Jordan
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This video helped me conceptualize meditation in a different way. it is a bit long. After watching it I had more motivation to meditate more often and longer. I haven't watched it in a while so I hope it is as relevant as I think it is. Consistency is important and understanding/observing how your motivations work will help you keep consistent with a practice if it truly is important to you.
I find it really helps to do several preparatory techniques before the actual meditation. I recently shared what I do when I meditate. I will link to it.
I am not enlightened or anything but I have been meditating for around 9 years off and on. I usually meditate 2x per day around 30-60 minutes each time sometimes more on the weekend. More often than not I get into a calm blissful focused state. I never looked into how the different states are mapped by people with jhanas. I would rather just go take a look myself. I have been more getting into trying to meditate throughout my day by continuously accepting the moment exactly as it is or being aware of awareness. I also often contemplate the nature of satisfaction and happiness paying attention to how accepting everything as it is affects my emotions. I recently bought an audio book Leo recommended recently here:
You can listen to the first chapter for free. I plan to listen to it in the mornings while following along being as present as possible and try to maintain it as much as I can throughout the day.
Not sure if anything here helps you but I wish you the best.
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7 hours ago, Lucasxp64 said:So everyone knows: I've seen counter-recommendations against meditating on the physical heart. I don't remember where, but I'd look it up if anyone reading this is concerned.
Ohh I focus on the sensation of the physical heart beating more than anything else haha. It really feels amazing when you are in certain states. If you remember where you heard that let me know and I might look into it. Right now I am not that concerned about it and I am pretty sure if it is something that has negative consequences for me I will be able to tell at some point. I just find it more enjoyable and interesting than focusing on breath sensations and it seems to give me more clarity of my emotions around my heart. I could use an internal mantra chant to keep track of time instead of counting heart beats and see if I notice any difference.
4 hours ago, Ayham said:Thanks for sharing
This reminds me of a technique in Christian mysticsm I believe, where you choose any mantra, and chant each syllable with heartbeat, you do this for 20 minutes (vocalising the sound, even if very low so that only you hear it), and then your whole day will be meditation because the mantra will repeat naturally with your heartbeat whenever you are aware of it, so the mantra will be in your head all the time.
For example: "om nama shivayah"
You chant om, then na, then ma, then Shi, then va, then yah, each with a heartbeat
Or you can say any mantra from any tradition or religion
This is called "prayer of the heart"
Ohh cool, I do chant the mantra in rhythm with my heart beat which I guess I didn't mention. Usually 2 beats for Baba, 2 beats for Nam as I breath in then kevalam in 3 beats then hold the mmmmmm one beat as I breath out for a total of 8 beats for inhale and exhale like a song.
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1 hour ago, abrakamowse said:I did one a meditation technique shared by Leo and I become aware of many internal things happening in my body like I could feel the blood running through my veins and many other things.
Maybe someone can become awakened after that, who knows?
Hello abrakamowse, was that meditation technique the one where he gets you to focus on the sensation of the inside of your mouth and push yourself out of your head to the sensations and stuff like that? It is pretty cool you can be aware of things you never noticed before. It seems most people that meditate a lot do not get enlightened but maybe it helps increase the chances a bit compared to doing whatever everyone else is doing.
Even if it doesn't get me any closer to enlightenment, It helps me be more aware of my thoughts and emotions so I can analyze my behavior and make better decisions. I can also feel my senses and emotions much more clearly which really improves the quality of my day to day life. It is really enjoyable to sit in bliss for a couple hours a day and leaves you feeling better after in a way that dopamine hits don't.
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1 hour ago, CoolDreamThanks said:Meditation is getting closer to your true self aka God. Why would you need to do anything to achieve that? Why are advanced techniques needed? That seems like ego right there. A trap. All you need to do is clear the contents of consciousness. Done. Enlightened.
Hey CoolDreamThanks, thanks for the comment.
Meditation is for realizing what is true but the ego, an illusion, does it's best to survive so it doesn't just let itself be completely dissolved in the snap of a finger. I am not sure what you mean by clearing the contents of consciousness. Isn't that what is done in this meditation as you remove or forget stories and beliefs and instead savor experience as it is in step 7-8? The preparatory steps before that are just to put you in a state where you can do exactly that without an on-guard ego distracting you. It is not like it takes much effort or time to do the preparatory steps but it seems more effective than just sitting there "clearing the contents of consciousness" without any preparation. Am I misinterpreting what you are saying?
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Warning: This is an advanced practice. Meditation can cause psychosis. If you have mental health issues, work with a therapist and start with becoming experienced with mindfulness meditation before trying this.
Hello, I had a breakthrough in my meditation practice and wanted to share the technique I have been having success with. I started giving meditation a serious try with Leo’s first meditation videos around 9 years ago. I took a liking to the mindfulness with labeling method. I have been experimenting with different types of meditation over the last couple years. I have watched many videos on YouTube about meditation. I have merged what works best for me in a way where I can consistently go into a deep high conscious state. This is what I do:
1. Get into a seated position with the spine straight up and down. Relax your shoulders, stomach and jaw muscles. Make sure you are not leaning to one side. Take a few deep breaths and check in with how you feel emotionally. The most important thing is that you are in a stable upright position that will be comfortable for at least an hour.
2. Imagine you are sitting at the top of a mountain, ocean all around you. No one around to disturb you. No obstacles in view. The ocean stretches out to the horizon. It is sunny with clear skies. A perfect place to meditate. You can internally describe this place to help you visualize it easier. This should take 2-5 minutes to really start to feel like you are there.
3. Count 1 for your inhale then 2 for your exhale and so on up to 10 then start again at 1. Count from 1 to 10 at least 2 times without being distracted. 4 times would be better. This could take less than a minute or 30 minutes+ if you keep having to restart. You want to get to a point where it does not take much effort to continue focusing without distracting thoughts disrupting your focus. There can still be thoughts but you should continue until your attention is not pulled away by them.
4. Breath in slowly focusing on your third eye chakra for 5 heartbeats, then move on to your throat, heart, solar plexus and root chakra for 5 heartbeats each. Next exhale starting at your tail bone and moving up your spine stopping at each spot at the spine that is in line with a chakra. 5 heartbeats each until you reach the top of your spine. Continue repeating the process around 10 times. If you can’t do 5 heart beats, then start with 4 or 3. It should be a bit of a struggle and like you are out of air. It is similar to this video at around 1:53:00
5. After you are done you should be starving for air so take several quick deep breaths until you catch your breath. Start repeating a mantra in your head. I use “Baba Nam Kevalam” Some people do claim it makes a big difference what mantra you use so maybe you can look into that yourself but the mantra I use seems fine for me. Repeat the mantra in a breathing pattern you like. I say “Baba Nam” clearly and slowly as I inhale then “Kevalam” as I exhale clearly and slowly. I sometimes stop at the end of the exhale and chant the mantra internally before continuing with an inhale. It helps to be able to focus when you stop breathing because less sensations are going on to distract you. Continue this until you reach a state where you are very focused and relaxed. Your body should feel like it is very comfortable and possibly a bit strange like it is vibrating all over. Usually it takes around 10-30 minutes. If you don’t reach this state but still feel ready to move on then go ahead and move onto step 6
6. Start doing mindfulness meditation with labeling. Note that you are aware of something, label it as see, hear or feel, then savor the sensation. Continue like this until it becomes second nature. Leo has a very good video on this you should watch if you are not familiar with the technique.
7. Continue with the mindfulness meditation with labeling technique and add a step of removing concepts between labeling and savoring. If you focus on your heart beating, note it, label feel, then remove the concept that there is such thing as a heart that pumps blood, in a body seated in meditation, in a room, in a house etc. Remove the idea of there being a body producing this sensation etc. then savor the sensation with all those conceptual stories forgotten.
See Leo’s video for a guided exercise on how to do this
8. After doing this for a while, drop the see hear feel label and just continually drop or forget about concepts that come up for you as you savor whatever your attention is on. you can continue here as long as you want or optionally continue to step 9
9. Contemplate the nature of what you are experiencing right now. How did the experience get here, why is it like this and not some other way. Contemplate what you are made of, where you are, what you consider to be you. Ask the question then search your experience for the answer. No thoughts are required after the question is asked.
As you can see, there are many steps. If you want to follow these steps you may need to practice one at a time in order and combine them as you go. If you have any questions or comments, let me know.
Here is a list of videos that influenced me the most when creating this technique:
Concentration vs Meditation - How To Develop Concentration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxtR4psOoQ&t=304s
Mindfulness Meditation - A Complete Guide With Techniques & Examples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPUWdhHDKS4&t=2565s
Guided Exercise For Realizing You Are God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdWxdhEB19s&t=1512s
Contemplation - The Most Important Tool For Sages
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa-NAtBEMkA
In Depth Meditation, Mantra, and Enlightenment | Dr. K Full vod – go to around 1:53:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqTINUKh7Zo&t=1s
Meditation Technique. The most important practice. Step 1.
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9 hours ago, Javfly33 said:I always thought watching the breath was the most boring form of meditation ever
But it has a surprise for that one which fully dares to dissolve every selfish thought into the breath.
The one that has the audacity for that surrender into the breath, a pleasant surprise will come.
What is the breath, what is the breath? Apparently it is a biological act, but not all is what it seems
Watching the breath, fully you be,
you might discover, there is no breath
And shall you will merge with me.
I got off track with my other posts. I do think watching the breath is one of the most boring meditations. I want to make it more complicated and make it seem like I am doing something to achieve a different state. It really seems like the more simple the meditation, the more advanced you need to be for it to work well. I find that "dissolving every selfish thought into the breath" as you put it is very difficult to do if you just sit down and try to do that right away. I find it much easier to do preparatory exercises like visualization, breathing, counting breaths, mantra then slowly remove more and more until all that is left is something like the breath or heart beating etc.
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58 minutes ago, Ishanga said:What I shared was the explanation part, here is the one with details of how to do the Kriya lol.. This is a very Basic Kriya but powerful, the Shambhavi is more complex but he says it still basic in nature, and very powerful as some here have testified too, as well as myself!\
I was a bit irritated I think because I remember a video titled "'How to Meditate' for Beginners | Sadhguru" and he doesn't explain how to meditate at all which might be why "how to meditate" is in brackets in the video title I guess haha. He just says meditation is not something you do it is a state of being. I am sure he didn't pick the title for the video but it is misleading. I didn't rewatch the video recently but I am pretty sure that is the one I was thinking of.
Do you follow this practice or something very similar to it? I created a meditation practice merging what I learnt from different YouTube videos and it works very well. I go into a relaxed, high consciousness state after 20-30 min usually. I could give a step by step explanation if anyone is interested.
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1 hour ago, Ishanga said:Sadhguru explains this here, its Koorma Nadi, but its not really watching the breath, your watch the sensation of the breath, not that actual breath, he explains it all here...
I don't like how Sadhguru teaches in his videos. He doesn't give any step by step process of a meditation technique. He just tells you that you want to separate yourself from the body mind process and give you a hint that it happens within and not something done physically with your body. I think it would be helpful for people if he broke it into little steps of a possible safe path instead of just explaining some end result and giving little hints on how to get there. I guess it might be helpful to some people too but it seems an aggravating way to learn from someone like that. It might also be because he doesn't want to give specific advice to a million people that are in different situations which I guess makes sense.
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2 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:I wouldn't be so quick to disclaim what he's saying. Idk for sure, but it I could see where it is the case. One thing I've noticed and that is that life mimicks reality in many ways and without going into the different ways, this could be one of them. Ever listened to two different televisions broadcasting from two separate rooms and how sometimes, if not all times, one is always lagging behind the other. Never hearing them exactly at the same point. I've heard this before also but never gave it any serious thought.
I would say it takes time for the mind to process/understand perceptions but experience has no delay. Experience is the antenna broadcasting the TV signal and the TV display is like the mind producing its understanding. Experience seems to be experienced without any delay. You might wonder, is there something that is sourcing the experience that precedes it, causing a short delay? I wouldn't know how it would be possible to know if anything sources experience because if you did become conscious of what is sourcing the experience, that source would be equal to experience. You can only really know what you experience now. Everything else you think you know is just stories you believe.
Also now that I think of it, Time doesn't exist in the way that we typically imagine it. There is just now that changes continuously and when we want to describe how it changes, we describe it using time. Time is more a description than something that is flowing by. Experience flows along and it is understood through descriptions and comparisons such as time.
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How is it possible to be a step behind now? It is always now. You seem to be conceptualizing perceptual latency as something that actually exists that is as real as your perceptual experience happening now. That concept of perceptual latency is an illusion.
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I stopped meditating as consistently for a while doing 15 minutes here and there. Last weekend I started meditating a lot more. I did around 5 hours on Sunday. Today I sat for around 50 minutes in the morning and I had a strange experience. I think I dropped the concept of being separate from everything and it felt like I turned into a liquid and starting spinning counterclockwise in a spiral. It felt quite nice. I have changed up my meditation a lot. I watched a bunch of videos from TheHealthyGamerGG where he has sort of therapy sessions with popular streamers and does a meditation at the end. Recently I have been following these instructions:
Sit straight and relax the body. Imagine you are on the top of a mountain. Nobody around. clear blue skies. Ocean all around you reaching to the horizon. Take 10 breaths internally saying inhale when inhaling and exhale when exhaling. Do several breaths moving through 6 of the chakras from top to bottom on the inhale then back up along the spine stopping at the chakra levels. Then I use the baba nam kevalam mantra with different breathing patterns. Whatever pattern I feel like. Then I will usually end with mindfulness meditation and possibly contemplate what I am.
This video helped me conceptualize meditation in a different way.
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A meditation technique is something you do that gives you a chance to put you in a state of meditation. You could define meditation as a mental state. Like sleep is a state, you can not force yourself to sleep, just do things that increase the chances of slipping into that state. The meditate state can be entered in a similar way without effort but in an environment that increases the chances. The technique that you could choose is whatever takes you into that state the quickest.
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I am not sure about finding a teacher but Dr. K explains what the different parts of meditation are pretty well here:
With this overview you can pick and choose a meditation that suits you and customize it for yourself.
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I would like to think I am open minded but this seems very far fetched. I wouldn't waist time with this.
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13 hours ago, TheAlchemist said:Exactly. That's one aspect of how sects and cults form. And often questioning is even to an extent highly encouraged in those groups, BUT if the questioning is directed at the core ideas which unify the group then it is seen as a problem. And for good reason, a community always functions on some shared ideas and ideals which need to seen as unquestionable so that the group can continue to exist.
Again and again new sects and cults will form, partly due to people like me who think they will be the one exception. But we need to realize that some of the problematic aspects of communities are core elements of community itself. Because of course, communities also have healthy forms and many real benefits for the participants so we shouldn't abandon them. Maybe the best we could do is have a community that has a strong shared belief system, but each member knows that fundamentally the belief is an illusion, but each member will pretend as if they believe in it fully. This way at least the questioning would not produce defensiveness, because it would not be seen as an attack on their identity, but just on an illusory idea/ideal/belief. They will of course pretend to defend it to keep the community alive.
But then again maybe, eventually the line between acting like a believer and really being a believer will dissolve, the members identities will get attached to the belief/idea and ta-da we have a well-established cult yet again ready to take on the world
It seems like a tricky problem. Power corrupts people so easily. Even if the leader of a community is perfect, the 2nd or 3rd in command will still take advantage of their power right? The problem is the power difference and people being able to abuse it. I remember even for me as a kid I was much more giving and helpful when I started collecting a couple Pokémon cards then as soon as I had many, I did not even want to give any to my close friends. I think to avoid being taken advantage of or being corrupted yourself it is important to have separation from your spiritual community. Be connected with a community for a small part of your week but be separate and question your beliefs as you go about the vast majority of the time and spiritual work.
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3 hours ago, TheAlchemist said:The reason spiritual communities fail is not because of all these complex reasons, it's because the people who question things are not kicked out fast enough. My community will be the one exception
Isn't a big part of spirituality about questioning things? It sounds like a good way to start a cult by only allowing people that will follow your teachings without question.
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I have not been exposed to many spiritual communities but it seems to me they are very deluded and cult-like. I think maybe they could benefit in helping find a teacher to teach you how to properly do practices like meditation or yoga. I would think you would want like 5% spent with a spiritual community and 95% your own solo work.
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Sounds like you are having a rough time. Do you think it would help to find ways to release the emotions you have when you think those thoughts? You may have had trauma that has you worried about things like your girlfriend cheating on you. Things like journaling about what you are thinking/feeling or talking with a supportive friend or a therapist could help you take these thoughts and emotions out of your head and help you worry less.
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I have been falling behind in my meditation. I lost track of how many hours behind I am now. Maybe I should have made a spreadsheet or something. I have been a bit busy at work, working 1-3 hours extra most days. It is a bit hard to meditate as much with less time outside work. I found that I seem to find more benefit with concentration type meditation rather than do nothing type of meditation. I have been focusing on my heart beat and breath a lot. Once I did that meditation where you focus on a light then close your eyes and focus on the afterimage. I forget what that one is called. Occasionally mantra meditation but not that often. I did have a dream on Monday that one of my stocks dropped. The market was closed on Monday but on Tuesday it dropped. I knew I should have sold it right as it opened haha. I slept in instead though and lost $$$.
I miss my girlfriend a lot. It feels like my body is being ripped in two. It is pretty uncomfortable to say the least. It seems other people don't feel like this. I thought she would come back late this month but she will still be another 2 or 2.5 months. I know some guys from work that haven't had a girlfriend in years. I think they are built different or something. That would be the only thing I would be interested in getting if I didn't have one.
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Do you exercise at all? If not you should try some sort of regular exercise in a group ideally. Some people like group exercises classes or you could join a climbing gym and find people there to hang out with. Be as mindful of your thoughts and emotions as you do this. Also don't wait to be motivated to do it. Just do it when it is the last thing you want to do and it will create the motivation in time as it becomes part of your routine.
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Teaching death is imaginary is dangerous, I agree but I think you are misunderstanding what Leo is trying to say.
You say that the reality is that death will come right? Leo does not disagree with that. What Leo is saying is that death is not absolutely true. Leo talks a lot about what is absolutely true and not what is relatively true because absolute truth is what is missing in most people's understanding of reality.
Absolute truth is what is within your consciousness right now. It is what exists without you projecting anything onto your perceptions. You may see someone die but the experience of it would be emotions, shapes, sounds and colors ext. that you are projecting life and death onto.
Relative truth is using imagined stories to explain the perceptions you have, then comparing other stories to decide what is true. Death is true relative to the reality that those stories construct. Those stories are imagined so you are comparing imagination with imagination which can be relatively true but not absolutely true. I am pretty sure that is all he is saying.
Objective truths like gravity like you mentioned are imagined based off of patterns that are experienced. The Cause of the patterns has a story created to explain the pattern. They are relative truths and not the same type of truth that Leo is talking about when he is talking about what is absolutely true.
Being blind is not absolutely true because you must imagine being blind and not being blind to conceptualize the difference between them and understand what is being said. The experience itself is all it is. If you want to understand blindness absolutely you must experience it now. If you want to understand it relatively then you can just imagine it but then the concept will just be relatively true.
The point in giving examples of what is absolutely true and what is not, is to open people up to the possibility to being more than just relative objective truths. Most people do not realize this. Absolute truth is where you want to look to level up your relative understanding of reality, yourself, how your mind works, what is a good way to spend your limited time alive in this world ext. It is also where you want to look to improve your understanding of death and your relation to it.
I think Leo is not that interested in making videos of relative truths. That is what he started out doing. Other people can make videos about that. He sees value in introducing and exploring absolute truth with people.
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I have not experienced anything that makes me think spirits are real. I am not sure much about what the bible says about the holy spirit but I don't think it is using the word in the same way we talk about spirits.
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Have you tried doing a few sets of pushups before meditating? You could also try meditating in a different place. When I am tired sometimes I take a 30 min nap then force myself to get up after and do some exercise and get back to meditating. Helped me out the last time I did that.
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It sometimes feels like I am in a dream with how realistic I can visualize things when meditating. I think just focusing on one thing like the breath helps you to focus on other things like internal images. I also do not like to just do concentration meditation. I alternate between that and mindfulness meditation allowing the focus of attention to shift fairly frequently to things like thoughts and emotions without trying to manipulate them. I have been doing over 2 hours of meditation per day average since the beginning of this year.
in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Posted
I just sat down for 1.5 hours dropping my attachment to thoughts and becoming my sensations. I realized that god is what makes up the current experience. The only thing that stays constant is not any of the content but the fact that the experience exists exactly as it is. Why is it made of god? The current experience is infinity condensing down to a limited form. I believe it is so that it can know what it is like to be this particular finite experience. Infinity is god because it is unlimited and all powerful. How can you know that infinity is condensing down? The finite experience is only existing as it is because it is not existing as every other possible way. Being is Existence. A limitless god is understanding what it like to have limits. What can you do with this realization? Continue being this finite experience and enjoy discovering how it unfolds. God's purpose for you is to be as you are and understand yourself as deeply as your limits allow. You are free to create your own purpose. That is also part of god's purpose for you.