Good meditation techniques?

[Reason]

Go in a room that is absolutely quiet and still/silence your mind.  Try to listen for a noise in the middle of your head, it may be a high pitched noise or a heavy/flat noise.  When you hear it, listen to it.  Do this for 15-30 minutes.

[Slipper]

are you kidding?? i hate being bullshitted! if you aint, thanks a bunch!

[Reason]

I wouldn't do that.  Hindus call this inner noise the Om.  It is actually the sound the nervous system makes.  A composer with the last name Cane (K or C sorry I can't remember) was a guest professor at harvard and he had the engineering students there create for him space with absolutely no noise inside of it.  When he was in there he heard his own heartbeat and a noise in his head that the nervous system makes.

In my experience the louder the noise is the deeper the state, i.e. the deeper the brainwave (Beta Alpha Theta Delta)  From my own personal experience I suspect that the high noise is alpha.  There is a noise behind that noise that is heavy/flat.  That heavy/flat noise is theta I believe.  Theta is the brainwave pattern that one is in when he/she dreams.  It is also the state that one is in before Astral Projecting.  

If you were in a quiet room and just woke up and listened on the inside then you would hear these noises of described.

Don't confuse this with the noise one gets from electronic devices.  Tinnitus is where one has a ringing in the ears, here is a link for tinnitus information: http://content.health.msn.com/hw/ear_disorders/hw88326.asp

Tinnitus is in the ear, the noise I am talking about is in the brain.  

When meditating one may be deeper than they think.  They may be in theta but think they are not because their state isn't a dreamstate.  But they may really be in this deep state.  This is because even though the brain is predominantly in a theta state, alpha can also come in there.  I believe this is why people are able to remain "conscious" during a dream, or during an oobe.


While meditating your mind will probably become cluttered with other thoughts.  When this happens just watch them, be like a witness.  Don't judge them, just watch, as if you were watching a movie.  If you get a strong emotion just accept it, say "I am having this emotion" and watch it.  Resistance is what causes you pain.

Hope this helped.  

Best Wishes,

Michael

[Slipper]

what the hell? you tell me to do it and now you dont? why shouldnt i do it, coz ill go too deep into it?

[Fat_Turkey]

I find that listening to this noise can be difficult because I am always thinking, and I bet most of you out there are too.

I got this from my calendar, I'll post who quoted it, but I'll say it anyways (I think it was Buddha or the Dalai Llama)

The nomind nothinks about nothing.

You can never completely "clear your head." We are what we think, without thought we are nothing. Don't be fooled into thinking that meditation is getting rid of your thoughts and sitting in utter stillness in your mind. There is always thought.

What I do is a sit down, nice and quietly, and just listen to my thoughts. I know I am thinking some annoying ones that just won't go away, but I also know that if I try to force them away they'll get worse. So I just leave them be, or emotionlessly push them to the side while I focus on some other thoughts instead. Usually some philosophy helps because I can sit there thinking for ages why it is stupid/smart or what it means in the first place.

After doing this for a while I might use a technique or just push my thoughts away and focus on something else to get into a deeper trance. Usually after the alpha state or whatever the first meditational state is, I fall asleep after a while because my mind can't take it. The images get more and more random, and it takes more discipline to be able to handle it all. But, in the end, I can still be aware of myself enough to bring myself back to normal, and when I get up I feel mentally refreshed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no perfect technique. Each technique accomplishes different things for you, and it all depends what tickles your fancy. Of course, you could be like me and just use the basics, then tinker it to your own likings.

Later
~FT

[Dagon]

I have had some life-changing success with the Vipassana meditation technique. I have also looked at some of the techniques described by Dr.Chalko in "Freedom of Choice", and also some Chopra stuff from "Seven SPiritual Laws" and all are helpful, but Vipassana covers everything you need and seems to be the most pure and best all-round meditation, taken directly from Buddha and NOT from the sects or the "isms" that were formed in the name of Buddha. Vipassana is a universal technique for all people!

I haven't spoke to anyone who has not had great success after a 10-day course. Only thing that might put you off is that you have to do a strict and gruelling 10-day course to start! But then you are your own master.

www.dhamma.org

[Slipper]

thanks guys. hey dragon im not up for another meditation course just yet yeah i already do that fat turkey and i know theres no 1 perfect meditation technique for everyone. im just looking for a better one for ME.

[Kenshi]

I actualy learned this way of meditation trough spiritual contact . Meditate via the heart chakra. Observe both ego-mask (the thinker) and the spiritual self (the feeler) via the heart chakra. Feel love and acceptance for both, accept that both are a part of your current flesh-being. By this, inner dualty will be ended. One will realize that you don't have to fight, lay down your weapons and embrace. This my friends, results to the best feeling I've ever experienced so far. A state where there are no thougths,no struggle, just pure love .

[Reason]

When I said "I wouldn't do that." I mean I wouldn't bs you.

"You can never completely "clear your head." We are what we think, without thought we are nothing.

We aren't what we think.  I have had horrible thoughts in the past, that doesn't define me as a person.  I have had depressing thoughts for example, but that isn't me deep down.  

"Don't be fooled into thinking that meditation is getting rid of your thoughts and sitting in utter stillness in your mind."

It is interesting how you stated this "getting rid."  It has a negative connotation.  

There are different kinds of meditation.  The Dalai Lama describes 2 kinds.  There is one kind that is called single pointed.  There is another where one just lets the thoughts flow past oneself like a river w/o attaching to them.  I can't remember the name he used for it.

Another form of meditation could be zen meditation.  Being completely present in the here and now.

"There is always thought."  

I disagree.  From my personal experience I know, (using the word know here *emphasis*) that there isn't always thought.

One example of me being without thought is when I did intense questioning to my "self" whenever I had a thought.  "Who is that which feels/thinks this?"  After half an hour all thought stopped.  I was literally looking around my room waiting for a thought to occur, but there was nothing... emptiness.  I felt lighter too.  This effortless emptiness/total presence/silence/stillness went on for about 2 hours.  

When Buddhists speak of meditating on emptiness this is one of the levels they are speaking of.  Monks spend years on this subject alone, it is the most difficult part of buddhism to truly grasp.  I read this in one of the Dalai Lama's books.  His reputation may make more of an impression on you than I could.


One could have no mind by feeling the life within oneself.  The energy within.  This is what I do.

One could also achieve no mind by listening to the noise which I have described.  

To achieve no mind one could also try and figure out the source of thought.  I don't mean the simple answer "the brain."  I mean while a thought is happening try and find/feel it's point of origin.  For example, trying to find the origin of a thought before it is reflected into the mind chatter called "thought."  

These three methods are the best I know of, and I try to do them simultaneously throughout the day, it helps a lot.

[Slipper]

hi guys, im new, hows it going? i just got back from a meditation course. i learn some great stuff but i think theres better techniques out there. theres just so many. so could you post your fave technique or some good meditation websites please. the one ive been using lately is when ya breath in and say 1/1 breath out and say 1/1 and than do that up to 4/4 and repeat. take it easy people.