Help Can someone Give Good Instructions on How to Meditate

try heroin^ it will relax you

Err without any mind altering substances, thanks

Start by pull down your pants....

This is depending on what kind of
Meditation you want to learn!

Start with Dividing your Brain
in 2 (left and right) than in 4
and 8 different Parts,
when you reach 32 Parts post again!

Imo. the best Way for a Theravada Style
Meditation is by Walking and Breathing!

Meditation is pretty straight forward. Don't expect a huge shift in consciousness. It is a way of thinking. (is your mind not different when you wake in the morning then when you are out and about around noon?)

Try this: find a comfortable chair and sit. Release all motor control of your body. Refuse to move a muscle, not even to scratch or swallow. This is a question of will. Close your eyes.
Within your mind see yourself enter a darkened room. In the center of the room there is a short table for you to sit by. A candle is lit there in the center of the table. Also a note pad and a pen is there. Stare into the candle's flame and think of nothing.

If a thought passes through you let the thought's form and sound pass into the room with you through the door you entered the room. What is the nature of your connection to this thought? Doubt, attachment, worry, boredom, whatever the nature of your connection write down the words of it on the notepad. Watch yourself making out the letters. Take the sheet off the pad and pass it into the candle flame. Think of nothing. Keep doing the process till your mind is focusing for longer and longer periods in interrupted on the flame.

This can be used on itches and desires to move your body as well (ie what is your attachment to the itch?)

Meditation Instructions
Preface by ehecatl


These notes pertain to a method of abstract meditation, which I will call Effortless Meditation, which has powerful and effective results, and which I have practiced now regularly and daily since 1976, and which is the most important core teaching of the Transcendental Meditation Technique taught by the well known Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

This knowledge was already known by myself and a group of advanced meditators, but it was confirmed and detailed by secret oral and written knowledge only given to special instructors, and gained by my myself and a few other advanced meditators, who were not and are not official instructors, but “by hook or crook”, obtained from about a half a dozen of the official occult initiation instructors.

The official instructions also consists of a considerable amount of what would easily be interpreted as Hindu religious ceremony, of offerings of things like incense, flowers and fruit, and the giving of thanks to a holy tradition of masters, all sung in Sanskrit. For good or bad I will not bother to present the ceremonial aspect here, because it is really rather beside the point, of the real essential essence of the teachings.

It has been stated and I believe it is true, that this meditation works outside of any belief system, so perhaps it might be better to eliminate the ceremonial aspect? What the elaborate ceremony could do for certain people of certain cultures, is to emphasize the importance of the teachings, and better insure that regular practice will follow. For other persons and cultures the ceremonial aspect might be a “turn-off”.

Say what you will about the strange public perception of the Maharishi, but his most basic core teaching remains exquisitely effective at “refining” the entire nervous system and healing the psychological condition of any person, apart from any belief system, and apart from any special personal considerations, it is universally effective, but only if practiced daily.

This technique will not have very much effect on a person who does not practice it daily. The Maharishi taught to practice it twice a day for twenty minutes. That is fine, but I would also suggest that even 10 or 15 minutes once a day, would be almost as effective as 20 minutes twice a day (especially for the more advanced meditator), but that the most important thing is that it be practiced every day.

Perhaps the most optimal time of day to practice meditation is in the early evening, after work and after bathing and before eating much, but for the sake of regular practice, any time of day or night and any location or conditions will serve the purpose.

Perhaps one of the most important things that the Maharishi did for the western culture to insure that the technique be practiced daily, was to charge $500 or $1000 or more, and to include many follow up sessions with the instructor, to verify that the technique is being practiced correctly and daily. This is important because the basic technique is so simple, that it would be easily discarded out of hand by the western mind, if a high dollar value were not placed on the instruction.

In fact the true “depths of simplicity” of the technique cannot even be grasped by the new meditator as a direct knowledge, but only really dawns on the meditator after months or years of practice. So this is where the understanding of the purpose of a ceremony and the charging of a high monetary price comes in.

-ehecatl


to be continued

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:20 PM

Close your eyes, breathe, open your mind. All you need to do.

go to

edgarcayce.org

and read read read all about it

The Long Term Progression of the Meditation Process

The process of learning Effortless Meditation starts with the simple recognition of the difference between any and all thoughts, and basic silence.

There is the question of the selection of an abstract sound which has no meaning, to be used as a mantra. I will give that instruction in person and not in this text. It has been suggested by many yogis that “OM” is not a good mantra for abstract silent meditation for the average person, and I suspect this to be true for several reasons, among them that most people already have some sort of intellectual association with that common mantra, which might render it less effective, for this abstract type of technique.

The mantras I would suggest are other sounds, sounds which should have no meanings in the languages that the practitioner understands. As one will come to find out, the particular mantra chosen at first might not even be very important, if the meditator is truly practicing the most correct form of effortlessness, first and foremost. The mantra is only a vehicle, to be discarded on arrival, and it does not matter much what model the vehicle is, but it only matters how it is driven and in what direction.

According to yogic theory, and also from my direct experience, all so-called “normal” people, and especially those who do not meditate, accumulate throughout their lives psychological stresses or damage which do not normally leave the system but which cause an innumerable array of problems, which prevents the bulk of humanity from even coming close to approaching their full potential of happiness, effectiveness, health, etc.

It is common in the early months and years of practice to have meditation sessions filled with all manner of strange and extraneous thoughts. This is sort of like garbage that is “boiling off” because of the effect of the meditation technique.

At these early stages, a new meditator who has expectations of some kind of goal of a silent mind, can often become discouraged, because the reality of their meditation sessions might be anything but silent, but may carry any sort of odd emotions, visions, or even odd body sensations or movements, and which might even carry over into daily life.

The new meditator is invariably told to not concern themselves with all of these odd thoughts and effects, and to deal with them ultimately as so much “garbage” to be disregarded, and usually, no matter how dramatic, that is exactly what those experiences are, just so much “fluff” or “garbage”, at least until a meditator has reached more advanced levels of effortlessly establishing silence, and then certain experiences might indeed represent certain common cornerstones of experience in the yogic path, but that is a subject beyond the scope of this brief summary about the learning of Effortless Meditation, and it is really not even necessary or prudent to be discussed here.

This is because expectations hinder the overall process, rather than help it. True learning can only be earned the hard way, through innocent, spontaneous, direct experience, and not by layers of intellectual concepts, and thus the so called “one true knowledge” is found expressed in so many different (but common) ways, in various cultures around the world.
-ehecatl

to be continued

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:31 PM

Key Extracts from the Original Written Instructions on the effortless abstract meditation technique as taught by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Effortless (Transcendental) Meditation makes use of a technique whereby the subconscious area of the mind is made conscious. This is accomplished by training the mind to experience a thought at progressively earlier stages of its development in the subconscious. The conscious mind becomes enlarged as it assimilates more of the subconscious. The regular integration of the mind’s daily thought process with its own more refined levels of thought in the subconscious, results in expanded mental clarity, improved efficiency in action, and greater self-actualization.

This process employs the use of a meaningless sound called a mantra. The most important aspect of this sound is that it carries no intellectual associations with, or emotional attachments to, the outside world of activity for the mind. This allows the mind to spontaneously settle towards quieter, more refined states of mental activity. Since the mantra functions as a sound only, its instruction must be carried out orally.

Although this explanation of the mechanics of the technique sounds complicated, the practice itself is extraordinarily easy and simple. It employs no forcing or straining of any kind. No special power of concentration or any particular mental state is required. Everyone has the capacity for the practice of this beneficial technique.

This meditation technique releases tension and fatigue from the nervous system by providing a manner of rest which decreases the metabolic rate more than twice as much as deep sleep does. And this invariably results in a reduction of anxiety and some growth in mental clarity.

People regularly practicing effortless meditation experience such physical benefits as reduction in heart rate, slower rate of breathing, improved respiratory efficiency, lower blood pressure and faster reaction time. Nearly every one of these results is directly experienced within the first few days of instruction...
-MMY

to be continued

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:11 PM

visualize non existence

(direct verbal instruction to student in quotes)

... “In this technique, we do not concentrate. We do not try to think the mantra clearly. Mental repetition is not a clear pronunciation – it is just a faint idea. Correct practice does not require us to have the mantra at all times. If we lose it, fine. When we become aware that we are no longer repeating it, we quietly go back to it. We just start very easily, take it as it comes, and do not try to hold onto the mantra if it tends to slip away.

“We do not try to make a rhythm of the mantra. We don’t try to control thoughts. There is no need to try to stop thinking, because thoughts are a part of meditation. Even if the mind is filled with other thoughts while the mantra is present, there is no conflict. Our concern is with the mantra, and if our thoughts are there along with it, we do not mind them; we do not attempt to remove them. We innocently favor the mantra.

“Noise is no barrier to meditation. Even in noisy surroundings, it is possible to be thinking thoughts. And whenever we can think we can meditate. So we can think the mantra comfortably and yet be aware of outside noises. We just innocently favor the mantra and do not resist noise in any way.

“This is how to meditate. Now I’ll be going out and you’ll be meditating for about 20 minutes. Don’t mind the time. I’ll be back and when I ask you to open the eyes, stop thinking the mantra inside, take about 2 minutes, and then open the eyes slowly.

“Let’s close the eyes, sit easily for about half a minute, and then start thinking the mantra very innocently.

Sit with the student for about half a minute before quietly slipping out. Wait 20 minutes and, upon returning, sit down quietly, close the eyes and wait one minute.

“Now, slowly open the eyes.”

Wait at least 2 minutes.

“Is it easy?”


-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:12 PM

Have you read this thread?

Some good information and references regarding your inquiry.

Theres a lot of B.S. in there but if you skip over it and just read the OP you should get some great info.

sorry here's the thread.

Thread: Breaking my vows of secrecy for you

If the student indicates some difficulty, read the solution to the appropriate category below.

If there are no difficulties, skip past these five solution/explanations.

1)The mantra is not effortless.
2)Thoughts are interfering.
3)Noises are interfering.
4)Physical discomfort associated with thinking the mantra.
5)Physical discomfort with no association.

1) In this meditation we do not concentrate. We do not try to think the mantra clearly. Mental repetition is not a clear pronunciation – it is just a faint idea. We do not try to make a rhythm of the mantra. It can get faster or slower, louder or softer, clearer or fainter. The pronunciation may change, lengthen, shorten, or even appear to be distorted. Or it may not appear to change at all. In every case we take it as it comes, neither anticipating nor resisting change – just simple innocence.

We do not try to control thoughts. We don’t wish that a thought should not come. If a thought comes the mind is completely absorbed in the thought. When we become aware that we are not thinking the mantra, we quietly come back to it.

We think the mantra very easily. If at any moment we feel that we are forgetting it, we should not attempt to persist in repeating it or try to keep on remembering it. We just start very easily, take it as it comes, and do not hold the mantra if it tends to slip away.

Shifting the mind from the mantra to the thought has been an effortless process. Shifting the mind from a given thought, to the thought of being “off the mantra” has also been effortless. In this way, shifting the mind back to the mantra can also be naturally effortless.


2) There is no need to try and stop thinking because thoughts are part of meditation. Even if the mind is filled with other thoughts while the mantra is going on, there is no conflict. Our concern is with the mantra, and if our thoughts are there with it, we do not mind them and we do not attempt to remove them. We innocently favor the mantra.


3) Noise is no barrier to meditation. Even in noisy surroundings it is possible to be thinking thoughts. And whenever we can think, we can meditate. So we can think the mantra comfortably and yet be aware of outside noises. We just innocently favor the mantra and do not resist noise in any way.


4) This physical discomfort indicates some forcing which is obstructing the mind’s spontaneous flow. To correct it, stop thinking the mantra the moment the discomfort begins and simply sit until the pain diminishes. Then begin the mantra again.


5) Even with some discomfort we should be able to meditate. For anyone who can think can meditate. We do not lose the natural ability to have thoughts even with bodily discomfort.

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:12 PM

After reading the appropriate solution, or if there is no difficulty, proceed with the instruction.

It is easy and simple.

It is just the normal, natural process of thinking the mantra and taking it as it comes. Now this is how we will meditate, easily, morning and evening.

It is very important that we do not try to meditate. We do not try to keep the tempo of the mantra nor do we try to change the tempo. We do not concentrate against thoughts that we may have or against noises we may hear. We do not resist thoughts. We do not resist noise. We do not resist the mantra changing or disappearing. We do not resist anything. We take it as it comes.

It is a very simple, natural, innocent process. When we meditate at home, we start with half a minute sitting easily. This means we close the eyes for about half a minute and then start the mantra easily. When we want to end meditation, we stop thinking the mantra inside and do not open the eyes for at least two minutes. This is very important that we start with half a minute of silence and end with at least two minutes of silence.

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:13 PM

The Experience of Meditation

It is a mistake to judge meditation by specific subjective experiences during meditation. Success in the practice is validated if the practice itself goes easily and if some mental or physical rest is felt.

However, following are the fundamental experiences of correct meditation. It is unnecessary to have all of these results to confirm the experiences of correct meditation. It is enough to have experienced only one.

Subtle states of the mantra occur spontaneously with no conscious effort to produce them. By subtle, we mean vague, distant, faint or fading away. This seems to indicate that the mind is motivated by its own nature to settle down. Employing any effort or control will only result in causing strain.

Softer breath indicates that the metabolism has slowed significantly. Although this is a mental technique, the metabolic rate of the body is affected quite spontaneously. A sudden deep breath is caused by a vacuum slowly produced within over a period of time by softer breathing.

Any indication of drowsiness (the head falling forward gradually or suddenly) is a sign of some needed deep rest. If there is a regular feeling of drowsiness during meditation, additional rest is recommended.

A feeling of numbness, a loss of physical orientation or a sudden physical sensation is the result of a profound dissipation of fatigue or tension made possible by the deep rest of meditation.

Experiences during meditation may differ depending on bodily condition. The practice is valid even when varying experiences are felt each time because the physical condition of the nervous system is involved in the process.

A good example of this is the difference between the experiences of morning and evening meditations. In the morning, the mind is refreshed from sleep, yet the body is a bit stiff from inactivity. In the evening, the fatigue of the day weighs upon the body, and the body is tired from activity. These two different physiological states are largely responsible for the various experiences in meditation.

In addition, two people will be gaining the maximum benefits of meditation and, due to the various conditions of each nervous system; each person will be having different experiences.

However, experiences in daily life such as more energy, liveliness, calmness and mental clarity are of paramount importance as they are the results of meditation practice.

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:13 PM

Fundamental Instructions

Meditate for twenty minutes twice a day. In cases of extended activity, a third meditation is advised. Do not meditate for a shorter period of time than instructed. Time may be monitored by easily opening the eyes to check a watch or clock. Do not use disruptive alarms. To accidentally go over the time is acceptable.

Meditate in a quiet area. Take measures to disallow disturbances (unplug phone, note on door, no children or animals, etc.) Always sit comfortably without head support. Lying down may result in sleep.

Meditate before meals. Allow two hours after a full meal. If hungry, take something light.

Do not resist or repress any inclinations to move slightly or scratch during meditation.

Engaging in fatiguing activities or stressful lifestyles, or ingesting and unsuitable substance (food or drug) is apt to render the practice of meditation less effective.


Directions for Specific Situations
If a sudden interruption requires leaving meditation, take one minute and come out slowly. Meditate for at least five minutes afterwards in order to regain smoothness before returning to activity.

If the eyes open suddenly, allow them to easily close again, then resume meditation.

In the event of illness, meditate as long and as often as is comfortable.

If a sudden noise or sensation disturbs the system, sit easily with the eyes closed until it diminishes. Then resume meditation.

If some physical sensation is felt and fails to dissipate during the two minute rest period, get up slowly and begin activity easily without minding. If the sensation continues to be felt strongly, lie down with the eyes closed and continue to feel it. Since the mind is becoming active while still under the influence of this sensation, some uneasiness could continue. If sleep comes, let it come.

If the head tilts from an upright position during meditation, return it back upright very slowly and gently. If sleep comes at any time during meditation, don’t try to be alert – lie down and let it come. Always meditate for at least five minutes after such sleep.

If the heartbeat, breath or any outside noise seems to be with the mantra, do not encourage it or disassociate it. Innocently favor the mantra.

Pregnant women should meditate as much as they like.

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:13 PM

ask Tuvok

The Process of Thought during Meditation

The thinking process is the actual basis of meditation. However, the meaning of thoughts in meditation is unimportant. Do not take thoughts seriously or give importance to any particular thought.

Do not act on thoughts merely because they arise in meditation. Do not decide to think particular thoughts in meditation. The meaning of thoughts should never be associated with any benefit of the meditation technique. To be guided by the meaning of such thoughts is to be completely misled.

The mind may experience and abundance of thoughts or become absorbed in a single thought. When such thoughts no longer grip this mind, there will be an awareness of “thinking thoughts”. This is the moment to return to the mantra easily, not distinctly.

If the thought process is in some way experienced as being simultaneous with the mantra, just easily favor the mantra. This means to simply allow the awareness to be with the fine state of the mantra that is already present.


The Function of the Mantra

The mantra is the vehicle for the conscious mind to experience subtler levels of thought. Every aspect of the mantra should be associated with this inward direction of the mind and not attached to any experience in active life. Such an attachment of the mantra to the outer world will tend to reverse the inward process and render the meditation less effective. For this reason, the mantra is neither spoken aloud nor associated with any particular idea.

Correct meditation does not require that the mantra be present at all times. Once the mind becomes aware of its absence, just quietly go back.

If, at any time, the mantra is found to be in a very unclear or distorted state, do not assume it is wrong or no longer present. Do not attempt to re-begin it clearly. This would be forcing.

The mantra may change in tempo, pronunciation, pitch, length, or it may not seem to change at all. It may even disappear completely. The experience of no mantra and no thought (clearly or hazily) may be had many times during a single meditation, even quite briefly. This experience is often followed by the recollection of absolute silence or time unaccounted for.

Do not be concerned with whether the mantra changes or not. Do not put an effort on thinking the mantra in order to settle down faster or more profoundly. Innocence is the technique employed in this practice by neither anticipating nor resisting change. Once conscious interference is removed, the process flows quite naturally and effortlessly.

(This ends the student’s initial instruction in meditation. When the student has meditated several times since the instruction, it will be time for verification of the technique.)

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:14 PM

Verification

Verification is a procedure designed to seek out and correct actual and potential difficulties in meditation practice. It can be used for any meditation student, regardless of their longevity of experience.

The purpose of verification is to structure a situation which will naturally provide the experience of correct meditation. To accomplish this, it is necessary to give the experience of an appropriate start. The experience of an appropriate start of meditation will indicate to the student that thinking is an effortless process accompanied by a natural feeling of quietness.

Meditation verification is not an investigation into any faults. Its purpose is to give the experience of effortless natural thinking. Whatever the complaint or difficulty is regarding the meditation, the student is automatically led through the necessary steps to resolve the problem.

Speak slowly and softly throughout the verification. Never look at the student as his or her eyes open. Never give instruction while the students’ eyes are closed. Close your eyes along with the student, periodically opening them to check the time. Do not speak to the student until after requesting him or her to open the eyes.

If it is ever felt that the student is too shy or embarrassed to answer negatively to any question, simply ask, “How was it?” in order to establish the genuine answer.

Before beginning verification, listen for a few minutes to the students own description of his or her meditation. Do not embark on questioning. If there is a specific complaint, let the student know that the solution is simple and that the meditation will improve. Some students may come to routine verification with no special complaint. In either case, ask the student when he or she meditated last and for how many minutes. If it is clear that the student has not been regular, tell them that it does not matter.

-MMY

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:14 PM

this is a thing you are doing automaticly.
To bigg money business! Makes me nervous.
When you finish your coffee or sandwich in the morning,
and you don't know anymore if you did.
Be sure you were meditating.
Good luck, and you can deposit your money on my bank account for this advice ;-)

The Appropriate Start of the Verification Process

Let’s sit comfortably and easily, and close our eyes.
Wait 10 seconds.

Let’s open our eyes.
Wait 5 seconds.

Now again, let’s close our eyes.
Wait 20 seconds.

Open the eyes.
Wait 5 seconds.

Again, close the eyes.
Wait 30 seconds.

Slowly open the eyes.
Wait 5 seconds.

When we close our eyes, we naturally feel some quietness or silence – did you experience this?

-MMY

(And then from the yes or no answer to this question, the process splits into an elaborate flow chart, of solutions, meditation, and yes no question like above, “did you feel some silence”, and if not, why? All the instructions that are given in the flow chart are also the same information found in the preceding pages.) -ehecatl

Last Edited by ehecatl on 10/14/2012 05:15 PM

Some final notes by ehecatl

I worked for some time in the mid 1980’s with two other advanced meditators in the documenting the more occult levels of knowledge in several of the major east Indian yoga societies. JM headed up the effort and he had a philosophy to strip the teaching of any devotional cult-like characteristics.

In his final version of the above knowledge that he gave to me in an elaborate hand-made book, one of only three or four, he changes the word ‘initiate’ to student, and he changes ‘Transcendental Meditation’ to Effortless Meditation, which I reflect in this text. In the version of JM he also changes the word ‘Mantra’ to ‘Phonyt’, a change I don’t abide by; because I feel that his word ‘Phonyt’ feels too contrived and not understandable.

Crap. You people expect anyone to read all of that crap!

Simple - you find a quiet place, you concentrate on your breathing by saying a word or mantra when you exhale, slowly inhaling and pausing slightly and then slowly exhaling.

You do that for 20 minutes a day and in a couple of weeks or so you will have a deep relaxation experience that you will recall when you stop doing the meditation exercise.

What is really going on is that you are self-hypnotizing yourself to learn to relax more deeply than what ordinary people think they are when they say they are relaxed. Not the same thing, for the meditation exercise is better at showing you how much more deeply relaxed you can become. Keep it up for awhile and you will change and know that you are better for having done it.

If it helps here is a video by the author of the Deep Relaxation Response back in the '70's when it came out - Dr. Herbert Benson - yes a real doctor and a Harvard College Graduate - a Cardiologist!

[link to www.youtube.com]



This is a newer book than the original book that came out back when.

You've come to the right place my friend.

thx!! I will take a look

Hello and Thank you - this seems easy to follow.