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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Spirituality & Beliefs > Meditation

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  #21  
Old 14-05-2013, 02:52 AM
icy_su
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Before I go into the two questions, I would like to clarify that I am not here to sell my religion. Buddha had made it very clear that he cannot help the persons without connection to him. (Jeeez, my translation looks really funny... May I bother you to google search Yuan concept in Buddhism?) Basically it means, when conditions mature, people will pursue Buddhism; when they are not, you cannot drag people into it.

Yet as a Buddhist, my practice inevitably envolves Buddhism concepts. Please bear with me. You can replace my religious features in meditation with your own religion as you like.
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  #22  
Old 14-05-2013, 03:13 AM
icy_su
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icy_su
Here comes the core -- meditation.

First, why do we meditate? Let me put it into an analogy. Our mind is like a muddy river. (Just imagine the Yellow River in China~~ ) It's not clean. Be honest, we all have bad ideas in head. It's not under control. Can you sit there without any trace of thoughts in one minute? No you can't. So it needs to be ameliorated.

Meditation is a way to allow you channel and soothe the water, so that the water will be more or less under control and be cleaner. This provides us a test of your meditation result -- it you feel that your mind is more under control, (which means you have less unnecessary thoughts and negative emotions) and your heart becomes more kind, that means you are on the right way.

Second, how do we meditate? Meditation comes with concentration in the first place. Why the water is not under control? Because there are too many flows of energy, interacting with each other. If you can stick to only one energy, persistently, the others will gradually become weak, and the water will become more obedient. (How I wish I have Mayflow's vocabulary in mind. If you do not understand my expression, let me know.)

Now we have come to the question of how to find a proper energy and stick to it. Well, this is actually a very familiar topic to you guys. It's only a matter of finding a meditation object and concentrate on it.

Then what is a proper object? and how do we make sure to really concentrate on it?

These are two most common but most fundamental questions of meditation.

1. Choose a proper meditation object.
There are many many objects available. You can choose one that you feel most comfortable with, e.g., your breaths, a burning candle, rain drop sound, a sacred word, a question, or a visualized picture, etc. But this doesn't mean that all those methods work the same. Some can be dangerous. For example, for female practitioners, if you concentrate on your lower belly, it can be harmful. Visualization can easily lead a person to illusion. When you visualize, be sure to visualize simple, pure and nice object, e.g., a lotus. You can switch among different objects as you wish.

2. Concentration.
No matter what object you choose, you will find that it's extremely hard to really stick to it for a long time. It's never easy to meditate. Human are human -- we cannot easily overcome our weakness.

On this point, actually I would love to hear what you guys had tried and what you think is most efficient.

As to me, I had tried many objects, and found the Quan-yin Buddha's name fits me best. I chant her name in heart when meditating, and my mind calms down. I concentrate best with this method.
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  #23  
Old 14-05-2013, 03:28 AM
icy_su
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OK. Now the three steps are all there. Nothing fancy. But believe me, all good things come simple. You do not need fancy devices, various theories, mysterious place, etc.

I understand you guys are learning from various resources. Last time I chatted with my boss, who meditates as well, I said that I believe I am blessed by Buddha. And he said he's blessed by Youtube~~ Well Youtube is good, in terms of abundant information. But somehow it's too abundant, which makes people get lost easily.
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  #24  
Old 14-05-2013, 07:06 AM
God-Like God-Like is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayflow
I would suggest that it may carry an aspect of meditation concentration, but not in quite the same way. As I understand Pure Land Buddhism, the idea (much the same as much of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism) it has a psychological basis in concentrating on Buddha like internal qualities - in your case, it may be God-like qualities. Much of Hinduism does the same by repeating devotions to certain God-like qualities that emerge from within us. So, yes I would say it is a bit different from chanting red lorry yellow lorry.

Incidentally sometimes female Dakinies are imagined as well. In China, Quan-Yin is Legendary. She is a female version of the Goddess (or Buddha) of compassion. In our world of today, many consider the current Dalai Lama of Tibet as being a contemporary incarnated male version.

Hi Mayflow .

Thanks for your thoughts .

For myself through my 20 years of daily meditation I have never chanted . What I understand however is that to begin with one needs to gently quieten the mind . For me I was training the mind muscles just like one would work out at the gym .

I began concentrating on my chakras and drew my mind to a point within them, each in turn up and down I would go in my mind for many years until I need not concentrate on them no more to attain a particular state . At times I would just mindfully acknowledge them out of respect .

Some use breathing techniques, my mum focused on yeast powder and yogurt, thats all she ate for many years during her intense period of enlightenment .

So In some respect it matters not what one concentrates on .. tis likened to trying to get an unruly dog to sit . One needs to lure the untamed mind by means of a dog biscuit, whilst the dogs mind is on the biscuit you can get the dog to sit .

x daz x
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  #25  
Old 14-05-2013, 07:25 AM
icy_su
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Quote:
Originally Posted by God-Like
Hi Mayflow .

Thanks for your thoughts .

For myself through my 20 years of daily meditation I have never chanted . What I understand however is that to begin with one needs to gently quieten the mind . For me I was training the mind muscles just like one would work out at the gym .

I began concentrating on my chakras and drew my mind to a point within them, each in turn up and down I would go in my mind for many years until I need not concentrate on them no more to attain a particular state . At times I would just mindfully acknowledge them out of respect .

Some use breathing techniques, my mum focused on yeast powder and yogurt, thats all she ate for many years during her intense period of enlightenment .

So In some respect it matters not what one concentrates on .. tis likened to trying to get an unruly dog to sit . One needs to lure the untamed mind by means of a dog biscuit, whilst the dogs mind is on the biscuit you can get the dog to sit .

x daz x

Hi God-Like,

Thanks for your post.

One thing to clarify -- Apologize for my English, please always remind me and correct me when you find necessary. By chanting, I mean chanting either aloud or chanting in heart. And most of the time, I chant in heart. In meditation, I definitely chant in heart. Maybe it should be the word Reciting?~~~

You are right on the meditation concentration understanding -- Basically whatever the object you choose, you can use it to meditate. (See Guide to Meditation -- Step 3. Meditation)

Why Buddha's name is different from other object? It's because it embeds Buddha's blessing. I am not a superstitious person. I didn't believe such thing until I felt them in person. But the problem is not everyone has Yuan to Buddha. In Pure Land Buddhism, we have two prominent Buddhas. I felt strong connection to Quan-yin Buddha, but not so much to the other. I cannot explain why. After all, Buddhism is not logical science. If you do practice, you'll find that there are too many things that you cannot explain with human logic.

Therefore, if you recite red lorry yellow lorry in heart, you can certainly meditate. But remember, the thing that continuously draws all your attention does affect your heart. Lorries are not harmful, but they can barely lead you to the sense of beauty and peace. If you are spending the 30 minutes, why not spending it in a more meaningful way?

Kind regards,
Icy
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  #26  
Old 14-05-2013, 07:44 AM
God-Like God-Like is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icy_su
Hi God-Like,

Thanks for your post.

One thing to clarify -- Apologize for my English, please always remind me and correct me when you find necessary. By chanting, I mean chanting either aloud or chanting in heart. And most of the time, I chant in heart. In meditation, I definitely chant in heart. Maybe it should be the word Reciting?~~~

You are right on the meditation concentration understanding -- Basically whatever the object you choose, you can use it to meditate. (See Guide to Meditation -- Step 3. Meditation)

Why Buddha's name is different from other object? It's because it embeds Buddha's blessing. I am not a superstitious person. I didn't believe such thing until I felt them in person. But the problem is not everyone has Yuan to Buddha. In Pure Land Buddhism, we have two prominent Buddhas. I felt strong connection to Quan-yin Buddha, but not so much to the other. I cannot explain why. After all, Buddhism is not logical science. If you do practice, you'll find that there are too many things that you cannot explain with human logic.

Therefore, if you recite red lorry yellow lorry in heart, you can certainly meditate. But remember, the thing that continuously draws all your attention does affect your heart. Lorries are not harmful, but they can barely lead you to the sense of beauty and peace. If you are spending the 30 minutes, why not spending it in a more meaningful way?

Kind regards,
Icy

Hi Su ,

I would say Su that what works for some won’t work in the same way for others .. tis not the object / image / sound / icon that is important it is what the object / image / sound / icon means to the individual .

I know not of buddha , therefore buddha has no immediate influence upon myself . My glands / chakras however are likened to the engine of my mind body soul experience ..

You will not know self by chanting buddha alone but the energy system of one’s mind body experience (glands/chakras) will need to be firing on all cylinders for that to be so .

I applaud your english skills Su .. My chinese is not so good . 上帝保佑你 Shàngdì bǎoyòu nǐ


x daz x
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  #27  
Old 14-05-2013, 07:51 AM
icy_su
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Quote:
Originally Posted by God-Like
Hi Su ,

I would say Su that what works for some won’t work in the same way for others .. tis not the object / image / sound / icon that is important it is what the object / image / sound / icon means to the individual .

I know not of buddha , therefore buddha has no immediate influence upon myself . My glands / chakras however are likened to the engine of my mind body soul experience ..

You will not know self by chanting buddha alone but the energy system of one’s mind body experience (glands/chakras) will need to be firing on all cylinders for that to be so .

I applaud your english skills Su .. My chinese is not so good . 上帝保佑你 Shàngdì bǎoyòu nǐ


x daz x

If you read the whole thread, you will know that I am not religion biased. (See Guide to Meditation -- Step 3. meditation) The only purpose of my posts is to introduce my knowledge and experience. You can certainly choose to take them or not.

Kind regards,
Icy
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  #28  
Old 14-05-2013, 08:10 AM
God-Like God-Like is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icy_su
If you read the whole thread, you will know that I am not religion biased. (See Guide to Meditation -- Step 3. meditation) The only purpose of my posts is to introduce my knowledge and experience. You can certainly choose to take them or not.

Kind regards,
Icy

I agree icy with your Step 3 evaluation .

If you don't mind me asking .. What drew you to buddha / Buddhism .

Do you see buddha as someone outside of yourself .

x dazzle x
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  #29  
Old 14-05-2013, 09:15 AM
icy_su
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Quote:
Originally Posted by God-Like
I agree icy with your Step 3 evaluation .

If you don't mind me asking .. What drew you to buddha / Buddhism .

Do you see buddha as someone outside of yourself .

x dazzle x

Many people seek for a general guidance for life, and I had been one of them. I had sought hard, and eventually found religion, and then Buddhism.

My mom is a devout Buddhist. I saw her practicing Buddhism since I was young. But she didn't force me to accept her religion. What she said most was to always do good to others. I also had access to other religion resources, such as Taoism and Christianity. Eventually I found Buddhism fit me best.
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  #30  
Old 14-05-2013, 09:16 AM
icy_su
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Quote:
Originally Posted by God-Like
Do you see buddha as someone outside of yourself .

I never think about this question, and I won't either. People sometimes think too much, which does not either solve any problem, or even makes one feel any better.

Why do we need to think of this question?
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