[dazedcola]

Recently Ive been interested in it and am thinking about trying it out.I want to have that sense of tranquility and relaxation.

So for the people that have...is it worth the putting in the time for? Can anyone recommend some sites/books that could help out someone new to this idea.

[HaydenAsche]

I'm not some fucking hippie.

[atari 2600]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=meditation+monk

While in deep meditation, a Tibetan Monk hooked up to an EEG did not flinch (his brainwaves remained unaltered) as a shotgun blast was fired right past his head. So, if anyone has any doubts, then they should be vanquished.

how-to links:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...nce+meditation
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ent+meditation

Thomas Merton was an infamous beatnik that became a Catholic monk that became a famous spiritual author and advocate of ecumenism. He can prove useful since he is a western teacher. D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts are probably the two other (more) famous pop-philosophers on meditation and Zen & Mahayana Buddhism. Although, the new-ager kooks out there today make these guys seem extremely important. Watts' Way of Zen book actually puts Zen into a historical context that exposes some of its basic fallacies. Personally, I enjoy J. Krishnamurti's teachings.

The symbolic writings in the ancient Tao Te Ching can be useful for understanding the process of how to not try but still clear the mind along with the rhythm of breathing.

[jon boy]

Originally Posted by HaydenAsche

I'm not some fucking hippie.

but you are as annoying.

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by dazedcola

Recently Ive been interested in it and am thinking about trying it out.I want to have that sense of tranquility and relaxation.

So for the people that have...is it worth the putting in the time for? Can anyone recommend some sites/books that could help out someone new to this idea.

I would seriously advise that attempting to learn from a book or website will either be fruitless or very time-consuming; I reckon just about anyone who has practised meditation would say it's best to learn in the atmosphere of a group with a guide.

My advice would be to join a local group to learn the basics (even for a few lessons), and then go it on your own if you still wish.

[jon boy]

i have tried it but it did nothing for me.

[atari 2600]

The important thing is to have faith that you already know how, because you do.

The breathing techniques act as a mantra without a mantra in mind. Using breathing and a mantra together at first seem to be the quickest way to understanding that there are other states of consciousness that can be reached through meditation.

Eventually you want to condition yourself through the breathing to be able to meditate without trying to meditate and just do it naturally as you breathe normally.

The classic breathing method is to internalize everything into your breath like you are letting the whole world in and then as soon as your long, slow inhalation fills you lungs, you give a deep, slow exhalation of the same duration to let everything out and repeat as you clear your mind of conscious thought. It sounds like it should be easy, but unfortunately, our minds are much more corrupted than the conditioning of your brain will even readily allow you to think.

If I were not a smoker, then I know I could go much deeper, but I seem to have a bit of a knack for having silence space in-between thoughts. It's probably due to a trauma I experienced at age seven.

[atari 2600]

Reading, although there are words, is a fairly solitary meditative activity, so reading can help quiet one's mind if you immerse yourself. Playing a musical instrument is great for this too. Making visual art is extremely meditative.

Originally Posted by Hip Priest

I would seriously advise that attempting to learn from a book or website will either be fruitless or very time-consuming; I reckon just about anyone who has practised meditation would say it's best to learn in the atmosphere of a group with a guide.

My advice would be to join a local group to learn the basics (even for a few lessons), and then go it on your own if you still wish.

Originally Posted by me

The breathing techniques act as a mantra without a mantra in mind. Using breathing and a mantra together at first seem to be the quickest way to understanding that there are other states of consciousness that can be reached through meditation.

For the same reason, going with a group session can bring some immediate results (EDIT: on second thought...I think those people were full of shit just acting for everyone else) that give one the impetus to continue, but I eschew groups of this nature. If one can truly find a real guru, instructor, master or yogi or whatever, then good for them. I steer clear of those people.
We have a semi-communal settlement within Charlottesville that is called "Yogaville."
Meditation is about going back to true balance which, if uncovered, does make you an individual (& one just may be a freak), but it's not about living like a freak.
You can't deny the world away just like one cannot deny death away out of existence. It's true that one can alter one's environment through the will, It's just that I think that the people out in "Yogaville" are a lot more like the rest of the world than they now allow themselves to think.

[Cantankerous]

i thought it said medication. damn.

[static-harmony]

Originally Posted by Cantankerous

i thought it said medication. damn.

Oh shit now that you say it I also thought that's what it said.

[racehorse]

just read that whole thread thinking it said "medication".
that was fucked up.

[artsygrrl]

haha! I thought it said "medication" too!

[_slavo_]

I've tried it a couple of times while attending yoga classes some 5 years ago. Most of the time, it did shit, but once, I don't even know why, it worked and it felt really incredible! I don't know, all of a sudden, I was just locked up in my own private universe and my skull felt like it was the size of a galaxy. Hard to explain and pretty shitty description as I read it, but yes, now I can honestly say, that you can do pretty crazy fucked up things with your head without smoking anything.

[sonicl]

I tried yoga once, but I couldn't shut out the outside world, so I didn't get the full benefit of it. I had the same problem when I was hypnotised.

[jon boy]

just go for a pedicure. works everytime.

[Tokolosh]

Originally Posted by jon boy

just go for a pedicure. works everytime.

Tell me about it! *aroused*

[gmku]

I'm a Zen Buddhist. Even went through lay ordination (go ahead and snicker) a few years back. It's kind of like baptism for Buddhists.

For a long time in the 90s, I "sat" regularly, both on my own and in the "zendo" during regular morning services and the longer "seshins". It takes a certain diligence, though, and while I still try to keep the Zen precepts in mind as a guide to living my life, I haven't sat in meditation for a couple of years. I've noticed a difference, too. I'm much less calm than I was when I meditated.