In my procrastination I somehow ended up writing for somebody a wall of text on the basics of meditation... which I think turned out breddy gud and it seems a waste for it to only be seen by one guy. So, I thought I may as well share it in case anybody here is interested - I know at least a few of you might be. Feel free to discuss your own experiences and methods, or ask questions. Anyway, here's this.

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Counterintuitively, "meditating" is not so much something that you "do" - it's rather a word we use to describe a process in which we stop doing a lot of things. This is where a lot of people trip up and miss the point, and end up "doing" something the whole time - like digging deeply into their psyche to try and uncover who they really are or something. That's not meditation, that's introspection.

At the fundamental level meditation is simply the art of just "being attentive with a quiet mind". That means no thinking, no judging, no stressing, no obsessing, no wondering what you're going to do for dinner later. Your first goal is to be able to just sit there and do nothing else, but be alert - not half asleep.

Surprisingly, this takes a while to master, since we've been brought up in a society that tells us to always be doing things, looking for things to be doing, that it isn't okay to do nothing and we should never waste our time and always be "productive". This indoctrination has been hammered into our minds since we were born, so it can take some time to undo this. For a while when you sit down you'll find yourself always drifting away into thought or getting distracted very quickly.

This isn't a bad thing - you'll probably find that in this drifting you do some very productive sorting of your thoughts, maybe even realize some things about yourself. So you can let these thoughts happen, but try to minimize any unnecessary thinking. All you need to do is remain attentive and in control. Watch thoughts happen, but try not to actively engage with them. When you automatically wonder "what to do about dinner", just file it away as something to think about in a little while instead of starting to list the contents of your fridge.

To this end, you can try focusing on your breathing as an anchoring point to help you realize if you've stopped paying attention. You're not really trying to do anything specific with your breathing - just pay attention as you inhale and exhale, and watch your mind run around in circles as it tries to remember how to rest. If you suddenly realize you've stopped paying attention to your breathing and gotten lost wondering if Jimmy at the office submitted that report yet, stop, refocus on your breathing, and start again.

After a while you'll get used to this. You'll start having very relaxing periods of silence in your mind, which will start getting longer and longer. Congratulations! You're now meditating. Soon you'll be able to quieten the mind more and more quickly, until eventually you can switch it off like a light. You can eventually start taking meditation with you into the world - walking, sitting at the bus stop, riding public transport, performing simple tasks... Working on a craft is also great - artisan pursuits especially work very well with meditation (combined with mastery of a craft, I believe this meditative state has also been named "flow").

If you want to be a zen master, I think the next step is to dedicate yourself to being able to remain in that state of no-mind 24 hours a day. I've not quite figured out where enlightenment and that sort of thing are meant to come into the picture, but that's not something I really need to worry about. In fact, by all accounts, worrying about that will just be a hindrance.

That's my understanding of meditation, at any rate. There are many, many different techniques for meditation but I believe they all are simply variations that lead to the same state of mind. Variations of techniques are often necessary because not every personality can dedicate themselves to sitting and meditating every day. Some need something more spontaneous to shake them up, or more energetic, or emotive, and there's all sorts of different approaches for all sorts of different people.

If you are interested in learning more there's an excellent book called The Book of Secrets by a fellow named Osho, which is basically a huge book of meditation techniques to help all sorts of people reach this state of mind I've described. This is the single most valuable resource I've come across in learning to get my mind under control (and I've shilled it more than once on these forums) - it remains as instructive and to the point as possible without dragging in religious beliefs and doctrines.

There's some good videos of him on youtube too - he did a lot of seminars wherein he just talks about life with a refreshing perspective and tries to undo the indoctrination/conditioning that society has pushed on us. I'm not sure if there are any instructionals or guided meditation videos, though. Generally speaking, most any guided meditation might be helpful for you as you learn how to quieten the mind... I feel like many of them miss the point of meditation or get lost in psuedoscience, but if you remember that your goal is nothing more than to be able to simply be attentive with a quiet mind you're golden.

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Also, food for thought/discussion - I believe prayer was originally a form of meditation. This is the real way to communicate directly with the present moment, with reality - which in some interpretations is itself God.

Here and now, boys.

I always enjoy reading your posts. I wish I could learn how to meditate in time for my next pt test as I detest running. I typically end up getting off on some tangent with my thoughts and it totally distracts me. Some people that enjoy running have mentioned just sort of blacking out when they run which would be nice. Not to actually black out, but to be calm and in control of my mind, which is a big factor when doing anything super strenuous.

when i run i just keep a beat with my breathing and focus on passing the guy in front of me, and then the guy in front of him, and so forth

I'm not that focused not do I have the discipline. Also, typically whenever we run or do our pt tests there aren't a lot of folks so there's no one in front of me to try and pass, but I had the same mentality in AIT when a fuckload of people would run at a time. Also having a clock on the side at the start/finish point was amazing for pacing. It just blows being able to max push ups and sit ups but struggling to even pass the run lol. It's all mind with me

I tried looking for the book but I can't find a version of it where I don't have to pay lol. Also apparently Osho believes disabled people should be killed for being disabled sooooooooo

Quote from Arch-Angel

I always enjoy reading your posts. I wish I could learn how to meditate in time for my next pt test as I detest running. I typically end up getting off on some tangent with my thoughts and it totally distracts me. Some people that enjoy running have mentioned just sort of blacking out when they run which would be nice. Not to actually black out, but to be calm and in control of my mind, which is a big factor when doing anything super strenuous.

Sounds like something mindfulness can help with, but there's no shortcut to learn it quickly. Gotta do the work!

Quote from Smile

I tried looking for the book but I can't find a version of it where I don't have to pay lol. Also apparently Osho believes disabled people should be killed for being disabled sooooooooo

There's a lot of slander about the guy since some people thought he was trying to start a new religion or something. I'd rather trust my own judgement of the guy than someone else's.

I can shoot you an ebook copy if you like, but a hard copy is much easier to read imo.

Yeah I'd love one. I was in my local bookstore today and I saw the only books under "spirituality" are bibles or books about the bible, and there's no filipino Amazon, so I really can't get a hardcopy even if I wanted. Also I generally prefer ebooks tbh.

I heard lucid dreaming, especially using WILD, is easier for people that practice meditation.

Quote from Smile

Yeah I'd love one. I was in my local bookstore today and I saw the only books under "spirituality" are bibles or books about the bible, and there's no filipino Amazon, so I really can't get a hardcopy even if I wanted. Also I generally prefer ebooks tbh.

aight sent it through

Quote from Cronos

I heard lucid dreaming, especially using WILD, is easier for people that practice meditation.

sounds plausible. i can't correlate this since i rarely sleep deeply enough to dream.

You remind me that I should meditate more often. I've lost touch with it recently and it's participating in the cocktail of reason why my mental and physical health has been on the decline.

I often find myself in a meditative state while walking long distances or practicing martial arts, but it has been some time since I've actually sat down and meditated proper.