Focus awareness
nirvana & meditation
Sort:
As I said earlier the terms focus and concentrate are synonymous. Maybe focusing, concentrating your 'attention' also is a good description.
Adding the term "awareness" or "attention" imo (and others) better describes the practice of meditation. To just say focus , concentrate can be misleading. On what? People get their own ideas and will direct their efforts in wrong directions.
Starts to explain why a qualified teacher is necessary for the initiate. Misconception, misdirection of effort is easily came by. Talking of meditation and it's meaning, practices in a forum often leads to confusion.
A 1 on 1 sit down with a teacher is essential to reach true understanding as each persons perceptions differ. The teacher recognizes how to best explain to individuals.
mdinnerspace wrote:
Focus awareness
How does one focus awareness? Hmm...must be some effort involved, sort of like concentrating on 1 object with no other distractions. The meditator practices the act of meditation to achieve the state of meditation.
Till_98 wrote:
You don´t need a teacher to meditate. :)
I suppose not. Then again people's misconceptions will most assuredly lead to failure.
A simple explanation comparable to learning chess:
The game has been played and studied, books written by masters who have learned from trial and error. A new player can take advantage of shared knowledge, take a shortcut.
Sure he can strickly adhere to his own devices, but quickly can become discouraged by failure or just as comman, learning the wrong approach.
An ex-wife makes a good example. After years of refusing to play her, I finally relented. I gave her a book on the basics. She refused to read it, saying it was almost 'cheating, a crutch'. She could figure out it out herself. After losing badly so many games, she finally gave up, saying it's just a stupid game anyway. Got no arguement from me on the last point.
You should have tried strip chess, then.
You are kinda close xming in your understanding of true meditation. That's all the farther I'll elaborate. To go into details of a specific technigue here is incorrect. 1st I am not a qualified teacher. 2nd. It would only lead assuredly to misconceptions and people trying stuff 'their way'. Most scoff at practicing meditation incorrectly can have detrimental effects. However, this is true.
Never a problem pulp
Good!
mdinnerspace...agree, we should tread lightly. My last point is this, a technique from Yogananda. I knew one of his students. The story goes like this: A person asked Yogananda to teach a meditation technique. He Ok. First, Sit in posture. Secondly, See the light. And thirdly, enter the light.
Very good.
The student will undoubtedly have questions.
It is no easy under taking. Not something accomplished on the 1st few go arounds.
After my initiation I was sent to a room for my 1st meditation session. Afterwards, I spent about 10 minutes with the teacher asking questions. He basically answered me with "shut up, stop worrying your head about things you do not yet understand. Just practice twice a day and forget about it afterwards". Good instruction. Of course I did not understand then, and may not now.
Initiation into ...?
Transcendental meditation. I was instructed by the Maharishi Yogi himself . Got to speak with him in the follow up.
He was in the US about 1972 as I recall. Berkely, Ca.
I have 'sometimers' now. (as opposed to alltimers) and am practicing more often. It helps.
Apr 13, 2016
0
#199
Chicken_Monster wrote:
trysts wrote:
I really wasn't making fun of it:) I just was curious if astral projection is real, like does it fit into the whole meditation thing?
It's either real, or my mind has played tricks on me. I studied it a bit. I have been a point of consciousness on several occasions. I could travel around and look at details that I coulnd't otherwise remember. For example, I could zoom in on my bike and count the number of spokes and every rivet in the chain. Perhaps it was just information stored in my mind that can't normally access...I may have accessed stored information during dreams. No, I'm not nuts. :)
Cool! Have you ever astral projected to the moon? I read about someone doing that
@Trysts: Are you teasing me? Everything I said is true. I was never able to leave the room I was in (e.g., my dorm room in undergrad). I tried. I was stuck in my room. I wanted to travel the world and the universe. It didn't work. I keep an open mind though. If it were just hiddden memories, wouldn't I be able to leave the room? I have also been able to multiple 8-digit by 8-digit numbers in my sleep...not paper...it was a virtual chalkboard. I could do ridiculous long division etc. These are things I cannot normally do "in my head." We only use 10% of our minds. Perhaps I just tapped into the other 90% several times. Check out the movie called Limitless starring Bradley Cooper.
To focus on one object is like concentrating on one object. What I mean by concentration has nothing to do with analyzing or intellectualizing. If you concentrate on a candle flame, this is the same as focusing which is not the same of feeling. Know what I mean here? Maybe I am not clear.