Help with Focusing Mind fully

hey everyone,

I strted meditating by myself and im doing the technique where you sit and breathe and count on the breathing, then after i get that down i count each sets of breath until ultimately you abandon all counting and just be your breathe and all that. However im still on counting each breathe. Now my questions are basically: Is there anything i can do to focus my mind better? i seem to count and it works however my mind travels sometimes and i have to count over and im sure its kind of normal but help would be nice. and my second question is i usually get really hot while im sitting there, not at first but after a couple mins of doing it i start buring up idk if thats bad or not. Any comments would be cool! thanks!!

 

That's why you meditate, to gain better focus.
Focus on your breath
focus on what occurs between thoughts
try and remain there
it will take you your whole life

 

It takes time brother! Don't expect to jump right into meditating and get all that you can out of it. You must first quite your mind before you can be at peace with the world around you. Try to focus on your breathing, when your mind wanders just bring it back! My yoga teacher use to tell me that meditating is like email. You want to stay in the inbox, but when spam comes in you just have to send it to the junk section. As for the burning part, just make sure you are comfortable prior to starting to meditating. I usually like to wear a light shirt and some shorts (depending on the weather). Oh and make sure you are sitting where your hips are somewhat elevated. This is so the blood doesn't get cut off to your butt and you won't get cramps for sitting in long periods of time. I like to use a yoga block to sit on, with my feet in front of me- Indian style. Just try out a couple of different positions. Be patient, stay strong, GOOD LUCK!

Peace

 

Stare at a candle in a dark room.

Do it for as long as you can and increase the time as you feel the need to.

Someday, you won't need the candle anymore.



x

 

wow meditation just seems so awesome.
im so excited to try it myself when i get older....

 

I started meditating at fifteen.

I have some complaints regarding homespun concentration methods.

The way to a life full of mental conflict is to institute a practice of watching the watching of the watching and so on.

This sort of confused thinking is not the method of 'mindfulness.'

Simple easiest way to still the mind is to do something one really likes to do. One naturally becomes more easy that way.

Simple easiest way to still the mind is to relax. However that occurs for one.

So say you stilled the mind and gained concentration, what then?

What one wants to do is to make their mind flexible, that is, able to hold full awareness, even during intense activity, without duplicity of thought, without conflicting mental tendencies.

Flexible mind.

That's even harder than a concentrated mind, and takes more years of practice, and less drive to control.

Of course one is wanting mental peace. I personally think mantra japa or mental mantra japa does more to liberate the mind from thought, than breath counting.

But here goes, for those of you who wish to gain profound experiences the fastest way, the key is to surround yourself with practitioners. So it's good to go on retreats, go to spiritual lectures of any sort. And during those lectures, use the speaker as a focus and just let the mind still naturally.

To still the mind one must learn that thought is not an enemy but the very self same energy as the mind itself. There are not two separate minds with different tendencies.

Learn to appreciate that thought is itself the very underlying energy of thought without separation.

It will come naturally with relaxation if one is in a meditating crowd.

Otherwise, one will just concentrate themself into the dullness of no thought - no thought energy, and it will be very difficult to get the mind to start again.

My main point is that the mind is not two, so if one is having lots of thoughts then still nothing is occuring, thought is itself just the underlying energy.

 

words of wisdom

 

Why not start now?

 

im thinking about it with all this great advice...

 

Well you should! It's truly amazing and the benefits from it are wonderful!

 

im 18 and im starting to do it now. But like CHodpa was saying and i hope i interpretted it right... its not just about meditating and just doing that and going about your life or at least thats how io think about it. Meditating is the absence of mind, but i feel that there are things you can definitely take away from it and use in your own life. I recently looked up the eightfold path too and its not like "oh you have to do this to be a good person and achieve higher states of conciouness or this is the way to enlightenment" its like how to be a good person a caring loving individual. We are all here on this earth we may not know why may not know how but we are here we are all one and thers no reason for any of us to feel anger or hatred towards each other. Whats the point? People get so distracted with all the bullshit in their life that they forget where they came from and what we are inside. This physical body we are in is just our outer shell and its amazed at we find here in this world and that right there leads us to lose who we really are. You get wrapped up in your jobs your girlfriends your physical appereance just center yourself. Tending to your spirit is a very natural and healthy part of life and im gonna hold it with me until the day that i pass on.

sorry for the rant =/

 

A good way to keep your focus up is to realize that all that is is basically empty space. There is form and then there is the formless, which is the space that holds all things together and from which it comes into existence and comes out of existence. Everything, even sound is suspended in the no-thingness that is Source. Throughout your day, focus on the space that holds your thoughts and the space that holds all things.

 

Don't believe that developing a high level of focus needs to take a long time - you'll put this limiting belief on your own practice. Practice everyday with a positive mindset and you you'll surely reach your goal.

 

Very well said, Assir! Same goes for "enlightenment". It is not a goal that needs to be reached, because you are already there.