The Technique Thread

[A human Being]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Exactly, and that's why it's important to have a good understanding of the purpose of practice. One thing you will notice here is enormous focus on experiences while meditating. As far as I'm concerned the important experience is when It reveals Itself, and by "It" I mean the true nature of Consciousness. All other experiences are to be viewed as any other distraction, at least if one is following the path of knowledge. Perhaps the purpose is different for those pursuing the path of devotion? I'm not really sure because I haven't delved deeply into that path but I would imagine the purpose would be for the deity being meditated on to manifest and all other experiences are distractions.

Agree with all that. For me personally, meditation is as much as anything about becoming conscious of what is obscuring It, because of course It is always present, and techniques such as observing or counting the breath help to keep one's attention anchored in one's present-moment experience, which is where those obscurations are to be found.

[A human Being]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Very funny -for those not from England....regarding beaches and beach towns-

''Skegness ranked bottom out of more than 100 others....
It achieved the lowest possible score for its attractions, peace and quiet, scenery and value for money ...''

Thanks for clarifying, I dare say that comment left quite a few people a tad mystified

[earthtuner]

The more years we devote to this ancient practice the more we realize that it is seperate for of awareness that once we reach, we can then begin to ignore technique after that.I play the piano since a child and spent years with scales and arpeggios,notation, and theory.I never think of technique anymore, with meditation or playing the piano, as it is embeded into my awareness like walking or sleeping.I find it very refreshing to meet people that think like me on this subject as it is a point of argument among spiritual seekers.As in learning the piano, students spend years discovering how to navigate the expanse of 88 keys with most folks eventually giving up, frustrated with the many complexities......The art of meditation is not easier than learning the piano, and to control our monkey mind, most find completely impossible.Spiritual seekers must understand the depth of the awarenes field they are attempting to access.Our thinking mind can't access these levels of consiousness so we learn advanced meditation techniques that slowly become a Non technique, until we finally get to "BE" and " Do Nothing".......It is hard to be proud of such a feats but few understand the meanings, until they get to where we are,which is a lot more humble than when we started out.

Here are some general points regardless of type of practice.

Understand the purpose
Understand the practice whether technique or no technique
No expectation
No manipulation
No chasing after or clinging to experience
Consistency is more beneficial than duration
There's no such thing as a bad sitting

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Very funny -for those not from England....

''Skegness ranked bottom out of more than 100 other....
It achieved the lowest possible score for its attractions, peace and quiet, scenery and value for money ...''

In defence of Skeggie:



Peace

[A human Being]

That chap's on the front of the Bill Bryson book I'm currently reading, funnily enough:

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Here are some general points regardless of type of practice.

Understand the purpose
Understand the practice whether technique or no technique
No expectation
No manipulation
No chasing after or clinging to experience
Consistency is more beneficial than duration
There's no such thing as a bad sitting

Excellent summary, agree with these points.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Here are some general points regardless of type of practice.

Understand the purpose
Understand the practice whether technique or no technique
No expectation
No manipulation
No chasing after or clinging to experience
Consistency is more beneficial than duration
There's no such thing as a bad sitting

When you hold an empty cup ...do you not expect it to be filled? I surely do!

I understand this is a particular approach ..it's not mine...and so far so good!

If I plant corn, I expect corn.
When I plant myself in silent stillness for hours - I expect God Himself to visit ...I've prepared a place for Him.
He has no choice - love and stillness are the draw.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

When you hold an empty cup ...do you not expect it to be filled? I surely do!

I understand this is a particular approach ..it's not mine...and so far so good!

If I plant corn, I expect corn.
When I plant myself in silent stillness for hours - I expect God Himself to visit ...I've prepared a place for Him.
He has no choice - love and stillness are the draw.

Typical Bhakta!

If any label comes close to describing my approach it's Jnani and in the Advaita sense. That being said unlike a traditional Advaitan Jnani I don't practice meditation in the sense of Patanjili's Yoga Sutras and didn't even engage in Vedantic meditatoin otherwise known as Neti Neti Self-inquiry of the type advocated by Ramana Maharshi.

My breakthrough practice that I've referred to as resting in awareness is identical to Shikantaza.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza

Unlike many other forms of meditation, shikantaza does not require focused attention on a specific object (such as the breath); instead, practitioners "just sit" in a state of conscious awareness.

Odd combination, eh? An Advaitan Jnani utilizing Zen meditation. LOL!

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

When I plant myself in silent stillness for hours - I expect God Himself to visit ...I've prepared a place for Him.
He has no choice - love and stillness are the draw.

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Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

When I plant myself in silent stillness for hours - I expect God Himself to visit ...I've prepared a place for Him.
He has no choice - love and stillness are the draw.

It's never his choice, always yours. He doesn't visit because hes always already here. We perceive things backwards, God is actually what real normal is.