For those who do practice meditation, what are other techniques that are effective to you?
Sadly, I've found even for those convinced of meditation's benefits, like exercise, knowing you should do it doesn't mean you do.
http://monkeymindonline.blogspot.com/2008/04/critical-analys...
As a side note, the all time best quote on meditation, from Tom Robbins' Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates:
"Meditation hasn't got a damn thing to do with anything, 'cause all it has to do with is nothing. Nothingness. Okay? It doesn't develop the mind, it dissolves the mind. Self-improvement? Forget it, baby. It erases the self. Throws the ego out on its big brittle ass. What good is it? Good for nothing. Excellent for nothing. Yes, Lord, but when you get down to nothing, you get down to ultimate reality. It's then and exactly then that you're sensing the true nature of the universe, you're linked up with the absolute Absolute, son, and unless you're content with blowing smoke up your butt all your life, that there's the only place to be."
"...that which clingth not no fall can come. Where no fall cometh, there is rest, and where rest is, there is no keen desire. Where keen desire is not, naught cometh or goeth; and where naught cometh or goeth there is no death, no birth." -GB, TBOTD
"Cutting our chains is marvelous, but also very undesirable, for nobody wants to be free." -CC, The Power of Silence
EDIT: btw yogic flying is for idiots. Those who've practiced meditation for years and those fewer who've reached Nirvana have accessed and gained control enough to manipulate what they call the dharmakaya which is connected to the right temporal lobe I believe (also referred to as the silent mind). Those with this degree of mastery have OOB experiences with great maneuverability.
A book I've really appreciated on the practice is called "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation" - http://www.amazon.com/Art-Living-Vipassana-Meditation/dp/006...
Both the practice and the book are honest and simple in approach. I used to hunt for complex, cerebral stuff, dismissing anything else, but have slowly realised the error of my ways.
> It doesn't develop the mind, it dissolves the mind. Self-improvement?
> Forget it, baby. It erases the self.
> Throws the ego out on its big brittle ass.
You can layer on certain guided thoughts (like mantras and chants), but meditative practice is more powerful the simpler it is. You must strip away as much as possible -- to just sit and bring the body, breath, and mind into sync using breath focus and an aware non-judgmental mind. There are many books written on the subject; I can personally recommend Mindfulness in Plain English (free version at http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html).
Meditation of this form is key to transforming your entire life. It is the gateway or pathway you can use to find and accept your true self and see yourself and your life for what it is. It is how you truly see that you cannot escape the present moment and that you have the full ability to choose how you relate to it. Sogyal Rinpoche says it better than I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tIBYxed16s.
As I understand the distinction, samatha meditation develops the ability to achieve mental tranquility and sustained focus, and vipassana meditation develops insight through awareness, introspection, and rational analysis. It's easy to see why breath-awareness meditation can be used for samatha, but I did not understand how it could be used for vipassana. According to what I just read, it becomes vipassana when the meditator takes his consciousness itself as the object of awareness.
Beyond that, it's just sitting and observing. If (ok, when) I notice my focus has drifted and I'm getting caught up in thoughts, I stop feeding into them and return focus to my breath, posture, and surroundings.
It can be dreadfully boring, but when I do it periodically, it really does help - like taking the lid off a pot on the verge of boiling over. (It's an especially direct way to train your mind to stay focused, too.)
There's a decent chapter about sitting meditation in Brad Warner's _Hardcore Zen_, which I also recommend because it isn't a bunch of new-age-y sunshine and lollipops. (Looking at a lot of other Western books on Buddhism, you'd think Zen had antioxidants or something.)
As for meditation practice, just sitting is enough, every time i have a thought or a disturbance of any kind i just readjust my pose.
BTW, if you're getting hung up on having a perfect cushion, let it go. You can sit zazen on the corner of a couch cushion. Seiza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza) works, too, but I wouldn't unless you're already used to it.
This is known as awareness of awareness, or consciousness of consciousness which does sound fake but its very simple and effective. You soon start getting a feeling of what you really are as opposed to the belief of being a body/mind.
Being aware of this "I-feeling" is considered by many to be the fastest or direct path. This I-feeling is also found in the present moment when there is no past or future.
or Be aware of what is present between thoughts.
or Put your focus on what is conscious of existing.
There are tonnes of references that point to the same thing in different words:
- Power of Now (Tolle) - Michael Langford (albigen.com - full book available) - Youtubes of Papaji, Mooji, Tolle and many others
As for "effective," if you practice with any hope for improving your life, you're likely to end up disappointed. That said, I do two hours of dzogchen meditation a day, one hour when I've just gotten up, and one just before bed. This allows me to be highly functional on five hours of sleep a night. (I've always gotten about five hours of sleep a night, but this allows me to function that way) and has opened up a world of new possibilities in emotional awareness and emotional regulation. It does force awareness of the pressing problems in life, which is uncomfortable, but better, in the long run, than ignorance.
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-Conditioner-SleepMate-580A-Mach...
How so?
Uncomfortable and boring sometimes, but you can avoid a lot of stress by catching things before they turn into big issues. Of course, if you thrive on drama, then making a habit of ignoring things until they blow up in your face will feed the fire. (Know anybody like that?)
I think the people at my old Aikido dojo called this "zanshin".
1. Recognize you are having a discoursive thought 2. Identify it 3. Release it
It's not repression at all: it's acknowledgment, like saying hello to someone you recognize on the street, but continuing where you are going.
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/ati_website/canon/sutta/m...
It is supposedly a transcript from the buddha discources.
There is nothing "spiritual" about it and is very systematic (basically lists of what to do) and worded very carefully. Most practaces I have gone to seem to lack the precice details.
Here is the main part, sorry for the length, but I tried to summarise and it would not do.
"Now how is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit?
"There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore.[1] Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out. "
"[1] Breathing in long, he discerns that he is breathing in long; or breathing out long, he discerns that he is breathing out long. [2] Or breathing in short, he discerns that he is breathing in short; or breathing out short, he discerns that he is breathing out short. [3] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the entire body,[2] and to breathe out sensitive to the entire body. [4] He trains himself to breathe in calming bodily fabrication (the breath),[3] and to breathe out calming bodily fabrication.
"[5] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to rapture, and to breathe out sensitive to rapture. [6] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to pleasure, and to breathe out sensitive to pleasure. [7] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication (feeling & perception), and to breathe out sensitive to mental fabrication. [8] He trains himself to breathe in calming mental fabrication,[4] and to breathe out calming mental fabrication.
"[9] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the mind, and to breathe out sensitive to the mind. [10] He trains himself to breathe in satisfying the mind, and to breathe out satisfying the mind. [11] He trains himself to breathe in steadying the mind, and to breathe out steadying the mind. [12] He trains himself to breathe in releasing the mind, and to breathe out releasing the mind.[5]
"[13] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on inconstancy, and to breathe out focusing on inconstancy. [14] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on dispassion [literally, fading], and to breathe out focusing on dispassion. [15] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on cessation, and to breathe out focusing on cessation. [16] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on relinquishment, and to breathe out focusing on relinquishment.
This should help in quieting your inner monologue. When you find your brain trying to restart that monologue, just acknowledge that it happened and refocus. Remember not to think of these events as somehow being bad or failing since then you are dwelling on the past, just refocus without judging.
Edit: you may find this presentation that Jon Kabat-Zinn gave at Google interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc
I also found his audio book "Mindfulness for Beginners" very enjoyable. The second cd contains 2 guided meditations which may help you get started.
Initially, I would count breaths and see how long I could go without thinking about anything. Over time (years), the "water got clearer" and I usually spend the time drilling deep down to see how I am "really" feeling. It's like practice so I remember to do that throughout the day, and feels like a natural consequence of quieting your thoughts.
As for reading, I recommend "Three Pillars of Zen" to hear about other people's experiences with enlightenment, and www.101zenstories.com for koans to contemplate.
I can't speak to the non-Buddhist traditions, but within Buddhism, there are literally hundreds of different meditation techniques beyond the technique described above.
There's a lot of breath-based techniques, but there are also a lot of techniques that use other objects of meditation. Personally, I find walking meditation to be quite effective, for a change of pace.
For the cocktails, the importance of quality vermouth and bitters cannot be overemphasized. A top notch Americano requires both and will aid you greatly in your meditation.