need some help finding a good emptiness/deep meditation technique

[russell777]

Hi all

 

I am a young male 23 years old. I have had some unsucessful experience with chia's sexual techniques and some more successful

 

experience with chi-gung. However my relaxation and concentration abilities are weak, and I am looking for a good SIMPLE meditation

 

technique or techniques to increase these 2 areas. I think i have approached cultivation the wrong way as i am a very yang person

 

with a lot of tension. I have stopped doing all energy and sexual practices and I am just looking for something to relax me, reduce

 

tension, and increase my concentration abilities. I think that although I may have opened some closed channels and what not with

 

chigung i think i also created a lot of tension and blockages, especially with some of the kundalini stuff I did when I was 17/18. I have

 

some muscle spasms in my pelvic area as a result of this. Is there any good meditation technique that can help with muscles tension

and spasms? Also what is the difference between emptiness and concentration meditations? are they the same thing? Also please

 

only suggest techniques that do not take to much concentration/visualization power as I dont have much ability in that area. At the

 

moment I am trying a mediation techniques that involves simply reapeting the mantra I AM mentally over and over (from AYP book series by yogani), but I think this method may also be to yang for me.....not sure

 

thanks

[Dainin]

Zen Meditation Instructions

[thelerner]

Counting breaths. A good variation is counting 1 to 10, 1 for in breath, 2 out breath repeat to 10 then start over. Start off doing it 5 minutes and gradually increase time.

 

This is simple, but not easy. You will find it an excellent way to quiet the mind. Once the mind is deeply quiet you can let the exercise go and remain in emptiness.

 

 

Variation 1> From Glenn Morris. He called this Dr. Deaths brain scrubber(something like that) same exercise, but if a thought intrudes you go back to #1. Very difficult, don't think of purple elephants when you do it.

Variation 2>Count your breaths outside of meditation during every day life. As you walk, talk & drive. Very hard to keep such mindfulness going, but very rewarding.

 

 

Michael

 

Again,

Simple to do

Hard to do well.

[de_paradise]

Counting breaths is good. White skeleton visualization meditation is a powerful one.

 

Mantra is more powerful than people think, it is still one of my main meditations. Its more useful on a qi level to do mantra than, for example a one pointed focus type stillness half-assededly, and mantra is just easier to do when the mind doesnt settle well (and thats all too often)

 

You can find many on the internet, for some reason the ones I choose are always in Tibetan or Sanskrit. Perhaps choose a Tibetan deity mantra that embodies the qualities that you are striving for...

 

Stillness, in my understanding, is any meditation that seeks to attain one pointed focus, and where thoughts cease arising, thats the goal anyway. Emptiness is the actual imagining that the body is empty, it creates a kind of voidy-ness that has a pretty powerful result in terms of stimulating the qi body. In "truth", or in the physics of spiritual reality, we are "empty" or at least void of what can be perceived of by the senses, so...when you align your mind to the "truth" of this spiritual reality, the universe kind of complies to put you on that higher level.

 

I have a feeling that going deeper into stillness will be of great benefit for you, so this requires a less yang, or active type of focus. Perhaps if you can attain a step down into stillness, the qi will be able to work through the blockage that you mentioned.

 

Another stillness which I used to love doing is called "meditation of death", where you just imagine yourself as dead, really relaxed. Hint: its easier to do this one successfully after doing an easier one like mantra or breaths.

Edited July 1, 2009 by de_paradise

[Guest sykkelpump]

this is a very good meditation,and it doesent take to much concentration or any visualization

 

http://meditationexpert.com/ebok/howtomeditate.pdf

 

 

Anapanasati is also very good

[Tabula Rasa]

A good foundation in the basics is helpful. First learn to observe the conditioned thinking (ego), and the emotional reactions (pain body), as they happen; and experience being present in the now moment.

 

Eckhart Tolle's books, "The Power of Now", and "A New Earth" work well for many people, and they are easy to get from any library.

 

Watching him on DVD enhances the possibility of presence arising, especially the retreat series, which might also be found at some libraries. You can also download these off his web site (for a fee), or purchase them outright.

 

Some suggestions:

 

"Touching the Eternal" the India Retreat

"Freedom from the World" the Costa Rica Retreat

"The Art of Presence" Retreat

 

For more information: www.eckharttolle.com

[Encephalon]

Hi all

 

I am a young male 23 years old. I have had some unsucessful experience with chia's sexual techniques and some more successful

 

experience with chi-gung. However my relaxation and concentration abilities are weak, and I am looking for a good SIMPLE meditation

 

technique or techniques to increase these 2 areas. I think i have approached cultivation the wrong way as i am a very yang person

 

with a lot of tension. I have stopped doing all energy and sexual practices and I am just looking for something to relax me, reduce

 

tension, and increase my concentration abilities. I think that although I may have opened some closed channels and what not with

 

chigung i think i also created a lot of tension and blockages, especially with some of the kundalini stuff I did when I was 17/18. I have

 

some muscle spasms in my pelvic area as a result of this. Is there any good meditation technique that can help with muscles tension

and spasms? Also what is the difference between emptiness and concentration meditations? are they the same thing? Also please

 

only suggest techniques that do not take to much concentration/visualization power as I dont have much ability in that area. At the

 

moment I am trying a mediation techniques that involves simply reapeting the mantra I AM mentally over and over (from AYP book series by yogani), but I think this method may also be to yang for me.....not sure

 

thanks

 

Different needs call for different meditation styles/techniques. Zazen, vipassana, Taoist... they all serve vital functions. If you've come from a typically dysfunctional American family (as I did) you may have all kinds of self worth and shaming issues to work on. It took me half a lifetime to realize just how deep my shamed-based inner scripts were. So if you've got a boatload of emotional baggage, an appropriate meditation for a year or so would be reciting chakra affirmations in sync with your breath. A 30 minute meditation, seven chakras, ten repititions each, adds up to thousands of positive reinforcements a week. This cannot help but have a positive, demonstrable effect. There are models on line, and you can fine tune them as they start to work. There are a lot of chakra affirmations related to the specific issues of relaxation and concentration that you listed. Relaxation is an absolute must before the rest of the work can take effect.

 

Perhaps this isn't the advice you're soliciting, but there are millions who skip this essential step, and go straight to the "spiritual" stuff, without healing deep wounds. Chi kung, tai chi, nei kung, etc. will eventually soak your bloodstream in hormones that create positive mental states, but some of us need all the help we can get. If you've got any issues at all with addictions, affirmation/breath work is a must.

 

Hope this helps.

[Adam West]

Shikantaza: My thoughts on the practice of just sitting as an effective means to noticing that which is

 

In Shikantaza, we sit in a comfortable erect posture. Then we allow our awareness to be in its natural state - Zen Mind, Original Face, and realize this to be our ordinary everyday mind as it is. What exactly this means is we 'allow' our mind to just be aware in an entirely uncontrived manner. This can be surprisingly difficult for the beginner because most people are unconscious of subtle tensions and "efforts to do, to suppress or not do" something with their mind which are deeply habitual - thinking, analyzing, fantasizing etc. If we can 'just sit' and just be aware of what is, focusing on nothing in particular and allowing our minds to rest, let go and just be aware and rest as THAT - as-we-are - we will notice a sense of awareness opening up, of brightness, of peace and ease. If allowed further, we will notice energy and bliss at some deeper dimension of awareness as Being itself. Taken further we get an increasing, yet subtle sense of infinity and loss of identification with the separate self arising from sensory stimuli.

 

Implicit to this discussion is a distinction between awareness and mind. I am defining awareness as our basic fundamental nature - the Tao itself. Mind in this context, is defined as cognitive activities or functions arising out of the brain and possibly astral levels of being. Mind may be considered a tool like the body. The body rests and just sits there; the mind rests and just sits there unengaged. Awareness as the fundamental nature of 'you' sees both the mind and the body, but is neither mind nor body, nor is it dependent on mind and body for its existence and function. Awareness is prior to mind and body. Awareness is essential and unchanging; mind and body are epiphenomena existing in awareness.

 

The simple meditation practice of Shikantaza is this:

Just sit and be aware. The key then is to just be aware with no effort to be aware - no doing, just be natural awareness as it is. If you find yourself trying to be natural awareness as it is, then that is contrived and you have engaged the mind. Simply LET GO, relax, and be aware of what is, but of nothing in particular. In letting go and naturally being aware of what is you will find that natural still point. Allow the mind to ease off and open up. This can be practiced at all time during the day. Just be naturally aware, openly at ease, and spontaneously engaging - whether sitting or otherwise.

 

This is true vipassana. Uncontrived. To see the natural state of reality as it is.

We should allow ourselves to notice mind throughout this period of sitting, as with other particulars that arise; as mind is part of reality, and not to be rejected, as rejection is an act of mind, not awareness. Rejection is based on the false premises of mind. In so doing we will notice when we find ourselves having fallen into doing in which we 'try' to be open and relaxed, when this happens we are no longer in an uncontrived state of natural abiding. The whole process requires concentration; that is, being brightly aware of what is. Concentration in this sense simply means being naturally aware and not being distracted by having our attention divided by activities of mind. As concentration wanes, awareness may become dull and one my space out, or more often, one's thoughts will re-assert themselves and we will go off on a tangent of thought. When we notice this we allow the stream of thought to drop by letting go again of the activities of mind, and just rest brightly aware of what is.

 

So, it really is simple, just sit and be aware.

 

A further point. Do not concentrate on sensory stimuli in particular, as that is contrived, it is effort of mind to do something. See this subtle distinction. Awareness is brightly aware as its natural state, there is not effort - no doing. Just be aware of what is - environment and awareness itself - no artificial distinction between external and internal - just the continuum of awareness. This, however, does not mean we are practicing awareness of awareness, that again is a contrived condition, a use of mind to focus on awareness. In such a case we would be privileging one object of awareness over another, and that is a use of mind. Rather, we are just being aware, just sitting. Discrimination in terms of intention, demarcation, effort, judgment are all discursive faculties of mind. Awareness operates entirely through direct knowing or clearly apprehending the nature of what is - it simply sees it for itself. No recourse to the inferential faculties of mind.

So, Shikantaza or Dzogchen practice is simple on the surface, but there is much subtly and depth to it. Just sitting does not give it explanatory justice.

 

A final point on the body. Since the body is peripheral to awareness, it does not matter if the eyes are open or closed. Traditionally, they are open. There are merits and problems with both options. My recommendation is conclude this question by what feels natural to you. We do not wish to maintain unnatural, contrived states of body and mind in our practice. Awareness is the practice... drop all else.

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[Bushi]

Hi all

 

I am a young male 23 years old. I have had some unsucessful experience with chia's sexual techniques and some more successful

 

experience with chi-gung. However my relaxation and concentration abilities are weak, and I am looking for a good SIMPLE meditation

 

technique or techniques to increase these 2 areas. I think i have approached cultivation the wrong way as i am a very yang person

 

with a lot of tension. I have stopped doing all energy and sexual practices and I am just looking for something to relax me, reduce

 

tension, and increase my concentration abilities. I think that although I may have opened some closed channels and what not with

 

chigung i think i also created a lot of tension and blockages, especially with some of the kundalini stuff I did when I was 17/18. I have

 

some muscle spasms in my pelvic area as a result of this. Is there any good meditation technique that can help with muscles tension

and spasms? Also what is the difference between emptiness and concentration meditations? are they the same thing? Also please

 

only suggest techniques that do not take to much concentration/visualization power as I dont have much ability in that area. At the

 

moment I am trying a mediation techniques that involves simply reapeting the mantra I AM mentally over and over (from AYP book series by yogani), but I think this method may also be to yang for me.....not sure

 

thanks

 

 

Hi Russell777

 

Much like the Shikantaza meditation that Adam West explained....I would even go one step simpler and "just stand"....meaning what's sometimes called "standing meditation" or Zhan Zhuang (stake standing). In the simplest of postures, the "Wu Chi" or beginning posture. Take a look at Kam Lam Chuen's material....he's simple, thourough and offers a program to follow....Take a look at this book link here on Amazon. :

 

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Mastering...5357&sr=8-1

 

 

"Standing like a tree" is a deceptively simple, but extremely rich practice, with much sweetness and bitterness...don't worry too much about "doing it right".....just do it....everyday.....it will repay you in spades.

 

Best of luck.

 

Peace.

[Matt]

You must watch yourself continuously - particularly your mind - moment by moment, missing nothing. This witnessing is essential for the separation of the self from the not-self.

 

Nisargadatta, p. 27, I AM THAT

Edited April 30, 2010 by Matt

[Tao99]

You could try (inner) stillness during (outer) movement as in tai chi. Here you are not judging or thinking about what you will do tomorrow, or your problems, or your desires or pleasures. You are empty - devoid of content, in deep tranquility (stillness). At most there is 'quiet observation,' at least, there is a sense of flowing qi, selflessly following the laws of nature, the Tao, the Great Way, like a leaf in a stream. ...

 

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[CarsonZi]

AYP Deep Meditation is great.

 

http://www.aypsite.org/13.html

 

Love,

Carson

[hyok]

CarsonZi, are those your teeth?

 

If they are, you've got one healthy set of chompers there, buddy!

[Adam West]

Your welcome Matt!

[CarsonZi]

CarsonZi, are those your teeth?

 

If they are, you've got one healthy set of chompers there, buddy!

 

Yup

 

No cavities yet!

 

It's amazing the abuse the body can take....we humans are resilient little creatures

 

Anyone else enjoying the fruits of the higher stages of Kechari?

 

Love,

Carson

[JustARandomPanda]

Anyone else enjoying the fruits of the higher stages of Kechari?

 

What is Kechari?

[mantis]

Yup

 

No cavities yet!

 

It's amazing the abuse the body can take....we humans are resilient little creatures

 

Anyone else enjoying the fruits of the higher stages of Kechari?

 

Love,

Carson

 

What methods did you use to achieve Khechari? Did you snip the frenulum or did you simply stretch the tongue?

[ngtest]

What is Kechari?

 

See http://www.aypsite.org/108.html

 

Good luck!

[markern]

You realy need to read this:

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=9421&st=0

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/women-must-learn...-too-t5895.html

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/Cupidand39s-Pois...ons-t11493.html

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/Female-Orgasms-a...ion-t11567.html

 

I think starting with the aneros for solo sex and karezza for partner sex is the way to go if you want multiples. This needs to be combined with lots of focus on deep slow realxed and perfected breathing, preferably not only through stilness meditation but also full yogic breath/belly breathing etc. The inner smile I think is good for balancing stuf when you are working on this and the secret smiel is probably greath for this process as well in addition to being realy great in general.

 

Here you have secret smiel and belly breathing:

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=9719

[CarsonZi]

Hi Mantis......

What methods did you use to achieve Khechari? Did you snip the frenulum or did you simply stretch the tongue?

 

I started trying to get into Kechari stage 2 in mid summer 08. Since then I have probably snipped the frenulum maybe 8-10 times. What I have personally found to be the most effective in gaining extra tongue length is a combination of a slightly larger snip with twice daily stretching sessions.

 

I practice AYP basically as prescribed, so I have a morning sadhana before breakfast and an afternoon sadhana before dinner. In the mornings I find that my tongue has tried to reattach itself while I sleep and that the first stretch in the morning is a bit painful.....but after that stretch, I am ready to go and can easily get into Kechari stage 2. I usually spend a fair amount of time during the day in stage 2 so the afternoon stretching is usually pain free.

 

What I have found in all this is that to gain the most amount of tongue length in the shortest period of time, it is necessary to take a slightly larger snip then what is recommended by Yogani at AYP and to stretch twice daily. With this, I have found that the space created between the cut ends of the frenulum do not reattach. Instead it takes about a month or so for the cut to heal and it heals not by reattaching itself but by growing new frenulum skin.....so basically with every snip I now gain about 3/4 of a cm in length....and it stays.

 

What I had found before, when following the AYP kechari snipping lesson as directed, was that I wasn't gaining any extra tongue length at all. I would snip, but the cut would heal very very fast, usually over night in my sleep, and I could basically snip 2 or 3 times a week with full healing in between. This was when I was just snipping and the only stretching I was doing was trying to get into Kechari which was not very effective, and I kinda lost heart with the whole effort and started to just stay in Kechari 1 without trying to get to stage 2.

 

Over time though, my bhakti really started to increase and I was automatically reaching for stage 2 without any acute effort. So I figured I would start snipping again. The first cut I made (when restarting) was accidentally a little bigger then recommended, but I noticed that I was much closer to being able to leave my tongue in stage 2 without finger support (up until this point I could basically get into stage 2 but I couldn't leave my tongue there if I took my fingers support away). Soon, with the addition of twice daily stretching before I sat for my sadhana, I was able to get into Kechari 2 and leave my tongue there by itself. Now it is pretty easy and I am working towards stage 3.

 

Hope this helps, it's a revolutionary practice when you have ecstatic conductivity (kundalini) already running through the system.

 

Love,

Carson

[hyok]

And here I thought you were just showing off your pretty mouth.

[Inedible]

I read something about using a pinch of a mixture of turmeric and salt to keep the snips from healing back the way they were, and my local grocery has turmeric in the spice aisle. I'm just very reluctant to try it because even with the small trimmers rather than a razor blade I can't imagine what it would be like to cut the spot under my tongue. I have the turmeric and I have sea salt around - so the mental hesitation is all that stands in my way.

[Smile]

Read this before doing anything stupid:

Kechari Mudra

[topflight]

Here is some good info on Kechari without snipping.

 

 

Here is how I learned to do Kechari. The ability to do it is governed by both the configuration of your tongue, particularly the frenum, and the muscular strength of your tongue in the upward and backward directions. I think that everyone is more worried about the frenum when they should be doing a tongue workout!

 

1) Place the tip of your tongue at the junction between the hard and soft palette on the roof of your mouth and push up. Maintain the upward pressure for the duration of your practice or meditation. I did this for about 40 minutes a day for about 2 weeks.

 

2) Place the tip of your tongue in the middle of the soft palette and push up. You may need to use your fingers to push your tongue back into place. Maintain the upward pressure for the duration of your practice or meditation. I did this for about 40 minutes a day for another 2 weeks.

 

3) The next step is to go above the soft palette. Dry the end of your tongue with a dry washcloth. It will remain a little sticky. Place two fingers under the tip of your tongue and push way back behind the soft palette. Now push up and over with your tongue. The first time I did this I had both a tremendous energy flow and a slight burning sensation from nothing ever being there before.

 

4) I quickly got used to it, but is was a distraction in my meditation for about 3 weeks. After that I did not distract me any more. After about an additional 5 weeks, I did not need to use my fingers any more.

 

Kechari stage 2 was a great benefit to my AYP practice and I will add it back to Kunlun at some point.

 

 

Sorry to hijack your topic topflight but I have some kechari tips...I achieved stage 3 within a couple of months without snipping the frenum, a couple years ago. Hopefully this helps someone...

 

So stage 1 should be pretty easy for most people, unless they have a really inflexible tongue or their frenum is huge. Everyone's mouth is different, and it doesn't mean anything bad if your mouth isn't ready for kechari yet. Some very advanced yogis had to really cut the frenum for a long time and do tons of milking the tongue to get where they got.

 

I've found that even stage 1 is really energetic...maybe even too energetic, but that's hard to tell right away. I call that the creeper effect. You'll be doing very fine for a long time with it, and then decide to add more and more and still you're not feeling anything substantial, then all of a sudden you're having minor health issues and feeling really ungrounded and woozy. So yeah there's the creeper effect, which needs to be taken into consideration. For this reason, I think a person should forget about stage 1 practice right away, and try to get as far as they can. Go for stage 4!

 

This way of going about it takes a lot of practice. I wouldn't try to do sessions where you try to keep it in one place, since that's more energetic. I would constantly be trying to get further with the tongue.

 

So in stage one, the spot where the hard palate stops and there's the soft part, move backwards beyond that. If that's as far as you can get and you can't feel where the soft flap ends yet, then just keep trying to move the tongue back. You can push it back with your fingers, too, but this doesn't really help.

 

One method you can use is putting the underside of your tongue on your hard palate, by turning it back, closing your mouth, relaxing the tongue, and sucking in, so that the tip of the tongue is sucked backwards. This really helps if you can't get further than stage one...it should pull at the frenum. Hopefully just that description makes enough sense...kind of hard to describe a simple practice.

 

Another method is one I made up, where you take the tip of your tongue and press it fairly hard into your frenum. Try to go as high up on the frenum as you can.

 

And ANOTHER method, is milking the tongue. WASH YOUR HANDS, then relax the tongue and just keep pulling it out. Like a cow udder. I think the relaxation of the tongue is most important. Try not to think of anything when you're doing it, and if you have a cd or movie that really makes you feel happy, do it while listening to it or watching it. This will stretch the tongue out and also make it less tense so that it can bend back. In my opinion this isn't as important as the other two methods, since those also accomplish a stretching of the tongue.

 

So once you can feel where the soft flap ends, feel around in there. Try to feel as far back as you can, as far up as you can, etc. Try to get the tongue over that flap. At first it will be necessary to use your fingers to get up there...and I think getting up there is the key factor in reaching stage 2. So right away feel free to just assist the tongue. When it's up there, it may easily slip back down...the trick is to thrust the tongue forward and upward constantly.

 

I reached stage 2 after practicing for a lot of the day. I worked at a catering job and drove a big delivery van, so when I was doing that I would practice. And when I was watching tv and everything. I even did it in Barnes and Noble while ordering a tea at the Starbucks. Of course I had to bring the tongue down to order...but anyway...

 

Once you can keep the tongue up there, which generally happens before reaching stage 2, you should find a way to stop using your fingers. Some people have luck with moving the tongue back and up on the side...I believe the left side works better for them. For me, that doesn't work. I tend to make a "ha" sound (not with my voice but more like a really hard whisper). This makes the soft palate open up, so that I can quickly thrust the tongue up there. I figured it out when driving on a long road trip, I was looking at my handsome face in the rear view mirror and yawned and saw the soft palate move down...so I tested out a few things and found that if I made that sound it would do the same thing. It's just moving a lot of air through the throat...I think the more your mouth is open the more it's able to open the gap, due to internal mechanisms. In fact, I don't believe I can even do it with the mouth closed or very partially open. So if you want to do it in a very public place without anyone knowing what you're doing, just pretend you're yawning. Another part of why it works is due to the fast movement of the air...it kind of catches the soft palate and like a kite, pulls on it, so that it moves down.

 

Anyway, that should make it easy to get up above the palate. Next is what you should've already been working on...moving forward and upward. It's really about a constant advance of the tongue, but also about a relaxation of the whole head and throat. Everyone knows that if someone tells you, "relax now!" it won't happen...but if you consistently do this forward movement, you'll find that during times when you're not thinking of your practice you will probably advance quite a bit. So the key is just to practice basically all day. Soon you'll find the bottom of the septum...BAM that's stage 2.

 

At this point, the practice will probably become energetic instead of just a movement. You'll probably get tons of energy rushing through the upper spine and center of the head, and you'll probably be able to hear it. It's not tinnitus! You'll definitely be able to tell! Do as much as you can handle...this may have been too much already. At this point, I think it's fine to go back to stage 1 and practice for a minimum amount of time...like just do a couple minutes a day or whatever you can handle. If you can handle stage 2 and more, or if you don't care what you can handle and just want to push forward because you're a spiritual stud, then continue on to stage 3.

 

This is considerably easier to reach. No tricks. Just feel around the cavity. Keep pushing forward and upward. You should be able to feel everything in there and get a mental map of it. You should feel the whole septum up and down, and what's on the sides. You'll probably get teary eyed due to touching untouched areas, but that gets more bearable. At the top of the septum is stage 3.

 

Now, stage 4 is totally beyond me. I have no idea how to get into that, and to be honest I don't think it matters. There's enough energy moved by just practicing the above!

 

Keep in mind that kechari awakens the kundalini, so buyer beware. Weird stuff will happen...just let it settle. Self pace the practice...it's not wise to take on more than you can handle. It's good to keep it going at a comfortable pace.

 

For me, that involves hardly ever even doing stage 1! I find that it's good enough to make the link between the head and body by putting the tongue on the ridge behind the teeth, and smiling. Stage 0.