At what times, and for how long do you meditate every day? Im working on having sitting meditation as a daily practice again, it's been awhile since I spent a portion of every evening in front of my altar.
I've been doing zazen about three times a day for 20 to 30 mins, depends on the zendo. Walkin' and surfin' are a constant meditation for me. Somethin' about the Chi of the ocean....
I try to maintain a semblence of constant meditation throughout the entire day. I obviously fail at this, but it's suprising how often you will find yourself zen-ing out without even realize it. Sometimes it justs hits me, and it seems like stocking shelves at 7AM on a wintery Tuesday morning is the most clarifying thing in the world.
Yes, same here. Though I also benefit greatly from the discipline involved in sitting meditation once a day. I had a moment of detachment last night after watching a documentary of Antartica (beautiful!), I was resting in the kitchen drinking a glass of water and suddenly felt the anxiety (sick stomach, numbness in extremities) of seperating from my personality, merging into a state of consciousness that felt to be the result of the universe becoming aware of itself. Like there was no thought behind the state I was in, there was thought before and thought after, but during that moment (if it can be called such) I was mans relationship to the external world. I was the collective of the sphere of perception and interaction. I was the space between material bodies, and I was the reflection of the stars desire to look back at themselves. Then I came back to being me and I felt like I was going to throw up. It's funny, no matter how much meditation or prayer I do, no matter how much compassion flows from me regardless of origination, no matter how close I follow dharma, it seems I can only truly let go when my time is ripe, my karma transcended, my mind dissolved. The pangs of clinging to the most basic essence of personality, life, is so powerful. The word my is still mine. So, till next time .....
You're not really looking to alter your state of consciousness, if anything your 'normal' state of consciousness is already highly altered. You're looking to peel back the layers of filth from your eyes to see clearly, to see what's already the case. It should be a continuous light, at no point assume or conclude an answer, and never cease being aware of yourself. Remember, stay detached from EVERYTHING, watch EVERYTHING from a distance, your story of detachment has become a new attachment, get rid of it, and your theory of needing time to ripen, get rid of all of it!
I don't feel as though I have much control over these things. They come and go, and it isn't really up to me at all.
Same. Even in my sitting meditation, the act of sitting down. Out of my hands, out of my mind :tongue:
