Litlle problem

[Marius Tudor]

Hello , I am new to this forum and I have little knowledge of meditation, chi, and so on.Anyway I have a post in the "present yourself" part of the forum and I stated there some of my issues that I would like to fix.For start I need to calm my mind or meditate and I was told to try to sit in quiet environment and try not to think.Well, I have tried that but it does not work pretty well ,because my mind slips away quite fast.I would like to know in greater detail how to detach from distractions and calm the mind. Thank you!

[Harmonious Emptiness]

this topic might help:

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/20471-calm-spaciousness/page__p__290524__fromsearch__1entry290524

Edited November 23, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[Protector]

Don't force it

[Ish]

First step is to be relaxed and upright, as your sensitivity and body awareness increases, it's easy to tell where you're out of alignment or tense.

So first align your body and become comfortable, then bring your awareness to whatever you wish. Some useful tools are breath, body awareness, a mantra , an external object or a visualised object.

 

At the start this is basically building your concentration. You will get to a point where you can stay present and concentrated on whatever you want for extended periods of time.

 

Now how to apply concentration to your object? The answer is to use minimal force. Not too little so as to lose yourself in thoughts, and not too much which causes strain.

 

The subject of meditation goes very deep and wide, but this is a good start to gain control over the thoughts and develop concentration.

[Marius Tudor]

Thank you for your replies.That should be a great starting point.I will try today to meditate and tommorow morning I'll post my "result"

[ChiDragon]

Meditation requires breathing. Did you breathe Chi into the lower dan tian...???

 

The famous saying in Chi Kung Meditation and Martial Arts: 「氣沉丹田」

"Sunk the Chi to the lower dan tian"

 

What it does was to circulate the Chi inside the body for all the functions to take effect spontaneously...

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Gently focus on the breath, and concentrate on breathing.

 

When the mind slips, gently guide it back when you become aware that it has strayed from the breath.

 

Do not force it, but let it be. When the mind becomes attached to a thought (object) let it run it's course. If you become aware that it is no longer focused on the breath, simply remind it to concentrate, and let it return easily and effortlessly.

 

 

Practice makes perfect, but nobody can be perfect, thus we must continually practice, for that is perfection; the pursuit thereof. There are no overnight masters, but there are those in pursuit of mastery. Patience is the key. if you take it too hard, too fast, too much, too often, you will find that progress is too slow.

 

If you take to it casually and as though recreationally, you will find yourself unconcerned with progress, and more intent on practice.

[RiverSnake]

Thank you for your replies.That should be a great starting point.I will try today to meditate and tommorow morning I'll post my "result"

 

The way to get best results is to take the meditative state into your everydy life wherever you go so you practice 24 hours a day. Always be aware.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

[Marius Tudor]

Hello again guys! Yesterday I tried to meditate well in a different way that you suggested.When I were in bed be4 sleep I was listening to music ( it was dubstep ) and I just listened with minimal thinking.I just breathed and paid great attention to the beats.Unfortunately my "meditation" was pretty quick because I have fallen asleep in no-time.

 

I have also tried to meditate today but I didn't feel anything at all.I managed to breathe slowly and be thought-less but I failed to concentrate properly since I couldn't feel my body as I wanted.The whole process was 10 minutes only!

 

There are some things that I'd like to point out.Now I can be quite calm and stop the mind partially but I still need practice to feel for example my whole body and be basically more aware.

 

Till next time!

[Eric23]

 

There are some things that I'd like to point out.Now I can be quite calm and stop the mind partially but I still need practice to feel for example my whole body and be basically more aware.

 

Till next time!

 

It's not really a matter of stopping the mind, because you can't. It's more a matter of letting go of the attachment to your thoughts. When thoughts arise, don't become attached to them. Simply return to your breath. Do it as often as needed. As my yoga teacher says, it may be a couple of thousand times a minute

[Art]

Hello Marius!

 

It is rare to speak to someone who openly admits they are "new" and "know nothing". A lot of people have wandered here with years of experience, so it is refreshing to gain a new perspective. That being said, I am not a "master" and please take anything I say with a grain of salt; I am still learning and growing myself. This has been written with the best of intentions towards your growth. If I may, please allow me to make some observations and offer what I feel to be appropriate advice.

 

1) First and foremost, you seem to be someone who is making an honest attempt at pure pursuits, so that is a great start. Try not strive for power and seek the peace within.

 

2) This one is difficult; remain open-minded while developing your abilities to discern "truthful" information. The internet can be a valuable garden in a rotting shit-pile; one pretty much needs to sift through the shit to find the fruit.

 

3) It seems you've read up a little and have gotten some great advice, but try not to hold yourself to someone else's standards or definitions. This path you are on is yours to take and others may provide valuable advice along the way, however, try not to rely on anyone but yourself to find your way.

 

4) Focus on the journey and not the destination. When I began my journey within, it was comforting to simultaneously discover and learn about the different stages of growth. As mentioned, no two stories are the same, but I do believe in synchronicity; a person happens along the right information at the right time. Being able to know where you are on your journey helps.

 

5) If you've made it this far, then you have already been told what you need to know by the other responses. Start with posture, and breath, and move into mind. Its not necessarily "step-wise"; you can develop each simultaneously. Practice is key and as mentioned, "there are no overnight masters". Take it slow and steady and try to keep your "effort" between 70 and 80%.

 

6) I've found the breath to be key in advancing my posture and grounding the mind. The mind will wander and like others have said, that is natural. Once you learn to observe your mind and how it works, then you can learn to detach from thoughts. These are difficult things to describe in words but with practice and experience, you will come to understand. Abdominal breathing has changed my life and allowed for some of the things you are seeking. In particular, I use this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Breathing-Whole-Lifelong-Vitality/dp/1556438443/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322195676&sr=8-1

 

Don't feel pressured to spend money as the majority of what you need can be found here, shared freely by the kind and knowledgeable members of TTBs.

 

7) It may be helpful to remain grounded. The word "master" gets tossed around a lot; in my opinion, this is used because it is common nature to strive for the best, the top. This may or may not be attainable given one's intent and practice. Quite a few of those who claim to be "masters" aren't; on the other hand, you may run into quite a few "masters" on a daily basis and not even know it, until you have the eyes to see.

 

8) When the time if right, you will meet a "master" who can help you develop your "higher self". (I can't speak of this by experience because I am not there yet. Someday, but not yet; I am enjoying life as it is right now and don't have the proper time to become a "master").

 

Again, this was written with the best of intentions. I purposefully tried to stay away from "absolutist" statements, which is the reason for the "wordiness". Perhaps some of this is not necessary to share at this time and only complicates your request, but I believe this is the best I can offer for you.

 

Don't over-think it; keep your intent honest and pure, get comfortable and focus on the breath, let go and relax. There is little else you need to do.

 

Wishing you the best of luck,

 

Art

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Excellent points Art!

 

 

I will also say: for body focus, at least in the beginning, the trick is that you want to be aware and in the moment. If you hear a noise, you don't need to focus on it or block it out, it's just part of the moment. The same with thoughts, a thought comes and it goes. When you don't have thoughts, where else can you be but in the moment?

 

So in being aware, you are aware of sounds but not focused on them (unless you're doing one-point focus, but that's another story). You are aware of the moment, so as things happen you are aware that they are happening. This is where the body comes in, as sensations will happen as well, so you will be aware of them and this will build your awareness, rather than forcing your awareness onto something (which would be something else as mentioned), just know what's happening when it happens. Make sense?

 

Thoughts come, you don't grasp them. Release the grasp... Eventually the mind will settle. Keep at it with an intent heart. It sounds like you're starting to get better at it now..

[Marius Tudor]

Hello again!

 

I am glad that there are people that are willing to lend a hand and I couldn't be happier because all of this ultimately helps me to pursue what I want with greater ease.Of course at the moment I still value the outcome more than the journey itself , but I guess this will change in time.Another couple of things that I'd like to point out are "sorry for any language mistakes!" and "thank you for replying!" (I will use those 2 sentences as my signature from now on )

As for spending money, I won't because there is plenty of information and I believe that this information cannot be attained with money.

The real reason behind this post is to share with you the motivation behind my goal.At the moment I have to deal with a lot of stress.I have to thrive in a rather harsh social environment,I also need to rank very well academicaly but the greatest obstacle is the lack of time and being tired most of the time caused by having to wake up every day at 5.30AM in order to get to school in time.In addition I have to get in a good shape,because I want genuinely to look good or above.Those goals,I believe can be achieved with some effort and proper organisation,however I am looking for a way to help me deal better with all that stress and here are my options

 

food > not good , it makes me fat and I need to do the opposite

drugs > we all know what happens in the long run

reading (novels) > no thanks

tv > nope

...lastly meditation > it will help me to be more focused on what I have to do, the stress that is felt is diminished (that's why shaolin guys barely feel pain) smarter choices and a positive attitude towards life in general and used in conjuction with a martial arts programme would be extraordinarily beneficial.

So that's it for today.I am very tired right now and I'll go to sleep in a short time.Anyway I think I'll post every day my thoughts and progress so let this topic be my journal

Cya

Edited November 25, 2011 by Marius Tudor

[joeblast]

The journey is the outcome

 

Sleep when you need sleep, time set aside for meditation beforehand is time well spent. Dont grasp to notions of progress, do the fundamentals ten thousand times over and your practice will unfold of its own accord. That's not an excuse to slack of course, but one shouldnt be too rigid or too lax to produce the most efficacious results

[Harmonious Emptiness]

This might not be what you want to hear, but, if you need energy and focus, consider: what do the practices of top fighters and marathon meditators have in common? Celibacy. Guiding that energy to higher glands or chakras to make use of it is like having a power outlet where most people run on rechargeable batteries. It might make you a bit less focused at first, with more energy than you know how to deal with, but meditation will help center it into the dantien too. By the way, some martial artists remain celibate without giving up sex, as do Tantrikkas.

[Sloppy Zhang]

Generally speaking, "following the breath" as meditation helps because it centers focus on the breath, but not so much that it's not relaxing, but just enough that it keeps you engaged enough to prevent your mind to wander.

 

"Bruce Frantzis'" "Relaxing Into Your Being" outlines a good breathing meditation throughout the course of the book.

 

"Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" takes it a step further, and provides you a good framework for more continual process.

[konchog uma]

This might not be what you want to hear, but, if you need energy and focus, consider: what do the practices of top fighters and marathon meditators have in common? Celibacy. Guiding that energy to higher glands or chakras to make use of it is like having a power outlet where most people run on rechargeable batteries. It might make you a bit less focused at first, with more energy than you know how to deal with, but meditation will help center it into the dantien too. By the way, some martial artists remain celibate without giving up sex, as do Tantrikkas.

 

I think what Marius Tudor is trying to accomplish is stress management. Attempting any kind of semen retention can be maddening for beginners. Much less celibacy. So i think semen retention is GREAT, and all the sexual kungfu practice is close to my heart, but i just have to chime in in this case.

 

I am at ~50 days, and i totally agree with you in theory (i regularly go long periods between ejaculations but im not "going for 100 days" or anything like that, its just natural for me)

 

@MariusTudor: the thing that helped me most to accomplish meditation in the beginning was an attitude of acceptance. If you are breathing shallowly, just smile and engage your diaphram. If your mind wanders and you catch it racing, smile and return to the stillness that the posture enables. If your shoulders slouch and your back bows, smile and straighten it. Dont get frustrated at yourself. In vajrayana its called calm-abiding, accepting everything that arises on principle and not rejecting anything or fighting or struggling.. just calmly letting whatever happens happen, and doing your best to maintain the structure of meditation, from which the benefits are derived.

 

While i have found that the real work of meditation comes from sitting through discomfort, and dealing actively with the pains and aches of the body, in the beginning, if your back hurts to the point that you aren't kinda blissed out, just quit sitting. Do some stretching and breathing with the stretches to chill out. In the beginning, its like youre 8 years old and you just need to be treated gently. Don't push it or get the wrong ideas about hardcore practice. Just listen to your body, and keep sitting. I think its better to sit for 5 or 10 minutes than not at all, so if thats all you get to do in a given day, its better than not sitting by a LOT.

 

stick with it! if you are attempting to manage stress, visualize sitting on a beach, your breath and the waves in harmony, the ocean and you are one. At your back is a mountain, where spiritual accomplishments and tranquility reign. You can either practice sustaining this visualization as a mandala practice, or just come back to it when you get frustrated by the obstacles of beginning. Bless you!

[konchog uma]

also marius,

 

doing yoga like neck rolls, and the plow/cobra combo helps keep you comfortable through sitting.

 

you should look them up, but i just recommended it to someone else so i will cut and paste that here

 

the cobra pose opens the conception vessel, and the plow pose opens the governing vessel. To do cobra, lie on your stomach, putting your hands at heart level and pushing the upper half of the body up, stretching out the chest and stomach. Keep the hips on the ground, heels together, and raise the chin high to stretch also the neck and throat. Breathe in this position for a while, keeping the mind on the ren mai or the dan tian. It will help to open blockages and isolate energy tensions.

 

to do the plow, lie on your back and put your hands out 45 degrees to the side. Lift the legs over the head and touch the toes down over your head so your weight is on your shoulders and you are looking at your knees. Keep the legs straight.

 

it is good to do these exercises together, since they balance on another. Don't do the cobra without doing the plow or vice versa. It helps me to breathe with my focus on the perineum since that is the beginning and end of the du and ren mai.

Edited November 25, 2011 by anamatva

[Marius Tudor]

I think what Marius Tudor is trying to accomplish is stress management. Attempting any kind of semen retention can be maddening for beginners. Much less celibacy. So i think semen retention is GREAT, and all the sexual kungfu practice is close to my heart, but i just have to chime in in this case.

 

I am at ~50 days, and i totally agree with you in theory (i regularly go long periods between ejaculations but im not "going for 100 days" or anything like that, its just natural for me)

 

@MariusTudor: the thing that helped me most to accomplish meditation in the beginning was an attitude of acceptance. If you are breathing shallowly, just smile and engage your diaphram. If your mind wanders and you catch it racing, smile and return to the stillness that the posture enables. If your shoulders slouch and your back bows, smile and straighten it. Dont get frustrated at yourself. In vajrayana its called calm-abiding, accepting everything that arises on principle and not rejecting anything or fighting or struggling.. just calmly letting whatever happens happen, and doing your best to maintain the structure of meditation, from which the benefits are derived.

 

While i have found that the real work of meditation comes from sitting through discomfort, and dealing actively with the pains and aches of the body, in the beginning, if your back hurts to the point that you aren't kinda blissed out, just quit sitting. Do some stretching and breathing with the stretches to chill out. In the beginning, its like youre 8 years old and you just need to be treated gently. Don't push it or get the wrong ideas about hardcore practice. Just listen to your body, and keep sitting. I think its better to sit for 5 or 10 minutes than not at all, so if thats all you get to do in a given day, its better than not sitting by a LOT.

 

stick with it! if you are attempting to manage stress, visualize sitting on a beach, your breath and the waves in harmony, the ocean and you are one. At your back is a mountain, where spiritual accomplishments and tranquility reign. You can either practice sustaining this visualization as a mandala practice, or just come back to it when you get frustrated by the obstacles of beginning. Bless you!

 

 

also marius,

 

doing yoga like neck rolls, and the plow/cobra combo helps keep you comfortable through sitting.

 

you should look them up, but i just recommended it to someone else so i will cut and paste that here

 

the cobra pose opens the conception vessel, and the plow pose opens the governing vessel. To do cobra, lie on your stomach, putting your hands at heart level and pushing the upper half of the body up, stretching out the chest and stomach. Keep the hips on the ground, heels together, and raise the chin high to stretch also the neck and throat. Breathe in this position for a while, keeping the mind on the ren mai or the dan tian. It will help to open blockages and isolate energy tensions.

 

to do the plow, lie on your back and put your hands out 45 degrees to the side. Lift the legs over the head and touch the toes down over your head so your weight is on your shoulders and you are looking at your knees. Keep the legs straight.

 

it is good to do these exercises together, since they balance on another. Don't do the cobra without doing the plow or vice versa. It helps me to breathe with my focus on the perineum since that is the beginning and end of the du and ren mai.

 

Hello again! I should have mentioned that stress "removal" is only one thing that I'd like to achieve.For instance I'd like also to manage emotions such as fear and anger so that I do not react irationally,though I am a bit confused since I heard that one should not dismiss his emotions but rather be guided by them or something like that. It is about that "emotional content" talk that you find in Bruce Lee films.

In my case emotions happen many times to draw me back

 

anger>>>i'm not angry enough literally...when I get angry it quickly fades away.

fear>>>I often get in the situation of being afraid of something and when this happens I often think 100000000 times about what should I do and so on...

The bottom line is that many times I happen to be in the situation of being overwhelmed by emotions and just stay there without doing nothing clever, but when the feeling dissapear many solutions stubmle across my mind.

 

The good thing that I'd like to share with you is that I have noticed a slight progress.I have managed to be in a better state of mind,learn a bit quicker and I were able to say "NO" in daily life situations that I would otherwise say "COME TO PAPA" which is good for now.

After I become proficient at handling emotions and physical stress I would like pretty much to go deeper and learn how to feel that "qi" or "ying/yang chi" (there is a guy dinamo jack which said that there are 2 types of chi) and so on

Thanks again!

[konchog uma]

Hello again! I should have mentioned that stress "removal" is only one thing that I'd like to achieve.For instance I'd like also to manage emotions such as fear and anger so that I do not react irationally,though I am a bit confused since I heard that one should not dismiss his emotions but rather be guided by them or something like that. It is about that "emotional content" talk that you find in Bruce Lee films.

In my case emotions happen many times to draw me back

 

anger>>>i'm not angry enough literally...when I get angry it quickly fades away.

fear>>>I often get in the situation of being afraid of something and when this happens I often think 100000000 times about what should I do and so on...

The bottom line is that many times I happen to be in the situation of being overwhelmed by emotions and just stay there without doing nothing clever, but when the feeling dissapear many solutions stubmle across my mind.

 

The good thing that I'd like to share with you is that I have noticed a slight progress.I have managed to be in a better state of mind,learn a bit quicker and I were able to say "NO" in daily life situations that I would otherwise say "COME TO PAPA" which is good for now.

After I become proficient at handling emotions and physical stress I would like pretty much to go deeper and learn how to feel that "qi" or "ying/yang chi" (there is a guy dinamo jack which said that there are 2 types of chi) and so on

Thanks again!

 

Well making small progress every day is the way to go at first. Just keep sitting. Why do you want to be angrier? You don't need anger. If it fades away quickly thats a sign of a healthy body. This isn't an action movie. And as to fear, as you meditate, you will find that your emotions regulate themselves more to your benefit and less work against you than they did at first. There are specific emotional meditations, and since each emotion is the expression of an organ (fear/kidneys) there are specific qigongs you can do to build the strength of those organs. As you learn more im sure your practice will deepen. For kidneys, practice touching your toes, stretching the lower back and breathing with the belly in a smooth fashion. You can breath healing light from the pure source of reality into your kidneys too just by intending it and visualizing it. It will have an effect if practiced daily.

 

Traditional chinese medicine recognizes 18 kinds of qi, and thats just human kinds. There are countless kinds of qi, dynamo jack was probably talking about yin qi and yang qi. I wouldn't think too hard about all that just yet.

[Marius Tudor]

Well making small progress every day is the way to go at first. Just keep sitting. Why do you want to be angrier? You don't need anger. If it fades away quickly thats a sign of a healthy body. This isn't an action movie. And as to fear, as you meditate, you will find that your emotions regulate themselves more to your benefit and less work against you than they did at first. There are specific emotional meditations, and since each emotion is the expression of an organ (fear/kidneys) there are specific qigongs you can do to build the strength of those organs. As you learn more im sure your practice will deepen. For kidneys, practice touching your toes, stretching the lower back and breathing with the belly in a smooth fashion. You can breath healing light from the pure source of reality into your kidneys too just by intending it and visualizing it. It will have an effect if practiced daily.

 

Traditional chinese medicine recognizes 18 kinds of qi, and thats just human kinds. There are countless kinds of qi, dynamo jack was probably talking about yin qi and yang qi. I wouldn't think too hard about all that just yet.

 

Many people that I know get angry quite fast and I wonder why I get mad rarely,even if someone picks on me.Shouldn't I respond in a "violent" ( the word is too harsh but I didn't find another one) way?

[konchog uma]

Many people that I know get angry quite fast and I wonder why I get mad rarely,even if someone picks on me.Shouldn't I respond in a "violent" ( the word is too harsh but I didn't find another one) way?

 

being slow to anger is a sign of natural wisdom. If you don't get angry, don't get angry. Just laugh it off or something. A lot of people who are quick to respond with anger and violence wish they could be more patient, so count yourself blessed!

[Marius Tudor]

Hello again after 1 day of not posting anything

 

I come now with a rather practical problem but which needs an "immediate" fix.Many times when I go to bed my metabolism is at an elevated rate ( or just my mind is) and that is why I fall asleep quite hard.For instance if I go in bed at 8 am, I might fall asleep at 9 , half-past 9 or even 10.As a consequence when I wake up at 5:30 in the morning (many times I just cannot wake up at that time) I feel extremely tired and also feel depleted all the day which means that I am less motivated to do sports or even learn for example.

The bottom line is that I would like to fall asleep quicker (I tried to meditate but the body/mind just didn't diminish it's activity) and hence feel more energetic during the day

Thank you!

[Harmonious Emptiness]

It's good to meditate before you even get out of bed, even for just 10 or 15 minutes. You might try that to get into the day. Some ginseng in the morning and a stretching routine could help as well. This is a good one:

 

Meditating before bed is routine for a lot of monks, and might help too. 7 hours should be plenty of sleep, even if 8 is ideal. Too much sleep can make you feel heavy.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I think what Marius Tudor is trying to accomplish is stress management. Attempting any kind of semen retention can be maddening for beginners. Much less celibacy. So i think semen retention is GREAT, and all the sexual kungfu practice is close to my heart, but i just have to chime in in this case.

 

I am at ~50 days, and i totally agree with you in theory (i regularly go long periods between ejaculations but im not "going for 100 days" or anything like that, its just natural for me)

 

 

Yeah, I guess I wasn't too clear also.. I meant more just "don't squander your fuel" if fatigue is an issue. Even retaining for 1 week at a time can make a big difference for most people's energy level. Plus it builds testosterone and retains a lot of nutrients so it could actually help to reduce stress.

 

Anyway, if this is of any interest, check out "Tao of Health, Sex, and Vitality" by Daniel Reid. It can give you some wickid skills with the ladies too , which is a great stress reduction imo..