Importance of stillness / meditation

[Starman]

deLord, stillness conserves energy. Just about everything that we do, except sleeping, uses up our energy and tires us out. So we rest up by sitting down or laying down to rejuvenate ourselves. Basically stillness rejuvenates us. Well inner silence and stillness rejuvenates us as well. The meditation experience is like taking a break from activity, and when that break includes our mental activity, it catapults us into another dimension of perception. A dimension that we do not perceive through our thoughts. The longer and more consistently a person stays quiet and still inside the more they nurture building up spiritual energy within themselves and expanding their own presence. This is my experience.

[BigJohn]

deLord,
stillness resonates with quieting the mind. Quieting the mind is hard to achieve but once you get there, that is when the magick begins. Expect almost anything to happen. It seems all religions have words for that state but very little is written on how to get there.

[lomax]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

deLord,
stillness resonates with quieting the mind. Quieting the mind is hard to achieve but once you get there, that is when the magick begins. Expect almost anything to happen. It seems all religions have words for that state but very little is written on how to get there.

Good post.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by lomax

Good post.

Thanks for the nice comment.

[iamthat]

Here's my two cents:

Originally Posted by deLord

1) Does anyone have any idea on why stillness is THAT important? For the rational mind this is not understandable. Especially when it comes to that enlightenment and siddhis are achieved by this method.

We meditate to find our true nature, to rest in our innermost centre. Our true nature is changeless stillness. The nature of the mind is change and the mind is attracted to movement. So the mind questions the value of being still.

And yet meditation is not about attaining anything or finding anything. It is about letting go of everything. When we surrender everything then we find peace. Deep down, we all seek inner peace. And the nature of peace is stillness.

Bear in mind that there are many different systems of meditation, some of which lead to siddhis. But siddhis are not necessarily based on stillness - instead they arise through raising and directing internal energies.

Originally Posted by deLord

2) Maybe someone can give me advice on why it is worth investing many hours per day on sadhana instead of living an "ordinary" life.
How can I convince myself that meditation is worth doing?
I mean, I do meditate daily but right now, I just believe that it will lead somewhere beyond material bounds. No one has shown me. I have no idea whether it helps for telepathy, healing abilities, anything useful or permanent bliss.

We reach a stage in our growth where the limitations of "ordinary life" become painfully apparent. We observe people living ordinary lives - are they genuinely happy and content? Not usually, because the world of form is limited and thus any satisfaction gained from form is also limited.

Which is why we look within and practice sadhana. We seek a genuine fulfilment which does not depend on personal circumstances and which does not come and go. It is not about developing abilities such as telepathy or healing, although these may naturally happen. It is about finding our centre, and in that centre we find true joy and peace, independent of the changing world we live in.

Originally Posted by deLord

3) I've still not completely come to terms with the duality of "do nothing - universe will do/give everything necessary" vs "you have to do some work / sadhana". So --- which one is it? Why not play computer all day? Or completey ignore the spiritual way; if nothing can be achieved but only given by grace or surrender (I do not yet completely understand this concept).

The Self does nothing - it simply is. The expression of the Self in form has no choice except to act. As physical beings we cannot do nothing. Therefore we have to choose what to do with our time.

We can play on our computer all day, but will that make us happy? Probably not - it just passes a few hours. We can try to ignore the spiritual way, but once we have begun the spiritual journey then there is an inner impulse to persist. We can resist that impulse, but then we feel dissatisfied with our life.

So yes, it is about grace and surrender. Grace is beyond our control so don't worry about it. Surrender means letting go of all resistance and learning to flow with life. The paradox is that we have to make the effort in order to reach the point where we are ready to relinquish all effort.

Well, that was a lengthy two cents!

Peace

[deLord]

So many replies, thanks :)
Need some time to digest all and write a proper answer

[deLord]

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

You are in a realm where it is exceedingly difficult to achieve goals. That is why some have said you should work very hard for them, and others have said you should just sit and wait for them to be handed to you. But no matter what you do there are no guarantees as to how far you will get. Some people giver up sooner than others do and that is about all I know about it.

[...] but who do I want to be and what do I want to do? Priceless!

You hit the nail on the head. Dunno whether that's a frequent thing with these topics but yeah. Achieving goals becomes more and more difficult and also more and more senseless. Taking that into account and adding your last statement which heavily relies on whether or not I can reach enlightenment or siddhis, I am stuck in a void where the only possible way out seems to be meditation. Everything on which I could ground myself, the shunya pill has destroyed :|

Originally Posted by Starman

Basically stillness rejuvenates us. Well inner silence and stillness rejuvenates us as well. The meditation experience is like taking a break from activity, and when that break includes our mental activity, it catapults us into another dimension of perception. A dimension that we do not perceive through our thoughts. The longer and more consistently a person stays quiet and still inside the more they nurture building up spiritual energy within themselves and expanding their own presence. This is my experience.

Cannot say that meditation has improved anything in that matter for me. But then also, how would I know, maybe it would have been worse now...

Originally Posted by iamthat

1)Bear in mind that there are many different systems of meditation, some of which lead to siddhis. But siddhis are not necessarily based on stillness - instead they arise through raising and directing internal energies.

2) We reach a stage in our growth where the limitations of "ordinary life" become painfully apparent. We observe people living ordinary lives - are they genuinely happy and content? Not usually, because the world of form is limited and thus any satisfaction gained from form is also limited.

3) We can play on our computer all day, but will that make us happy? Probably not - it just passes a few hours. We can try to ignore the spiritual way, but once we have begun the spiritual journey then there is an inner impulse to persist. We can resist that impulse, but then we feel dissatisfied with our life.

Very valuable information.
1) Which system/source can you recommend for learning Siddhis? ^^
2) Uhm yeah, totally agree. But being stuck "between the worlds" doesn't make me happier. Rather, I'd say I have a mental/energy low during this time of confusion. I cannot start nor finish anything, nothing makes sense and I lost orientation.
3) I think I begin to feel what you described. But committing that hard with just a few scattered friends doing the same thing without a teacher I can trust is a real challenge, I can tell you that ;)

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by deLord

1) Which system/source can you recommend for learning Siddhis? ^^

Not having any siddhis myself, I have no personal recommendations.

However, there are various possibilities:

• Look into Kriya Yoga (as described in Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda). The problem is that there are various Kriya Yoga lineages all teaching different practices, so you have to make a choice.
• Look into Siddha Yoga, as taught by Muktananda, but Gurumayi Chidvilasananda is the current head of the organisation and I have no idea what actual power she has.
• Look into Kundalini Yoga, but there are so many people teaching their version of Kundalini Yoga that you may struggle to find a genuine teacher. Try looking into the lineage of Swami Chandrashekharanand Saraswati.

And bear in mind that most texts on Yoga dismiss the importance of siddhis. They may develop but they are not the goal of Yoga and meditation.

Originally Posted by deLord

2) Uhm yeah, totally agree. But being stuck "between the worlds" doesn't make me happier. Rather, I'd say I have a mental/energy low during this time of confusion. I cannot start nor finish anything, nothing makes sense and I lost orientation.

Yes, we all go through the stage of being stuck between two worlds and it is a difficult period. We know that the old familiar material world will not give us what we seek but we are still attracted to it. We know that the world of Spirit will provide what we are looking for but we struggle to fully commit ourselves. So we go back and forth between the two.

But if we persist then we become more established in our sadhana, and we can still enjoy what the world has to offer without getting caught up in it all.

Originally Posted by deLord

3) I think I begin to feel what you described. But committing that hard with just a few scattered friends doing the same thing without a teacher I can trust is a real challenge, I can tell you that ;)

Indeed, having the company of like-minded people makes a huge difference. Finding a teacher who can show us the way makes even more difference. Otherwise we have to find our own motivation to keep up our daily practice, and some days sitting down to meditate is the last thing we feel like doing.

So be patient with yourself, be gentle with yourself. The important thing is to persist. And if you can find a few books which really inspire you then read those when you need a boost. The results of meditation are worth all the hours of effort and frustration.

Peace

[Sphynx]

Lots of interesting answers from the forum...
Have you considered asking your «inner self»?
Maybe the next time you sit down to meditate, you could ask your question?
An answer should come... maybe not right away, but eventually it should come.
Keep us posted?

Originally Posted by Sphynx

Lots of interesting answers from the forum...
Have you considered asking your «inner self»?
Maybe the next time you sit down to meditate, you could ask your question?
An answer should come... maybe not right away, but eventually it should come.
Keep us posted?

Technically speaking, that clarity of mind is necessary to investigate the true nature of reality, whether it's the Buddhist concept of no-self and emptiness or the Vedanta concept of Self/Atman.

The key is it's only a means to an end and not the end itself, at least if it's being used as a practice within a spiritual path. Of course if one is meditating for secular reasons it's still just a means to an end but the end is different. It's to cultivate that state of being, of being less reactive and more present, to the point it's a constant state of being even outside of practice.

Anyway that's why the experiences are of no concern and shouldn't be "chased". It's the fruits of the practice that are paramount.