Mindful Meditation

[Serrao]

Originally Posted by Aham Brahmasmi

Is meditation only about closing your eyes and going into no thought zone? Is it not also about being aware of each thought and "let go" of it.

Both methods you mentioned could be classified as 'meditation'.

And there are many more methods of meditation.

There is even meditative dancing as a legit form of practice.

[Aham Brahmasmi]

Originally Posted by praveece

Meditation has different forms in which one is aware of and contemplating on every thought that arises;
fixing the mind in a single thought that arises as a chain of thought;
positioning the mind on a stationary thought as just focusing on primordial sound;
A complete emptiness of the mind where the mind itself does not exist or absorbed in the soul.

Thank you very much Praveece.

[Aham Brahmasmi]

Originally Posted by Serrao

Both methods you mentioned could be classified as 'meditation'.

And there are many more methods of meditation.

There is even meditative dancing as a legit form of practice.

This is almost eerie... Its only last evening that I had a conversation with some friends who were saying the same things as you. Thank you so very much :)

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Serrao

Both methods you mentioned could be classified as 'meditation'.

And there are many more methods of meditation.

There is even meditative dancing as a legit form of practice.

My qusetion is, who say's it's legit? I personally don't think that wild dancing method is legit. I'm not popular in these talks because I claim that meditation is a very particular thing, and the 'spiritually correct' thing is, whatever you want to call meditation is meditation. The disparity as I see it is what I consider to be a misconception that modes of practice are meditation, whereas I say, meditation isn't a practice per-se. Why is it when I assume a posture and close my eyes and perform some nature of practice that I get to say, meditation has started, and when the hour ends I say meditation is over.

What really happens is I set and intention 'observe breath' (or whatever ludicrous activity one intends) and that thought indicates the beginning, after a while the bell sounds and I'm like, 'thank god I god I can stop this breath nonsense at long last and get back to my shady misdoings'. I question, how come there is is this little sectioned off part of the day where I observe breath (or watch thoughts or whatever other arbitrary thing people dream up)?

Obviously this activity is undertaken in a secondary sense as a means to an end. My question is what is this end? What is the reason why? Firstly, this immediately suggests a future objective, so the meditator is doing what they do for some ulterior motive. But what is that motive? Isn't that motive self centred? If so, is it a noble motivation or is it just a petty desire for some kind of marvelous experience?

I mean, what is really going on with this thing? What is it that is being self generated right now in this regard? Is it some kind a spiritual greed for self gratification? The attempt to acquire what others have spoken about, great energy and heavenly bliss and so on?

I'm just asking rhetorical questions, because I wonder, do people know what that are doing really, or is reduced to a blind obedience where some people say do this thing and become a spiritual being?

What is this notion of becoming something other?

[Mr Interesting]

I really like meditating. There's this kind of glee I feel when I think, ah, I'm going to meditate, and I do it absolutely lot's even to the extent where I might be chronically lazy and I'm just making up this excuse that I'm actually doing something.

And that's all a bit weird 'cause I usually just end up enduring pain, but not real pain like bad teeth or broken ankles or whatever, but pain none the less which kinda means that for ages I haven't gotten to silence.

But I did ages ago, achieve silence, then formlessness and eventually popped into, for the briefest time, what seemed to be bliss. Oh man was that good, like the biggest good ever but thoroughly bigger than I could ever imagine but I could still somehow touch the sides... even while the sides weren't there. And it was like everything that exists was simply existing and even if it didn't exist yet or was gone, as it were, that it was the potential of it somehow just dancing almost lazily... Wow!

So it goes on and I don't know what it is but it seems to be something as the world I'm in, the stuff around me, always seems to adjust to me being able to meditate. Even nature itself seems to cover my bases. Where I live I've been told to weed, as in big time get rid of those weeds and I've done a little, and I'll do a bit more, but it's almost high summer and so you pull out those weeds and unless you put something in instead of those weeds then more weeds will come back... but that's alright even because over time the type of weed seems to understand what is going to be happening so it kinda makes it easier for you.

There's this interplay then between taking the time to meditate and going out into life carrying some of that with you... it seems. Am I pushing the cart or is the cart pushing me? I really don't know but I'm also supposing it doesn't actually matter as it's going somewhere regardless.

And this pain thing. Maybe it's the pain body Mr Tolle talks about and it's taking it's good old time about revealing itself. But then I look around me at all the other people and I'm quite glad I'm conscious of my pain whilst all around me it's an unconscious underpinning which seems to drive people in directions they don't even know they're going. Not that I'm any better as I have no idea where I'm going except I'm quite happy with that.

Meditation... hmm, it seems to matter, and it seems to matter a great deal... but maybe that's just because I enjoy it so much.

[Serrao]

Originally Posted by Gem

My qusetion is, who say's it's legit? I personally don't think that wild dancing method is legit.

In my learning and understanding, there is the ancient and original practice of meditation, which most people refer to when speaking of meditation.

But there is also a certain view that one's whole life should be meditative (mindfulness).
This includes dancing too.

I have to add though, that there certainly is a difference between 'just wild dancing' and meditative dancing.