Meditation - Stuck...

[Fyrenze]

Thanks, I've tried a very little bit of yoga. I was going to do more, but the class was full. Unfortunately, I have a very full schedule, so things I can do myself are best. Sometime in August or September I hope to take up some aikido.

Any other suggestions?

[Nick]

Fyrenze,

In every city of any size there is a Zen center. I went to the Zen center of Los Angeles for a number of years on Saturdays. Then when I visited my relatives in Philadelphia or San Francisco, I'd do the same. These days I don't visit the center so much because of the long drive to LA.

However, zen meditation is actually very simple. Basically, you want to empty your mind of random chatter, and focus within. The techniques I learned in Zen actually help me settle in now with the Astral phasing work I'm doing.

The easiest way to get started is to pick up a little book called:Taking the Path of Zen by Robert Aitken. It's only about a hundred and forty pages but its a great primer on zen meditation. The book runs about ten dollars. You can find it at a Barnes & Noble or online pretty easily.

Good luck to you in your spiritual studies,

[fredhedd]

hey fyrenze.  when you say  you had a teacher, are you referring to school or a spiritual teacher?

how much time do you spend meditating during the day and what kind of tek's are you using?  what have you had the most sucess w/?  

it doens't sound like you've made much progress in the time that you've spent, if you are still tense when you are done your session.  what do you think your biggest problem is?

a few times when i hit walls in my progress i found that a break actually helped tremendously.  i took off for about a month or so and when i came back i felt more energized mentally.  very refreshed.

do you have time for a retreat?  it's really something.  the atmosphere alone helps clear your mind.

i agree w/ timeless about the yoga.  it was never really something i got into but it would probably help steady your mind, since you are having some difficulty clearing it.  then maybe you could go onto something else.  it's not uncommon though for someone to spend years trying to attain a state of complete mental silence/clarity.  

i spent about four years taking aikido.  it was one of my favorite martial arts.  unfortunately it was before i got into any meditation or energy work.  i would have liked to have tried and combine them like i believe they should be now.  have fun w/ it.

[Fyrenze]

Well, let us see. I've never had a spiritual teacher, as such, but now and then I have friends who seem to be much more experienced in the things I'm interested in. Interestingly, they don't seem to stay in my life long. Often, not in theirs, either.

Anyway, I haven't really done more than 15 minutes for each session very often; one, I don't have time for much more, and two, until I can manage clarity of thought for that long, how can I hope to make any better use of more time? As for types of meditation, I just got my first book, so I'm not super familiar with all of them. Uhm, I've done the dropping of problems and such (except I'm horrible at visualization, even after practicing with the more sensory "visualizing" in Astral Dynamics), I have done a lot of breath related meditations, for example seeing (or trying to) breath coming in to all different parts of the body, attempting to see it as one color or another or even as water flowing in and out...I'm majoring in acting, and do a lot of guided and unguided meditations on myself, my past, my future, and all the characters I ever have to be and THEIR lives, and pretty much any person that I need or want insight on. Actors, good ones anyway, are pretty much expected to know a lot about everything, or as much as possible.

My biggest problems? Um, tension, visualization problems, and while this may not be completely related but then, it causes a LOT of problems in all areas, a big lack of faith in myself, self esteem, confidence, and because of that sometimes a lack of motivation.

I'd love a retreat. I don't think one is possible. Any time I'm not in classes or auditioning or rehearsing, I need to be making money. At least at this juncture in my life.

Thanks for everyone's help, again.

][\/][

[Tom]

You are definitely trying too hard to visualize whatever object you are using. It is much easier than you think it is. Just having the intention to visualize something and trusting that it is there is enough, even if you don't actually "see" anything in your mind's eye. Having pictures in your mind's eye that are as clear as physically looking at a thing only comes with a lot of time and practice. It is not necessary, either. If you are asked to describe what something looks like to someone who has not seen it and you do so, then you do it by visualizing it and then describing it. You are seeing pictures even if you are doing it so quickly that you are not consciously aware of seeing images. By adjusting the standards that you are working on reaching to bring them within reach, you can get started. What you are working toward is probably a long term goal.

[Nick]

For meditation, you don't need to visualize anything. In fact, if it's meditation we're talking about, the idea is to empty the mind. A proven way has been that of breath awareness. At first it may seem mechanical and awkward, but a preliminary method is the process of counting the breaths. The breath is both a spontaneous part of our physical system and, to some degree, under our control.

The method would be to count "one" for the inhalation, "two" for the exhalation, and so on up to "ten" and repeat. Don't go above "ten" because it's too difficult to keep track of higher numbers. The point is not to exercise you're thinking in this practice, so stick with just going up to ten.

You'll see when you try it, that at first the counting without all the mind chatter is more difficult than you'd imagine. It's like the Chinese proverb that says, the mind is like the wild horse. But if you keep at it, even for just ten minutes a day at first, in time you will be able to quiet your thinking.

Very best,

[Fyrenze]

...at the first hurdle. I have been trying for a few years to quiet my surface mind, to visualize, and to meditate. I am just beginning to delve into literature on the subjects and have thus far relied mainly on techniques I've learned from others (I'm a student, but one who intends to be an actor. We're a strange breed, and more prone to go off the beaten track than your average person; I have had some extremely interesting teachers, to say the least.) I'm sure their techniques have been somewhat adequate, because others have had success with them. I don't think my difficulties are for lack of investment. Sometimes I think I over-invest myself. Let me tell ya there's nothing like sitting down to relax and winding up tense and frustrated at lack of visualization skills or the like.

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions of any sort, even of books you'd advise me read, I'd be grateful.

][\/][