Am I the only one that can't meditate?

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Now

If one is Fixed to GOD, really, actually...Thoughts will come only about God...If one wants Peace, thoughts come only about Peace, also in case of love,etc.. If they don't get it, deep down needs comes into action like pleasure,etc..They gets discomfort with it, or only gives limited time for those God,etc.., so their submerged need comes into action as thoughts of different, then they mark it as unwanted,etc..

Find why one gets distracted, and really they don't feels the seeking thing continuously, pleasure slows down, thought arise of other habitual needs one has/had..

This what happens for me too, deep down sexual pleasure need comes up, when many needs dwell or One need doesn't give pleasure and doubts arise, and thoughts of other pleasures arise..

If there are more and more needs, discomfort of "single need" happens, and deep pleasurable-habitual-need comes above..

One has to fix to ONE....Either God or Peace or Love or anything...But ONE..Everything may be different forms of One thing..It doesn't matter..

But one has to fix ONE need in their Life.. And one do too and it is deep down, and all these God,etc.. is a way one thinks to achieve the deep down need..

Let the submerged need comes into action, and find what one really seeks unknowingly and replace with what one really wants..

Just ONE need..Not many..

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Really? Let's see:
*Unwanted thought #1: I hate my second grade teacher; I hope she's dead.
#2 I am so mad at that garage ripping me off -I think I will glue their locks, yeah, I'll dress in black at 3 am...that'll teach 'em.

Please check the previous reply I made as post #21..
Compare the situation..
It' all about deep down pleasure one conditioned before, comes into action when discomfort felt..

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Really?
Let's see:
* These are detrimental thoughts that can be brought up with your therapist or by yourself in contemplation and self analysis.

So, it's clearly evident that,

God is seeked only to evade the unwanted thought identified as..

Deep down pleasure is felt from that thought, but one sees it as Bad, so seeks God, and when peace slows down, thought of habitual pleasure comes up..

Dwell in it, find out why you want those "teacher, garage, etc.."

Dwell in it...Go through it fully..

Why you don't like that teacher.. Go and meet them..Speak out with him/her..

And so dwell in Unwanted thoughts, and fully go through it, no escape...

Edit - STAND ON THEIR SHOES and view the unwanted thoughts again...

And then, Unwanted thoughts come to end one by one,

Fix only One need then what you want in Life..Very curiously as if you want to die for it..

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Viswa

Find why one gets distracted...

By all means do.
I promote that wholeheartedly.
In contemplation, self-analysis or processing in group therapy or with a professional therapist...or getting drunk ...
not within meditation would be my point...then, calling that 'meditation'.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Viswa

...Dwell in it, find out why you want those "teacher, garage, etc.."
Dwell in it...Go through it fully..
Why you don't like that teacher.. Go and meet them..Speak out with him/her..
And so dwell in Unwanted thoughts, and fully go through it, no escape...

You have just described 1 way to do self-analysis or homework given to you by a professional therapist
before he sees you the next week charging another $120+ or -.

All good.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

All good.

Enlightened beings, only when they self-analysed all their distractions, all their pleasures...came to see it's real nature and so found their real need..

Real ONE need.. And then fixed to it all the time..

Even when they worked, they spoke of only THAT need..

Go through all thoughts...See the 'contents' and find it's reality, by you standing in it's place..And fix ONE what must be needed in your life, and very very serious, like RAMAKRISHNA tried to kill himself as he really curious to see Goddess Kali..

Go and find that One NEED.. Not only for you/others but also for Me...

[pixiedust]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

Am I the only one that can't meditate? I try to let go of thoughts but another pops up immediately after

That is normal. That is what meditation is. Persistence despite. Just keep doing it and things will eventually fall into place.

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 16 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by saurab

As the great meditation master Tilopa said: "Let it settle itself". That means that you must make no effort to still your mind.

I'm glad that you introduced Tilopa into this thread as the Tilopa-Naropa-Marpa-Milarepa lineage has long absorbed my attention. If I recall correctly, Tilopa only accepted one disciple, Naropa, because reportedly he could find no other disciple suitable to his teaching. Similarly, Naropa only had one student, Marpa. Although Marpa did indeed have many students, the jewel of Marpa's disciples was the great Tibetan Yogi Milarepa. Milarepa's Herculean EFFORTS are well-documented in his biography written by his close disciple Rechung. I would highly recommend that biography.

My point is that, while you have accurately posted the teaching ATTRIBUTED to Tilopa, this does not seem well-suited to anyone who is not on the level of a Naropa or Marpa. As you can see from the very detailed biography of Milarepa, Marpa's training of Milarepa seemed to go way beyond the "Let it settle itself" teaching ATTRIBUTED to Tilopa. The mere Presence of a powerful guru can be a significant factor in communication ... far more than the words that have been handed down to posterity (which may or may not even be accurate).

I became interested in this lineage during the 7 days I spent in Lhasa (Tibet) in the 1980s when I visited monks in the Drepung Monastery, the Sera Monastery, and the Jokhang Temple in the center of Lhasa. It is a very awesome lineage but there is a reason why Tilopa and Naropa only had one disciple. This approach to meditation does not seem to be appropriate for everyone.

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 13 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by A human Being

... the more you fight your mind, the noisier it tends to get, and the more frustrating your practice will be.

That is an excellent point. It does indeed seem that the more one tries NOT to think about a certain thing, the more likely it becomes that one cannot get it out of one's mind.

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 18 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

If anyone wants to 'dwell in' unwanted, silly, useless, negative, even detrimental thoughts, making no sense
causing emotions to go all over the charts...well ---go ahead. *shrug*

Laugh at unwanted, useless, distracting thoughts disturbing your focus and concentration;
wave them off as you would a fly.

My own meditation practice has been very consistent with what you wrote in your post.

Indeed, it makes no sense to me either to "'dwell in' unwanted, silly, useless, negative, even detrimental thoughts" as that can easily lead to mental associations going all over the place uncontrollably. As you pointed out, one can "wave them off as you would a fly" and I have frequently used my mantra in the past to "Poof" away those unwelcome thoughts as the mind can only entertain one thought at a time.

I also agree that "Thoughts certainly do not all come from needs as anyone can attest to from watching them." While some thoughts may indeed reflect one's needs, it seems fairly obvious that there are other reasons why thoughts arise. There was a whole thread in non-duality on how do thoughts arise and how to rid one's self of unwelcome thoughts. Those points need not be repeated here. The link for that thread is:

https://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/s...d.php?t=141917