Hey Folks, I want to know about all the different types of meditation and how they benefit you! I practice Transcendenal Meditation and i love it, but im clueless to any other form of meditation and id love to hear your experiences of them, how they affect you and whats the differences? and so on Shane.
I practice a type of meditation that could be called instinctive meditation, althought I have seem very few people use this term. Many things might happen when I meditate. The only thing that links them is the fact that I acknowledge them. I don't try to meditate, I just wait for my body to meditate, whatever that means to it right know. Need to meditate Happy feelings? Acknowledge. Angry feelings? Acknowledge. Sad feelings? Acknowledge. Many, many thoughts? Acknowlegde. Need to get up? Then get up. Need to stop meditating? Good, that means you'd had enought. The benefit is that for me, eventually the acknowledgement turned into laughter, love, even erotic arousal. Love isn't pointed at something precise, it's just there to welcome everything else.
sexual yoga and meditation, a movement in Hinduism and Buddhism, especially a variety based on yoga and intended to release energy through sexual intercourse in which the orgasm is withheld or delayed
Hi Starfox, I meditate on "Light and Sound" - there are many references on the web, just to clarify it is not astral light and sound that is accessed through mantras, stillness, kundalini practices or chakra stimulation by a teacher. The Light and Sound I am speaking about can only be accessed by having your third eye opened by a person who has reached the end of the meditation journey and has been given the ability to reveal Light and Sound by touch. Well what does it do for you - first of all it is always there (not like an astral experience - which is just a memory). As you meditate on the Light and Sound you become more aware of the subtle energies that effect your life, you also have some profound realizations. I have had many insights into subjects I thought I understood from reading about and talking to people, I soon began to realize I had just been repeating what I read, for example I attended a talk by somebody who had written numerous articles and given many lectures on Chakras; I asked a few questions Have you ever seen a chakra, how do you how many petals the crown chakra has? What does it feel like to have one fully opened? Can you explain the sensations you feel when the kundalini is moving around? and soon realized that the presenter was only repeating what they had read. It is a great personal development tool should you wish to take advantage of it - IMHO the Spiritual Quest is paramount - however you spend many hours in the physical world why not use it to improve yourself and help you to focus on what is important to you? The Light and Sound energy gives people the ability to meditate for extended periods of time, I personally have meditated for 10 days doing about 15 hours a day - and believe me I am just an ordinary person - anybody can do it. There are 2 additional stages - The second stage you are given access to the energy that "precedes the form of creation" - this is not a topic that is explained in a few sentence, a couple of fundamental realizations at this level are that you are more than your mind you exist even when the body and mind are no more. You continue to have profound realizations as you meditate from this state. The final stage is Enlightenment, we define it as God Realization (not to be confused with Self Realization) "Totally free and Limitless ..... never been born will never die ..... the cause of all creation .....one thing everywhere. I hope this gives you a little insight into this formless meditation. ================================================== “The ultimate truth cannot be challenged” www.acceleratedstates.com
Very interesting and thanks for that beyondtheastral What you speak about seems familiar to me, ive been practicing Transcendental Meditation for the past 5 months twice daily which takes me to the 4th state of conciousness, and the more i do it to more 'aware' of everything i become, in this short time i can honestly say its changed me, all of any stress i ever had is totally gone, im such a happier person, my memory has become unbelievable good, the cloudiness is gone, my creativity has gone through the roof and im basically appreciating everything in life, from something from a flower to a scenic view its really amazing. When you say 'Enlightenment' do you mean the 'unified field of counciousness' ?
The term I am referring to is different to that of TM, I can only repeat what I have been told by the people I know who have reached the end of the meditation journey, here are a few statements God realization Infinite state of consciousness Knowing you are the one thing everywhere The source of creation You have never been born you can never die You can only be the state and cannot comprehend it as it has no limits It is not an experience it doesn't go away - how can you escape infinity The only way to attain the state is by initiation. No formal meditation can get you there as how can you escape from your mind with your mind - you can't get to infinity you can only be it. ================================================== "That which is beyond cannot be seen from within" www.acceleratedstates.com
God realization = (in TM) God consciousness or the 6th state of consciousness.....i cant at all try and compare but it sounds like similarities maybe? Infinite state of consciousness = (in TM) the more you dwelve into the 4th state of consciousness 'transcendental consciousness' the more of it you take back to your awake state, and once youve saturated yourself enough with this state of consciousness it stays with you in your awake state, which is 'Infinite state of consciousness' and in TM the 5th state, cosmic consciousness. And the last 4 quotes you have made are in the TM world a very good way of explaining the unified field of consciousness, everything connects, everything is one, all intelligence, all creation, its where life sprouts from.. What you think?
Ask somebody at the "6th level" what they understand by Enlightenment and have they reached the end of the meditation journey.
A friend of mine had done who had practiced for 12 years on the TM Sidhi program had never met anybody who had reached the 6th level, he is know Enlightened after being initiated into Light and Sound. So I would suggest you consider what it is you want - if you want to meditate and are happy with the group stick with it. If you want to get to the end of the journey then find a group where there are people who will openly admit they are Enlightened and can give you an average time it will take to attain the state -if you get answers like "when your ready" , "when you have let go of your ego", "in N life times" etc. - keep looking for somebody who can unequivocally state where they are at - and give you the direction to get there.
used to do TM for 20 plus years /MUM grad/still sometimes entered informal crazy Buddhist Lama teaching Dzokchen
There are many techniques out there. In TM, you are focusing on a mantra. This is the point of focus. When the mind wanders, you acknowledge the activity of the mind chatter, then, gently bring attention back to the point of focus. It's the same with just about any technique. The point of focus varies, but the calm, detached observation does not change. The point of focus can be the breath, sensations, a deity (symbol of God), a song, a prayer, a candle flame, a concept, energy, inner light and sound, etc. Other than that, they vary according to warm up strategies and techniques. There is usually some type of built in strategy for calming the mental chatter so that the meditation becomes easier. Theravada Buddhists have Metta. Metta is a prayer or visualization which cultivates compassionate feelings toward self and others. When you love something, you are concentrating on it and getting to know it much more intimately. Therefore, Metta increases concentration and makes meditation more possible. Other warm ups may include self massage, chant, stretching, joint limbering, etc. Traditions also vary in their integration strategies, too. This is how you integrate the meditative awareness into daily life. The Mahayanas practice mindfulness in every activity. Theravadas watch the breath and thoughts. Kriya Yogis in the Hariharananda lineage "love God with every breath". Some chinese Buddhists chew their food as mindfully as possible. Some Indigenous folks cultivate reverence toward nature. Muslims pray 5 times per day as an "interweave" practice. This creates a momentum which leads to greater accessibility to the deep inner stillness behind the chatter of the mind. Therefore, there really aren't that many meditation techniques. Prana is Ruah is Chi is Ki. Reduce those four things into one (as we should) and there is not much variance between traditions.
There are so many different types of meditation. How many? Who knows, but enough so that you can find the one that's right for you. To get your search started, here are six types of meditation you can try. 1. Breath watching. Can meditating be as simple as paying attention to your breath for a few minutes? You bet. Relax in whatever position works best for you, close your eyes and start to pay attention to your breathing. Breathing through your nose gets your diaphragm involved and gets oxygen all the way to the bottom of your lungs. As your mind wanders, just re-focus your attention on the air going in and out of your nose. Just do this for several minutes, or longer as you get used to it. 2. An empty mind meditation. Meditating can create a kind of "awareness without object," an emptying of all thoughts from your mind. The techniques for doing this involve sitting still, often in a "full lotus" or cross-legged position, and letting the mind go silent on its own. It can be difficult, particularly since any effort seems to just cause more business in the mind. 3. Walking meditations. This one gets the body involved. It can be outside or simply as a back and forth pacing in a room. Pay attention to the movement of your legs and breathing and body as you walk, and to the feeling of your feet contacting the ground. When your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to the process of walking and breathing. Meditating outside in this way can be difficult because of the distractions. If you do it outside, find a quiet place with level ground. 4. Mindfulness meditation. A practice Buddhists call vipassana or insight meditation, mindfulness is the art of becoming deeply aware of what is here right now. You focus on what's happening in and around you at this very moment, and become aware of all the thoughts and feelings that are taking your energy from moment to moment. You can start by watching your breath, and then move your attention to the thoughts going through your mind, the feelings in your body, and even the sounds and sights around you. The key is to watch without judging or analyzing. 5. Simple mantra meditation. Many people find it easier to keep their mind from wandering if they concentrate on something specific. A mantra can help. This is a word or phrase you repeat as you sit in meditation, and is chosen for you by an experienced master in some traditions. If you are working on this alone, you can use any word or phrase that works for you, and can choose to either repeat it aloud or in your head as you meditate. 6. Meditating on a concept. Some meditative practices involve contemplation of an idea or scenario. An example is the "meditation on impermanence," in which you focus on the impermanent nature of all things, starting with your thoughts and feelings as they come and go. In the Buddhist "meditation on the corpse," you think about a body in the ground, as it slowly rots away and is fed on by worms. The technique is used to guide you to an understanding that your rationalizing mind might not bring you to. There are many other meditations you can try, such as the "meditation on loving-kindness" or "object" meditation, and even meditating using brain wave entrainment products. Each type has its own advantages and effects. For this reason, you may find that at different times and for different purposes you want to use several different ty
