do you meditate anon?
I'm not a hippie
>>55411520
I did and it led me to make a million dollars a few months later (over the course of 5-6 years).
Maybe I should do it again.
I like my meditation like I like my free range organic gluten free locally sourced eggplant burger.
>>55411559
>thread about meditation
>hurr durr ur a hippie!
Being this retarded...
Meditation is healthy as fuck and is good for your brain.
I tried it but gave up after a few days.
Does it work? Will it help make me happy?
>>55411520
How do I meditate.
>>55411520
Is laying still and fantasizing about my cousin meditation?
>>55411878
>le triggered dude weed
>>55411904
>buy candle
>sit on couch, turn off cell phone, t.v. radio, etc
>light candle on fire
>stare directly at flame for 15 minutes. Let your mind wander, but do not think of anything at all.
(set your cell phone timer for 15 mins prior)
You won't notice shit for 1-2 weeks, but after that, every night you will feel extremely focused and relaxed afterwards.
Your life will change dramatically (for the better).
>>55411520
>falling for the fat asian jew
>>55411904
Just clear your mind
>>55411520
Do I let demons into my soul?
>yes
>>55411885
Try some guided meditations.
There are basically 2 types of meditations you'll find: one is concentration and the other is compassion or realization
Go with the concentration. It tries to focus and calm your mind.
The other one is more religious.
Usually concentration goes with sitting in an upright position with your spine forward and keeping your mind focused (not falling asleep). Maybe close your eyes or stare down the angle of your nose. Then just focus on your breath of your nose and try to keep concentration there. It is hard for a beginner and you will probably drift off many times. Just dont be harsh on yourself and realize that you are doing these things and refocus on your breathing.
I can't focus and always worry if I'm doing it right. Followed by me beating myself up right for both worrying and failing.
It's a circle of autism.
>>55411520
I just started. It's fantastic if you have some anxiety issues or if you just want to clear your head.
Just a shame that when it came to the west the people it clicked with were a bunch of burnt out degenerates. IMO meditation is meant for the sober mind.
>>55412189
>Siddharta Gautama was a chink
>>55411520
Meditation is degenerate gook shit.
>>55412439
>IMO meditation is meant for the sober mind.
exactly
>>55411520
yes, it helps me with anxiety and it makes my daly experience more vivid.
>>55412373
How long did it take for you to get results? I just felt like I wasn't making any progress after three or four days and quit, though I'm willing to try again. My sessions were ten minutes each, I think.
>>55412458
>living in the mountains and dedicating yourself to a life of meditation, studying and seclusion is degenerate
lol k
>>55411520
I've tried it and I gave up. It's hard. I can't stop thinking about shit and I always want to listen to music while I'm doing it. I haven't done it in a few months; maybe I'll pick it up again in a few weeks. Any advice, Anon?
>>55412585
I just went to a group session today. We all sat in silence for approx 15 minutes, then did a concentration, and did another 15 minutes of silence. There was a brief discussion afterwards.
The group aspect helped me since i'm a noob as well.
>>55412440
he was a poo in loo
like his religion
>>55412647
Yes, yes it is.
>>55412689
>I can't stop thinking about shit and I always want to listen to music while I'm doing it
Why is that? Why does it make you anxious or bored to sit alone with yourself? Let your thoughts flow.
I'm by no means an expert, honestly just started. But we talked about this today at a group meditation session so thought I would chime in. We keep ourselves distracted so much that we don't even know how to experience ourselves for 10 minutes without getting antsy.
>tfw can't do a full lotus yet
>>55413319
my feet fall asleep.
>>55413319
Why? Are you fat? How stupid of me. Of course you are
>>55412132
this is in every single way wrong.
you don't let your mind wander. when you realize your mind is losing or has lost focus, you return to the state of calm attention on emptiness or whatever it is you use to focus you mind on. usually it is breathing but it can be flame as well. the goal is to return your mind to the state that it is believe to be in, which is calm and unaltered by thinking.
>>55413579
only a Brazilian monkey would save and reuse such a shitty image.
Yes, but not the Buddhist/atheist/secular way.
>>55413579
Nope, just a beginner.
You can go ahead and think I'm fat though. No skin off my teeth anon.
>>55413226
Yeah, a bit of both. I'm also incredibly antsy. I'm always tapping my feet, finger, pencil, etc. And you're completely right. 10 minutes was the most I could ever get myself to do before getting up and doing something else.
>>55413969
what would you consider the secular atheistic way? buddhism is by definition not secular, and atheism is more of a lack of belief in anything supernatural or religious.
I take astral journies.
>>55413969
always wondered if the desert fathers did some form of christian meditation. would be interesting for sure.
>>55413969
nice choice of pic btw.
>>55414354
there wouldn't be much difference between the praying that monks do and some of the meditations that buddhists do, especially the ones that use some kind of visual aspect. back during jesus' time, there were a group of jews who did exactly taht. in a lot of ways I think the religious experience is such that it goes beyond specific religion, and at the higher levels of piety and devotion, the distinction between prayer and meditation is little. aside from petitionary prayer of course.
Is there a western equivalent to meditation?
I'm all about learning to focus myself but I'm not gonna betray my heritage for a bunch of oriental bullshit
>>55412585
It can takes months to be able to get somewhat okay at it (like ~10 mins of pure concentration).
As a noobie, don't expect to be able to get pure concentration for over 30 seconds - 2 minutes. But you have to constantly practice to get better.
Monks and yogis can take many years of practice to be able to stay in a pure meditative state for 2-3 or even 5 hours.
>>55415025
you can practice the basic form of meditation and not have to learn anything specific or in general about eastern religion because meditation isn't specifc to one religion, it is pluralist. christian monks meditate pal.
>>55415335
Is a pure meditative state when you're able to operate without having your thoughts distracted? When I tried meditating, it felt like my mind was on crack from how rapidly my thoughts were moving, and the actual meditation I reached ever only seemed to last 5-10 seconds at most, where my mind was clear. Is that what you mean?
>>55412408
This is exactly the kind of thought process that meditation aims to destroy.
I tried for a long time to "meditate" properly.
Then suddenly one day something just clicked, and I was able to reach a peaceful state far more easily than ever before.
My advice to you is: Don't give up. It might sound stupid and cliché... but with 8 billion other people on this planet, there isn't much you can do that's original any more.
Yeah. I got memed into thinking you can astral project via meditation for a while. "Astral projection" is actually you falling asleep while meditating and going into a lucid dream, and it's hard to do.
>>55414187
>what would you consider the secular atheistic way?
Focusing on the flesh, i.e. all these techniques regarding the brain, breath, posture, health etc.
In the religious tradition that I follow, meditation is a love induced aching for your beloved(God). A kind of remembrance where I focus on God, chant, and sing hymns. This meditation is more about feeling than sharpening your mind.
>>55415747
Think of it like doing push ups with your mind.
5-10 seconds might just be all a beginner can manage without other thoughts interrupting their stillness.
Don't think of it like trying to calm an ocean, think of it like trying to weed a garden.
>>55412189
orthodoxy has meditation afaik, middle east+europe has had meditation since long time ago, it's only associated with buddhism because its the most known one.
>>55414112
Do one minute a day, for a week. Next week, two minutes. Continue like this. Too much too soon is counter productive.
>>55415025
Buddhism available now has already become so westernized.
Trust me, you arent betraying any heritage.
Buddhists use meditation to try to reach enlightenment and learn higher truths of the world.
One of the prerequisites to this is being good enough to stay concentrated and focused and keep an empty mind. Thats why concentration meditation is usually the first kind of meditation buddhist learn.
Thats the one you want to learn.
There are other kinds of meditations that involve visualization of deities and some other really strange rituals in the tantric sec of buddhism that you shouldnt worry about. You also dont have to worry about meditating to try to learn higher truth.
Meditation is sort of like an exercise in the mind, its not really religious unless you are trying to do it for a religious purpose.
>>55414299
Please elaborate.
>>55413969
Do you know the artist who created this??
It's fucking amazing.
>>55416282
Thanks for this, gonna try Mindfulness in Plain English again.
>>55413004
He was a blonde, blue eyed Aryan of the kshatriya (warrior) caste you ameritard.
>>55416678
Tatiana Yushmanova
>>55416902
but my anthropology professor told me immigrants belong to the country they were born in
>anyone will admit their prophet was white
>>55414354
I haven't read the bible in a long time but one of the disciples would sit down in a room and pray all day long. I remember as a child being completely unable to comprehend such an endevor. Especially since, at the time, I was convinced that prayer was a "Thank you for everything you do for me, now here's what I want for you to do for me moving forward" affair."Ask and you shall receive" is the most ruinous verse in the entire bible because it is widely interpreted as if God was some kind of wish granting genie. Set's an incorrect tone of what prayer was actually described as, which is a personal relationship with God. Modern Christianity also takes away from the wrathful aspects of God to the point where "God-fearing Man" didn't make sense to me as a child.
Athiest by the way
>>55411520
Started to last week.
I've been doing it roughly 20 mins a day.
I'm liking it. Seems to do wonders for anxiety.
Anyone do open eye meditation? Is it worth it? Better than shut eye?
>>55416149
I can't say anything negative about this. As long as you know what you are doing then more power to you. I like both, and I think both are necessary in order to live well.
>>55414354
They did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm
>>55417187
I can't do totally open eye, but I do keep them half open. It helps for me because I use or focus on myself being embodied when meditating, and keeping my eyes half closed is a good way of doing that. I gives you that -looking at the back of your eyelids- kind of feel to it, which is easy to focus on.
>>55416149
what religion do you practice?
>>55417187
Doesnt matter. I believe most buddhist monks do open eye in the monasteries.
Close eye is usually better for beginners because it draws thoughts inward and you tend to be more reflective.
Open eye is good though if you feel a bit sleep. If you are in a meditative position on the floor with your feet on your thighs or even cross-legged, you want your eyes to stare sorta at the angle that your nose makes to the floor. So just a bit past your feet.
>tfw roommate and I got in fight a couple of days ago and now I find it a lot harder to reel in my thoughts
I started off so good but this gay turmoil is fugging up my concentration.
>>55417223
>As long as you know what you are doing
Lel, I have no idea what I'm doing brother, but thanks, and hopefully your practice fulfills you too.
>>55417569
Sikhism.
>>55411559
Retard
>>55412458
Hush retard
>>55418453
Try examining it and go deeper. Why the way you feel that way and why you are letting it affect you and your minds thoughts. Be generous and easy with yourself.
Then try to refocus your concentration.
Self-reflection and awareness are an important part of meditation and can be a good tool for overcoming the problem.
Meditation is just a packaged calmness timeslot. I can go sit on my porch and watch the rain and accomplish the same thing without pretending there's hocus pokus magic involved.
>>55413319
I used too but now my knees dont fully touch unless i change my seating
>>55416149
Ive tried both clearing my mind and focusing on love/religious aspect. Would sit on my lanai(patio) and stare at the sun every day an hour before the sunset. Shit was beautiful to be honest, felt happier, felt healthier, got a nice tan and can kinda stare at the sun without it hurting.
>>55416551
My energy body escapes from my physical form and travels the world
>>55419162
You'll still be thinking anon.
Meditation made me realize how little we control what goes on in our head
>>55416282
>Don't think of it like trying to calm an ocean, think of it like trying to weed a garden.
this desu
>>55419162
>>55419162
no one ever said it was hokus pokus
>>55419162
you're assuming that you are doing the same thing accruing the same effect, and having done both, I can tell you that they are very different with very different effects. However, you can go into a meditative state with the former, but that isn't something common.
~~FUN THING TO DO~~
1) Place your hands behind your head and covering your ears so that your middle fingers are almost touching and are an inch or two above the base of your skull. Part your hair if necessary - the fingers should contact the skull and you should not be able to hear anything.
2) Place your index fingers on top of your middle fingers
3) Thump your middle fingers with your index fingers rhythmically 30-40 times then take your hands off your ears.
>>55419903
This does nothing for my tinnitus, unfortuneately. Wish I knew something that did.
>>55412132
How can you set your phone timer and expect it to go off when you turned your phone off?
I'm introverted so meditation comes naturally for me. It's more helpful for people who are ADHD spastic fucks who cannot shut up for more than 10 seconds and have a need to be constantly be preoccupied with something, such as eating or fidgeting.
>>55411520
4hours a day + my night's kind of meditation since I dont really sleep.
>>55416445
Norse pagans would go into a trance by reciting the names of Odin or reciting hymns
