Meditation dead end, regression: any tips?

[VermilionFloyd]

Hi everyone,

I have been practicing various meditative techniques for 4 years now.

Initially, it was the standard “focus-on-your-breath” / “watch-your-thoughts-pass-by” styles, but later I would switch to self-inquiry, as described by Leo and/or Rupert Spira, since the goal is obviously to get to know one’s true Self, rather than just reduce stress and calm down. I used to sit for an hour a day, then reduced that to 40 mins a day, in one sitting.

I felt like I was experiencing some degree of progress initially (although this assertion is obviously unquantifiable), but that stalled about 9-12 months ago. What happened was quite peculiar… I started to FALL ASLEEP. I did not change the habit in any way, yet instead of being wide awake, mindful, and alert (which I was before), I can clearly see how nowadays, about 10-15 mins into the session, my “brain frequency” switches into this weird state of being half asleep, half awake. Rather than on my Self, I need to focus on not falling fully asleep the rest of the session. Sometimes it slips out of control, and my head shoots up as I instinctively try to wake up before actually falling down. I am not delusional: this is not “going deeper”, “getting closer” or “exploring new realms”, it’s a derailment.

This thing happens regardless of whether I’ve just had a huge meal or am in a fasted state, whether I had a good night’s sleep or not, whether I’ve had a cup of coffee or not, or whether I sit to self-inquire at 10am or 6pm. The whole thing just took a huge U-turn and I feel like a complete noob now, with no additional progress.

Any tips on how to resolve this? Anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks a lot!

[Someone here]

@VermilionFloyd Hi ..welcome to the forum .

I did experience previously what you are describing. I would say meditation is most perfectly done in the morning instead of the evening. 

I meditate 1 hour everyday in the morning.  I just simply watch the blank space between thoughts. And that's it . That's all it takes to calm down your monkey mind chatter and relax and enjoy the present moment.  Because that's all there is to do in life . Drop completely this notion of finding your true self . The pount is to stop seeking and remain present. If you are seeking something you are doing meditation wrong .

I mean imagine you have so much free time ..what the fuck are you gonna do with your life?  Yes you can try this and that ..but at the end of it all you will be back to baseline and bored. So all that is left is to just bask in being and chill out on nothing. 

[Ishanga]

@VermilionFloyd I'm not a fan of "Self Inquiry", at least not as a beginners practice and such, Self Inquiry is for me is ego talking to ego, how can the mind which is not You find the You within Yourself? It will drive You crazy and further away from Truth imo..at least when one is beginning the journey, maybe later on when one has had some realizations and awakening then they can inquire within about one's self, but what is doing the inquiry and to whom are they inquiring about?

Maybe You need to start some practice that bring about more energy or that are energy based, the practice of watching breath is very very basic, its there to bring about as simple awareness, but there are others that are more advanced and scientific in their approach and have nothing to do with mind and ego...

This guy is very good, Forrest Knutson, he's a Kriya Yogi and has some methods that work on the energy system within the body, try some of his stuff and see what happens:)

https://www.youtube.com/@ForrestKnutson

[Water by the River]

Intensifying -and easing up - techniques in the Mahamdura system, see for example "Pointing out the Great Way", Brown.

You can find a description of my experiences with Mahamudra the Pointing out the Great Way-style in my archive.

Edited January 28 by Water by the River

[gettoefl]

what happens on the cushion isn't your business

you leave the cushion like it never happened

your task is to put in your shift and leave it to the beyond

per self enquiry, it is a simple thing

you are reminding yourself you are not the one who is getting worked up about thoughts

that isn't you, that is self enquiry

and part two is abide at that source whence the real you arises from

stay right there

this means you choose to see the thoughts that arise through a new lens

namely that of the real you

if anger has arisen, that isn't you, the real you gets mad at no one since they are blameless, your anger becomes compassion

that is you

stay right there

[Theplay]

I can offer what worked best for me.

Although I did it after a substantial amount of self-inquiry and classic meditation.

Just sit.

No pose.

No aim.

Mind goes wild its fine.

You want to switch pose, also fine.

The point is just to be alone with yourself.

When I did it this way I could sit for a whole day.

[Hojo]

This is why you have to sit up straight. You want to get into the mode of falling asleep and waking up many times. You do this like 50 times in a row and you will enter a trance. You want to sit up straight you will start to fall asleep then jolt up and start over and over keep focusing on what is happening.

Do it right when you wake up to instantly start the sleeping process and before the sun comes up I heard so your ego is at is quietest.

Edited January 30 by Hojo

[Jordan]

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.

Edited January 30 by Jordan

[VermilionFloyd]

Thank you all for your ideas!

[Ayham]

Work up to a good Kriya yoga routine + self inquiry in the post practice state

[r0ckyreed]

On 1/28/2024 at 7:11 AM, Ishanga said:

Self Inquiry is for me is ego talking to ego, how can the mind which is not You find the You within Yourself?

Thought isn’t ego. Ego is identity. You can use thoughts to deconstruct identities. Think of your thoughts as mental hands that can create and deconstruct things. Thoughts can be tools.