Meditation Experiences and Questions

[Cat Pillar]

For the past month or so my meditation practice has consisted of deep abdominal breathing with mental counting (keeping breaths even.) The actual count varied depending on what felt right at the moment, and the counting had a tendency to get slower (longer intervals between counts). I don't pause in between breaths, immediately after the inhale the exhale begins, and vice versa.

 

The past few days I decided to try switching it up...instead of counting, I'm now instead focusing on the sensation of the breath entering and leaving my nostrils. Even the first time I tried this I noticed an immediate difference in the quality of the meditation. When counting, I was focused on a number of variables, and there seemed to be a lot more mind chatter. With just focusing on the sensation of breath, it seems that it's easier to get pulled away from the sensation, but it's also much easier to come back to it. It's less jarring, seems to flow more naturally. Also, the meditations seem to feel a little deeper - I have definitely experienced the "lost time" phenomena doing this.

 

Would this technique be considered a passive or active meditation? I'm still definitely a beginner with meditation, this is only my second month of serious practice...as someone who's interested in inner alchemy, is this a good technique for me to stick with for now, or would you suggest making some modifications?

[Gerard]

For the past month or so my meditation practice has consisted of deep abdominal breathing with mental counting (keeping breaths even.) The actual count varied depending on what felt right at the moment, and the counting had a tendency to get slower (longer intervals between counts). I don't pause in between breaths, immediately after the inhale the exhale begins, and vice versa.

 

The past few days I decided to try switching it up...instead of counting, I'm now instead focusing on the sensation of the breath entering and leaving my nostrils. Even the first time I tried this I noticed an immediate difference in the quality of the meditation. When counting, I was focused on a number of variables, and there seemed to be a lot more mind chatter. With just focusing on the sensation of breath, it seems that it's easier to get pulled away from the sensation, but it's also much easier to come back to it. It's less jarring, seems to flow more naturally. Also, the meditations seem to feel a little deeper - I have definitely experienced the "lost time" phenomena doing this.

 

Would this technique be considered a passive or active meditation? I'm still definitely a beginner with meditation, this is only my second month of serious practice...as someone who's interested in inner alchemy, is this a good technique for me to stick with for now, or would you suggest making some modifications?

 

Try to manipulate the following elements in your practice:

 

1. How many times a day?

2. How many minutes each time?

3. What other postures other than sitting can I introduce? Ie: slow walking and standing

 

See how introducing one or more of these will be of benefit to your practice.

 

G'luck.

 

[Cat Pillar]

Try to manipulate the following elements in your practice:

 

1. How many times a day?

2. How many minutes each time?

3. What other postures other than sitting can I introduce? Ie: slow walking and standing

 

See how introducing one or more of these will be of benefit to your practice.

 

G'luck.

 

 

So, since I meditate generally once a day...try making it twice? And generally it's for half an hour...so, maybe try going for forty-five minutes? I like the idea of trying it with standing and slow walking...standing would probably be safer for me to start with!

 

Also...it can be really hard to meditate without expectations! I don't think I've completely gotten the hang of it...but I do notice that the more I'm able to separate myself from the results, the easier it is to focus on the practice...and, interestingly, the more motivated I am to do it!

[Vajrahridaya]

 

Would this technique be considered a passive or active meditation? I'm still definitely a beginner with meditation, this is only my second month of serious practice...as someone who's interested in inner alchemy, is this a good technique for me to stick with for now, or would you suggest making some modifications?

 

Any type of breath meditation would be considered passive. Active forms of meditation are forms of detailed visualisation, mantra with visualisation or mudra (hand postures) or bandhas (body locks/chakra locks and forced prana manipulation)

 

The kind of meditation you are doing can take you very, very deep. Doing breath meditation for an hour and a half after 3 hours of intense devotional chanting took me to very many places and opened up many levels of my psychi and the universe to me automatically.

 

I'd suggest you keep going with the breath meditation but focus on the space between the in and out breath inside the body.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Vajrahridaya

[The Observer]

As I can only speak from experience I'd get the Level 1 guided Meditation CDs from:

http://www.springforestqigong.com/store.htm

 

And as an aside, one of my big "breakthroughs" before the Springforest Qigong came through simply sitting down in meditation, listening to Tibetan chants, and doing OM chants out loud myself.

[Eric23]

My yoga teacher taught us a very simple even breathing count that has worked well for me. Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2, repeat. On the holds, just suspend breathing, it shouldn't require effort at all. The counting will give you something to come back to when the monkey mind starts acting up. Continue working with the sensation of air flowing through your nostrils. Once your breathing smooths out you could extend the holds to a count of 4. I agree that the space between the inhale and exhale is very profound and worth exploring.

[XieJia]

Dear Cat Pillar;

 

Would you kindly roughly on what you are looking forward to develop through your meditative journey? The foundation is quite important, and you wouldn't want to take the long route. It would be nice if you can tell us what you are looking for?

 

People do meditation for different purposes;

some do it for fun, some do it for relaxation, some for insight, some for spiritual/physical well-being and other weird stuffs.

 

Different methods tends to give you slightly different experiences and have their own benefits;

but I would tends to recommend what feels most natural.

 

If you are not sure what you are looking for then I would recommend the nostril awareness that you were doing. Impartially observe the sensation. It is good base for any meditative practices .

Good Luck,

 

Blissfully yours,

XieJia

 

P.S.

Dedication is a two-sided sword; it can helps you while it can also discourage you. Take care and be careful

[Cat Pillar]

Any type of breath meditation would be considered passive. Active forms of meditation are forms of detailed visualisation, mantra with visualisation or mudra (hand postures) or bandhas (body locks/chakra locks and forced prana manipulation)

 

The kind of meditation you are doing can take you very, very deep. Doing breath meditation for an hour and a half after 3 hours of intense devotional chanting took me to very many places and opened up many levels of my psychi and the universe to me automatically.

 

I'd suggest you keep going with the breath meditation but focus on the space between the in and out breath inside the body.

 

Thanks for the explanation! Focus on the space between, eh? I'll have to give that a try in my next meditation.

 

---------------------------------

 

As I can only speak from experience I'd get the Level 1 guided Meditation CDs from:

http://www.springforestqigong.com/store.htm

 

And as an aside, one of my big "breakthroughs" before the Springforest Qigong came through simply sitting down in meditation, listening to Tibetan chants, and doing OM chants out loud myself.

 

Chanting out loud is something that I haven't really tried yet. I've enjoyed the few guided meditations I've done, but I'm not sure they're quite what I'm looking for.

 

---------------------------------

 

My yoga teacher taught us a very simple even breathing count that has worked well for me. Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2, repeat. On the holds, just suspend breathing, it shouldn't require effort at all. The counting will give you something to come back to when the monkey mind starts acting up. Continue working with the sensation of air flowing through your nostrils. Once your breathing smooths out you could extend the holds to a count of 4. I agree that the space between the inhale and exhale is very profound and worth exploring.

 

I was doing counting for awhile, but in some ways it seems to impede me from going deeper into the meditation...almost like it acts like an anchor. I think I might try adding a suspension of breath between inhales and exhales though, just to see what it's like since many have recommended it.

 

---------------------------------

 

Dear Cat Pillar;

 

Would you kindly roughly on what you are looking forward to develop through your meditative journey? The foundation is quite important, and you wouldn't want to take the long route. It would be nice if you can tell us what you are looking for?

 

People do meditation for different purposes;

some do it for fun, some do it for relaxation, some for insight, some for spiritual/physical well-being and other weird stuffs.

 

Different methods tends to give you slightly different experiences and have their own benefits;

but I would tends to recommend what feels most natural.

 

If you are not sure what you are looking for then I would recommend the nostril awareness that you were doing. Impartially observe the sensation. It is good base for any meditative practices .

Good Luck,

 

Blissfully yours,

XieJia

 

P.S.

Dedication is a two-sided sword; it can helps you while it can also discourage you. Take care and be careful

 

Basically, with my sitting practice I'd like to open myself up to more subtle forms of experiencing, as well as get in touch with the deeper aspects of myself. Eventually I would also like to begin practicing inner alchemy.

[Gerard]

So, since I meditate generally once a day...try making it twice? And generally it's for half an hour...so,

maybe try going for forty-five minutes? I like the idea of trying it with standing and slow walking...standing would probably be safer for me to start with!

 

Also...it can be really hard to meditate without expectations! I don't think I've completely gotten the hang of it...but I do notice that the more I'm able to separate myself from the results, the easier it is to focus on the practice...and, interestingly, the more motivated I am to do it!

 

Yes or more if you can

Yes or more if you can

 

 

In both instances increase time progressively in small increments

Clinging only creates knots in the mind hence you'll slow down your practice and develop a deluded state, which is karmic.

[Vajrahridaya]

Thanks for the explanation! Focus on the space between, eh? I'll have to give that a try in my next meditation.

 

Don't force breath retention in my opinion, just feel how it feels in your body, the space will automatically increase and you will automatically relax deeply... Feel the energy of the breath and the force against your lungs and in your body...

[Eric23]

I was doing counting for awhile, but in some ways it seems to impede me from going deeper into the meditation...almost like it acts like an anchor. I think I might try adding a suspension of breath between inhales and exhales though, just to see what it's like since many have recommended it.

 

Remember you are just starting After a week or so of practice you should have a good sense of the timing and you can quit counting. At that point following the sensation of air moving through your nostrils will help. You'll be surprised how thoughts will still creep in even when you are counting.

[XieJia]

Basically, with my sitting practice I'd like to open myself up to more subtle forms of experiencing, as well as get in touch with the deeper aspects of myself. Eventually I would also like to begin practicing inner alchemy.

 

Then I would think that the current nostril sensation is a very good exercise.

I would suggest keeping a small journal on what you experienced both for personal references and I wouldn't suggest reading on ahead or anticipating what you could now but pay more attention on your own experience or the moment. And keep us posted if you have any doubts or questions surrounding your experiences.

 

Wish you good luck on your journey

[goldisheavy]

For the past month or so my meditation practice has consisted of deep abdominal breathing with mental counting (keeping breaths even.) The actual count varied depending on what felt right at the moment, and the counting had a tendency to get slower (longer intervals between counts). I don't pause in between breaths, immediately after the inhale the exhale begins, and vice versa.

 

The past few days I decided to try switching it up...instead of counting, I'm now instead focusing on the sensation of the breath entering and leaving my nostrils. Even the first time I tried this I noticed an immediate difference in the quality of the meditation. When counting, I was focused on a number of variables, and there seemed to be a lot more mind chatter. With just focusing on the sensation of breath, it seems that it's easier to get pulled away from the sensation, but it's also much easier to come back to it. It's less jarring, seems to flow more naturally. Also, the meditations seem to feel a little deeper - I have definitely experienced the "lost time" phenomena doing this.

 

Since you're paying attention, everything you're describing here is a stunning success. The whole point of meditation is to cultivate awareness, a state of mind opposite of mindlessness. So you're noticing how when your intention is splintered, the result is splintered. When your intention is unified, so is the result. So what does it mean to say "splintered?" It means you intend to keep count, but you also intend to keep attention on the breath. So you have a number of competing goals in mind. These goals compete for your attention. Because you really can only attend to one thing at a time, the attention has to jump between these two goals. That's the source of instability. I'm pretty sure you've noticed all this, but don't take my word for it.

 

Would this technique be considered a passive or active meditation? I'm still definitely a beginner with meditation, this is only my second month of serious practice...as someone who's interested in inner alchemy, is this a good technique for me to stick with for now, or would you suggest making some modifications?

 

It's actually a very interesting question: what is passive? What is active? If you hold your hand relaxed and laying still on the table, are you passive? We would say that your hand is passive and that perhaps you yourself are passive. But is your intent passive? I mean, the hand is not relaxed against your will, right? So your intent is engaged, right? In fact, is your intent ever disengaged? Is your mind ever disengaged? If any part of you is idle, is it ever the case that all of you is idle? If so, what is passive? What is active?

 

If you investigate this issue seriously, you'll see that terms such as "passive" and "active" are actually ultimately non-applicable to any phenomena, including you and your intent.

[Cat Pillar]

Yes or more if you can

Yes or more if you can

 

 

In both instances increase time progressively in small increments

Clinging only creates knots in the mind hence you'll slow down your practice and develop a deluded state, which is karmic.

 

Sort of like exercising then, progressively building up the workout. The last part, I understand what you mean about clinging creating knots, but what do you mean by "karmic" in this context?

 

Don't force breath retention in my opinion, just feel how it feels in your body, the space will automatically increase and you will automatically relax deeply... Feel the energy of the breath and the force against your lungs and in your body...

 

Hmm, okay. So let the space come naturally then, and just pay attention to it when it does.

 

Remember you are just starting After a week or so of practice you should have a good sense of the timing and you can quit counting. At that point following the sensation of air moving through your nostrils will help. You'll be surprised how thoughts will still creep in even when you are counting.

 

Actually, I've found that thoughts tend to creep in more when I'm counting than when I'm not. The intensity of focus is harder to maintain on a sensation than an active task of counting, but while counting my mind is sort of forced to remain active, and seems to attract more "sticky" thoughts.

 

Then I would think that the current nostril sensation is a very good exercise.

I would suggest keeping a small journal on what you experienced both for personal references and I wouldn't suggest reading on ahead or anticipating what you could now but pay more attention on your own experience or the moment. And keep us posted if you have any doubts or questions surrounding your experiences.

 

Wish you good luck on your journey

 

Thanks, XieJia! I've always had trouble keeping up with journals...but it would probably be really valuable to me. Something to add to my list of things to change.

 

Since you're paying attention, everything you're describing here is a stunning success. The whole point of meditation is to cultivate awareness, a state of mind opposite of mindlessness. So you're noticing how when your intention is splintered, the result is splintered. When your intention is unified, so is the result. So what does it mean to say "splintered?" It means you intend to keep count, but you also intend to keep attention on the breath. So you have a number of competing goals in mind. These goals compete for your attention. Because you really can only attend to one thing at a time, the attention has to jump between these two goals. That's the source of instability. I'm pretty sure you've noticed all this, but don't take my word for it.

 

I never thought about it in that framework, but that makes a lot of sense concerning split intention.

 

It's actually a very interesting question: what is passive? What is active? If you hold your hand relaxed and laying still on the table, are you passive? We would say that your hand is passive and that perhaps you yourself are passive. But is your intent passive? I mean, the hand is not relaxed against your will, right? So your intent is engaged, right? In fact, is your intent ever disengaged? Is your mind ever disengaged? If any part of you is idle, is it ever the case that all of you is idle? If so, what is passive? What is active?

 

If you investigate this issue seriously, you'll see that terms such as "passive" and "active" are actually ultimately non-applicable to any phenomena, including you and your intent.

 

Hmm, that's a very interesting thing to contemplate. I'll have to consider that for awhile.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Cat Pillar

[Otis]

Actually, I've found that thoughts tend to creep in more when I'm counting than when I'm not. The intensity of focus is harder to maintain on a sensation than an active task of counting, but while counting my mind is sort of forced to remain active, and seems to attract more "sticky" thoughts.

This is a great observation. IME, I have thought functions that are all language-based, and they tend to get triggered by other language cues. For example, if there is a written word in my view, or someone is talking loudly in the other room, or if I am indulging in any language (like counting), then I am (almost) automatically swept back into the language centers, and the noisy ramble that goes along with it. (This is part of why meditative music or chanting can be so useful, because they occupy that language part of the brain, keeping it busy, without adding meaning).

 

However, when I put my attention fully on awareness without content, then language disappears, and "I" soon follow it.

 

When I say "awareness without content" I mean that: although I start by "listening to the sensation of my inhalation and exhalation", soon that breaks down, and I am not aware of what it is I am listening to. I am just experiencing a mass of sensation. Soon that, too, breaks down, and then there is no "I" to do the experiencing. Rather, all that I am, is in the sensation, with no labels and no words.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Otis

[Cat Pillar]

I had a very interesting meditation experience last night.

 

While focusing on the sensation of breath moving in and out of my nostrils, as I developed more focus I noticed that I began feeling more of my nose as a whole. There was also a new sensation, and it felt like something...solid, but not solid (don't know how to describe it) inside of my nose. In a way, it seemed like I could sense my awareness resting in that spot, almost like an anchor point of some kind was being developed that my awareness could hone in on. (Out of curiosity, could this be related to the "center" talked about the in Golden Flower Meditation method on J.J. Semple's site, for those who are familiar with it?)

 

However, more profound than that was what I noticed after the meditation. When walking over to my friends house, I continued to practice the deep breathing I use in my meditation, and I noticed that my sense of smell was much sharper...in addition, I felt very content and was able to enjoy just walking outside much more than I normally do...I noticed that none of the anxiety or stress thought patterns were actively running in my mind. Happily, this noticing and acknowledgment of their absence didn't trigger their return either. I noticed that just simply performing the deep breathing increased my presence in the moment, sharpening my focus on the now.

 

It's nice to see some more obvious effects of my practice coming out.

 

The rest of the night was very calm and enjoyable...I was not caught up in patterns of worry or stress.

[Red Pheonix]

I had a very interesting meditation experience last night.

 

While focusing on the sensation of breath moving in and out of my nostrils, as I developed more focus I noticed that I began feeling more of my nose as a whole. There was also a new sensation, and it felt like something...solid, but not solid (don't know how to describe it) inside of my nose. In a way, it seemed like I could sense my awareness resting in that spot, almost like an anchor point of some kind was being developed that my awareness could hone in on. (Out of curiosity, could this be related to the "center" talked about the in Golden Flower Meditation method on J.J. Semple's site, for those who are familiar with it?)

 

However, more profound than that was what I noticed after the meditation. When walking over to my friends house, I continued to practice the deep breathing I use in my meditation, and I noticed that my sense of smell was much sharper...in addition, I felt very content and was able to enjoy just walking outside much more than I normally do...I noticed that none of the anxiety or stress thought patterns were actively running in my mind. Happily, this noticing and acknowledgment of their absence didn't trigger their return either. I noticed that just simply performing the deep breathing increased my presence in the moment, sharpening my focus on the now.

 

It's nice to see some more obvious effects of my practice coming out.

 

The rest of the night was very calm and enjoyable...I was not caught up in patterns of worry or stress.

 

I'll toss my hat in here... it's big n round so if you don't like the advice you can always grab some tequila and do the sombrero dance

 

Golden Flower: I can only speak from my experience and I'm quite certain that people experience the Golden Flower in different ways, but I'll share with you how it happened for me. 1st off, I never experienced it when trying to cultivate it. I pursued it's cultivation from a passive perspective not seeking any particular outcome (doing so will often times prevent cultivation in most all Taoist practices). When it did open there was no mistaking it, I experienced a large rotating light in my minds eye, it was quite consuming spiritually. There was nothing subtle about it, it was like a psychedelic experience only natural. It also opens when it needs to, it's nothing I can make happen, but when it does happen it's because it's supposed to.

 

As for meditation, there are many techniques that people try; a lot of them work because they distract your conscious mind, but that does NOT help you increase your meditation skill or help you emotionally, it only defers the inevitable. If you have 'chatter' then listen to the chatter, observe what is in your heart. Meditation is just the tool to help you to do this, another useful tool is watching the things that come out of your mouth when you're conscious because you will 'speak' your attachments. These are flags that will point the way to internal issues that you need to resolve, when you start to address the desires that bind your heart you will be able to get much deeper without using tricks. In doing this you will realize how selfish the human mind is, how long can you go without thinking about yourself? You can do all the fancy breathing and chanting you want, but that isn't going to resolve the things that are binding you... although it might make you popular in the Hindu community! That's not to say that breathing isn't important, it's very important, but if it's just used as a distraction then it's not doing the job it's intended to. In the end I find myself segregating my time, sometimes I practice mediation where I focus on breathing/posture and sometimes I do not. This allows me to develop good posture/breathing habits and at the same time allow myself room to experience the actual meditation; in time the two will merge.

 

When I teach meditation I start out with the very basics. 1st is physical relaxation (tell each part of your body to relax), then mental relaxation (mentally go to a beach or some place you enjoy and experience it) and lastly being at meditation level which I deepen further with things like counting backwards from 10 to 1 (self hypnosis/NLP for deepening). I'll also use NLP to help students associate anchors with these 3 states, once a student can get to a deep level using this technique then they're ready to start learning things like breathing and dealing with emotional issues.

 

It's kinda like little baby Jesus said... be still, shut the hell up and know that I am God! If you can sit and not think about yourself then everything will be shown to you If you're thinking about yourself then how can you see anything else?

 

It sounds like you're doing quite well with this though, the more time you spend 'listening', the more you'll start tapping into things like increased senses and intuition

[torus693]

v

Edited February 15, 2011 by torus693

[Guest sykkelpump]

I had a very interesting meditation experience last night.

 

While focusing on the sensation of breath moving in and out of my nostrils, as I developed more focus I noticed that I began feeling more of my nose as a whole. There was also a new sensation, and it felt like something...solid, but not solid (don't know how to describe it) inside of my nose. In a way, it seemed like I could sense my awareness resting in that spot, almost like an anchor point of some kind was being developed that my awareness could hone in on. (Out of curiosity, could this be related to the "center" talked about the in Golden Flower Meditation method on J.J. Semple's site, for those who are familiar with it?)

 

However, more profound than that was what I noticed after the meditation. When walking over to my friends house, I continued to practice the deep breathing I use in my meditation, and I noticed that my sense of smell was much sharper...in addition, I felt very content and was able to enjoy just walking outside much more than I normally do...I noticed that none of the anxiety or stress thought patterns were actively running in my mind. Happily, this noticing and acknowledgment of their absence didn't trigger their return either. I noticed that just simply performing the deep breathing increased my presence in the moment, sharpening my focus on the now.

 

It's nice to see some more obvious effects of my practice coming out.

 

The rest of the night was very calm and enjoyable...I was not caught up in patterns of worry or stress.

 

There are a lot of misunderstanding about breathing meditation or anapanasati.For example feeling the breath in and out of the body is moore like chi kung exersise,focus on the empty space between breaths? etc.I have tried many ways of anapanasati and from what i have been reading it is a lot of bad translation from the suttas.Anyway many will disagree with this.But this is the way I have found to be most effectice,logical and fastest.I reached samadhi not long time after doing it this way:

Just watch your breath with the mind and let the breath be NATURAL,do not regulate it in any way.when thoughts arise you let the go gently(dont continue thinking them when you notice them)then go back to watching the breath(not feeling,just observing)After a little while your breathing will slow down,this will also slow down your mind activity.when you can do this meditation and your breath are slow and stable,then you should introduce step 2 which is the key to take you deeper and deeper.you continue watching the breath and let the breath be natural.but on every in breath and out breath you relax any thigtness or tension in the mind.this tension is what is keeping you from going deeper and deeper.This needs training but is actually a very easy meditation and In my experience the absolute fastest and most effective.Also any feeling in the body you treat like a thought,when you notice it,let it go and go back to watching the breath.And remember to relax any thightness or tension in the mind.there is always some.with every thougt arising there will be a slight tension in the mind.

[Cat Pillar]

Hello Red Phoenix,

 

I'm not particularly focused on experiencing the Golden Flower, but the basic meditation method was what I used to base my current technique off of. I was simply curious if my sensations had any relation to the "center" mentioned in the meditation, but after re-reading the method I don't think they do, unless indirectly.

 

 

When I teach meditation I start out with the very basics. 1st is physical relaxation (tell each part of your body to relax), then mental relaxation (mentally go to a beach or some place you enjoy and experience it) and lastly being at meditation level which I deepen further with things like counting backwards from 10 to 1 (self hypnosis/NLP for deepening). I'll also use NLP to help students associate anchors with these 3 states, once a student can get to a deep level using this technique then they're ready to start learning things like breathing and dealing with emotional issues.

 

That sounds like an interesting and practical progression. I'd have a hard time with the mental relaxation part though, my visualization abilities are almost nonexistent. I can only hold a steady visualization for a few seconds before it distorts, disappears, or gets crowded out with mental noise. Concentrated focus in general is a weak spot for me, which is why I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making with my current practice. I seem to be starting to get a hang for focusing again, although I still can only do it for seconds at a time uninterrupted.

 

Actually, let me amend that...in certain cases my visualization abilities are better, like when daydreaming. But even then, things tend to occur in flashes of images, events becoming aggregated into "packages" of sorts, sort of like what I assume happens in the cases where people have dreams that seem to last an inordinately long amount of time.

 

Years of wasting hours upon hours every day playing video games has pretty much shot my ability to concentrate...I tend to go into a trance when gaming (or sometimes when reading) and my mind just kind of daydreams it's way through the experience, making up stories or details to add to the experience and chase after whatever emotional sensation is desired at that particular time (power, sex, admiration, etc...) Fortunately these days I'm much too busy to spend more than a few hours a week gaming.

 

Sort of unrelated...do you have experience using entheogens for inner journeys? I seem to recall you mentioning it in a post somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's a mistaken identity.

 

-------------------------

 

sykkelpump,

 

I'm not sure I understand the distinction between "watching" and "feeling" the breath.

[Guest sykkelpump]

Hello Red Phoenix,

 

I'm not particularly focused on experiencing the Golden Flower, but the basic meditation method was what I used to base my current technique off of. I was simply curious if my sensations had any relation to the "center" mentioned in the meditation, but after re-reading the method I don't think they do, unless indirectly.

 

 

 

 

That sounds like an interesting and practical progression. I'd have a hard time with the mental relaxation part though, my visualization abilities are almost nonexistent. I can only hold a steady visualization for a few seconds before it distorts, disappears, or gets crowded out with mental noise. Concentrated focus in general is a weak spot for me, which is why I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making with my current practice. I seem to be starting to get a hang for focusing again, although I still can only do it for seconds at a time uninterrupted.

 

Actually, let me amend that...in certain cases my visualization abilities are better, like when daydreaming. But even then, things tend to occur in flashes of images, events becoming aggregated into "packages" of sorts, sort of like what I assume happens in the cases where people have dreams that seem to last an inordinately long amount of time.

 

Years of wasting hours upon hours every day playing video games has pretty much shot my ability to concentrate...I tend to go into a trance when gaming (or sometimes when reading) and my mind just kind of daydreams it's way through the experience, making up stories or details to add to the experience and chase after whatever emotional sensation is desired at that particular time (power, sex, admiration, etc...) Fortunately these days I'm much too busy to spend more than a few hours a week gaming.

 

Sort of unrelated...do you have experience using entheogens for inner journeys? I seem to recall you mentioning it in a post somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's a mistaken identity.

 

-------------------------

 

sykkelpump,

 

I'm not sure I understand the distinction between "watching" and "feeling" the breath.

 

my english is limited,but i am sure somebody else here can explain.

[Red Pheonix]

Hello Red Phoenix,

 

I'm not particularly focused on experiencing the Golden Flower, but the basic meditation method was what I used to base my current technique off of. I was simply curious if my sensations had any relation to the "center" mentioned in the meditation, but after re-reading the method I don't think they do, unless indirectly.

 

 

 

 

That sounds like an interesting and practical progression. I'd have a hard time with the mental relaxation part though, my visualization abilities are almost nonexistent. I can only hold a steady visualization for a few seconds before it distorts, disappears, or gets crowded out with mental noise. Concentrated focus in general is a weak spot for me, which is why I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making with my current practice. I seem to be starting to get a hang for focusing again, although I still can only do it for seconds at a time uninterrupted.

 

Actually, let me amend that...in certain cases my visualization abilities are better, like when daydreaming. But even then, things tend to occur in flashes of images, events becoming aggregated into "packages" of sorts, sort of like what I assume happens in the cases where people have dreams that seem to last an inordinately long amount of time.

 

Years of wasting hours upon hours every day playing video games has pretty much shot my ability to concentrate...I tend to go into a trance when gaming (or sometimes when reading) and my mind just kind of daydreams it's way through the experience, making up stories or details to add to the experience and chase after whatever emotional sensation is desired at that particular time (power, sex, admiration, etc...) Fortunately these days I'm much too busy to spend more than a few hours a week gaming.

 

Sort of unrelated...do you have experience using entheogens for inner journeys? I seem to recall you mentioning it in a post somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's a mistaken identity.

 

I don't know about the entheogens, someone else would have to answer that one. There are lot's of things that you can use meditation for, but getting a solid foundation is key and often times something that's skipped. I can relate to being non visual, that's not something I'm natively good at; this has it's benefits though... when I see something amazing in meditation I know it's not me because I don't visualize that way lol. Visualization is key for some things though, I find it gets easier as I'm able to get deeper.

 

At some time I'll record a session where I program the anchors for the 3 levels, it'll be something you can just sit down and follow along with. I've had people tell me that they've never been that deep after 1 session, people who thought they couldn't meditate. I think it's a solid technique that'll work for a lot of people, I'll post it here when I get around to recording it If you use the recording a few times you'll notice that your body will respond to the anchors as you recall them, you can get to your deepest state in 30 seconds or so... NLP is awesome!

[Cat Pillar]

That sounds really awesome, I look forward to it!