Felcor

With my experience the people with the knowledge either don't want to show/share or they don't care for either side of the argument. The people who seek the knowledge always feel it needs to be shown shared. I think its one of those things where its hard to take a step back and evaluate from both sides. I personally feel its a bit primitive to not share/show. Kind of how back in the day reading was only for the privileged. This only leads to GREAT things becoming lost and it stifles growth. I get the "this is dangerous, we must guard it like nuclear launch codes" view, but I think its kind of a flimsy excuse and the good out weighs the bad. That being said this is just my opinion, maybe I am being ignorant and if someone showed/taught me I would change my mind and take the knowledge to my grave XD I think a lot of the secrecy surrounding the teachings comes more from the fact that people used to (and still do) make a living from the knowledge.

hahah yeah.. This is a problem. While seeking the truth you still need food and a place to sleep, your family needs you and so on. Still working on resolving those issues. Luckily my family is not dependent on me but I can not depend on someone else to feed and house me so yes.. cash.. ah.. cash. The interesting paradox arises when you live to work instead of working to live.

Life has no meaning, no purpose other than to seek the truth. That is the only reason to get up in the morning, that is the only reason to keep going. That is the only goal worth striving for.

You can come up with a million reasons why not to practice/study/train. You only need one good reason why you want to, then that should be enough. The first choice in life: Just die or live. If you choose to live you might as well FUCKING LIVE!

Thanks for the advice ChiDragon! Ah this is something I will try! I like the idea of "really opening your eyes" and taking in your surroundings. I think a lot of time people(Myself included) try and get away from reality and with things like meditation they try to "get away" from the body or the room. I think a lot of the time we don't realize that we are trying to escape something we were never really caught in. You know what I mean? You were never truly present to begin with. You were never really there. Sometimes the solution is not to get away but to go towards. Get up close with what is real. really plant yourself in the moment. This helps a lot to clear the mind. So combining this with meditation makes sense to me. I think this is what you meant? Not just try it with your eyes open, but try it with your eyes OPEN? XD

Thanks for the reference I will check out the book. @ChiDragon whenever you have time your input will be appreciated, thank you.

Thanks.

Eyes closed, and no the times the spinning happened my breath was steady. It seems to happen at about the point where my mind is cleared and I can fully relax. There is absolute quiet for a while and then the sensation starts up.

I would say my breath was rather deep, and slow. Speaking of breath. What I generally try and do is clear my mind and not "try" to meditate so I try not to expect what I should be feeling and just let things flow naturally. So I take control of my breathing and get into rhythm and relax and then I "let go". Now what I have experienced is that sometimes my breathing changes in odd ways but then instead of taking control and forcing it back to how I think it should be I let my body do what it wants to. One time this lead to me breathing rapidly and I got a strange sensation in my Dantien. Another time I kept inhaling a lot and then I thought damn I should exhale and So I exhaled a bit but my body seemed to say: "Nope, Inhale more!" So I did and It felt like something was happening but then my thoughts rushed back: "IS this normal" "What is hapennning??" And i stopped the meditation. I realize some of you would caution my "Experimental" nature when it comes to these kind of things, but I believe that the body knows what it is doing and that It can show me things that I did not know. Before Every session I ask for guidance and I thank those that have contributed to my knowledge in any way. And After every session I send my thanks again. I live in South Africa and getting a teacher to train me in person is something I am looking for but is not that easy to acquire. So I trust in the universe and in my soul for guidance. .. And read and study as much as I can XD

Well as to my exact routine I was just sitting in half lotus while breathing into the lower dantien as described in Section 2 nose to tan tien path in the book :Tai-Chi-Classics by Liao Waysun. The spinning usually starts about 20 minutes in and it can be annoying as it usually comes accompanied with thoughts like: "Here comes the spinning again", "Ah dont think about the spinning clear your mind!".. "I should probably ask someone about this spinning" .. You get the idea. Sometimes it just goes away or sometimes I end the session there. Sometimes it never happens.

Ah thanks for the input everyone. I was not really worried about it, I was just curios about it as it happens so often.

Yes I do practice controlled breathing. So does this mean that the blood flow to the brain is being reduced or increased as a result of my breathing?

Hey guys, so during my meditations sessions I have had a few weird and wonderful experiences. One thing that has happened quite a few times is that I get a sensation of spinning, like I am sitting in the center of a merry-go-round. I do not know anyone who I can talk with about these sort of things, so I thought I would come ask you guys. Has anyone experienced this? Any idea what this could be?

I think it has something to do with the conscious and subconscious mind. Where our subconscious mind gives ideas and our conscious mind can judge and say if it is good or bad. The subconscious mind will then try and bring you more of the thing. see Dawgs post he explains it nicely: http://thetaobums.com/topic/30012-a-path-to-enlightenment/#entry446614 So what I'm saying is that when you feel grateful for something, you are telling your subconscious and the rest of the cosmos that you want more of this. Also by feeling grateful for something someone has done for you, you in turn will be more inclined to help out others, knowing that they will feel the same. The part about we all being connected, you are actually just helping yourself so why feel grateful is interesting, but that is not the way the world operates. Only a small group feels this way. Gratitude is necessary in our society. The day we all realize we are connected would be the day every human on this planet "Awakens" and will be the end to all suffering. I do not think I will see that day in my lifetime.

I am still very new at meditation. I am sure I have never had a deep meditation session yet. I'm still getting used to sitting in half lotus, trying to work my way up to full lotus but my legs need to get used to it. I have heard a way to know if you did true meditation is to look at the time. If it felt like an hour but it was only 5 minutes you were't in meditation. If it felt like 5 mins but it was an hour then you probably were. Something I do when I start out is a technique I have been doing since before I knew anything about meditation and the sort. That is to think and convince myself that this moment I am experiencing now is my last moment. I convince myself that these breaths are my last that this room I am in is the last scene I will ever see. The result is that it brings me completely into the present and clears my mind of worries and problems. Everything just looks and feels different, and I become aware of things that I wasn't aware of before like I would suddenly feel the draft in the room and realize it had been there all along but I never noticed. I always do this before I am about to do something that makes me nervous like giving a presentation. Something I did not expect from meditation (Even my noobie attempts at it) is that after the session, no matter how short, I always feel happy and full of life. If I try and get in a sesh before bed I usually end op not going to bed because I am all excited and ready to do stuff. On a side note has anyone ever tried to meditate during lucid dreaming?