Ok this can really motivate me and I'm sure other newbies like me too to face the troubles we are having if the experienced folks over here would recount their days right from when they sat down for the first time ever to meditate to the day when they finally was able to enter the meditative state. I have been trying meditation since few months now but my mind is so fickle I have almost lost all hope of ever getting a hang of it. But if I could relate with the problems you faced during your early days and how you all overcame them I'm sure it'll help me a lot towards doing the same or atleast to stick with the practice. So, if you all could only take your time and write a few lines..
Just like a baby taking it's first steps, you're going to learn what it takes to do it correctly. The mind is an addict. Its addicted to sensation. It will not take kindly to you trying to diminish it's input. Even if you do, by sitting in a dark and quiet area, it will compensate by manufacturing it's own sensations. This is where discipline comes in. Persistance. Patience. You have to wear it down so that it finally sits in one place and just watches. Some people go overboard with all the paraphernalia they think they need for this very simple activity. Music, incence, robes, etc. Use it if you think you need it, but most won't. You can start by watching your own thoughts, as a witness to them. Question why you think in the way that you do. When you can do this as a way of life, you'll be further down the path than you know. x
I've noticed that as well... you must have persisitance and patience or meditation will be lost on you. Sit and perhaps have a mantra to focus your mind in one area.
In my experience it works to give the mind a time limit. Say, alright, we're going to meditate for 15 minutes. After that you can do anything you want, but for these 15 minutes, sit quietly. Of course, it will not. The mind might be better behaved but it will not shut up completely. The mind will wander everywhere in the world. Don't tryt o fight it. But don't wander with it. If the mind wanders, watch the wandering. If it is silent, watch the silence. If it is impatient, watch the impatience. You must be the master of the mind, not vice versa. Don't get caught up analysing the thoughts, don't hold on to any one single thought. The thought comes and it goes. The thoughts that stay longer are the ones we hold on to. Keep letting go of the thoughts. Another thing that helps is to preface meditation with japa. Chant a mantra that you like (try to stick to one mantra all the time) for a while and slowly space out the chanting more and allow it fade away into silence. THis is a very effective technique. And also, it is helpful to pray and invoke the grace of the masters who inspire you. Ask them to help you, to guide you and protect you during your meditation. This is a very powerful practice.
I have never had quiet mind free of thoughts, also I have never been separate from innate vision of silent samadhi of awareness aware only of itself. Both these things have been for me simultaneous. I have made peace with this dual mind and have found that I am what could be called a -Shakta - one who experiences flow of silence more than stillness of silence. What I am saying is that some persons never have mind free of thought, and also, mind free of thought is no prerequisite for samadhi. Myself I also recommend not stifling thought. So that's my two cents on this subject. If a meditation is about stopping thought then my opinion is that one will have a mind that no longer can start, which prevents ability to think. So it's best to allow thoughts to arise and subside without touching them. Not force them one way or the other. The former method is like adding conditioner to hair to smooth it out, the latter is like yanking a comb through a rat's nest and cowlicks. Meditation is to be performed with smoothness, and not with force.
