Little Baron
Thanks WhiteRaven .. just checked it out on Google. Will take a look for that when I have some money to spend 
LB
LB
Best time to Meditate
Little Baron
Just found this poem by a contemporary Buddhist poet.
To Meditate
by Thich Nhat Hahn.
To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself,
that the sun of awareness is shining in you,
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace.
A biography of the poet can be found here
http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/buddhist/thich_nhat__hahn/
LB
To Meditate
by Thich Nhat Hahn.
To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself,
that the sun of awareness is shining in you,
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace.
A biography of the poet can be found here
http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/buddhist/thich_nhat__hahn/
LB
TheOld
Best times to meditate is at 4:00-5:00 am after putting little cold watter on your neck, heads, knees and elbo.
if you go asleep when meditating it's cause this is a too much passive meditation for you, i suggest you try to meditate on some music (yes drums are excellent) or on some pictures like tarot cards
you just sit on a confortable position and look at the cards observing the pictures that can passs in your mind whitout attaching to them.
Don't fight on recurrent thinking or pictures just accept them, if they are comming back it's only cause the cleaning haven't been completly done and there's other assocication that need to be done.
give you some fixed times to meditate so you'll know when it will be done and will not go in some dreaming states (30-40 min is good)
the idea of meditation is to quiet to mind son don't excpect it to be quiet at start cause it's what you have to learn!!!
Oh and make this process a learning and growing one, let it evolve (maybe the morning is not good for you now but will be in the future).
Love, Light & Power
Omeada
if you go asleep when meditating it's cause this is a too much passive meditation for you, i suggest you try to meditate on some music (yes drums are excellent) or on some pictures like tarot cards
you just sit on a confortable position and look at the cards observing the pictures that can passs in your mind whitout attaching to them.
Don't fight on recurrent thinking or pictures just accept them, if they are comming back it's only cause the cleaning haven't been completly done and there's other assocication that need to be done.
give you some fixed times to meditate so you'll know when it will be done and will not go in some dreaming states (30-40 min is good)
the idea of meditation is to quiet to mind son don't excpect it to be quiet at start cause it's what you have to learn!!!
Oh and make this process a learning and growing one, let it evolve (maybe the morning is not good for you now but will be in the future).
Love, Light & Power
Omeada
Sophie-David
Just After Breakfast
Hi LittleBuddha
You may have already read my thread CM: Twenty Minutes Towards Enlightenment so I will try not to repeat it here. I do suspect it is important to find the type of meditation which works well for you - as discussed in my thread, meditation can be categorized as concentrative, awareness or surrender. It is clear that the surrender method works best for me.
As a new meditator, I am practicing twenty minutes each morning. I wanted to do it in the morning since I would like the beneficial effects to last during my wakeful life. I found that although at the recent Wisdom School we practiced before breakfast, we had a lot more time available to us. At home now, I find that if I try to do meditation immediately after waking up and having a shower then my mind is very full and wanting to express itself. So for me it is better to have breakfast while logged on to ATF, then do my twenty minute session just before my half-hour walk to work. Speaking of which, its time for my session...
Cheers - David
Hi LittleBuddha
You may have already read my thread CM: Twenty Minutes Towards Enlightenment so I will try not to repeat it here. I do suspect it is important to find the type of meditation which works well for you - as discussed in my thread, meditation can be categorized as concentrative, awareness or surrender. It is clear that the surrender method works best for me.
As a new meditator, I am practicing twenty minutes each morning. I wanted to do it in the morning since I would like the beneficial effects to last during my wakeful life. I found that although at the recent Wisdom School we practiced before breakfast, we had a lot more time available to us. At home now, I find that if I try to do meditation immediately after waking up and having a shower then my mind is very full and wanting to express itself. So for me it is better to have breakfast while logged on to ATF, then do my twenty minute session just before my half-hour walk to work. Speaking of which, its time for my session...
Cheers - David
Little Baron
Thanks David and TheOld.
I hadn't seen the linked thread so I will read through it.
I think that the morning would be best for me, especially because there is nobody else around. I think it would also be good to centre my mind for what happens during the rest of the day.
LB
By the way, TheOld, I love your new avatar .. very striking.
I hadn't seen the linked thread so I will read through it.
I think that the morning would be best for me, especially because there is nobody else around. I think it would also be good to centre my mind for what happens during the rest of the day.
LB
By the way, TheOld, I love your new avatar .. very striking.
Imagemaker
This is like getting a 50 min session in if you can smoothly get up and head out the door without too much intervening activity. Just maintain focus (on body sensations or a mantra) as you walk.
Except that you have to go to work (such an intrusion
), it's super to walk 30 minutes and then sit. The walk really clears the mind, balances energy in the body, and you can immediately get into focus when you sit.One of my teachers used to say, "the best meditation method is the one that you DO." A "successful" session is one where you stayed the whole time, no matter what feelings and thoughts and body sensations arose.
Sophie-David
Meditation & Walking
When we did meditational walking at the Wisdom School we were in a completely safe place.
Yes, I have thought about extending the meditation into the walk and may do so. I am a bit concerned about doing so at the moment because the Centering Meditation style is so unfocused (no mantra, no body awareness) and I am not sure I would be safe walking - I might be a bit too dreamy and get into a traffic accident, bear encounter or some such... inconvenience.Imagemaker said:
When we did meditational walking at the Wisdom School we were in a completely safe place.Yes, walking before the meditation makes a lot of sense to me and theoretically I could do this following my walk home after work. But this seems to be prime time for people interactions and running my "part time" business, so I don't think its workable for me at the moment.Imagemaker said:Except that you have to go to work (such an intrusion
Absolutely! That's exactly what my teacher was saying also.Imagemaker said:
gareth.
Keep silent...
By finding a silent place until you acquire more skill. Then if you have no Mantra to pray use another important Word or image but a voice in the head is easier to start. Then when thoughts intrude Embrace them as it is perfectly normal that this happens. Dont feel you have to reject them immediately but let them come in. They will not stay long if you are peaceful in the first place. If they stay they stay for a reason and stop meditating. Do something else and go back to your state of relaxation when you are ready. Remember that Meditation is an Acceptance of Life, your feelings,and most important yourself.
By finding a silent place until you acquire more skill. Then if you have no Mantra to pray use another important Word or image but a voice in the head is easier to start. Then when thoughts intrude Embrace them as it is perfectly normal that this happens. Dont feel you have to reject them immediately but let them come in. They will not stay long if you are peaceful in the first place. If they stay they stay for a reason and stop meditating. Do something else and go back to your state of relaxation when you are ready. Remember that Meditation is an Acceptance of Life, your feelings,and most important yourself.
Little Baron
Thanks Gareth.
A stupid question, I imagine, but can you meditate amongst a lot of noise, once you have been doing it for a while. I ask this because at the end of my garden, there is a small arch covered in ivy. Through the arch is a small patio, surrounded by large bushes. A very, very large tree stands there and it's evergreen branches cover the whole garden. It is a succluded spot but behind the garden is a main road. I often feel very 'at peace' in this space, even if it is not so peaceful with the main road running along-side it. It is pretty much covered so that you can not be seen there .. it is just the fact that cars do pass almost constantly. I was wondering if when meditating, maybe the continuous noise of what was going on around may be easier to zone out of than the interuptions I get when I am in a silent environment. I am very much the same with sleep. I can sleep with traffic passing my window consistantly, but the occasional chatter of a tap dripping will drive me mad and keep me awake for hours.
What do you think? I might actually try it tomorrow. There is a bench in the space and a small wooden table. Also, the running water from the pond makes the experience quite tranquil. It is quite far away from the house, as the garden is relatively long, which I quite like - it isn't interfered with by telephone calls, the doorbell or family members/neighbours that are also home. I am really attracted to this spot and have been interested in doing something with it for a long time.
LB
A stupid question, I imagine, but can you meditate amongst a lot of noise, once you have been doing it for a while. I ask this because at the end of my garden, there is a small arch covered in ivy. Through the arch is a small patio, surrounded by large bushes. A very, very large tree stands there and it's evergreen branches cover the whole garden. It is a succluded spot but behind the garden is a main road. I often feel very 'at peace' in this space, even if it is not so peaceful with the main road running along-side it. It is pretty much covered so that you can not be seen there .. it is just the fact that cars do pass almost constantly. I was wondering if when meditating, maybe the continuous noise of what was going on around may be easier to zone out of than the interuptions I get when I am in a silent environment. I am very much the same with sleep. I can sleep with traffic passing my window consistantly, but the occasional chatter of a tap dripping will drive me mad and keep me awake for hours.
What do you think? I might actually try it tomorrow. There is a bench in the space and a small wooden table. Also, the running water from the pond makes the experience quite tranquil. It is quite far away from the house, as the garden is relatively long, which I quite like - it isn't interfered with by telephone calls, the doorbell or family members/neighbours that are also home. I am really attracted to this spot and have been interested in doing something with it for a long time.
LB
gareth.
Just say..
Read your first post and then just replied but read sophie-david"s posts with interest.Lots of good advice here. When you relax you will wander what the problem was!
Read your first post and then just replied but read sophie-david"s posts with interest.Lots of good advice here. When you relax you will wander what the problem was!
