Need a mantra

[markern]

I have been trying to do Vipassana meditation for a while, which is the the style I am drawn to. However, Something isen`t working as it should becuase after a while I have started to fall into trance like states where my awareness goes from getting sharper and sharper to being dulled down. It feels like the back, middle and upper frontal part of my barin fals a sleep and that only the lower frontal part remains awake. I former budhist monk I talked to called this mental faling and said it is sometimes a problem. I have tried to corect this by sharpening my awareness of the breath in the nose which is supposed to be the focus point, but it just does not work. I think what I need to do is use a mantra for some time. When I use mantras my brain stays awake more easily. However, I want to try something different than the ones i know of. Does anyone know of a mantra that is good for making ones awareness and concentration sharp and awake while at the same time being relaxing?

[Mantra68]

I have been trying to do Vipassana meditation for a while, which is the the style I am drawn to. However, Something isen`t working as it should becuase after a while I have started to fall into trance like states where my awareness goes from getting sharper and sharper to being dulled down. It feels like the back, middle and upper frontal part of my barin fals a sleep and that only the lower frontal part remains awake. I former budhist monk I talked to called this mental faling and said it is sometimes a problem. I have tried to corect this by sharpening my awareness of the breath in the nose which is supposed to be the focus point, but it just does not work. I think what I need to do is use a mantra for some time. When I use mantras my brain stays awake more easily. However, I want to try something different than the ones i know of. Does anyone know of a mantra that is good for making ones awareness and concentration sharp and awake while at the same time being relaxing?

They say the best mantra is your own name.

[thelerner]

I felt the same thing happening to me. In moving towards emptiness I was at times missing the target and going into dullness; sleepiness instead of aware in the void.

 

I don't use a mantra, I use a vispassana negation at the beginning, it changes and evolves as time goes on. Here is a current version:

 

I am not my body, I am that which inhabits it.

I am not my thoughts, they are like clouds passing in the sky, a tool I can choose to use or not.

I am not my emotions, I acknowledge them and let them calm like ripples in a pond.

I am not my past, that is old patterns and memories I can choose not to repeat.

I am not my future, that is projections and imaginings that have no meaning now.

I am not my family though I love and care for them.

 

I am awareness and breath.

 

 

I'll repeat awareness and breath whenever thoughts interfere. I don't use it as a mantra but as a reminder. I welcome sounds, smells and breezes, but not thought. Keeping breath and awareness foremost has deepened my meditative state.

 

Michael

 

 

Interesting Mantra68 and I were posting an answer at the same time. Figures he'd be pro Mantra

[Guest sykkelpump]

You can try I am,from this site works great.

http://www.aypsite.org/

[Unconditioned]

I felt the same thing happening to me. In moving towards emptiness I was at times missing the target and going into dullness; sleepiness instead of aware in the void.

 

I don't use a mantra, I use a vispassana negation at the beginning, it changes and evolves as time goes on. Here is a current version:

 

I am not my body, I am that which inhabits it.

I am not my thoughts, they are like clouds passing in the sky, a tool I can choose to use or not.

I am not my emotions, I acknowledge them and let them calm like ripples in a pond.

I am not my past, that is old patterns and memories I can choose not to repeat.

I am not my future, that is projections and imaginings that have no meaning now.

I am not my family though I love and care for them.

 

I am awareness and breath.

I'll repeat awareness and breath whenever thoughts interfere. I don't use it as a mantra but as a reminder. I welcome sounds, smells and breezes, but not thought. Keeping breath and awareness foremost has deepened my meditative state.

 

Michael

Interesting Mantra68 and I were posting an answer at the same time. Figures he'd be pro Mantra

 

I also use a similar approach but more of a command than thought. I typically use "Just BE" when my mind begins to wander at the start of meditation. I will often recite this until I am just being. The beauty of this and the technique that you use is that when you do/are what the thought says, the thought goes away. Sort of a self-destructing mechanism.

 

Here are a few other's that I've used with some good results:

"Drop" (as in drop the thought)

"Let go"

"I am THIS"

"Deeper"

"Still"

 

Those may not work for anyone else at all so maybe a good practice is to find your own mantra. One of the ways I understand mantras to work are that it recreates the conditions that were present when an enlightened being became enlightened.

 

Another way that I understand mantras work is similar to Vipasanna, that it gives your mind one object to focus on until you and that object are no longer two separate things OR until the object disappears and only the true Self remains.

 

Like anything - don't take my word for it =) Try a few things, keep doing your homework like you're doing, and find what resonates with you.

[Aetherous]

Isn't vipassana just a noting practice? So if you're going into a trance state, simply recognize it as that. You don't identify yourself as the one noting, and don't try to change things. At least that's how I understand the practice.

 

When you are focusing on something like a mantra that's an entirely different kind of meditation. And with that type of meditation there's often a long drawn out period of going into different states of mind and falling asleep...so, I wouldn't be looking for a quick fix.

 

BTW, I know that the two types of meditation are often combined, since you need a pretty good ability to focus before being able to step back and simply observe.

[Sahaj Nath]

Isn't vipassana just a noting practice? So if you're going into a trance state, simply recognize it as that. You don't identify yourself as the one noting, and don't try to change things.

 

 

agreed. abandon the assumption that you need to "do" something about whatever arises that you weren't expecting. let it unfold as it does, without your mitigating the unfolding. the way i see it, if you can't do that, it's not meditation.

 

it may be something right that's occurring rather than something wrong. go into it with the wisdom of 'complete ignorance.'

 

beginner's mind.

[Teddy]

A mantra that helps you be sharp, awake, and relaxed. yes: "I am sharp, awake and relaxed"

[Trunk]

om mani peme hung (link to previous post on the mantra)

[Pietro]

I have been trying to do Vipassana meditation for a while, which is the the style I am drawn to. However, Something isen`t working as it should becuase after a while I have started to fall into trance like states where my awareness goes from getting sharper and sharper to being dulled down. It feels like the back, middle and upper frontal part of my barin fals a sleep and that only the lower frontal part remains awake. I former budhist monk I talked to called this mental faling and said it is sometimes a problem. I have tried to corect this by sharpening my awareness of the breath in the nose which is supposed to be the focus point, but it just does not work. I think what I need to do is use a mantra for some time. When I use mantras my brain stays awake more easily. However, I want to try something different than the ones i know of. Does anyone know of a mantra that is good for making ones awareness and concentration sharp and awake while at the same time being relaxing?

 

 

Bruce use to teach the following:

 

Omm cocacola,

omm cocacola,

omm cocacola,

ommmmmmmmm pepsi.

 

He did it for a week end and then tested the results, and found similar measurements than the more traditional ones.

 

If this works than maybe you can make up your own

[markern]

Thanks for good advice. My meditation is improving somewhat becuase i say stuff like "be awarw" to myself. I am holding of on using mantras for still some time becuase it feels like I can figure this out somehow. It apears to me that the position of my eyes has a lot to say. If my eyes look straight forward (even though they are closed), I stay a lot more awake than if they turn down. However my natural inclination is to turn them down. Especially since I am meditationg on the breath in my nostrils whcih are al little more down than straight ahead of the eyes. However, if I try to look straight ahead I get a little bit too much intense and it seems harder to be aware of my nose. Besides I thought the instruction was to be aware of the breath in the nose and forget about everything else. Not to controll things like the eyes but just let them do whatever they do.

[thelerner]

Bruce use to teach the following:

 

Omm cocacola,

omm cocacola,

omm cocacola,

ommmmmmmmm pepsi.

 

He did it for a week end and then tested the results, and found similar measurements than the more traditional ones.

 

If this works than maybe you can make up your own

 

I guess it shows 'Coke is the real thing' or is it pepsi?

 

 

[.broken.]

Thanks for good advice. My meditation is improving somewhat becuase i say stuff like "be awarw" to myself. I am holding of on using mantras for still some time becuase it feels like I can figure this out somehow. It apears to me that the position of my eyes has a lot to say. If my eyes look straight forward (even though they are closed), I stay a lot more awake than if they turn down. However my natural inclination is to turn them down. Especially since I am meditationg on the breath in my nostrils whcih are al little more down than straight ahead of the eyes. However, if I try to look straight ahead I get a little bit too much intense and it seems harder to be aware of my nose. Besides I thought the instruction was to be aware of the breath in the nose and forget about everything else. Not to controll things like the eyes but just let them do whatever they do.

 

What you say is true, it is easier to focus on the nostrils when looking down and it is also true that doing so can make one feel drowsy. I had the pleasure of meeting a Buddhist nun who instructed that if you are feeling drowsy you should point your eyes above the horizontal until you no longer feel so.

 

Yours humbly,

James

[mat black]

om mani peme hung (link to previous post on the mantra)

this is a treasure, great sugestion Trunk

 

some related background here ..............

http://www.dhagpo-kagyu.org/anglais/scienc...ra_shangpa1.htm

[mouse]

I have been trying to do Vipassana meditation for a while, which is the the style I am drawn to. However, Something isen`t working as it should becuase after a while I have started to fall into trance like states where my awareness goes from getting sharper and sharper to being dulled down. It feels like the back, middle and upper frontal part of my barin fals a sleep and that only the lower frontal part remains awake. I former budhist monk I talked to called this mental faling and said it is sometimes a problem. I have tried to corect this by sharpening my awareness of the breath in the nose which is supposed to be the focus point, but it just does not work. I think what I need to do is use a mantra for some time. When I use mantras my brain stays awake more easily. However, I want to try something different than the ones i know of. Does anyone know of a mantra that is good for making ones awareness and concentration sharp and awake while at the same time being relaxing?

 

 

markern,

 

Awareness meditation is noting "as it is."

 

However, when stupor comes, you must still note with CLARITY. Not just a blind noting as you will drop off. Stupor and other emotions/feelings are to be noted as impermanent. They are conditioned.

 

A meditation word used in your practice is just a tool. It uses one "thought" to counter other thoughts. The meditation word once you enter a state of concentration is normally dropped. In the terevada tradition, we use "Bud-dho" (Buddha), "Dham-mo" (Dhamma) or "Sang-ho" (Sangha) in time with the in and out breath.

 

Using the tip of the nose where air enters is a common practice. The point is not relevant so long as it is in your body. (citta resides in body for now) You can choose the heart center or use the whole body as the meditation object. I found the tip of the nose good for me sometimes and other times not as good. I often use the heart centre now.

 

A very simple method that is done when having problems with clarity or when your head starts to drop off is to do meditation with your eyes open. Use a soft gaze at the floor in front of you.

 

Hope this helps. Give the various methods a go but try to stick with one long enough to find out if it is suitable for you. Flip flopping in the chasing various methods is counter-productive.

 

Enjoy your practice.

 

mouse

[BigJonMud]

From a bunch of forest monks living in sandstone caves, I took the advice of 'buddho'. Theravadin forest tradition. They still managed to keep sharp in subzero temperatures with only a robe and 1 thin blanket, and favoured this mantra with vipassana.

'Bud'.. (bood) on the in breath, and 'dho' (do) on the outbreath.

'Metta' or the practice of loving kindness using the mantra 'may I be happy', was also popular amongst the forest monks.

Using either mantra for short periods of time seemed to quell some boredom, and rejuvinate my mind to pierce even deeper on the next round of anna-panna. Even while lying down and meditating through the night, revolving through several mantras and back to scanning the body kept me awake and sharp for the last 7 days of a retreat.

 

Then there were the jelly babies that I smuggled in, to treat my quietening mind and re-affirm success. 2 years since my last retreat, and 1 single jellybaby can still slide me into a nice samadhi:)

Edited September 15, 2008 by BigJonMud

[Guest sykkelpump]

Thanks for good advice. My meditation is improving somewhat becuase i say stuff like "be awarw" to myself. I am holding of on using mantras for still some time becuase it feels like I can figure this out somehow. It apears to me that the position of my eyes has a lot to say. If my eyes look straight forward (even though they are closed), I stay a lot more awake than if they turn down. However my natural inclination is to turn them down. Especially since I am meditationg on the breath in my nostrils whcih are al little more down than straight ahead of the eyes. However, if I try to look straight ahead I get a little bit too much intense and it seems harder to be aware of my nose. Besides I thought the instruction was to be aware of the breath in the nose and forget about everything else. Not to controll things like the eyes but just let them do whatever they do.

[Guest sykkelpump]

I have been trying to do Vipassana meditation for a while, which is the the style I am drawn to. However, Something isen`t working as it should becuase after a while I have started to fall into trance like states where my awareness goes from getting sharper and sharper to being dulled down. It feels like the back, middle and upper frontal part of my barin fals a sleep and that only the lower frontal part remains awake. I former budhist monk I talked to called this mental faling and said it is sometimes a problem. I have tried to corect this by sharpening my awareness of the breath in the nose which is supposed to be the focus point, but it just does not work. I think what I need to do is use a mantra for some time. When I use mantras my brain stays awake more easily. However, I want to try something different than the ones i know of. Does anyone know of a mantra that is good for making ones awareness and concentration sharp and awake while at the same time being relaxing?

 

You should only meditate when you feel awake,morning is always best.I use this exersise sometimes before meditation.it might help you.Its a good exersise anyway for waking up the spine.

 

 

Also you should not focus on your nose,only on your breath.when your thoughts slow down your mind will automatically follow the breath.you can not controll it,or make it happen at will by feeling the breath coming and leaving.your thoughts need to slow down because you are watching every micro millimeter of the breath.but dont watch it with so much concentration that you are disturbing your natural breathing.you are watching evey part of the inhale,the pause between and the exhale.it is really simple,but needs practice.I belive it is the best meditation.because your internal breathing starts very fast in this meditation.And in every other meditation I have tried my breath has always disturbed me a little.it is impossible to not notice it.but here you use it as a tool.a very natural tool

I need to do it 2 times a day to be good at it,the morning is always the best

That is my thoughts on meditation,anyway good luck

[Pero]

You should only meditate when you feel awake,morning is always best.

 

Yeah they say that but I'm usually the most asleep during the morning and the most awake during the night.

[mouse]

Yeah they say that but I'm usually the most asleep during the morning and the most awake during the night.

 

 

You should meditate every waking moment. Not just a fixed time. Everytime your mind wanders from your breath bring it back. Do it without resentment or resistance. A newly harnessed horse will always be wild and cannot be put to use.

 

Anapanasati does not need a set time. It is every passing moment. Even during sleep if you can manage that which is why it is a good practice to note your breath when you sleep. One practice to to note when your mind slips off into sleep, on the in breath or on the out breath. See if you can remember in the morning.

 

Enjoy your practice.

 

mouse

[Pero]

You should meditate every waking moment. Not just a fixed time. Everytime your mind wanders from your breath bring it back. Do it without resentment or resistance. A newly harnessed horse will always be wild and cannot be put to use.

 

Anapanasati does not need a set time. It is every passing moment. Even during sleep if you can manage that which is why it is a good practice to note your breath when you sleep. One practice to to note when your mind slips off into sleep, on the in breath or on the out breath. See if you can remember in the morning.

 

Enjoy your practice.

 

mouse

 

Thanks, but I don't practice that. And when for me when I say meditation, in general it means more like formal sitting session.

[eyeagainst]

I usually use "Quiet, you." In an attempt to not only quiet the errant thinking but to also acknowledge the separation between my Higher Self and my monkey brain...