what you do is actually difficult(and drumming must look effortless). It isn't like mantra, unless it is, depends on a person. Take me and my grandpa for example. He were playing mantra-style, in theory he was repeating his one riddim, but he changed intonation, he changed accents, he changed stuff without moving a single note. I am different(guess because i am young), i don't have the same kind of discipline as him. For me drumming is kinda like this: outside you seem like someone almost crazy, but inside you are still like water. Dunno if it makes any sense to you.

>>1838 Yes, it makes sense although I have never experienced it. I'm glad that you have that kind of connection with your grandfather. I've never had this, but I have other things.

>>1840 oh no, he's dead, never meet him. He taught my father and my uncle, and by observing them i was able to understand how he played. Or rather by listening to my father i am able to understand how he didn't play, you see, my father doesn't care about riddim, keeping time nor metre, he plays as he feels i think. I might be the only person able to connect with him on some personal level and kinda "see into the future" to anticipate what he'll play(don't get me wrong, he can play normally, but he has no interest in doing so).

>>1841 Oh I see. Your father sounds like the kind of musician I like. I feel like meditation can be like this too. Some people focus too much on the form and forget the function. Music, like meditation is a way to connect with oneself and with the all. It is a way to start the flow.