The Technique Thread

I thought this a good place to discuss different meditation techniques so we don't clog up more specific meditation threads. I'll start.

Inner light meditation is the first technique I practiced in earnest but for less than a couple of years.

http://www.meditationcenter.com/connect/inlight.html

Then I came to Vipassana clam abiding late 2009/early 2010.

https://www.vipassanaforum.net/meditation/Shamatha.pdf

Somewhere around 2014 or 2015 I heard Jon Kabat-Zinn mention a technique called resting in awareness and I started mixing it in with calm abiding.

https://deconstructingyourself.com/d...editation.html

My practice now consists of calm abiding in the morning and resting in awareness in the evening. If I feel calm abiding is becoming a little stale I switch it out for mindfulness of sound or smell for a couple of weeks.

Up until fairly recent, about a year ago, my informal practice was mindfulness. Mindful walking, mindful eating, mindful snow blowing, etc... Now I don't bother, instead engaging the Karma Yoga practice of Work as Witness as often as I remember.

https://vedanta.org/yoga-spiritual-p...rk-karma-yoga/

Jnanis take a different but equally effective tack. They know that although the body or the mind performs action, in reality they do no work at all. In the midst of intense activity, they rest in the deep stillness of the Atman. Maintaining the attitude of a witness, jnanis continually remember that they are not the body, not the mind. They know the Atman is not subject to fatigue or anxiety or excitement; pure, perfect and free, the Atman has no struggle to engage in, no goal to attain.

The beauty of it for me is it's a practice of Karma Yoga that directly ties together the Witness of Jnana Yoga and the deep inner stillness of Raja Yoga. The not doing and just being of do nothing meditation.

https://deconstructingyourself.com/d...editation.html

You’re simply noticing when you feel that you’re doing something and letting go of that.

Just keep relaxing away from all tightening, constriction, or sense that you’re doing anything.

[Zzhang]

Thanks for the ressources. I personaly practice the "Do Nothing" method, it's for me the simple way to relax my mind

Originally Posted by Zzhang

Thanks for the ressources. I personaly practice the "Do Nothing" method, it's for me the simple way to relax my mind

I just finished 25 minutes in calm abiding and it was one of those incredibly serene sittings. Effortless flow where breath becomes so subtle it's barely noticeable. That being said there's still a very subtle but also very big difference between attending breath in calm abiding even when breath is barely present and attending nothing in do nothing.

I find it interesting how do nothing seems to have a very positive impact on or carryover into calm abiding.

[earthtuner]

I prefer the do nothing;Non -Directive;ZEN style of meditation.It is a simple,stark, but hard to explain technique but it gets me deeper than any other method I tried.It allows me to go beyond thought towards emptiness.A timeless field of stillness.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by earthtuner

I prefer the do nothing;Non -Directive;ZEN style of meditation.It is a simple,stark, but hard to explain technique
but it gets me deeper than any other method I tried.It allows me to go beyond thought towards emptiness.
A timeless field of stillness.

Nice.

Welcome to the Forum, btw!

Originally Posted by earthtuner

I prefer the do nothing;Non -Directive;ZEN style of meditation.It is a simple,stark, but hard to explain technique but it gets me deeper than any other method I tried.It allows me to go beyond thought towards emptiness.A timeless field of stillness.

I enjoy both calm abiding/mindfulness technique and do nothing/just sitting technique. However the last two evenings and especially tonight do nothing was verging on falling to sleep because I'm on-call this week and got paged two nights in a row between 1:30 & 2:00 AM so I'm dragging just a tad. I found the bug late today, too late to get a fix in so I'm most likely going to get paged tonight too. LOL!

Oh well, my week on-call ends 8 AM tomorrow morning so I have a couple of easy weeks ahead.

[Bill1673]

I'm more focused of mindfulness. It puts me exactly in the place I need to be. I like using the guided meditation from Jon Kabat Zinn. When I got to bed I tend to go with Binaural beats.

[earthtuner]

My first experience with meditation was with TM using their mantra method.I quickley moved on from that style trying other meditation techniques until I settled on my favorite the "Non directive.'
I feel that those people that don't wish to devote so much of their lives to this art form to use a simpler form of meditation using mantras.It is a powerful tool to access deeper portions of our awareness, as it replaces our thinking process with a sacred tone.I still use my TM Mantra "Ainga"It is very similar to the mantra used to invoke Siddhis so I have been enhanced over the decades with strange psychic talents, that I barely understand.I suggest every meditator try some of these mantra techniques to augment their meditation sessions.The best use of mantras is to quickley deepen our sessions, if we feel our focus is lacking, or our meditation is not going as well as expected....Relax completely scanning your body from head to toe......Breath deeply a few times to stabilize your energy field......Begin by mentally repeating the mantra ....slowly and methodically.....let all thoughts gently go as you focus gently on your silent mantra.......Feel your relaxation deepen as you diminish the mantras speed and length.........Diminish the mantra more and more as you deepen into your meditation until it is just an idea........Imagine your awareness like a pyramid with your thinking mind at the very top....You are only using a few percent of your awareness with this form of focus.....As you deepen into your meditation your mind drifts outwards and deeper as it expands into the deeper parts of your mind.....This is fast to learn deep style of meditation using a simple technique......Try some mantra style meditation for yourself........... Sanskrit Mantras can be found at----------------- minet.org.

Originally Posted by earthtuner

My first experience with meditation was with TM using their mantra method.I quickley moved on from that style trying other meditation techniques until I settled on my favorite the "Non directive.'
I feel that those people that don't wish to devote so much of their lives to this art form to use a simpler form of meditation using mantras.It is a powerful tool to access deeper portions of our awareness, as it replaces our thinking process with a sacred tone.I still use my TM Mantra "Ainga"It is very similar to the mantra used to invoke Siddhis so I have been enhanced over the decades with strange psychic talents, that I barely understand.I suggest every meditator try some of these mantra techniques to augment their meditation sessions.The best use of mantras is to quickley deepen our sessions, if we feel our focus is lacking, or our meditation is not going as well as expected....Relax completely scanning your body from head to toe......Breath deeply a few times to stabilize your energy field......Begin by mentally repeating the mantra ....slowly and methodically.....let all thoughts gently go as you focus gently on your silent mantra.......Feel your relaxation deepen as you diminish the mantras speed and length.........Diminish the mantra more and more as you deepen into your meditation until it is just an idea........Imagine your awareness like a pyramid with your thinking mind at the very top....You are only using a few percent of your awareness with this form of focus.....As you deepen into your meditation your mind drifts outwards and deeper as it expands into the deeper parts of your mind.....This is fast to learn deep style of meditation using a simple technique......Try some mantra style yourself using these mantras based on your age.Choose one that you are attracted to or based on your age and try this simple powerful meditation technique. mantras can be found at minet.org.

I start every sitting, whether practicing technique or no technique, something like this.

After I'm seated comfortably I take three very deep breaths, relaxing the body mostly on the out breath and especially at the end of the out breath.

Then I start at the feet and slowly work to the top of the head, inhaling with single-pointed attention on the body part sensing any tension, and with a seamless and effortless transition to exhale letting all the tension of that body part melt away. After I finish with all the pieces parts of the body I then do the same with total body awareness three times.

After the initial three deep breaths the remainder is normal, flowing and seamless breathing including the last three breaths of full body awareness.

It takes several minutes and by the time I'm finished I'm absolutely relaxed physically and mentally and I can get right into the actual technique (or no technique!) without resistance.