Favorite Meditation Technique

[Eviander]

So before about a month ago I can not say I was trained in meditation. I tried it myself but I never had the atmosphere or the proper instruction to say I knew what I was doing. I attended a 10 day course under the guidance of S.N. Goenka and learned 3 forms of meditation. The first one they taught for the first 3 days was anapana, the technique Goenka instructed in was focusing on the sensation the breath gives you in a small triangular area above the upper lip and on the lower nose to achieve samadhi. The next technique taught during the remaining 7 days was Vipassana,the method he instructed in was the scanning of body sensations from head to foot, then from foot to head, in different speeds and patterns with equanimity so to root out sankharas. Then the third method technique I learned was Metta, which he instructed by feeling body sensations of love, and then thinking about things that promote love, to others to in general.

 

I can say that I received noticeable effects from the 10 day course and am still receiving them by practicing Vipassana for 2 hours a day as instructed. Now as much as Goenka tried to market this technique as the only one out there that was directly passed down from Siddhartha because of its unbroken lineage in Burma thus being the only road to liberation, I am interested in trying other meditation techniques and other varieties of Vipassana. So, I am requesting that users share the technique they use, with a quick description of its name, who taught them it, and how it is done and what is its purpose.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Eviander

[devoid]

[templetao]

Thats funny I just got done doing a my favorite meditation then I seen this thread but i guess this forum is mystical like that

 

My favorite meditation is prayer meditation. It connects you to the healing element in nature and balances all of your chakras. Then i see my third eye glow like neon indigo and i see that light condense into my hands. After that I feel this like big ball of awareness over my head as it makes its way from root to crown chakra.

Edited June 28, 2011 by templetao

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Thats funny I just got done doing a my favorite meditation then I seen this thread but i guess this forum is mystical like that

 

My favorite meditation is prayer meditation. It connects you to the healing element in nature and balances all of your chakras. Then i see my third eye glow like neon indigo and i see that light condense into my hands. After that I feel this like big ball of awareness over my head as it makes its way from root to crown chakra.

 

Interesting! Are the prayers spontaneous or passed down? Is there a particular way of invoking the healing element?

 

For myself, as much as I like the benefits of qi gong and sitting meditation, I still feel the most connected to the universe after a good drumming session.. all my smaller and larger muscles feel like they have communicated with rhythms of the universe, and my puny male intuition channels feel loose and receptive, and my entire being feels receptive to change.

[templetao]

Sure its simple.

 

Step 1. bring your hands together like your praying at the middle dantian.

Step 2. Close your eyes

Step 3. Focus on the spot between between your middle fingers and look at the spot with your eyes closed and think of nothing else.

 

Now when you do this you will feel the imbalances instantly correct themselves from base to tip. Then you will notice that your 3rd eye will be a bright indigo and you will see your hands in the middle of the indigo circle and the light will start to condense into your hands. This will last for a while then it will move to your crown chakra.

 

You will be filled with a healthy vibration of just health. The longer you do this the better you will feel.

 

I notice this technique works faster if you have some chi in your lower dantian.

 

This is my favorite because it does a little bit of everything.

 

Focusing on the spot between your middle fingers lets the healing energy come into you. Like you will feel it instantly when you connect to it.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Sure its simple.

 

Step 1. bring your hands together like your praying at the middle dantian.

Step 2. Close your eyes

Step 3. Focus on the spot between between your middle fingers and look at the spot with your eyes closed and think of nothing else.

 

Now when you do this you will feel the imbalances instantly correct themselves from base to tip. Then you will notice that your 3rd eye will be a bright indigo and you will see your hands in the middle of the indigo circle and the light will start to condense into your hands. This will last for a while then it will move to your crown chakra.

 

You will be filled with a healthy vibration of just health. The longer you do this the better you will feel.

 

I notice this technique works faster if you have some chi in your lower dantian.

 

This is my favorite because it does a little bit of everything.

 

Focusing on the spot between your middle fingers lets the healing energy come into you. Like you will feel it instantly when you connect to it.

 

Nice. Thanks.... I'm going to work some more with this later

[templetao]

Sure anytime.

 

Just make sure you always keep the focus between the middle fingers and look at that spot with the eyes closed.

Edited June 28, 2011 by templetao

[Eviander]

[de_paradise]

Nobody really taught me this but to stillness like some kind of anapana breath, one can add the elixer fields generated by the good emotions and states. Like love, gratefulness, boddhisattva precept, expansion of self, no self. In my opinion these will take me where I want to go, because the fields strengthen as one progresses. The meditation simply becomes a route to a deeper meditation state, but if augmented by some emotion or thought-state, then the results become all the better.

[adept]

There are many claims as to which meditation method the Buddha taught.

Here is a method backed up by the suttas of the Pali Canon : Mindfulness Of Breathing.

I've only recently started this method and it feels natural, unforced and tranquil.

[zerostao]

meditation? not sure as all these qigongs, chi kungs, nei gongs, nei dans,

meditations etc has different meanings to different folks. not to get into that again.

 

but at all the martial arts places i have bummed around in, they all used the term

"breathing and meditation".

so my favorite breathing right now is this 5 gates breathing love it.

it does increase shen awareness.

 

My faith stimulates my imagination spouting zeal that gives power to my will and understanding, which strengthens my love allowing for the wisdom of Universal order to express through me and eliminate all false impressions of the human condition. The clarity I now have brings forth the True Nature of my being in living.

 

i took the above from this website and i thought it was cool that the cartoon dude representing 5 gates breathing look alot like..........one of my favorite people.

http://www.integraldynamics.org/BREATHING.html

[Aetherous]

Red dragon palm.

Letting go...the opposite of any technique.

[relaxer]

So before about a month ago I can not say I was trained in meditation. I tried it myself but I never had the atmosphere or the proper instruction to say I knew what I was doing. I attended a 10 day course under the guidance of S.N. Goenka and learned 3 forms of meditation. The first one they taught for the first 3 days was anapana, the technique Goenka instructed in was focusing on the sensation the breath gives you in a small triangular area above the upper lip and on the lower nose to achieve samadhi. The next technique taught during the remaining 7 days was Vipassana,the method he instructed in was the scanning of body sensations from head to foot, then from foot to head, in different speeds and patterns with equanimity so to root out sankharas. Then the third method technique I learned was Metta, which he instructed by feeling body sensations of love, and then thinking about things that promote love, to others to in general.

 

I can say that I received noticeable effects from the 10 day course and am still receiving them by practicing Vipassana for 2 hours a day as instructed. Now as much as Goenka tried to market this technique as the only one out there that was directly passed down from Siddhartha because of its unbroken lineage in Burma thus being the only road to liberation, I am interested in trying other meditation techniques and other varieties of Vipassana. So, I am requesting that users share the technique they use, with a quick description of its name, who taught them it, and how it is done and what is its purpose.

 

 

Great topic!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up for a Vipassana course. I'm on the waiting list. I hope to be lucky enough to get a spot.

 

Could you relate your experience a bit? You said that you received noticeable effects and still are, could you elaborate on that a bit? I've done a 5 day retreat with Adyashanti, but nothing with seated meditation as such integral focus. This technique and discipline seem to be a catalyst for some real integration and realization of things as-they-are.

 

and just because it sweetens the pot a little bit, did you have any beautiful body, mind, or spirit experiences bordering on the mystical??

 

Thank you.

 

ben

[Eviander]

There are many claims as to which meditation method the Buddha taught.

Here is a method backed up by the suttas of the Pali Canon : Mindfulness Of Breathing.

I've only recently started this method and it feels natural, unforced and tranquil.

 

Yea the terminology used here is very similar to what Goenka teaches about anapana, though he stresses a lot on being equanimous to the painful sensations while sitting cross legged, and I however did disagree with that (that pdf does as well) but other than that it is the same technique minus the Vipassana, which is actually the technique that will change your emotional-reaction patterns.

 

 

i took the above from this website and i thought it was cool that the cartoon dude representing 5 gates breathing look alot like..........one of my favorite people.

http://www.integraldynamics.org/BREATHING.html

 

Sounds cool, I am interested in Chinese techniques, though I am a strong believer that an oral transmission of the technique is necessary for proper success in it.

 

Great topic!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up for a Vipassana course. I'm on the waiting list. I hope to be lucky enough to get a spot.

 

Could you relate your experience a bit? You said that you received noticeable effects and still are, could you elaborate on that a bit? I've done a 5 day retreat with Adyashanti, but nothing with seated meditation as such integral focus. This technique and discipline seem to be a catalyst for some real integration and realization of things as-they-are.

 

and just because it sweetens the pot a little bit, did you have any beautiful body, mind, or spirit experiences bordering on the mystical??

 

Thank you.

 

ben

 

Yea, the first thing that you will notice if you practice the technique with determination is a subtle change in your emotional/reactional behavioral patterns. Before I took the course I was a very jealous and tight individual, getting angry emotions when people around me got praised for things instead of me, or when other people got noticed more than me. I also felt aversion for people who I felt where trying to "take my spot" or my field of talent. Now I feel more accepting to my position in society and more confident in my ability to succeed in things. Alot of my negative thinking and vain psychological patterns have been exposed. The first day out of the meditation retreat I felt like a completely different person. I did get back into partying abit, which I think took away from some of my development, but now I am completely sober, and usually don't even take caffeine. Don't expect to become enlightened or anything, but it is something that will help you succeed in the material world with day-to-day activities and it will gradually quiet your mind as well.

 

The whole philosophy is that we have this negative mental volition embedded in the framework of our mind/body physiology which Siddhartha labeled as "sankharas" which depending on how deep you go, have been creating the ego which has been causing us to incarnate into misery. The whole structure is maintained by our constant craving and aversion which is basically done unconsciously. It is through observing the sensations in our body as they are without judgement in which we are able to root out these sankharas and find an end to this suffering.

 

Now I had the whole nine-yards at this 10 day meditation but beforehand I had already been having visions and clairvoyance ect. which is what got me interested in meditation. I had kundalini experiences, moments of shifting perception, and all sorts of inner visions (the perception of hidden dimensions, endless tunnels, hexagrams, the ying/yang, serpents, and unexplainable ones) but I learned that ultimately they are all impermanent just like the sensations so they are ultimately not the purpose of meditation, though in my opinion they can be signs of a successful one. It is hard work though, if you are going don't be expecting some sort of pleasureful meditation, because it doesn't start out like that, but I wish you the best of luck in getting a spot, I had signed up twice before this time and it was always to late. Though you can sign up for one in a different town if your willing to travel.