meditative state of mind...

[stonecollector]

I can talk without thinking (go with flow mind), sit quietly reading, no imaginations too. I almost got into total meditation mode twice but got interrupted when I was young, basically zoned out. If I go imaginative & thinking then this is not meditative mode.

I do not know how your mind of state at the moment during your routines?
Just curious.

Cheers, stonecollector.

[Dwerg]

I don't really know the difference between states of mind, they just seem to blend. Mostly my mind is empty though, the less I think the more I feel. When I feel good somehow things go well, even when I'm trying to do something wrong. I dunno, maybe I'm just locked in a constant flow or something. I'm certainly not gonna complain and resist, it would just ruin the fun.

I've even been called imaginative, but I just feel like myself and my mind appears empty. I'm like a child, and ironically people think I'm mature.

[jonesboy]

stonecollector,

Let's make sure we are on the same page about what is meditation.

It really doesn't matter what method you use. It can be mantra, breath or staring at a letter or candle. It is all the same.

You start by concetrating, and we will use a mantra, so you start by concentrating on the mantra. When you notice you are off of the mantra, i.e. lost in thought you bring yourself back to the mantra. It is the space between, is when you have touched your inner silence.

Once the thoughts have gone away, we don't stop, we are not done. Stopping once you notice some silence is not meditation. It is a by product of meditation.

Yogani explaines it much better than I do.

Lesson 13 - Meditation -- Awakening the Silent Seed

[Dwerg]

An object of focus is not necessary for meditation, but can be useful anyways. Using a meditation object gives the effect of driving attention to a singular thing making it easy to sort away everything that is not the object, another approach is just clearing away everything on your mind until there is nothing left. It yields the same effect, thus meditative state would be very much as described by stonecollector.

Doing ordinary things in a meditative state seems effortless and it just flows, the mind is just perceived as empty in this state. In any case you can't really make sure you're on the same page about what meditation is, the greatest amount of accuracy you can get is the description of it. You can't actually know for sure how the other person truly perceives it, because you are not that person. Much of human expression is based on abstract analogies derived from common phenomenons in order to intuitively understand another persons subjective experience, and this also references back to your own subjective experience. If you really think about it, the way wine experts describe how wine tastes is utterly absurd, but they still understand each other.

It's also possible to be in a meditative state without knowing it or consciously meditating to achieve it.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Dwerg

Doing ordinary things in a meditative state seems effortless and it just flows, the mind is just perceived as empty in this state. In any case you can't really make sure you're on the same page about what meditation is, the greatest amount of accuracy you can get is the description of it. You can't actually know for sure how the other person truly perceives it, because you are not that person. Much of human expression is based on abstract analogies derived from common phenomenons in order to intuitively understand another persons subjective experience, and this also references back to your own subjective experience. If you really think about it, the way wine experts describe how wine tastes is utterly absurd, but they still understand each other.

It's also possible to be in a meditative state without knowing it or consciously meditating to achieve it.

Not really, no not at all.

You are talking about witnessing your thoughts. To get to the point where you are the witness to your thoughts without effort with no attachments can take a lifetime. Yes, I also do witness aka mindful meditation. It is a very nice practice when combined with a sitting routine.

The fact that you say you really can't make sure of what meditation is because of blah, blah, blah. Is just that blah. Read up my man. Read up on Yoga or Buddhism and you will find it is a step by step practice. What you will experience has been experienced before. Maybe not the same vision but yes visions are common. As is falling asleep but not being asleep, feeling hot, cold, crawling sensations or having your tongue curl up to the roof of your mouth are just as a few examples.

The problem with a website like this is all of the different techniques. It really isn't the differences it is the fact that people just make junk up and call it a practice.

[Gem]

If we keep on the 'how to meditate', then I'll say do this and you'll say do that, and many will say to do one thing and another, and these various how to's are all somewhat misguided unless meditation is understood as a phenomena rather than an activity.

[jonesboy]

So you have a practice that is 5000 years old. You have others that are 2500 years old.

I am talking about those practices, those techniques.

It all starts with Yoga or Buddhism. There is nothing New Age that is new. It has all been discussed, observed and examined in details that is way over our heads.

Yes there are many methods and I tell people to find a tried and true system. But to say that just do nothing and you are in a meditative state is a bunch of B******.

People are here asking for help. I will give what help I can and at the same time point them to a practice if possible that fits there needs.

In this thread I seem to be the only one trying to provide answera for stonecollector.