Comments on: Meditation Techniques

By: Janice

Janice — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 06:48:34 +0000

I teach silent mantra meditation “Primordial Sound.” Each individual’s mantra is chosen depending upon the time, place and date of birth. When the mantra is repeated over and over (silently) our thoughts eventually disappear and we go into “The Gap” - the space between thoughts, where there are no thoughts. It really works! It sounds as though you found something similar. Ommmmm…..

By: Francis

Francis — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 23:54:48 +0000

Ran sez
“… Gurdjieffâ€™s practice is about being in a meditative state all the time, as youâ€™re doing your normal daily stuff. …”

I _love_ it when clear heads collide. The Tibetan sage Milarepa in one of his songs/poems/whatever says basically just that, meditating whilst doing all manner of mundane things like eating, sleeping (!) etc. Sample:

“I, your father, Milarepa,
sometimes meditate and meditate while doing and doing things.
When I meditate while doing and doing things,
I have the oral instructions for liberating all actions into _dharmata_.
I have (this); all do not.
If all had (this), I would be happy. …”

By: Conclave » Dream Symbols While You’re Awake

Conclave » Dream Symbols While You’re Awake — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:34:59 +0000

[...] he mantra “everything is fucking stupid.” What do you guys think of all this? Ran had some comments in a previous post that were something sim [...]

By: Conclave » An Agreement With God

Conclave » An Agreement With God — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:42 +0000

[...] im Boucher An Agreement With God Speaking of meditative imagery, I saw this yesterday morning while using the John the Bap [...]

By: alistair

alistair — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:49:00 +0000

it is interesting that you see colour associated with the mantra naturally. i find that in closed eye meditations i have always seen colours first and then formed images and ideas after. i find that with different thought targets that different colours come. it would make sense from a shakra standpoint that a mantra about god would resonate with the colour purple, associated with the crown shakra.
my visualisations came to a focus during my soccer playing youth, where i would visualise games i had played in precise detail and replayed the events that i had mastered. i can still remember games from thirty years ago as if they happened yeaterday. i believe that i probably sythesised my mother`s yoga practice into a tool for improving my athletic performance. none of my coaches talked about visualisation and the media wasn`t full of “new age” concepts then.
i find that on long bike rides, usually an hour or more into the ride i will experience an idea flow and solutions that i haven`t access to in any other way. it is great to come down the road home full of insights and ideas!
i teach creative visualisation to individuals and groups and i like to take people on journeys, much like shaggy-dog stories, until they are deep into the woods in thier minds, at a point where they have accessed intuitive levels……….whatever that means, and i have them reach down into thier pocket and pull out whatever has been sitting in there. people are constantly surprised at what they pull out. it tells a lot about the person too.
my favorite visualisation practice is meeting the higher me. i made a digital recording of describing me going on a journey to meet myself as the highest manifestation of my purpose here in this consciousness. travelling and arriving where i lived. seeing in great detail my home and walking in the front door to be greeted and embraced by the ascended me. i spend time feeling the acceptance and love of the experience and becoming accustomed to the surroundings as my own and then finally leaving promising to return.
i listen to this recording on a regular basis and i find it deeply moving.

By: J. Puma

J. Puma — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:47:02 +0000

here’s a post on my preferred meditation method, with which i’ve had great success:

http://www.snant.com/fp/archives/gnosticism-in-action-gnostic-meditation/

By: Tim Boucher

Tim Boucher — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:46:06 +0000

Well, I don’t know if there’s talent so much as finding a technique that works for you. That’s something I’ve always been missing. Seems like the key to all of it is patience though. But I’m sure there are people who think that meditation that includes imagery is a negative rather than a positive…

I’m planning another post on the idea of interpreting waking moments like they are dreams, which I think is another good technique for what you’re talking about in the second part there…

By: Ran

Ran — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:39:10 +0000

Wow! You’re a talented meditator. I’ve spent hours and hours trying various techniques, and I almost never get good imagery. For me (and probably most people) the line between normal waking consciousness and sleep is razor thin. A great technique I read about in Anna Wise’s books is to focus on relaxing your tongue, because your mind tends to relax with it.

Also, Gurdjieff’s practice is about being in a meditative state all the time, as you’re doing your normal daily stuff. The best technique I’ve discovered for that is to pretend I’m inside a video game. It really puts me “in the moment.”