med skills...progress

[karmacox]

i've been trying med for a month or two now and i just had some questions:

1) whats the diff betn med and concentration skills...are they coherently developed??

(buddhism says its diff) coz staring at a wall i cud forcefully push my thuts away to develop concentration but in med i have to just passively observe thut and be one with my breath right? (like zen buddhism says the more u try to silence thut, the less sucessfull u become...)

2) bruce says u need to target 3 min of no verbal chatter...how long did it take u guys to get there? and this 3 min thingy can be reached by forcefully pushing away thuts (which produces the effect of forehead pressure to me) right?

3) can i concentrate on my heart beat or pulsing on my hands insted of my breath coz with my hunch back, the spine straight thing just doesnt do with comfortable breathing?? (lying down causes sleep)

thanx...

[karmacox]

anybody an answer to any of these questions if not all...??

thnx

[Job]

Concentration is more simple than meditation. Concentration just involves keeping attention. Basic concentration is not perfect (there are many thoughts which interfere).

Not every method of concentration helps for meditation. The goal of meditation is perfect concentration (having complete mental control so that there are no random thoughts). With meditation there is not only no speaking, but there is also no mental speaking. Mental speaking can be thought of as not only words, but thoughts about discomfort with one's position, desires to move, thinking about what one will do after meditating, and so on...

Many wise practitioners of the past have used meditation for a more specific purpose (though many people don't know the 'true' purpose of meditation)--to get into the Causal plane of the 6th dimension.

[Job]

1. Focusing on the heartbeat is okay. Some people feel the heartbeat wherever it can be felt in the body because it is not always easy to feel it from the heart.

A mantra can also be used for concentration:

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=193568#193568