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Men who stare at walls

alexselimov.com

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Re: Men who stare at walls

#211

Post by decasteve »

dijksterhuis wrote: post #187
dijksterhuis wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I do it "right" i get the scare quote usage. but still feel like it’s a good time to point out. there’s no right zazen. there’s no wrong zazen. there’s just zazen. sitting down and taking what comes. that’s all we’re doing. sitting down and getting quieter. emphasis on the -er in quieter. 30 minutes of “crap” zazen is probably the most rewarding zazen. i just don’t appreciate it at the time. something that hel…

something was bugging me so i’m adding a second comment. i often end up crying during zazen. i’ve done it for a couple of years. i was never really sure why. it was just a thing. i cried for 5 mins after about 20 mins and then just got back on with the last 5 mins. i (eventually) sat with an online group and they talked after sitting once about how zazen and zen aren’t there to deal with mental health issues. that’s…

Your comment is spot on. The support of a teacher and a group are essential to go along with the practice. They are called The Three Jewels for a reason.

Re: Men who stare at walls

#212

Post by HerbManic »

Olshansky wrote: post #137

I hope people see this comment. Meditation is to mental training and focus, as going to the gym is to physical training. Socials killed our attention span. Agents are literally making us context switch even more. Putting aside the whole "I am at piece and one with the world" part of meditation, it is extremely hard. I'm also no expert. When I'm waiting for something to finish (agent, compilation, etc), I've found tha…

One thing I do point out to folks is that meditation comes in many shapes, there is no one size fits all. For some it is silent sitting Zazen style, for others it is walking mediation, or a sort of physical almost martial arts type thing. There is a thousand different style in between that. Do what works for you. If that is staring at walls, neat!

Re: Men who stare at walls

#213

Post by HerbManic »

cfors wrote: post #92

The spirit of this is correct, but a better approach to this is going for a walk with just your thoughts. Yes, that means no phone, no headphones, just you and your brain enjoying a walk. Let your mind wonder and be free.

It depends on who you ask.

Some Zen teachers think that it is impossible to meditate while walking as it keeps the mind moving rather than still. These are the folks that go against any kind of seasoning in food for the same reason. I always thought that was a very restrictive way to box in and needlessly constrain what meditation can be. If it works for you, great but don't sell it as the only path. That is the thing with a lot of folks, to try and overly define 'the only way', the smarter ones know there is a thousand paths to the top of the mountain.

Thích Nhất Hạnh used to swear by walking meditation, others would scoff at that. Each to their own.

'There is a thousand paths to the top of the mountain, the view is the same for all at the peak'

Re: Men who stare at walls

#214

Post by NDlurker »

swah wrote: post #207
NDlurker wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in an old warehouse converted into apartments. The walls are made of yellow brick and they're nice to look at because of the variation in texture/wear/color

Is this fair game? Looking at the details of the texture? Or wall here means "something plain, without characteristics".

Good point

Re: Men who stare at walls

#215

Post by disattention »

hgomersall wrote: post #152

I've recently realised that the biggest problem with smartphones is not that they steal your attention (which is bad enough), but that they steal your disattention I don't know of a better word for it than disattention. Perhaps downtime? But it's not so structured. It's just those moments where you'd previously let your mind wander. Gone forever.

I feel like this is my time to shine

Re: Men who stare at walls

#216

Post by jimbokun »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #10

Is this not a form of meditation? I've never been able to keep a meditation habit, but my understanding is that meditation techniques often feature closing your eyes and focusing on breathing, body parts or some other irrelevant thing, it sounds like staring at a wall would serve the same purpose.

The Three Body Problem has the Wallfacer project, named after a form of Buddhist meditation.

Re: Men who stare at walls

#217

Post by SeriousM »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #185
hgomersall wrote: post #152

I've recently realised that the biggest problem with smartphones is not that they steal your attention (which is bad enough), but that they steal your disattention I don't know of a better word for it than disattention. Perhaps downtime? But it's not so structured. It's just those moments where you'd previously let your mind wander. Gone forever.

When I go on vacation on cruise ships I never pay for internet and my phone is only used for tracking time and photos. Why be on vacation just to doom scroll?

I put my phone in the safe until the vacation is over. And for the mind I do Sudoku at times and collect all my new ideas. It's like a harvest time!

Re: Men who stare at walls

#219

Post by SeriousM »

mlboss wrote: post #126
smeg_it wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was taught basic breathing meditation from a Vietnamese nun; but I'm not an expert. There are so many variations that I don't understand. I don't know much about Zen or it's take on meditation or mindfulness. On meditation, I know when I do it right, but have trouble helping people learn. I have trouble when I most need it (highly stressed), as I have the most trouble taking the time to relax without feeling too gu…

The meditation I practice is based on non-duality techniques. Mind needs a problem to solve so ask the question "Where am I ?". Anything that you can see both physically and mentally is not you. You are not the table, the chair, your hands, your legs, your face, your sensations, your feeling, your thoughts, your emotions. Neti-Neti (not this, not this). You are something beyond all this. Try find it. By going through…

For my clients I put it that way: The mind is like a search engine, it can find everything. So don't ask "what did I wrong" but instead "how can I progress".

Usually that's an eye opener.

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