switching the mind off?

It IS possible to nearly shut down the logical brain... and I've learned to
do this when needed, Moving my awareness to the non logical brain hemisphere.

This woman-researcher had a stroke in her logical brain hemisphere and for 36 hrs felt enlightened
as she had virtually no mental chatter ... it's quite an amazing story ,,Here at TED video

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jil...insight.htm l

[Squatchit]

Originally Posted by JaysonR

I'm not going to agree with others.
You can switch off your explicit thoughts...*snip*...
Essentially...be a dog.

I haven't quoted the whole post, but I'm referring to it all.

Me likey. Works for me.

When I was involved in composing electronic music, 10 yrs ago...
I learned to do this....
When I finished a piece, and wanted to hear-experience it as
someone who'd never heard it before... I moved my attention to the non logical side of the brain ... and could experience it as a non composer, rather than critically.... with no mental judgement ,,, but only an emotional one.

[JaysonR]

Quite.
There's a concept that I take for granted worth mentioning, that you bring up Henri: when I mentioned paying attention to things occurring now that are normally overlooked, or tasting everything possible in the food (as a practice), I immediately think of doing this without terminological labels.
I didn't think to mention that, but take note of things without words.

There's even a layer beyond that.
You can even shut off the attention to your limbic and pretty much all of the implicit system.

That part is the hard part to explain how.
It is akin to what you are doing to shut down the logical processes, but instead even shutting down the emotional interpretation and hearing only sound, rather than music; without even really considering what you are listening to at all.

Almost like what people call, "zoning", or, "daydreaming"; when a person has that, "blank look", on their face (because their eyelids of typically retracted slightly and their iris's have unfocused some).

But then, its closest relative is when such a thing as this occurs because you are trying to recall how you felt about something, but the emotion is not only a bit faint but also lacking a clear logical word that satisfies the emotional definition you are recalling the sensation as.

When a person zones out to recall a distant emotion and label which emotion it was, and therefore ends up in a "zone"; this is relative to the concept.
But there is no "fog" of attention to what's around you; this is the difference between the two.
In shutting down even the limbic attention, the attention is still maintained for reception of stimuli.

The only things 'flipped off' are limbic values and cognitive labels.


I have two simple practices to help conceive this idea to people.

1. The first is to go some place to look at art.
2. Art you don't already know.
3. Walk without taking in any art, just walk as if walking a sidewalk on your normal route. Stop when you just are compelled to stop by a visual or emotional strength.
4. Look at the art until you start to organize ideas of what it is (usually only a few seconds, if this [depends on the art; abstract really works best for this, but don't try to find abstract art]).
5. Immediately leave.
6. Wait a week.
7. Then try to remember how that painting felt and what emotion that painting gave you.
8. As soon as you start to get a gist of this emotion; a label for it, stop
9. Instead, focus on the image of the painting.
10. Use this emotion, as it feels - not as it is labeled, to remember the sight of the picture.
    
    -This can be difficult in the way of looking at the floaters in your eyes can be difficult since every time you move your eye to look at a floater, the floater in your eye then moves. Solve the issue the same way: attempt to widen the focal of your peripheral vision (but this time, 'peripheral vision', is in the memory and the vision you are looking to catch is the vision that was saved related to limbic impulses [so you are attempting to draw out visual memory via memories of emotions; as opposed to the other way around]). And just like the eyeball issue, don't move your eyeball. In this case, your 'eyeball' is your emotional response - don't focus on the direct emotion or thought.

The other is a bit simpler, and shorter timed.

1. Grab a tennis ball.
2. Run it between your hands as if you were making a meatball.
3. Do that for the entire duration of some random TV show you watch.
4. Then stop.
5. Sit down and just feel your hands without touching them.
6. Only think about how your hands feel; don't use words.
7. Don't think about the TV show or moving the tennis ball in your hands.
8. Just sit down and just feel your hands without touching them.

I would say you should keep going with this meditation practice of shutting down your mind. In the beginning, all kinds of thoughts pop out as if from nowhere, but by and by you will be able to turn within more easily. Just be consistent in your practice

Originally Posted by higherself

I would say you should keep going with this meditation practice of shutting down your mind. In the beginning, all kinds of thoughts pop out as if from nowhere, but by and by you will be able to turn within more easily. Just be consistent in your practice

I meditate regularly for more than 42 years. Almost never my mind was shut down (nor I ever intended to shut down my mind). The benefits and results I had from meditating are innumerable, without my mind being shut down.

[JaysonR]

But Joshua; do you then assert that there is no good in a person shutting down the explicit mind, or are you simply relating that meditation is good even without shutting down the explicit mind?

[TheGreenFairie]

Acknowledge the thought and then I imagine it going away with my out breath.

Originally Posted by JaysonR

But Joshua; do you then assert that there is no good in a person shutting down the explicit mind, or are you simply relating that meditation is good even without shutting down the explicit mind?

Meditations do work and bring results without shutting down the mind.
To my experience, shutting down the mind (for more than few seconds) is impossible.
Trying to attain the impossible may lead only to frustration.
In the mediations I practiced, any effort and any attempt to manipulate the process of meditation only interferes with the meditation.
You cam find here instructions to various meditations, none requires shutting down the mind: http://www.the-third-circle.com/nfmedi1.html .

Jayson, i think you have a valid process. Embrace, that's Insightful too.. Just Embrace the learning experince... Lol. A mantra can also help.
Cheers.
Much Love