Recently i have become very interested in meditation, however i only have very limited experience in it. So, I have come to this forum for help, because after browsing for a while I can tell that a lot of you guys really know what your talking about, as opposed to certain other websites.

Anyways, my question is, how does one learn how to meditate? Of course, I have already tried Googling this and all of the sites I have looked at are trying to sell me a video or book. So far all I have come to understand is that you should close your eyes and attempt to clear your mind. I have tried this several times with interesting results but I still feel like I am missing something. Basically all i have gotten from these sessions is a tranquil feeling and a calm mind. Is there more to it or is this the full experience? Don't get me wrong, I'm not searching for some profound experience right off the bat, I just want to know whether I've got the basic technique right so i can expand from there.

Thanks in advance, and I hope I posted this in the right place. I have only recently discovered this website and it is already incredibly awesome. There is just so much knowledge and valuable personal opinion in this place, and the intelligence and friendliness of it is really impressive.

First of, welcome to the nexus!

Meditation is a lifelong practice. Most people typically start off with some sort of basic breath awareness....but don't confuse this with easy...even us long term meditators spend a lot of time focusing on the breath.

So here is what you want to do to get started. Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight. Don't over exaggerate the straight spine, but try and rotate at your hips so that your spine can be straight in a naturally relaxed position. You will probably have to experiment with different chair/cushion heights until you find the right match for your body. Over time your back muscles will strengthen and you'll be able to sit for a couple of hours if you chose to...yoga greatly helps with this. I do for sure recommend sitting, at least initially, as it helps keep the concentration strong and the sleep at bay. Then direct your attention to your breath. Become fully aware of all the sensations in your body as you pull your breath in...notice if there is any pause at the top of the inhale of the bottom of the exhale. Then notice the sensations as you exhale your breath.

Your mind WILL wander during this process. When you notice that you are no longer watching your breath simply bring your breath back to the awareness of breathing. This deceptively simply sounding introduction to meditation will give you most of the skills you will need to reach the advanced stages...and in fact this technique alone can take you all the way...or so I'm told!

Meditation can be relaxing, but often times it's not initially. A lot of time early on will be spent developing will power to sit the allotted time. I recommend initially setting an alarm clock for the time you want to meditation...then absolutely refusing to open your eye's to check the time. Just don't do it...ever. After a few sessions your mind will naturally accept that the alarm will let it know when it's time to quite..this way you can spent your meditation time actually practicing meditation and not watching the clock!

Meditation will begin increasing your awareness pretty fast...and the more time you spend being aware the greater your daily awareness will become.

So what can you realistically expect from a steady practice after a few months? Greater body awareness. You will start to notice when you feel off, you might start catching your thoughts before you blurt out something. You will also start to become very aware of sensations in your body. I have all but quit drinking because of meditation. Turns out once I was really aware of my body it was pretty obvious that it treated alcohol like a toxin....to continue this example my awareness had increased to the point that I realized that even after 2-3 beers it would take my body up to 4 day's to fully recover with urination, bowl movements, sleep patters, etc. You will also notice that you are not nearly as effected by externel events. Your practice will strengthen both your patience and perseverance and this will make dealing with life's little idiosyncrasies much easier...this also will continue to increase over time.

You will essentially learn to be finely tuned into your body. Perhaps your body will let you know a few beers is ok...perhaps not...that was just an example of something significant that has come out of my practice...have abused alcohol most of my life...with meditation it's just started to drop away....anyway I digress.

What can you expect years into it? This is were it starts to get exciting. You can expect to be able to almost immediately calm you mind down in any state. It doesn't happen over night, but when your concentration increases to the point that you can watch oh say 30-100 breaths without interruption then you will begin to access deeper and deeper states of mind. When you get deep enough you will start to see faint images and subtle visions. You may realize that your external senses have turned off. Eventually you will hit a point were your subconscious mind will latch onto your conscious mind and the object of your focus will essentially merge with your mind. This state is what is actually referred to as real meditation... I've reached this state a handful of times...I've meditated for roughly 15 years with varying degrees of intensity over the years.

I will say this. It's worth it. It's really hard at first and it may feel like you aren't making a lot of progress. If however you can learn to tame your mind and simply accept that you have to get passed this point then you will have already reached one of the hardest milestones to reach.

The rabbit hole is deep. Enjoy!

Peace

Meditation is a fantastic practice and tool for anything you can imagine.
When you first start meditation, you may just see total darkness.
As you practice meditation, you become more sensitive about your body, you will start to learn many things. You start to understand more about positive and negative energy. You will start to see color instead of darkness with closed eyes, you will learn more about frequencies/colors/vibrations. You will learn how to move energy around your body, feel your organs internally, heal yourself using energy, feeling your own aura and others around you.
Eventually with enough practice and understanding, you will develop skills such as telepathy and what people would refer to as real magic...You will see the world through eyes which are more attuned to higher vibrations. You will understand more about your purpose here on earth etc etc
and most importantly, you will not need to take any drugs to alter perception, as they all can be induced naturally, even DMT.

A good tip for meditation...When you close your eyes, try not to blink with closed eyes, when you learn to relax your eyes, thats when the magic happens...A good way to do this, is to feel the energy surrounding your body, dont visualize it, try to feel it, this should help.

Thanks for the swift replies, guys!

That really cleared up a lot. I was hoping I was on the right track with breath awareness. My next question for you gents, is, when do you usually meditate?

I practice once a day at least, sometimes 2. About 20 minutes each session, one in the morning, one in the evening.

I also have "discovered" walking meditation by accident. I noticed how I became intensely aware of alot of the things going on around me just by walking through the house slowly, watching my breath and being aware of each of my body motions while taking one step at a time. For me, it's a great way to relax my body and my mind, and get a quick energy refill for the next couple of hours.

One thing: don't expect anything from it and don't force anything. Just sit and watch. That's all it takes. Find the middle way, as Buddha said

I learned to meditate from this website, which explains meditation in a very non-mystical way. Really down to earth and it's free of charge.

That's intersting when my girl friend closes her eyes and imagines for example an apple she sees an apple, when i do that there is just everything black. I tried meditating several times with closing my eyes and controlling my breath, I still don't see images but I can reach a state where I'm not aware that I'm thinking. It's similar to painting or if you do cycling for a long time. You feel kind of released of thoughts and you totaly forget time.

Is there any advice to train the inner eye? I got only pictures when I close my eyes immediately after waking up in the morning.

great thread.

My thanks go out to you joedirt, thats the most simple/usefull intro to meditation i have read and it is just what i have been looking for.

let the sitting commence

Wow. i have been meditating under a year and already get faint hypnogogia fairly regularly This not trying very hard approach must be working lol

have you maintained a regular practice over the last year, Purges?

How longs your average sitting?

3-4 times a week, early morning and occasional evenings for roughly 20-45 minutes per session. I should really be more disciplined, but idk it seems counterproductive to try TOO hard. No special training, just breathing exercises and being seemingly good at clearing my mind of chatter.

I incorporate Changa maybe 1-5 times a month as well depending on my intention and state of mind, which of course makes the subtle images into full blown hallucinations

cheers

No problemo

I've started regularly meditating over 2 years ago, on a daily basis, and changes of bodily awareness started manifesting pretty soon. Nowadays I find it hard to drink even a glass of wine as I really feel I'm intoxicating myself. I feel extremely relaxed, clear-headed and happy, most of the time, and meditation had a huge contribution in achieving this stable state of mind. I'm also practicing ashtanga yoga 6 times / week, and have found that this discipline definitely improves my meditation practice - focusing on the breath is becoming easier, not to mention maintaining perseverance in whatever I do. It simply transcends to all other aspects of my life.

Thank you, joedirt for your post, it's always nice to read about someone going through similar experiences. And thanks again for the book you've recommended in the Book bin, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha!

If you ever come across a person who has meditated in life for quite some time, you know it without them telling you. That right there is a symbolic truth behind it.

For those just beginning a meditation practice, I recommend first building your concentration, then moving on to other types of meditation, otherwise it can become frustrating trying to control your attention.

I recommend starting with basic concentrative meditation where you pick a point of focus like a mantra, the breath, a candle flame, a spot on the wall, etc. and just hold your attention there for a few minutes. When it drifts (and it will) gently bring it back to your focus. That's it. Simple. Gradually extend the time until you get better at controlling your attention. Maybe aim for a minimum of 15 minutes.

After you get the hang of it and are able to hold your attention on your focus for several minutes, then try out some different types of meditation such as Walking, Standing, Mindfulness, or Insight/Vipassana meditation.

Tools to aid in meditation

-Create some type of ritual to center your concentration and create an environment conducive to meditation. Lighting candles, incense, soft ambient music, etc.

-Stretching/Progressive relaxation helps prepare the body for meditation. Calm body = Calm mind.

- Mind machines/ brainwave entrainment CD's/MP3's. "Training Wheels" for achieving brainwave states involved with deep meditation trances. Hemisync CD's are cheap and effective.

-Prior to meditation, take a hot bath/shower followed by a 2 minute blast of cold water from the shower or bucket of ice water over the head. The benefits of cold water therapy are numerous and are listed in this thread: https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=26111

-Shoulder/Head stand prior to meditation increases blood flow to the brain and maybe Chi/Prana energy to the higher Chakras. If you have a medical condition that might be affected by this, ask your doctor if it's safe first.

-Crystals can be beneficial tools. Different kinds can have different effects.

-Meditating soon after I wake up tends to be more effective in my experience because the mind is less cluttered.

-Humming/chanting can be a powerful meditation aid. The vibration seems to be felt in the center of the head (where the pineal is).

-Avoid eating for a couple hours prior to meditation. It can be a counter-productive physical distraction and uses up energy.

-Maybe avoid Sexual activity/masturbation prior to meditation. Although controversial, many people believe sexual energy can be transmuted into spiritual/creative energy via meditation and that over-doing it can be counter-productive to meditation/spiritual progress.

-Get enough sleep. If you're too tired during meditation, you may just fall asleep.

-Eliminate distractions, reduce sensory input. Shut off the lights. Turn off phone. Shut windows if noisy outside. Adjust temperature. Get comfortable. This is your special time. This is YOU time, you deserve it!



Energy is energy. Positive/negative are relative. We only make it positive or negative by how we interpret it. One of the effects of meditation (that I've noticed) is that once the mind stops thinking and analyzing, it becomes non-dual. It's beautiful.

Energy is energy. Positive/negative are relative. We only make it positive or negative by how we interpret it. One of the effects of meditation (that I've noticed) is that once the mind stops thinking and analyzing, it becomes non-dual. It's beautiful.
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I overstand your point, energy is energy, but everything in the universe has 2 sides to the same coin.
Learning the law of yin-yang is one of the most important things you can do while practicing meditation, you have to sync your left and right brain together in order to gain extra brain abilities. Its the same with your hands, each one has an opposite charge. If you do not believe this then you should believe it in order to progress and become balanced, its all good meditating the left side of your body, but its important to understand you need to sync it with the right side or you will end up like 2 face

We're on the same page. I just don't think it's beneficial to label energy with relative terms, but I do see what you're saying.



I don't think any kind of belief is necessary to progress, but I do agree that balance in general is beneficial to spiritual growth.

I view life as one dynamic meditation and embrace the yin/yang aspects (active/stillness) and the interaction between them.

I recommend playing around with attention, I like having it rest in "freewill" (will not in use or "pure potential will" when practicing stillness meditation (sometimes with music sometimes without).


Attention in the movement in all of my body when up and moving in active meditation (Martial arts, poi, dancing).

key is curious observation and effortless perseverance .

I find that the way I think and see the world..my paradigm of interaction with the world is a much more constructive form of meditation for me than any kind of sitting meditation..unless I am laying down on ayahuasca or just in bed at night, working with crystals etc..but for me simple sitting meditation is something that I have not done in a long time now..well, unless I am in the forest..sometimes I like to just sit down in the rainforest and listen to the sounds..tune into the sonic envelope of the ecosystem-hard to do if a road or something is nearby though.

It is good to get some rythm in your breath though..irrratic breathing is not really a great thing to be doing.