Post by bildam on Apr 9, 2015 21:46:10 GMT
I have a very specific way to meditate which I've actually never told anyone about. I am concerned though because for me its pretty much stopped working. I literally worked this out for myself over 20+ years ago, and then it was really effective. There are not that many steps, and as I say they are only for me. First, I make sure I know this is "meditation time". IOW it's a concentrated effort, not something to fill time or help me to sleep etc. You have to be in the right frame of mind before you start. Next, I lie flat on my back. Daft as it sounds, if I don't I'll end up falling asleep, my normal sleep position is on on side - conversely, I never sleep on my back. Then I must lie in a position where my arms and legs do not touch any other part of my body. I'm usually in bed, but the idea is to "shut off" every sensation you can, so when you get to "touch" you don't want anything to affect that. It goes without saying you similarly minimize every other sense, so it must be as silent as possible, and no smell, as dark as possible etc. Then you begin. Breathe slowly and deeply, but not to excess or where it becomes uncomfortabe. You then try to "numb" your whole body. Start concentrating on your feet, and tell yourself you are relaxing that part to the point where you can't feel anything. Don't move any part of your body unnecessarily. Think of this numbness as a wave you're moving up your body, only moving upwards when you really, genuinely, cannot feel anything from the part you have left. Let this wave move up through your legs, past your pelvis, stomach, chest and eventually your head. If it works, and it can get quite scary the first few times, you lose sensation to such an extent that you CAN'T even tell you''re lying down. Your brain literally doesn't know if you're standing up or whatever, the feeling of numbness is that total. A couple of times I had the distinct feeling I'd actually left my body - only twice, ever - and i'm sure it was just a vivid dream. The thing is its a bit paradoxical, you are very aware of what's happening yet you have just deliberately made yourself unaware. At this stage, you can begin to try to see with your minds eye. Apparently there is one, called the pineal gland right behind your forehead. In any case I just try to see something simple and beautiful to me - the sky. I just concentrate on the colour light blue. That's it. Counting down from 10 helps too - do this just after your whole body has become numb. You're saying at the end of the countdown: "you will see this colour". You'll see all kind of flashes and random "images" just as you do with your eyes closed anyway, but now you're looking for exactly one thing - the colour blue (or your favourite colour, I guess). Once you see it, you're there. Lock on it. Time will cease to exist. You won't get "lost" since you are aware you could step out at any time, but this is what I have always thought of as the goal. You have nothing but pure peace, with no earthly sensations or distractions and so for me, are in the perfect meditational state.
'Cept its stopped working :-( I think I know why - concentration. During the last few years I have been having trouble focusing as laser-like on my work as I used to. And man, in my line of work (software development) was I used to that. So I've noticed I can still get there but it's much more of an effort. That's real life, and only to be expected. Don't get me wrong, I'm sharper than most day to day, it's just that with being at such an extreme peak-of-ability-to-concentrate previously, being a little further down than I used to be does get noticed. It's probably only me that sees this, but it's there alright. Actually, the last success I had with the meditation I described was a slight variation based on "the goal". To me, "the goal" was to have a perfectly sensation-free body whilst mentally seeing the colour light blue. I just could not see this colour at all, so I changed it to make things easier and said just visualise a simple shape. Anyone can do this - just close your eyes and think "square", "triangle" etc - it's fun! You really do see these shapes, even though your eyes are closed. So, I started by seeing a circle, and once that was steady I just filled in in with light blue, rather than my entire universe as before. This seems a possibly better path back because its the same but in simpler steps, but its pretty much only in the last few months I changed it like this, dunno where it will lead.
Hey I hope this isn't bad advice! I know all you experts might have ways passed on though the elders wisdom (!) which I know nowt about, and might have gone against, but I was just trying to say what worked for me. Here's a silly final point if I'm being totally honest. That colour light blue does come from the sky, and is my favourite colour, but when I can't see it, and believe me I'm definitely not a fan, I actually, as a last resort, think of the Man City shirt or the opening "could parting" sequence from the Simpsons, either have done it for me. You just try to do anything to see that colour.
Maybe those clouds are the final curtain?
Peace x
'Cept its stopped working :-( I think I know why - concentration. During the last few years I have been having trouble focusing as laser-like on my work as I used to. And man, in my line of work (software development) was I used to that. So I've noticed I can still get there but it's much more of an effort. That's real life, and only to be expected. Don't get me wrong, I'm sharper than most day to day, it's just that with being at such an extreme peak-of-ability-to-concentrate previously, being a little further down than I used to be does get noticed. It's probably only me that sees this, but it's there alright. Actually, the last success I had with the meditation I described was a slight variation based on "the goal". To me, "the goal" was to have a perfectly sensation-free body whilst mentally seeing the colour light blue. I just could not see this colour at all, so I changed it to make things easier and said just visualise a simple shape. Anyone can do this - just close your eyes and think "square", "triangle" etc - it's fun! You really do see these shapes, even though your eyes are closed. So, I started by seeing a circle, and once that was steady I just filled in in with light blue, rather than my entire universe as before. This seems a possibly better path back because its the same but in simpler steps, but its pretty much only in the last few months I changed it like this, dunno where it will lead.
Hey I hope this isn't bad advice! I know all you experts might have ways passed on though the elders wisdom (!) which I know nowt about, and might have gone against, but I was just trying to say what worked for me. Here's a silly final point if I'm being totally honest. That colour light blue does come from the sky, and is my favourite colour, but when I can't see it, and believe me I'm definitely not a fan, I actually, as a last resort, think of the Man City shirt or the opening "could parting" sequence from the Simpsons, either have done it for me. You just try to do anything to see that colour.
Maybe those clouds are the final curtain?
Peace x
