my fiance left me

[mosca]

I like the name Petra

[Guest ms-dos]

hope you're doing better these days, petr. i'm in love with your website & portfolio. it makes me feel crazy in the most enjoyable way.

[MAXIMUS MISCHIEF]

i <3 u petr

[Guest abusivegeorge]

I haven't read Eckart's book but heard only good things about it.

 

I find studying meditiation did me no good, because then I was trying to do stuff I had been told/heard/read. Now I just sit either in silence, or with some meditiation/ambient music playing softly in the background, and I can either visually meditiate scenarios in my head, or I just concentrate on my breathing. Either sat on my bed with my legs crossed or sat up straight with both feet flat on the floor and the palms of my hands on my thighs :).

 

i totally agree. meditation is a practice, not a theory. that said, it takes years and years to perfect, but in the process it utterly transforms you..

 

5 months since this post, and it's definetly a practice, it's amazing how much calmer my head is during meditation as time goes on, peace of mind comes more and more, things that are bothering me are becoming less and less, keeping in touch with my inner self is the key here.

[encey]

^ much props, something I am good at for like four days in a row, then suck at for a week, then back and forth ad nauseum.

[Guest abusivegeorge]

^ much props, something I am good at for like four days in a row, then suck at for a week, then back and forth ad nauseum.

 

The problem I have is that if something is bothering me and I don't settle it before I sleep, then I wake with that on my conscious in the morning, and it'll be in my mind when trying meditate, usually this is when I've picked up a resentment towards somebody, so I do my utmost to put my personal relations right, before I lay my head to rest. Kinda keeps my life and my head on an even keel, because other people is hell for me.

[Guest Franklin]

my brother is getting ready to ordain as a buddhist monk and he meditates for 6-10 hours/ day.

 

can you imagine that?

 

insane.

[Guest Z_B_Z]

fuck thats crazy. 20 minutes would be a challenge for me...

[Guest Ricky Downtown]

my brother is getting ready to ordain as a buddhist monk and he meditates for 6-10 hours/ day.

 

can you imagine that?

 

insane.

 

i would love to try that, do you know how i would get started with something like that?

[lumpenprol]

i've never felt particularly drawn to meditation. I tend to like people who are rough around the edges, and I also can think of nothing I want more than to expend all my life juice in the pursuit of the various things I like to create, whether it's making video games or writing or fucking. A pause to reflect and get inspiration is great once in a while but if I do nothing for too long I feel I'm wasting my time. I was even thinking of starting a thread "what is the benefit of idleness?" as it's really hard for me to enjoy doing things "without a purpose," even if the purpose is as simple as "stacking up life experiences."

[Guest Franklin]

my brother is getting ready to ordain as a buddhist monk and he meditates for 6-10 hours/ day.

 

can you imagine that?

 

insane.

 

i would love to try that, do you know how i would get started with something like that?

 

read a thing or two about ZAZEN -- basically sitting meditation. you can start with maybe 5 minutes of sitting still (try to be very still). when thoughts arise you can let them fall away by not engaging in them. it is very difficult but you will get better with time.

 

if you want some specific books, videos to help or layman explanations pm me. ex. sitting still enables the shutting down of the propriocepters in your skin. This creates the feeling that your limbs cease to exist in space. It is an amazing feeling and helps you to relax even more once you get used to it.

[Bob Dylan]

Still alive and looking healthy

 

 

 

[GORDO]

what? she was in mexico city? i could've taken her out to eat and drink disgusting stuff

[Guest abusivegeorge]

i've never felt particularly drawn to meditation. I tend to like people who are rough around the edges, and I also can think of nothing I want more than to expend all my life juice in the pursuit of the various things I like to create, whether it's making video games or writing or fucking. A pause to reflect and get inspiration is great once in a while but if I do nothing for too long I feel I'm wasting my time. I was even thinking of starting a thread "what is the benefit of idleness?" as it's really hard for me to enjoy doing things "without a purpose," even if the purpose is as simple as "stacking up life experiences."

 

I do it once in the morning and once at night, I do a maximum of half an hour each time, but mostly it's just thirty (15 mins each) minutes out of my day. I do it rigourously though, I don't miss a day, it centres me, brings me in touch with myself. I think about how I can be of maximum usefullness to others, be rid of self pity, selfish or dishonest motives. It just puts me in a frame of mind to start my day, and it really works.

[Guest A/D]

george, i really look up to you. that is some wonderful shit. thanks for putting it out there.

[zazen]

read a thing or two about ZAZEN ...

 

[encey]

my brother is getting ready to ordain as a buddhist monk and he meditates for 6-10 hours/ day.

 

can you imagine that?

 

insane.

Wow, where's the temple?

 

I've gone on a few weeks where you meditate all day. You break it up by alternating between sitting and walking, and when you're done and go back into r/l, say, a grocery store, the sensory stimulation is just so overwhelming! I had no idea grocery stores were so loud and bright! But even with the alternating between sitting and walking, my body was sore as fuck by the end of the week! But it's totally awesome. I recommend it to anyone interested.

[Guest Franklin]

thailand!

[Guest abusivegeorge]

george, i really look up to you. that is some wonderful shit. thanks for putting it out there.

 

Thanks :-)!

[awepittance]

lumpenprol, give an isotank a try. you may find yourself having a different opinion on meditation afterwards.

[Guest abusivegeorge]

my brother is getting ready to ordain as a buddhist monk and he meditates for 6-10 hours/ day.

 

can you imagine that?

 

insane.

Wow, where's the temple?

 

I've gone on a few weeks where you meditate all day. You break it up by alternating between sitting and walking, and when you're done and go back into r/l, say, a grocery store, the sensory stimulation is just so overwhelming! I had no idea grocery stores were so loud and bright! But even with the alternating between sitting and walking, my body was sore as fuck by the end of the week! But it's totally awesome. I recommend it to anyone interested.

 

I've never tried all day, but that's because I have "life" to do (and I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I'm just very busy at the moment). But I will definetly give this a go when I have a whole day to myself to do nothing. I can get very emotional if I meditate for longer periods of time (that's to do with my alcoholism and my past I'm sure). Which is not a bad thing I know but as soon as that happens I realise I need to get on with my day as it's gone past time. So yeah, would be kool to just sit and meditate through it for a lengthy period!

 

Would like to see what I'm feeling when I've gone through it and out the other side so to speak, I feel extra sensitive perception after I meditate for just a short time as it is.

[Guest Ricky Downtown]

i'm gonna give it a go for a half hour here. eyes half open right? i read that on wikipedia.

 

also do i need to try to think about nothing or is there something i should focus on thinking about?

[Caretstik]

Non-facetious question: how does one meditate? Focus on a 'thing', or try to not focus on anything at all (which I find really hard). Either way, I've always found myself concentrating in some way, which seems to defeat the whole object.

[Guest Ricky Downtown]

i'm going to try thinking about infinity, my 2010 idm nominee

[zazen]

Non-facetious question: how does one meditate? Focus on a 'thing', or try to not focus on anything at all (which I find really hard). Either way, I've always found myself concentrating in some way, which seems to defeat the whole object.

 

I'd call it gently focusing rather than concentrating.

 

Here is quite a long explanation of a meditation I do:

 

http://www.wildmind.org/mindfulness

 

(click on the introduction and stage 1-4 links on the left hand side)

 

Some of the salient points:

 

In a nutshell, this practice works mainly through us withdrawing our attention from distracting thoughts and redirecting our attention to the physical sensations of the breath. By doing so, we are putting less energy into the emotional states of restlessness, anxiety, craving, ill will, etc that drive those thoughts. Over time the mind becomes calmer and our emotional states become more balanced and positive, and our experience becomes more positive.

 

...It’s important to note that the practice involves noticing that the mind has been wandering and bringing it back to the breath. Distractedness is an inevitable part of the process of meditating and not a sign of failure!

 

...This meditation practice isn’t a breathing exercise. We allow the breath to flow naturally and are simply aware of it. So there is no control over the breath.