Self Enquiry

[Davekay]

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on how to sort of carry on with what goes on through the time during meditation and self enquiry into the actual working day..it feels like I get some real insights and understanding about truth while I'm deep in contemplation but when it comes back to say going to work or been with the family it seems to just take a back seat.any ideas please 

[Davekay]

@Davekay Thanks..just feels like during daily life especially at work the whole day seems to be run by thoughts..And I stop seeing them as just thoughts that I understand them to be.

[Truth]

This is what they say when you "fall asleep" I struggled with this too, I'd be working, journaling about my thoughts and contemplating on my breaks.

you find answers, you gain more insights, but eventually.. nothing improves, this is what some call being an insight junkie or mental masturbation, you have all these new insights blowing your mind, but nothing changes, what got me over this was just being "aware" of it, but what really helped was no matter how much I thought about shit, nothing was going to change, I had to do something different.

"If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten, so you gotta take different actions." - nick sparks

Edited February 9, 2016 by Truth

[Davekay]

Sometimes it feels like I'm asleep for a large part of the day and I do see that.getting sucked into thoughts and situations but with retrospect it's clear what's going on.how to keep so aware of it in the moment is something that needs to improve 

[Guest]

On 2016-02-09 at 4:39 PM, Davekay said:

but when it comes back to say going to work or been with the family it seems to just take a back sea

Eventually it became clear to me that the habit of meditation carried through in a mindful way throughout the day.   A few times I had noticed that just for a moment or two I was being mindful of some interaction with another person, or looking at a tree or birds flying by, or whatever. 

That got my attention.   Over time I kept coming to the feeling that I had at those times and it sort of took hold naturally, probably because in the back of my mind (so to speak), there was some sort of association with the kind of person I desired to become and the behaviours and attitudes that would be necessary for that sort of change to occur.  

I remember that at that time I had not been keeping a journal, but some force of insight literally tossed me into a writing frenzy which lasted for about 4 hours of uninterrupted time.   During this period I wrote a monograph entitled "An Attitude for Change", which I published, and I also wrote several pages of free verse poetry on the topic of being free of egoic conditioning.   It just flowed through cleanly.   It was not automatic writing, I did think to formulate sentences and correct grammatical structures, but there was no effort of comming up with the substance of what I had to communicate.

From this experience I discovered that meditation can be happening all day long once we attune our mental habits and attitudes to the pursuit of truth as we understand it in this self-realization community.  My family and work did not take away from this ongoing meditation.  In fact, with the change in attitude, my priorities changed in terms of how I viewed family and work.   Relating to other people with respect, understanding and dignity manifested as a definite priority.  This morphed the nature and meaning of life for me irrevocably.  

Since that time there have been bumps along the road, but in the last 10 years things have stabilized nicely.  There is no other place that I would rather be.

joy

 

Edited February 11, 2016 by walt

[Mac]

I find that less and less I am distracted by the world and here is what I have done to decrease the chatter. Some time ago I began to sense that I am not who I think I am. I enquirer into this and I realized there is no me. I've done a lot of studying and it's very simple. Once you have the understanding that there is no "me", begin to focus that attention inwardly, soften yourself, allow the chatter to persist as long as it wants to because it will lessen. Don't resist it. Think of your senses as if they are a camera lens. Turn  the lens slightly creating a soft blur. The image is still there but lessened.

[Davekay]

@walt thank you for sharing.the understanding is to this then that are going to be no quick fix.only the practice of self enquiry and daily meditation are going to be the way forward to raise awareness.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Davekay said:

the understanding is to this then that are going to be no quick fix.only the practice of self enquiry and daily meditation are going to be the way forward to raise awareness.

Certainly.  There is no quick fix.  Practising sef enquiry and daily meditation in very useful, however the point I was making is that one's attitude towards all of this is the most important aspect.   The attitude of strong desire, and being true to life (actually love at the root of it), is a key ingredient in moving along the path.   This attitude immediately begins to change one's outlook on how they are relating to life (i.e. their life experience).

joy