Meditation

Just let the chaos come. Think about the things that fly towards your mind. Running away from them won't help. It may take a while but eventually you'll feel like those thoughts are like shooting stars that depart as quickly as they appear and you can focus on the general trajectory of your life with clarity.

>>18298309
That isn't something that I'd considered. I'll definitely try that out. Makes sense to accept what I'm thinking...

Now I'm not sure if this is normal but in the midst of those random thoughts I'll occasionally see terrifying images, such as demons or silent hill-esque monsters. I never think about these things when I'm not meditating. Does the subconscious like to fuck with you when you're to suppress it?

>>18298351
It's not umcommon to see shit in the early stages. Just ignore it. Also, ponder about what you wish to gain from meditating, have a clear goal. If your goal trully resonates with your 'self' you'll find yourself on the right path with the right mindset and things would start to fall into place. You need to focus, but not forcefully restrain your consciousness. How 'deep' you can go is based on the understanding you gain along the way, so your best tool is diligence in practice.

Think of your mind as a tall mountain. Let the clouds phase through you and endure, no matter what the thoughts are.

>>18298305
>Is this just a matter of patience and practice, or are there other methods that I should know about?
Sit down for an hour without moving.
Focus (that is don't mind wander) on breath.
Repeat this every day.

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>>18298305
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=52750105515785654252

>>18298305
What you are experiencing is normal, the mind easily wanders. The goal is to catch yourself and bring you back to the present, when you do this it is a success. You shouldn't judge yourself for "failure," there is no failure during meditation, the point is to accept things the way they are without wanting to change them. It takes thousands of times of catching your mind wandering, it's like physical exercise, you are altering the structure of your brain over time (learning.)

You may want to try moving meditation (yoga, stretching.) Also walking meditation while body scanning is great because you can focus on the movements of your muscles which aids concentration. First you'd focus on just the toes of a foot, then the underside, the whole foot, the ankle, the lower leg, the knee etc before going to your other leg and doing the same, concentrating on both legs at once, and so on. Try to find an area with long stretches between stoplights to walk, or a path, and walk a bit slower than usual so you walk with intent and not automatically. You can also try to walk as slow as possible back and forth in a smaller area.

As >>18298309 noted being aware of your thoughts instead of being fully immersed and lost in them is good. "I am thinking right now" etc.

Figured this thread could be used as a meditation general, so I have some questions for anyone willing to answer.

When I get super deep into meditation, I become filled with an overwhelming feeling of immense fear. I feel like I'm hitting an ancient nerve where all fear stems from or something due to the just absolutely gut wrenching feeling. It's kind of hard to describe. Then I tend to lose consciousness for a short amount of time and the first thing I feel when I "wake up" is this intense fear again. During this unconscious time period, it doesn't feel like sleep, it's just completely empty, but in a good way. Is this empty space supposed to be what's described as enlightenment or am I just nuts? I think my biggest concern is what's the deal with the primal fear before and after this mindset?

>>18300743
I don't lose conciousness but I can relate to that dread feeling when I get deeper, it's so primal that I literally jolts me back into reality and I can't seem to get around it

>>18300746
I've only recently been able to go beyond the fear. It used to jolt me back to reality too, so I made a conscious effort to try to get past it. You just have to make sure you realize that the fear is all inside and it's not like some monster is going to come after you out of nowhere.

>>18298305
Look into vipassana meditation.
Your brain is just really eager for stimulus. You'll experience a lot of weird shit (by weird I just mean forgotten memories, songs, voices) in your mind while getting into a deep state. Try to only be aware of the sensation of your breath leaving your nose and hitting your upper lip. Try to only be aware of that sensation. Without guidance, meditation can be tricky. I highly recommend taking a course in vipassana.
Definitely cool to see people approaching meditation. I think it's truly the only way to fix emotional/spiritual/psychological problems that plague you.

>>18300743
You should broaden your scope of understanding.
You aren't NUTS and you aren't experiencing ENLIGHTENMENT.
It sounds like you suffer from some type of phobia or deep emotional scar/fear.
Maybe analysing the fear as an emotion that you experience and not as something that defines you could help.
Fear is just an emotion that happens. It comes and then it passes. Maybe try looking at it that way and find out where its' coming from within you.
Are you falling asleep during meditation? Maybe try to be more mindful of what you are emotionally experiencing.

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>>18298305

Its more efficient to go for a walk outside.

>>18298305
If you get your breathing right meditation is easily done and pretty much a byproduct of good breathing

>>18298454
>sit down for an hour
fuck even half an hour puts me in excruciating pain, should i work my way up or just jump into the deep end?

breath in, and out.
repeat.
try and imagine yourself not so much in a relaxing place; but try and induce a relaxed state of being. this is ultimately the easiest way i meditate and can induce it almost immediately. once mastered you will be able to meditate well and not for long necessarily. i usually do 5-30mins a day of just sitting, breathing, letting everything go and letting all the tension in my body leave.

bump for interest. will read tomorrow.
I want to meditate but I can't because my mind works too much focusing on a task

Anybody here do Vipassana meditation? Any tips?
>>18305054
Start with 10 minutes if you need to. Seriously. Focus on your breathing, slowish breaths that expand your belly (only let your chest expand if your belly area has expanded fully first). If your mind wanders, note the kind of thing it was. A memory? A thought? A sound? A bodily sensation? Just categorize, don't analyze. And then calmly bring your attention back to your breathing.

Don't get frustrated. Moments of your mind wandering are not failures. They're opportunities to practice mindfulness of your thoughts, and to get better at refocusing your attention on what you want it on (in this case, your breathing).

This will make you better able to handle boredom, anxiety, embarrassment, fear, anger, and basically any other negative emotion. Not only that, but you'll feel them less often, not just less intensely.

Eventually, this will allow you to basically do what cognitive therapy encourages, by examining your thoughts logically, from a peaceful, calm place and as a result to overcome irrational thoughts very effectively.

I want to know, how do you meditate "correctly"? I have had some experiences before and i hope i can invoke them again to learn more about them. I also know for a fact that i'm not the only one who has experienced these. Of of my experiences could be called "the fear of death" in it's purest form. I have lost this feeling and i want to find where it went and why

>>18310587
Just sit down in a comfortable position,m8.
:3
After that you close your eyes, and focus on your breathing.
Soon, intrusive thoughts will wander inside of your head, acknowledge them and then push them away. You want to push all thoughts away, and focus on your breathing.
That's all! The most basic meditation.
You may also focus on some other meaningless phenomenon like a mantra, you can try visualizing, or just concentrate on some music.

>>18298305
meditation isn't about not thinking, its about letting things happen. when people say "clear your mind" they don't mean sit in silence and try your hardest to not think of literal anything they mean let your thoughts happen and not force it.


meditation is about becoming one with yourself and the world around you.


tips: don't force yourself into some meditation schedule meditate when you feel its the time to its counter productive to assume its something that needs to be regimented.

you will feel things let them come sometimes it will be fear, or happiness, sadness etc. its all apart of the growth don't be scared of it.

sometimes you will fall into a super deep trance this is also normal you aren't dying even though it can feel extremely terrifying.

and the most important tip, meditation is a slow process of learning and growing and sometimes you will feel like you are actually going backwards and be discouraged don't stop and don't let that anxiety stop you from your path overcoming pitfalls is the entire point.

>>18310647
>meditation is about becoming one with yourself and the world around you.

Yes, and no.
If you meditate, you must wish to get something out of it.

>>18300743
>>18300746
accept it and understand that even though you are scared nothing can happen to you in that state, you are ok.

meditation brings to surface feelings you might be repressing so you can face them, you can't tread the path without overcoming your inner demons try and analyze why you are so afraid when you are meditating what are you scared of?

>>18310647
>tips: don't force yourself into some meditation schedule meditate when you feel its the time to its counter productive to assume its something that needs to be regimented.

I kind of disagree with this.

>>18310715
my logic is like this, forcing yourself to meditate is counter productive because you need to want to, if someone doesn't want to but is doing it because they feel obligated you already have the wrong mindset and it won't be helpful

im not saying you shouldn't meditate regularly because you totally should just that you should be aware of your mindset when doing it.

obviously everyone has a different idea of whats correct per-se which is the beauty of the whole thing.

>>18310658
>wish to get something out of it.
That will just create more roadblocks.

>>18310728
Discipline is good. Not because someone else says you should but because you want to, sure, but there's a difference between wanting to in general and feeling like it at the moment.

To succesfully meditate you have to follow these basic steps:

1. Get into a comfortable position in which your blood flow is regular and breathe in a regular flow

2. Empty your mind and all of your thoughts.
If this is difficult try to focus on your breathing or your heartbeat.

3. When your awareness changes, do not think about how strange you feel, do not let this state of awareness get interrupted.

4. You should be ready to do this as soon as you feel confident that you wont interrupt your current state:

Engulfed by this feeling, listen to yourself thinking.
Try not to think actively, but passively, as you are trying to find out what lies behind your conciousness.

The weirdest part about all of this is your focus, because you are trying to focus on losing your focus.

I wish you the best of luck and a relaxing as well as eye-opening meditation.

>>18310888
Also, you have to understand that everything you sense while meditating is a reflection of yourself.
There is no demon in your head, your head is showing you demons and by meditating you should try to find out why it is doing such things.

Meditating is about finding out why you are the person who you are.

>>18310888
>>18310900
From trips to doubles, i'm on a spree.

Hope i could help, if you value my description, please share it.
There really aren't enough people meditating, and too many people meditating in a wrong, destructive way.

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>>18298305

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>>18310953

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>>18310954

>>18310958
http://hermetic.com/crowley/eight-lectures-on-yoga/

>>18310905
You mistake astral exploration for true internal union with the physical.

>>18310743
Not unless you know how to control your thoughts.
That's what meditation is all about.