Mindfulness Meditation

[Nas!]

Hello friends old and new,

I am curious about talking about people's experiences with mindfulness (and) meditation.  Do you have a regular practice?  Are you fully enlightened?  Have you dabbled in the past?  Are you new and have questions for the community?  Are you just curious?  Are you skeptical?  Do you even have a head?  Really, do you?

I have been meditating for around 25 years, in one tradition or another.  Sufism was the first to catch my fancy (and is duly reflected in my endless Nasrudin-related user names), then Taoism, various Buddhist traditions and now mostly non-dual stuff. 

I would love to have a chat with any and all, at any stage of your practice. 

[Rippounet]

I formally learned meditation about 12 years ago in a local Buddhist organization, but I've been practicing mindfulness daily for more than 20 years.

5 hours ago, Nas! said:

Are you fully enlightened?

Getting there.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

The first time I tried to meditate was in college. I took a recommended for all students course called Drug Use and Abuse. It was pretty interesting. We did all kinds of random things, including a lot of fieldtrips, and one was to a meditation center. I didn't have much of an experience. Just felt like I was sitting there trying to be quiet.

During the pandemic though I finally found the joy of meditation. I'm not great at in the sense I can shut my mind down, but mixing breathing meditation with yin yoga has really helped me a lot over the last few years.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Tywin et al.

[Nas!]

3 hours ago, Rippounet said:

I formally learned meditation about 12 years ago in a local Buddhist organization, but I've been practicing mindfulness daily for more than 20 years.

Nice!  I had long periods of interruption over the years, but have really settled into practice over the last several years.  Do you meditate within a particular tradition?

[Nas!]

52 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

The first time I tried to meditate was in college. I took a recommended for all students course called Drug Use and Abuse. It was pretty interesting. We did all kinds of random things, including a lot of fieldtrips, and one was to a meditation center. I didn't have much of an experience. Just felt like I was sitting there trying to be quiet.

During the pandemic though I finally found the joy of meditation. I'm not great at in the sense I can shut my mind down, but mixing breathing meditation with yin yoga has really helped me a lot over the last few years.

That's great that you have found joy in it!  I would suggest that you don't think of "shutting down" your mind as an objective of meditation.  It may be a consequence of you becoming more aware of your thoughts and feelings, but it is not the purpose of the activity.  You cannot control your thoughts only your reaction to them!

[Rippounet]

52 minutes ago, Nas! said:

Do you meditate within a particular tradition?

Not really. I have a developmental disability that means mindfulness is a requirement in order to be a functional human being.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

55 minutes ago, Nas! said:

That's great that you have found joy in it!  I would suggest that you don't think of "shutting down" your mind as an objective of meditation.  It may be a consequence of you becoming more aware of your thoughts and feelings, but it is not the purpose of the activity.  You cannot control your thoughts only your reaction to them!

Agreed. That was how I fist approached it and decided it wasn't for me. I have sleeping issues, or at least did, in large part because I couldn't quiet my mind. But I watched a YouTube video a few years back that emphasized relaxing and since then it's been incredibly helpful. That's in part why my sleeping troubles have cleared up to some extent. Now I'm of the mind that everyone should at least try to meditate for 10 minutes if nothing else everyday. 

[VigoTheCarpathian]

I started meditating ~5 years ago, as part of Refuge Recovery (a Buddhism-based addiction program), and it’s greatly enhanced my life - I’ve dabbled in a few Theravada courses, but have found that the Zen approach just sort of fits better with my brain.

I’m reading “The Path of Aliveness” (Christian Dillo) on vacation, and am really enjoying how accessible and straightforward it makes theory and practice - highly recommend to anyone from a western culture who is interested in Zen.

[Nas!]

On 5/25/2023 at 9:43 AM, Rippounet said:

Not really. I have a developmental disability that means mindfulness is a requirement in order to be a functional human being.

That seems like an appropriately compelling reason to meditate! 

On 5/25/2023 at 10:06 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Agreed. That was how I fist approached it and decided it wasn't for me. I have sleeping issues, or at least did, in large part because I couldn't quiet my mind. But I watched a YouTube video a few years back that emphasized relaxing and since then it's been incredibly helpful. That's in part why my sleeping troubles have cleared up to some extent. Now I'm of the mind that everyone should at least try to meditate for 10 minutes if nothing else everyday. 

Yeah I try to sit for at least 10 minutes every day, no matter what craziness is going on in my life.  Longer when circumstances permit.  But I have also become very good at micro-dosing mindfulness throughout the day--just a few seconds here and there on an elevator or in line at the grocery store or waiting at a traffic light is enough time to become aware of everything just being exactly as it is.

4 hours ago, VigoTheCarpathian said:

I started meditating ~5 years ago, as part of Refuge Recovery (a Buddhism-based addiction program), and it’s greatly enhanced my life - I’ve dabbled in a few Theravada courses, but have found that the Zen approach just sort of fits better with my brain.

I’m reading “The Path of Aliveness” (Christian Dillo) on vacation, and am really enjoying how accessible and straightforward it makes theory and practice - highly recommend to anyone from a western culture who is interested in Zen.

That's great to hear!  I never got too far into Zen because I found it a bit rigid (in terms of practice) for my tastes.  But I like the theory and koans are pretty intriguing.  I imagine much would depend on interpretation, but my (limited, local) experience was not especially compelling.  Perhaps the book you recommend will help to change my mind.