So then, here's a question...about "meditation"

by onacruse 42 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Siddhashunyata

  By observing your thoughts and letting them go , not following them, merely noting them as they arise, and doing so without judgement (bad thought, good thought etc) you will discover the wild nature of your minds movement and by observing this movement (without attaching to it) you will ,with practice ,find that your real, original, mind is unmoving, peaceful and intelligent. The WTBTS knows nothing about this because they advocate "conditioning" of the mind through thought.

  Thought conditions perception. In Jehovah's Witnesses, a loving person is not understood if that person does not attend meetings, field service, etc. Jehovah's Witnesses minds are conditioned by thought. Taking the situation to its extreme, all the World is conditioned by thought. So if you can get free of your conditioning , you really will be free, free to see the world as it is and to know yourself as you really are. This is why some advocate the idea that Jesus was a Buddhist and that he was taught at Alexandria as a boy.( There is evidence that Buddhist missionaries existed there when Mary and Joseph went down into Egypt). It is truth that sets you free. Not an idea, not dogma. Truth, the active perception of what is, free of conditioning.
• 

  Satanus

  Craig

  There are many different types of meditations, active, passive, visualisation focussing on an object like an acorn, focusing on a shakra, etc, etc. The one i did for a while was counting outbreaths up to 5, over and over for about 15 minutes. Also focusing on the solar plexis, one of the shakras.

  Thoughts come at you, the ordinary every day thoughts that you don't usually notice. The mind manufactures these. Let them go where they may, continue the focus. Eventually, you can detatch from thoughts and find a calm, serene place. You might get images or visions as well from the subconscious.

  I had a few. In one, i saw my body as almost totally empty, save for a bit of water in the bottom. Other times, i was in a place like the control room of a ship. Anyways, the thing to remember, is that whatever you get, it's mostly yours, or stuff that you have excepted from others, and consider to be your own. If you get scarey stuff, you can shut down, or you can query it; what is it, how long has it been, what does it want, etc?

  I only meditate occasionally now, and i use weed to do it. It's like nitrous oxide. It gets you there in a hurry. But you have to learn to drive first.

  S
• 

  bikerchic

  I've used Guided Imagery and it is similar to Meditation at least in the relaxing your body and feeling energized afterward parts. I have only tried Meditation and it's a technique that requires a lot of practice to really get the most benefit from it. It's all great stuff and can be a powerful tool especially for stress and or pain management as Blondie alluded to.

  I have tried to explain some of this to Craig and I finally did what any good wifey would do....I googled it!

  I checked out these sites of reference and they look really good and should answer a lot of your questions honey, and I'm up for practicing it with you in fact I have some tapes which could help you get the idea of what's involved.

  Okay here are the sites you can check out, happy reading!

  http://home.att.net/~meditation/MeditationHandbook.html

  http://www.meditationsociety.com/what.html

  http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/meditation/meditation-techniques.asp

  http://1stholistic.com/Meditation/hol_meditation.htm

  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_07.htm

  http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/meditation/meditationtechniques.html

  http://www.higherawareness.com/meditation-techniques.shtml

  Tell me what it's like: how do you "feel" when you meditate. Is it like a self-hypnotic synthesis of mind and body?

  I can't see myself "going there" unless I have some reasonable anticipation of "where" I'm going is going to mean something to me.

  Craig (of the "exploring" class)

  Honey you won't go anywhere, yet you will discover much without leaving your comfy sofa. It will mean something to you, but only if you actually do it and allow the process to take you there. LOL

  Oh and as a side point I learned Guided Imagery from a sister? in my Congergation.....oh my! Best thing I ever learned from a sister?!

  Kate (OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM)
• 

  Odrade

  LOL! I'm trying to picture Craig doing TaiJi, but my mind just won't go there. haha.

  You might try just doing Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing (DDB) to start. It's good for what ails ya, calming, good for digestion, good for lymph fluid flow (one of the biggest factors in immune defense,) and think of all that bad smoky air lingering in the bottom of your lungs you can get rid of.

  If you give it a try, you may find that you decide on your own which forms of meditation (if any) appeal to you.

  BTW, as many changes as I've gotten into in the last couple of years, I don't do any meditation. The only forms that come close are Dao-Yin--a japanese self-care sequence, a little bit of TaiJi--kind of a moving meditation, and most often DDB.

  Let me know if your curious about it, I'll tell ya how. It's really easy.

  O
• 

  xenawarrior

  This may sound odd but I've realized that I may have been "meditating" for a long time through my beadwork. When I work on a piece, I'm placing one bead at a time and while in that process my mind is in a state of total relaxation and I'm also calm and centered. It's like my mind calmly processes through many things without any one of them creating any need to act or respond. I don't know if that makes any sense or if it is "actually" meditation or not. Any ideas?

  Anyone who has seen my work will understand the placing one bead at a time. People look at it and say that they'd never have the patience for it but I find that working on it creates patience. Weird.

  XW
• 

  Glenmore

  Hey Craig, I had a soul-therapist help me with my psychological problems from leaving the Collective in 1999. He was actually an Adventist deprogrammer. He had to retire, bad ticker, genetic as I recall. He was largely Jungian with heavy native American overtones. It scared me at first. His developing treatment he called "nature centered active imagination" I have some books related to it. The Way of the Shaman being one I reread. We should have a BBQ over here in Estacada before summer's out, you can look at them then and I can tell you more about it. I met my spirit guide and nope I am not joking. It was very helpful. But I couldn't handle some of it and I backed out. It was my first year "out", I was swaying in many directions and still had implants that reacted the jw way. I am better now so I think I could handle the trip again. Alternatively really really good weed and some reliable 'shrooms will do wonders. Glen
• 

  Odrade

  sounds like it to me XW.

  Lots of people have this idea that meditation has to be some kind of transcendental, eastern, new age thing. But personally, I think that anything that allows you to get to that calm peaceful state of just being would be what "meditation" is about. Some people get there through TM, yoga, QiGong, or whatever, and others make their own process. More power to ya!

  O
• 

  Odrade

  Bwahahaha! Glen you are in rare form tonight!!!

  BBQ! Can I come???

  O
• 

  bikerchic

  xenawarrior:

  I don't know if that makes any sense or if it is "actually" meditation or not. Any ideas?

  I do the same thing while riding my bike, it's called Alpha state although I call it zoning. It's a process I think many of us do while doing a task that is programed into us like driving a car. How many times have you driven the same road over and over again for miles and miles and you get home and after you've walked into your door wonder how the heck you got home already? You've zoned or been in Alpha state.

  Now the good thing to do is when you realize you are about to do such a repetitive task is train your mind to focus on a particular problem you've needed to solve, usually you can solve it or at least make peace with not being able to solve it and get on with your life.

  Hope that helps, but I don't think you were actually Meditating. Look over one of those sites I listed and see if you think otherwise. I can't actually tell as it's your experience not mine.

  Kate

  Edited to add:

  I found this explaination on the 'net of alpha-state:

  Basically what you need to learn is to enter the so called "alpha-state" where your subconscious mind is susceptible to suggestions. With this method you won't need to learn anything. Instead this method uses the fact that we all naturally pass through this state a few times every day.

  Yeah what I said, well sorta.
• 

  Robdar

  What do you mean?

  Craig,

  Like Satanus said, there are many types of meditation.

  If I am using a meditation to strengthen a chockra, or energy center, I may use a mantra. For example: If I wish to feel love, connection and peace, I may choose to use a mantra to help me along and stay focus. A good mantra for that is AUM or OM (there is a different effect brought about by different pronunciation).

  I say the mantra-- with emphasis on the mmmm sound and feel my lips, nose jaw, throat and chest start to vibrate. I continue the mmmm sound and and allow it to reverberate in my chest area. It stimulates my heart (sort of a jump start) into feeling the way that I wish it to feel.

  AUM, according to some disciplines, should be pronounced A-U-M (short vowels and extended M) with each letter pronounced. Sometimes I shorten it and pronounce it A-M (short vowel pronunciation) One thing that most agree on, it is not pronounced OM (long vowel pronunciation) because it would not cause the proper vibration. Having tried all three, I must agree.

  I hope that I haven't confused you more. If you wish me to explain further, I will attempt to do so.