Meditation, some answers

[sky]

Originally Posted by A human Being

Plus you're liable to damage your body if you sit in a stress position for a sustained period of time.

Good common sense, even The Buddha surposedly sat cushioned. Self mortification is not necessary

[Gem]

Originally Posted by A human Being

Could be. Could also be that they can sense that the other person isn't really interested in listening to their perspective, too,

Umm... that's basically what I said, but it isn't antagonistic, but we will tend to find that a more realistic and truthful dialog will brush up on some home truths which for most of us who would accept that a cramp in meditation is pain, life is painful, the journey of meditation is difficult, is pretty much how it goes.

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 991 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by iamthat

As for the answer from your Yogi, I found the following from a lecture by Prabhupada on the Bhagavad Gita:
The skin of deer is specially used in yoga-āsana because it has got some medical effect that snakes do not come.

Thanks for confirming what I heard from the Himalayan Yogi. That explanation seems quite reasonable though many try to read a lot more into that practice.

Incidentally, I met Prabhupada in NYC many years ago and we had some interesting interactions.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

The underlying and pervading stillness is always present and meditation is a tool that helps point this out.

Absolutely ! That is precisely where I was going.

[A human Being]

Originally Posted by Gem

Umm... that's basically what I said

It isn't - you were suggesting that a person might not want to continue a conversation because they aren't interested in listening to the other person's point of view, whereas I said that they might not want to continue a conversation because they can sense that the other person isn't interested in listening to their point of view.

[A human Being]

Originally Posted by sky

Good common sense, even The Buddha surposedly sat cushioned. Self mortification is not necessary

Yep, and I think the Buddha proved that pretty conclusively, having tried it both ways

Not that extreme asceticism is what we're talking about here, of course, but I do think it's important to acknowledge our bodily needs, I don't think spiritual practice has much value when it turns into self-punishment. Discipline and sincerity are unquestionably indispensible qualities to have on the spiritual path, but I've found in my own journey that self-compassion and self-love are also indispensible qualities.

[Miss Hepburn]

https://supremeswan.com/products/sil...tation-blanket

It's a common 'thing'.
Q: Why is it good to meditate sitting on a wool blanket covered by a silk cloth?
A: Preparing a Space for Meditation

Sit on a straight chair or cross legged on a firm surface — cover that with a woolen blanket and/or a silk cloth.
This insulates your seat from the downward pull of subtle earth currents.

(I googled wool and Paramahansa Y....)
Btw, if you start wanting a wool blanket ---they can easily be under $12 at Goodwills or the ARC or smaller Thrift Stores.
I probably have 5 and donated 5 to the SRF folks. Many $5-8, no moth holes!

[sky]

Originally Posted by A human Being

but I've found in my own journey that self-compassion and self-love are also indispensible qualities.

So true, how can you feel compassion and love for others if you don't have if for yourself

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Gem

How are they addressed?

It's ordered into categories for explanation, but in practice, everything is intermingled.

Why?

There are obviously various ways to address physical discomfort AND mental/emotional restlessness. Regarding the physical discomfort, I personally found Hatha Yoga particularly effective in this regard. There are only a limited number of positions that the body can assume (in varying degrees, of course) and yoga seems to cover this quite well. In addition, from a medical perspective, I took an online MOOC (Massive Open Online Course on www.coursera.org) course on "PAIN" offered by the University of Minnesota with presenters from various medical colleges. The presenting medical professionals consistently and explicitly showed yoga postures or variations thereof as an optimal approach for addressing pain. As an observer (not a patient), I've been to rehab facilities and they use variations of yoga postures since, as I mentioned above, there are only limited ways of moving the body. I now normally sit in the lotus position even while at my computer and I have shown friends who do sitting meditation how to progressively get into that position ... comfortably.

As for the mental/emotional restlessness, there are many meditation techniques from the different wisdom traditions that address this very well so I won't go into that at this point. I'm sure you are familiar with the techniques that work best for you personally.

You are absolutely CORRECT that physical/emotional/mental practices are all "intermingled" and that the practices are grouped into categories for purposes of explanation. In Asthanga Yoga (Eight-limbed-yoga), the categories are described as "limbs" since one can be on multiple limbs of a tree at the same time. Similarly, one can be working on various "limbs" of Asthanga Yoga (a.k.a. Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras) at the same time.

You ask "Why" should one address any physical discomfort as best as possible before proceeding the the mental/emotional practices. That should be obvious as common sense would indicate that it is easier to meditate without pain versus with pain. However, one can obviously pursue spiritual practices in PAIN if one so chooses ... and your posts suggest that you know that this is possible. Personally, I prefer to do my spiritual practices without pain if at all possible.

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 997 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by HITESH SHAH

This certainly is true and fact .

But he/she must certainly orient back to discipline with respect to time ,place, duration , deity etc in order that he/she remains well on course .

It's good to hear that you agree with Ramana's statement:

"Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices. A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude."

A lot of people are somewhat shocked initially by Ramana's statement but, as you duly noted, one must indeed be able to orient back to the discipline with respect to different times, places, and other factors.