meditation

[kairi]

does anyone know what is meditation anyways and what ur suppost to do to meditate? if u know please tell me it would really help me

[anarchyhollow]

Meditation is being, without attatchment. It's not explainable in words, you have to experience for yourself, so get to it! One pointed thinking sort of...meh, it's not explainable. All i can tell you, is that meditation is the best 'thing' i've ever decided to do. I've said to much already. Buy a good book on it, or read some of the many sites online. Also, reading about it does you no good, you have to actually practice and commit yourself.  Me, Myself, and God.

[Mystic Cloud]

There are many different types of meditation. I would say that the
most efficient in the beginning atleast would be to meditate on nothingness.
Which in practice is to keep your mind blank of all thoughts. To a beginner
this may sound like a stupid thing to do, but it is actually important, energizing and calming for your being.

The easiest way is to just relax yourself and then just either concentrate
100% on something, ignoring the thoughts if any come. Just sit there
keeping the mind blank and observing without attachment to anything
that comes up.

If you do this 10 minutes / day for 2 weeks period everyday I am
sure you will notice some results in your mind. If you do this for a full
year you will certainly be very different(in a positive way) by the end of that year.

[kmD]

meditation is different for everyone, because we are all individuals and meditation is just an extension of self. There are many methods, many suggestions, but when it comes down to it, its really just way to relax and let your mind process work. Do what comes natural to you, then research and try different ideas and embrace what works for you. Good luck!

[Leo Volont]

Meditation is used to first control the mind, and then to guide it.

Mantra Meditation is perhaps the most popular and effective.  TM meditation teaches a Mantra which you say or think over and over again, excluding all other thoughts.

AUM TAT SAT is a very popular Mantra.  It means 'I am That', which is to say that you are the Divine.

Ram Das used to swear by AUM MANI PADME HUM.

For a year I did the Gayatri Mantra, AUM BHOOR BHUVASVAH TAT SAVITUR VARINYUM BHARGO DEVOSYA DHIMAHI DIYO YONA PRACHODYAT,  which gave me the most powerful Meditation Dream I had ever had.

Just plain AUM is maybe the greatest and most powerful of Mantras, but it is so short that often people do not think it is enough.

[The Night Mist]

Excuse me but what does PADME mean?

[Leo Volont]

Excuse me but what does PADME mean?

I found a couple of Pages that discuss the AUM MANI PADME HUM Mantra.

This Site talks in great depth about what each letter and syllable means without actually discussing the literal meanings of the words:

http://dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm


This Site tells us what the words mean.  MANI means Jewel, and Padme means Lotus.  So, overall, the Mantra can be literally translated as "Behold, the Jewel in the Lotus".  It is the finding of Enlightenment.

http://www.zamba.com/BuddhasVillage/teachings/hhomph.htm

[Leo Volont]

After posting such flattering Sites for the AUM MANI PADME HUM Mantra, I thought I should not do less for the OM TAT SAT Mantra, which, afterall, is probably the better Mantra (shorter always seems sweeter... though I never quite can give up the Gayatri Mantra with its 24 syllables, probably because it took me so long to repeat it with ease).  

This one Site gives an overview of the OM TAT SAT Mantra:   http://theosophy.org/tlodocs/Readings/4.htm


This next site elucidates upon the discussion of the OM TAT SAT Mantra found in the Bhagavad Gita starting in Chapter 17 Verse 23.:

http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/bhagavad-gita-17-23.htm



By the way, the Bhagavad Gita is probably the foremost Spiritual Text ever written -- it forms the nucleus of Esoteric Hinduism.  And though the Hindus claim it is very ancient, it just so happens that it was written late enough that it had already well digested the Truths of Buddhims (the reason Buddhism fell off to practically nothing on the Indian Subcontinent was that Hinduism was sly enough to co-opt and incorporate it).  But the biggest problem with the Bhagavad Gita is finding a good translation that isn't buried in volumes of commentary.  it is actually a very small book.  The best translation I've found is published by the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centers, but they do not have an On Line Book Store, but will deal with you Snail Mail.  But I looked around and Amazon.Com has it:   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0911206108/qid=1102142199/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-3802614-4512653?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[You]

It's a Buddhist mantra, some say the teachings of the Buddha are contained within that simple phrase.

There are a lot of websites of meditation, just go to one with high traffic or sign out a book from the library on it, try many different sources of information, they'll get you by. Going by personal opinions on a forum isn't a very good way to find out what meditation is, or how to practise it.

[Kane98969]

what is meditation anyways

A state of deep meditation can be defined as being in a 4th state of conciousness. Its niether waking, sleeping, nor dreaming.

Another good meditation to start off with would be to follow your breath in your abdomen.  Watch the rise and fall of your breath as it enters and leaves your body with full attention and fix your attention to it again anytime your mind wanders off. You can count from one to 10 if you want something to keep yourself occupied by, but after awhile you wont need to.