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A Simple Guide to Meditation

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41–46 of 46 posts

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#41
post #7

Meditation is one of those things that people think they're talking about the same thing when actually they're not. It's not just one thing - different religions and traditions have completely different approaches. Sure, there are some key concepts common to all like "awareness" and "mindfulness" - but awareness and mindfulness of what? Christians might "meditate" on a passage in the Bible. Theravada Buddhists have t…

True - meditation means different things to different people. It's obvious the author is referring to the "mindfulness" version though and is trying to do so in simple-as-possible guide form so as not to distract with all the depth and nuance you allude to. I think most people get that there are many different types of meditation. I appreciate the article's simplicity because when I was a once a beginner all I seemed to be able to find was less than simple school-specific (Zen, Shambala, etc) instruction. The problem with the school-specific teachings, IMHO, is that they are all mindfullness-oriented, yet each adds their own special ritual and ceremony which as a beginner you mistake as being essential. At least for me, I've converged on an intentionally Occam's razor style approach aimed at stripping the non-essential. The coolest thing about Bhudda's story to me is he just sort of figured it all out for himself and said each of us should do the same. I've figured out for myself, for example, that it is not necessary at all to sit cross-legged. It makes no difference for me yet standard teachings always strongly encourage it to the point that you feel like you are "doing it wrong" if you don't. Teachers will even say, "if you can't sit cross-legged it's ok..." but when everybody in the group is doing otherwise, the overwhelming signal is it is actually not ok.

I guess one thing I'm saying is the kind of folks drawn to try meditation are often the same kind of folks who will willingly dive down rabbit holes investigating the differences between the schools and entertaining themselves with koans, etc. all the while distracting themselves from actually getting started with the meditation itself. Can confirm; was one of these people. That's why I'd caution against trying to raise awareness of all this complexity to the beginners this guide is intended for.

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#42
post #9

For those who are interested in advanced meditation and pushing the limits, I can recommend book "Focused and Fearless". Covers very powerful techniques. I went from unable to sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour of effortless deep meditation within a week. YMMV.

Sadly, I never made it to advanced meditation. 10 minutes in and I fall asleep. Used to do that in the shower right after I got home from sports/training. Meditate for 10 minutes under a very light stream of water. The results from doing that for nearly 6 years serves me well every single day

Sometimes 10 minutes is all you need. I feel like years of heavy partying wrecked my memory and I've been meditating for about 8 months and I can feel it returning to what it once was.

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#43
I found a helpful primer to meditation and associated benefits in a good book by Dan Harris - "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works"

Mainly he decouples the practice from the spiritual part of it. so you can go in without expecting a monk to come out the other side.

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#44

Here's my issue with meditation. There's no guide to what progress should look like. As in, everything I read says you shouldn't have any expectations and to just do it and there's a lot of benefit in it. I get that, I've been doing it for over a year now regularly but how can I know if it has any effects whatsoever? Since I suspect there might be other techniques than focusing on the breath or body scans, I try to f…

In a way meditation can be seen as a form of play. When you were a kid, did you ask yourself at the end of a day: Did I play successfully today? Did I get better at playing? Chances are you did not. Yet you gained experiences from playing which perhaps an activity that allows to measure some sort of progress can't provide.

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#45

Here's a more complete beginners guide: Mindfulness in plain english. I believe its something of a classic. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html Scroll down for the ToC.

I'm currently reading it (kindle edition.) Highly recommended. The style makes it easy to read (I'm not a native english speaker), it's very down to earth in its tone and addresses potential problems as it goes.

Re: A Simple Guide to Meditation

#46
post #7

Meditation is one of those things that people think they're talking about the same thing when actually they're not. It's not just one thing - different religions and traditions have completely different approaches. Sure, there are some key concepts common to all like "awareness" and "mindfulness" - but awareness and mindfulness of what? Christians might "meditate" on a passage in the Bible. Theravada Buddhists have t…

True - meditation means different things to different people. It's obvious the author is referring to the "mindfulness" version though and is trying to do so in simple-as-possible guide form so as not to distract with all the depth and nuance you allude to. I think most people get that there are many different types of meditation. I appreciate the article's simplicity because when I was a once a beginner all I seemed…

I can't agree with you enough. Also, looking at all the comments, I'm amazed at the complete lack of discussion of love and compassion. Regardless of your personal beliefs, if you're not including either, you're doing it wrong.

Oh, and nothing is as perfect as you believe it to be.

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