Adventures in Meditating......

by freedomloverr 56 Replies latest jw experiences

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Okkk

  thought I would share something you'd appreciate:

  The first time I ever meditated was before the Watchtower came out with an article against yoga.

  I was using a yoga tape.

  Well, I was laying on the floor of our mobile home. Doing the breathing thing, completely relaxed and the wildest thing happened.

  It was like I was just floating in space. I loved it, but fear set in and bam I brought myself back and figured teh devil was gettin' ta me.

  As for the breathing and then feeling like you're drowning....YES I totally get that. It scared me the first few times and it's still hard for me to ride through it.

  All I can say is girl you are on the track to either astrally travelling to Paris or some serious enlightenment...

  Either way it's all good
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  Hortensia

  not everyone does well with seated meditation. I could never meditate successfully until I read a book by Robert Leichtman about active meditation. I could understand what he was talking about and was able to put it into practice while doing lymph drainage massage, which is very very slow and requires constant counting. I got so that I could, while massaging, go into a meditative state and match the rhythm of my breathing and my pulse to the massage movements. Long periods of time would go by as if in a second, and I was able to go inside and become very calm and just aware while working. I'm not explaining it very well, but what I mean is that for some people the way into a meditative state is repetitive work that requires close focused attention. If you combine that with breathing exercises, you can really go somewhere.
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  freedomloverr

  POPPERS:
  
  ***Simply watch it come and go. You ARE this witnessing consciousness. This can be quite entertaining as your alertness to the arising of thought sharpens with practice.***
  
  this is what my meditating has grown to. I find that space between time where you can feel the the REAL you divine. thank you for sharing all those meditating ideas.
  
  
  HORTENSIA:
  
  I understand what you are talking about. I read info. about walking meditation and was really intrigued by it. You are right, you don't have to be seated to meditate. I find I can meditate with any practice that requires me to be quiet and have some sort of repetitive motion. washing the dishes, doing an art project, raking leaves, etc.
  
  
  BSofM:
  
  nice experience! ha! I remember being scared to do yoga also when I was a dub. I love being able to do such *demonized* things now and gain so much from such experiences.
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  poppers

  FREEDOMLOVERR - I am glad you have come to this point; all meditations are really exercises to take you there/here. Once that is realized then every instance, every circumstance becomes meditation. Some have called this "true meditation" - when everything is allowed to be as it is and there is the realization/knowing that you, the real you, is what it all happens within. "Thoughts of me", the egoic sense, is just another temporary phenomenon which arises and fades away again when there is no longer energy invested in believing that those "thoughts of me" are the real you. The sense of presence, consciousness itself (the real you) is always here even in the absence of the mentally created egoic entity. As you get more familiar with the real you there will still remain sensing the presence of consciousness even when the egoic identity returns.
  
  HORTENSIA - yes, that is meditation. Repetitive activities or chores which don't require thought to perform are ideal situations to simply "get lost" within. In other words, when you are so engaged in the activity that thoughts of "me" subside and attention is simply absorbed by the activity itself, that is meditation. Good for you in discovering this. In Zen they describe this practice like this: "When I eat I eat, when I drink I drink". In other words, whatever is done, then just do that; everything else is unnecessary (the thinking about it). So, this "meditation" can be realized in all circumstances as well. Simply allow attention to rest on what is actual and real in the immediacy of the moment. When you realize that you've been caught up in THOUGHTS that have arisen just return to the raw experience of what is flowing through the senses. In time, the "me" sense won't overshadow the underlying consciousness and the silence and stillness that characterizes it. This is the state of freedom - in the natural state of awareness you are freedom itself. We are always free; it is mind which draws one away from this freedom, but that freedom is here now always because THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE.
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  quietlyleaving

  Yesterday my hubby and I sat under an old oak tree and watched the sun setting - we both lapsed into a quiet meditative state. A couple of birds joined us and sat very still gazing at the sun, a slight wind ruffled the leaves.

  It was an amazing experience - time seemed to stand still - we could have been 100 yrs in the past or in the future. It felt sacred and divine, the earth a mother and the sun a father. I felt overwhelmingly grateful for such gifts. Going back this evening.
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  poppers

  From QUIETLYLEAVING: "... time seemed to stand still"
  
  That's right, time stands still because time is a psychological construct. When the "me" is nowhere to be found neither is time. Just a word to you about returning to the same place - have no expectations for something similar to happen. Those expectations are from the mentally created "me", so if expectations are present then so is time. Just relax totally in the presence of where you are at, no matter 'where' that is.
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  freedomloverr

  *****Yesterday my hubby and I sat under an old oak tree and watched the sun setting - we both lapsed into a quiet meditative state. A couple of birds joined us and sat very still gazing at the sun, a slight wind ruffled the leaves.
  
  It was an amazing experience - time seemed to stand still - we could have been 100 yrs in the past or in the future. It felt sacred and divine, the earth a mother and the sun a father. I felt overwhelmingly grateful for such gifts. Going back this evening****
  
  
  nice! ;)
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  changeling

  I want to thank all of you for this enlightening thread. I have been wanting to try meditation. I sometimes do pilates and yoga, but not as frequently as I should. As a life long JW the very concept of meditaion is foreign and scary. We have been conditioned to mistrust our own mind and it's inner workings. We have had "the fear put in us" that we will open up our minds to evil spirits.

  I've reached a point in my "recovery" that I no longer have fear of the "spirit world". I don't even know that it exits. I want to be truly free and truly at peace and I will not allow anyone to take this from me.

  I only hope I can quiet my mind enough to experience what some of you have described. I am fidgety by nature and my head is really noisy. I'll let ya'll know where this takes me...
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  Missanna

  my hubby bought me a book yesterday called "Zen and the Art of Happiness" by Chris Prentiss when i got home from work i started reading and i couldn't put it down. i read the whole thing and i have to say i am much MUCH more interested in meditating now. i tried it last night sitting still with my back straight and focusing on my breathing but i can't seem to keep my mind off other things. and the book said if you find that you mind is wandering gently bring it back to your breathing. i can't seem to do it though and my back started to hurt a little so i couldn't stay focused. but i am definately going to continue to try. that book kind of gave me this peace that i didn't have before. it was strange. It was an entirely different way to look at life. any suggestions for a beginner?
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  poppers

  From Missanna: "any suggestions for a beginner?"
  
  Give yourself some time; afterall, you have spent almost your entire waking life absorbed in the thinking process. It takes practice to see past the thoughts that seem so everpresent and have attention remain with the breath. Be nonjudgmental about what you interpret as your failure. Don't go overboard in the amount of time you spend formally meditating; start with 10 to 15 minutes if 20 minutes seems too difficult, and don't worry too much about maintaining some sort of uncomfortable posture - find a comfortable position, that's enough. With practice you'll find it easier to spend more time in your meditation posture. What's most important is the realization that you are not your thoughts but the witnessing consciousness in which those thoughts arise. Understanding this is one thing but realizing it through direct experience is another. Realization comes with regular practice for most people. Once realization takes hold then identification with the egoic identity begins to dissolve and how life is experienced will never be the same as it was before. Good luck, and feel free to pm me if you have specific questions you want addressed.... poppers