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

by onacruse 42 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  MegaDude

  Craig,

  I have practiced meditation many times. I came to it when I was going through my protracted divorce and I found it helpful in stimulating a sense of peace and relaxation.

  I never used a mantra but only focused on my breath as it went in and out.

  My experiences were frustration at first. Not easy to quiet a racing mind when you've been living in a frantic state for a long time. But over time I got better and more relaxed. Then I noticed that the core things that were negatively affecting me would come to mind during a meditation session. I found this enlightening because I had been living at such a fast pace that I was completely unaware of these things.

  If you want to try meditation in its most basic form, I recommend getting a guided cd or tape to get you started. My first one was "The Art of Meditation" and it's perfect for the beginner/newby.
• 

  Satanus

  Meditation is hard for western white people, because we live so much by and through the mind. The wt way of always keeping the mind occupied/busy, and living all parts of ones life according to principles learned w the mind is a good, but extreme example. So, after making this a life practice, the mind becomes very strong.

  Meditation is a bit like persuading a warrior to disarm. It is very tough to do, especially at first. It's a bit like a waiting game or contest. You keep doing it until the mind lets go for a bit. One short success shows you that you can do it, you can have you mind to drop it's weapons for a while. It will survive, and 'you' will find another world that has been there all along.

  S
• 

  jgnat

  I have kept a few exercises from my eastern-religion-study days. My favorite is to deliberately relax every muscle in my body, starting with my toes. The entire process takes over twenty minutes, as there are many more itsy bitsy muscles tensed than I am consciously aware of.

  Question: If your eyelid is completely relaxed, would it be open or closed?
• 

  patio34

  Craig,

  There was a feature Time magazine last year all about meditation. It showed PET scans of brains in deep meditation. The conclusion was that it--and prayer!--offered great calming and healing benefits for people. Meditation and prayer offer the same effects. The LA Times two years ago had an article that also utilized PET scans on Buddhist monks and said they were the happiest people because of the peace that meditation brought.

  I use meditation all the time: to help me go to sleep ("sleep meditation" lol); when I'm upset; etc.

  Pat
• 

  Glenmore

  I have been on this "course" for about a year. So, Craig, when we have an ApostoCada fest take a look at some of the meditiation exercises, they are very straightforward, interesting etc. Glen

  http://www.wddty.co.uk/thefield/
• 

  Markfromcali

  Most people get into meditation to find a measure of peace, but even if you are really good the effects only last for so long before you have to do it again. So while there is definitely a practical side to what it can do to make life manageable, people have been known to become addicted to the activity of meditation, and this is people who are very good at it. Essentially what has happend is one becomes hooked on a blissful peaceful state, but as I was trying to say before it really is pointing to a peace that is not dependent on particular states of mind.

  The reason JWs have this demon fear over meditation is because they don't understand what it is to go within, in other words real self examination. There is a recognition that it is a threat to the thought based idea of self, and that is enough to stay the hell away from it because the identification with that mental structure wants to preserve itself. You might use the metaphor of water and ice. Imagine if an ice sculpture was to be around water, it is in danger of losing its structure because the ice will melt and turn into water, so it tries to hide in cold places and avoid being melted - even though it is in essence the same thing. It isn't that the liquid state is better, but if there is recognition that water is water regardless of whether it is in a solid or liquid state, then there is no big deal whether it flows away or becomes frozen. So for that matter it's not like you need to avoid being ice, like "keep me in a nice warm beaker so I can stay in this sublime state." But how boring is that if it just sits there? Water can flow, so let it flow. If you wanna sit there then why not just go for the solid state?
• 

  gumby

  The best thing to do, is just ask if you can take advantage of me. If I am so inclined, I'll let you know!

  Robdar.......can I please take advantage of you?

  Gumby
• 

  minimus

  What the hell did Kate do to make you want to meditate???
• 

  gumby

  What the hell did Kate do to make you want to meditate???

  That's what! He gets hypnotic when she' messes' with him and he goes off in another world!

  Gumby
• 

  poppers

  There have been some good responses to your question. I resonate with several based on my own experiences. As a long time meditator (27 years) I got hooked into the process itself - in other words 'I' was a meditator who could achieve a desired state for a period of time. But as Mark pointed out those states fade and the world is still there staring you in the face when they are gone. It wasn't until I questioned the existence of this 'I' did meditation reveal itself to be my natural state of awareness prior to the arising of who I thought I was. Who I thought I was doesn't actually exist - it is just a bundle of concepts that are clung to; in other words, who I thought I was was only thought itself - an ego that was identified with. What you are before that ego arises could be called meditation.
  
  Many so called techniques to arrive at this natural state of simple awareness keep that awareness at bay because the ego structure which is using them remains in place, and it will struggle to remain the center of your experience of the world - it desperately wants to survive. The ego structure becomes frightened and threatened when told that it doesn't really exist, and in most cases will go running in the opposite direction clinging to thoughts, ideas, and concepts because then, at least, it knows it's still there.
  
  Meditation can creep up on you when it is least expected, as some have pointed out - while doing bead work, for example. Or just walking around in nature with eyes wide with the wonder of what's before you without trying to interpret it in any way. It is the antithesis of every mind held position, and that's difficult for a western mind in particular to accept because we seem to identify who and what we are by mental activity. By the way, if this doesn't post in paragraph form will someone please clue me in on how to do that.