You asked for a technique

[VinceField]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Ah, but, there are no muscles involved in meditation .....just as there are no muscles involved
in snuggling with your beloved or holding your newborn or basking in the sun...point is to the rookie:
Relax...row merrily down the stream already.

Meditation is a bit more complicated than simply hugging someone or sitting in the sun. There is usually a great deal of conflicting mental factors at play which require practice, patience, and endurance to rectify.

Simply relaxing can even be a difficult endeavor if the mind is habitually tense. Old patterns need to be chipped away and new ones established in their place. This is obviously much more complicated than petting your cat or any of the other comparisons you have used.

The idea of rowing merrily down the stream is an important one. This indicates that a joyous attitude should be present during the practice. I believe this is a crucial part of any fruitful meditation practice, and yet still it is something to be developed, as the mind isn't always naturally joyful. We have to rid ourselves of our negative mental tendencies, which is generally a gradual process.

There really is no great deal of training when opening to the love of the
...Father/Creator/God/True Self.
Wish I had been told how easy it was to relax and feel the love more often many years ago.

If the mind naturally inclines towards a state of openness to love, then perhaps you are correct. If the mind has acquired defense systems and false beliefs which prevent the experience of love, which is fairly common, then the mind indeed needs to be trained, needs to destroy these defilements that stop this love from filling the heart.

So I will have to take a different stance that there actually is wisdom in sharing with rookies to not
think so hard...to feeeel what is Present around you at this very moment.
Approach meditation with the attitude of ease and enjoyment.

I agree, there is much wisdom in the advice not to think too hard, to be self aware, and to cultivate peace and joy during the practice. I was speaking about the fact that effort is a key factor in the development of wholesome mental qualities in any meditation practice.

Take care :)

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Ah, but, there are no muscles involved in meditation .....just as there are no muscles involved
in snuggling with your beloved or holding your newborn or basking in the sun...point is to the rookie:
Relax...row merrily down the stream already.

There really is no great deal of training when opening to the love of the
...Father/Creator/God/True Self.
Wish I had been told how easy it was to relax and feel the love more often many years ago.

So I will have to take a different stance that there actually is wisdom in sharing with rookies to not
think so hard...to feeeel what is Present around you at this very moment.
Approach meditation with the attitude of ease and enjoyment.

Miss Hepburn,

Although I have a fraction of the experience on my spiritual path as you do, so maybe I am putting too much effort in, I feel like spirituality/meditation is more like building a relationship with the divine than cuddling with it. I like your analogy in the sense that, if your meditative/spiritual practice is a chore, you are doing it wrong (the same as with a relationship!). However, just like spending time with your significant other, your relationship with the divine will not only bring immense joy (which it does, especially during the "honeymoon phase", to extend the analogy... but really, joy exists ALL throughout it!), but as the relationship reaches intermediate maturity, sometimes it will also face to face with parts of yourself that you don't like, make you go through some tough changes that make you a better person and you will often have to live in such a way that makes room for this new significant other in your life . There may come a point, like a long marriage between a loving couple, where you and the divine have worked everything out and live together quite effortlessly, although that probably speaks more to the maturity of one's relationship than it does to the idea that "effort is wrong!". Although spirituality should be as effortless as a loving relationship, just like even the most loving relationship, it will not be entirely effortless!

-TaoSandwich

[Gem]

Life was a downhill run, just roll easy, but life is ups and downs.

[Miss Hepburn]

Goods post! Very well thought out.

If I want to get a tan I must make the effort to put the beach towel out and go to the beach.
If I want to dance, I must stand up and start moving my legs.
This is effort, for sure.

Saying no to the urge to end meditation and go get an ice cream cone instead is effort.
Becoming nestled in your own self to receive whatever glorious thing may come to you inside...is an effort.
Cleaning an entire bedroom expecting your beloved is an effort.

But, you know what? They are not big efforts, really.

And if I say these things I am hoping a rookie having a tuff time with an unsettled mind
while sitting may remember these words of encouragement...
Life is a dream, enjoy it, open to the Divine, welcome
'Him' with your stillness...'He' loves stillness...you'll see.

If anyone thinks I am over simplifying connection in meditation...
I am not.
It is a beautiful quiet, stillness...as hard as enjoying the ocean at
sunset on our West Coast...just feeel the simplicity of the breath in our chests like waves on the shore...
lull your mind into the Magic Kingdom inside. It's just there waiting for you...it has never left. Just like
at this very moment the thunder of Niagra Falls is happening right 'now' and as you sleep...that is how
constant the availability of God's love is inside you...that Kingdom of Grace...always there ...just as it
was when you were a child...always waiting for you to notice It.

There is no need to ever complicate anything...the ego mind adores complication.
Connecting inside is very very simple.
Remember this, you rookies, and find relief from strife in your practice.

If this is too simple for some...well, then I'm left with a blank.

[Gem]

I consider that my experiences or ways of experiencing aren't applicable what any other person experiences, and have no relationship with what meditators seem to expect the experience to be.

Originally Posted by Gem

I consider that my experiences or ways of experiencing aren't applicable what any other person experiences, and have no relationship with what meditators seem to expect the experience to be.

Gem,

I wholeheartedly agree with this... although, sometimes, speaking in general terms from personal experience (I have a bit of distaste for sharing specific spiritual experience), and giving the context of the experience can, at times be appropriate. Since meditation for me has been a mix of both effortless sunbathing a la Miss Hepburn and having myself forcibly untangled by my awareness, I felt that it would be useful to share with those who are new to the practice that just because meditation isn't peaceful and blissful, doesn't necessarily mean that it is going wrong.

-TaoSandwich

[Gem]

Originally Posted by TaoSandwich

Gem,

I wholeheartedly agree with this... although, sometimes, speaking in general terms from personal experience (I have a bit of distaste for sharing specific spiritual experience), and giving the context of the experience can, at times be appropriate. Since meditation for me has been a mix of both effortless sunbathing a la Miss Hepburn and having myself forcibly untangled by my awareness, I felt that it would be useful to share with those who are new to the practice that just because meditation isn't peaceful and blissful, doesn't necessarily mean that it is going wrong.

-TaoSandwich

General aspects of ease and difficulty are fair enough because we all experience this in life's ups and downs, and the meditation isn't really a separate thing from life, so all I was saying is that meditation isn't actually about the experiences that might occur, and fantastic experiences or mundane experiences or pleasures or discomforts... that there is experience is universal, but what is experienced is individual, so to inquire as to what is meditation as it applies universally is a lot more subtle than describing some kind of experience.

Originally Posted by Gem

so to inquire as to what is meditation as it applies universally is a lot more subtle than describing some kind of experience.

I understand that. In fact, many debates on these forums hinge on the nature of meditation, which is likely to differ widely from individual to individual... which is probably why everyone spends so much time arguing over it.

[wstein]

Originally Posted by TaoSandwich

I understand that. In fact, many debates on these forums hinge on the nature of meditation, which is likely to differ widely from individual to individual... which is probably why everyone spends so much time arguing over it.

For those that stick with it, their understanding changes over time. Many of their younger versions would argue with their more experienced versions should they have the chance.

It's one thing to discuss the nature of meditation based on one's experience, its quite another to stand outside refusing meditation and make comments about what it is.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by wstein

For those that stick with it, their understanding changes over time. Many of their younger versions would argue with their more experienced versions should they have the chance.

It's one thing to discuss the nature of meditation based on one's experience, its quite another to stand outside refusing meditation and make comments about what it is.

Yes people who are experienced often equate meditation to the kind of experience and describe that, but it pertains to any individuals experience at any time, so I don't find particular experiences, or the sum thereof, has much relevance to meditation itself.