It's official - Meditation IS really good for you!

[evanescentworld]

I hope this link is permissible, but it gives a good list of the beneficial effects of Meditation, Scientifically-backed, as well as all the benefits everyone probably knows about...

[OwMyEyeball]

And to think I was going to cancel a 10-day Vipassana

 

Thanks for that. It seriously made me reconsider. 4 more days

[me85]

Awesome! Good thread! I have yet to meditate but am looking forward to it! I'm practicing all the other stuff first. I have to start at point A before moving on to point B.

[gaius]

I've heard good things about Transcendental Meditation but never been able to force myself to go down to a center and cough up the fee to learn it. I'd feel like a scientologist. =/

[evanescentworld]

Who needs money, to sit quietly somewhere, anywhere, and practice?

 

Meditation is not about sitting cross-legged in some temple or meeting-hall, with wooshy-wooshy music, incense burning, the occasional bell tinging and everybody sitting in the same direction looking worldly-wise and saintly, eyes closed, hands in laps....

 

Meditation can be practised anywhere, any time, whatever you're doing, for as long a period - or short - as you can manage....

I do it all the time...

In fact, as the saying goes - "When am I NOT Meditating....?"

[evanescentworld]

Awesome! Good thread! I have yet to meditate but am looking forward to it! I'm practicing all the other stuff first. I have to start at point A before moving on to point B.

 

You can start at point 'A' AND Meditate too. Who says the two are separate?

You cannot separate your Mind from anything you are thinking, doing or saying. It is always there with you.

Sadly, it's often NOT there. It's either firmly rooted in the Past, or considering the unknown Future. Rarely, is it ever Present, even if we believe we are....

 

The more you put something off, the more it will stretch out of reach.

 

What could possibly be stopping you from bringing the Mind home, no matter what else you're doing?

[gaius]

Who needs money, to sit quietly somewhere, anywhere, and practice?

 

Meditation is not about sitting cross-legged in some temple or meeting-hall, with wooshy-wooshy music, incense burning, the occasional bell tinging and everybody sitting in the same direction looking worldly-wise and saintly, eyes closed, hands in laps....

 

Meditation can be practised anywhere, any time, whatever you're doing, for as long a period - or short - as you can manage....

I do it all the time...

In fact, as the saying goes - "When am I NOT Meditating....?"

Aren't there like mantras and stuff you have to learn? I've been told it's not really just closing your eyes and daydreaming or thinking happy thoughts for a while.

[OwMyEyeball]

Aren't there like mantras and stuff you have to learn? I've been told it's not really just closing your eyes and daydreaming or thinking happy thoughts for a while.

Meditation is akin to cooking. There are many different styles and approaches. None are inherently more "right" than the other, but each does enrich the eating experience tremendously (instead of say, gnawing on stands of wheat).

 

Since it's entirely subjective there exists an immense wealth of explanations for its practice, benefits and underlying philosophy. That can make meditation seem very daunting and overly complicated; even inaccessible.

 

Frankly, I only dabble in meditation and can barely bring myself to even give it an accurate definition. But one thing I can say wholeheartedly is that it is much, much simpler than it can be made out to be. On the same vein, it can become a lifelong practice of mastery.

 

One basic premise is that the self - soul, being, core, superego - is separate from mind - emotion, rational thought, ego, id - and its ultimate master. In one way, meditation can be seen as a means of experiencing your soul.

 

Others will have their own explanations or may contend the one I provided.

 

Bottom line: Meditation is deeply personal and spiritual.

 

Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now has come the closest to giving me - a typically very rationally minded thinker - a clear cut explanation. And it's not even that clear cut, but it did help me develop more insight. I found it powerfully moving.

[evanescentworld]

Very nice post, OwMy Eyeball...

 

Gaius, there is no "Meant to", "Ought to" or even "Have to".

Transcendental Meditation is not a common practice either.

 

For reference, just as pointers, a Zen Vietnamese Monk called Thich Naht Hahn has several very good books on Meditation, two of which are "Present Moment, Wonderful Moment!" and "Peace is every Step."

 

There are also as many guidelines on Meditating, on line, as there are people practising it....

 

But fundamentally, allow me to explain something in a very basic, simple way....

You know when you're thinking that you have to contact your Buddy, "Barry" about the fishing trip, and is he bringing beers, and what do you do about lunch.... then you think about the meeting you have at work, and the documents you have to remember....?

Well, between the 'Barry' thoughts, and the work meeting thoughts, there's an imperceptible gap.

 

Widen the gap.

 

Meditation is calming the mind, letting the thoughts arise, and pass, without clinging to them. You notice them, like that little cloud in a sunlight summer sky.... it appears, and the next moment, it's gone.... and you're left with a clear blue celestial expanse.....

That's eventually what you're aiming for.

Not the elimination of thoughts. Just not clinging onto them, and holding them....

[FitChick]

Widen the gap.

Except in London where you have to

.