How to Meditate.

[Morrek]

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Do people with much more experience (like monks and stuff) talk about similar things?

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I've heard about very similar things before, but on an even grander scale. As in, not just the house and nearby street.

[TreyWilly]

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I used to practise Wing Chung.

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Everybody have fun tonight ...

Anyhoo, I'm wondering if the OP has ever utilized flotation. For those who aren't familiar, it's a method where you go into a tank filled with a few inches of water-salt mixture that will allow you to float motionlessly. The tanks are usually designed to block out all light. If the water is set at the right temperature, you forget you're in water at all. It's complete sensory deprivation. There's one at a spa I visit in Denver. Last time the water was cold, though, and I shivered the whole time.

According the the proprietor of the spa, this method turns off parts of your brain that haven't rested since birth, and is the closest thing to returning to the womb. Usually a person is in the tank for an hour. The first time I did it -- no meditation experience at all -- I gained a kind of relaxation I haven't experienced in a long time, and this feeling lasted about 10 days. I'm very aware this could have been caused by placebo, or the massage I got afterward.

Here's more info on the whole thing

[demon102]

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OK, reading back through the original thread it was obvious that I was very wary of writing some stuff. I think that was due to the fact that I didn't have a solid reputation at the time. I think that may have improved somewhat in the last 18 months, so I'll tell you what happened. If you choose to accept it, great. If you don't, no problem.

I sat down to meditate in the early afternoon for my regular 20 minute stint. I slipped into the calm state very easily on this attempt, surprisingly so. After a short time I was no longer thinking. I was observing. It was extremely bizarre but I willed myself to remain calm and not ruin it. A coil of energy seemed to unwrap itself from my naval and spread gradually through my body until it had filled me to the ends of my fingers and toes and the tips of my ears. I felt like I was pulsating with energy. At this point I literally became bigger. My awareness was no longer myself, it was the room. I was the room. That was freaky enough, but then it expanded beyond the rooms boundaries and through the rest of the house and out onto the street. I was aware of every little detail, of the air, of the leaves, of birds and insects, everything. I was a part of it all. My awareness seemed to swell to a great height. I didn't "look" down. I didn't need to. I "was" down. I was everything around me. My body was below me in the great distance but I had encompassed everything. Or maybe that was untrue. Perhaps I had "woken up" for a brief moment and I was experiencing true reality with the blindfold of humanity taken away.

It lasted for five minutes and then I began to withdraw back to myself. Everything happened in reverse motion and then I was sitting in my chair breathing in and out. I sat there in silence for a long time.



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thanks for sharing your experience

Do you have any idea why you experienced that, that one time, and havent been able to attain that state since?

Do people with much more experience (like monks and stuff) talk about similar things? Or at least some you respect talked about that kinda thing? Cuz I imagine there is a lot of [censored] spread out (yogi flying and all that stuff)

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Ive heard and read about that kind of experience from sources I really dont remember as its been a while so its definitely not an isolated event. Even South Park had an episode where one of the boys acheieved that state and kinda turned into everything that sounds just like op's deal but they went futher with it and it didnt start with meditation.

[demon102]

Op have u noticed much sleeping pattern changes when u meditate and when u dont? After reading this thread I started doing some meditation and I seem to wake up much earier than usual, this is only over 2 days but it started right after I started meditating again.

[EscapePlan9]

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OK, reading back through the original thread it was obvious that I was very wary of writing some stuff. I think that was due to the fact that I didn't have a solid reputation at the time. I think that may have improved somewhat in the last 18 months, so I'll tell you what happened. If you choose to accept it, great. If you don't, no problem.

I sat down to meditate in the early afternoon for my regular 20 minute stint. I slipped into the calm state very easily on this attempt, surprisingly so. After a short time I was no longer thinking. I was observing. It was extremely bizarre but I willed myself to remain calm and not ruin it. A coil of energy seemed to unwrap itself from my naval and spread gradually through my body until it had filled me to the ends of my fingers and toes and the tips of my ears. I felt like I was pulsating with energy. At this point I literally became bigger. My awareness was no longer myself, it was the room. I was the room. That was freaky enough, but then it expanded beyond the rooms boundaries and through the rest of the house and out onto the street. I was aware of every little detail, of the air, of the leaves, of birds and insects, everything. I was a part of it all. My awareness seemed to swell to a great height. I didn't "look" down. I didn't need to. I "was" down. I was everything around me. My body was below me in the great distance but I had encompassed everything. Or maybe that was untrue. Perhaps I had "woken up" for a brief moment and I was experiencing true reality with the blindfold of humanity taken away.

It lasted for five minutes and then I began to withdraw back to myself. Everything happened in reverse motion and then I was sitting in my chair breathing in and out. I sat there in silence for a long time.



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thanks for sharing your experience

Do you have any idea why you experienced that, that one time, and havent been able to attain that state since?

Do people with much more experience (like monks and stuff) talk about similar things? Or at least some you respect talked about that kinda thing? Cuz I imagine there is a lot of [censored] spread out (yogi flying and all that stuff)

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Ive heard and read about that kind of experience from sources I really dont remember as its been a while so its definitely not an isolated event. Even South Park had an episode where one of the boys acheieved that state and kinda turned into everything that sounds just like op's deal but they went futher with it and it didnt start with meditation.

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LOL you're talking about South Park's "tooth fairy" episode. Kyle was reading books making him skeptical on his own existence and he also read about the metaphysics of nothingness. That's how he became "everything and nothing"

[adsman]

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Op have u noticed much sleeping pattern changes when u meditate and when u dont? After reading this thread I started doing some meditation and I seem to wake up much earier than usual, this is only over 2 days but it started right after I started meditating again.

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Meditation puts you into the alpha sleep stage, so a side benefit is that you require less sleep and usually wake up feeling refreshed.

For the questions on that experience I had, the thing that you have to remember with meditation is that you're not doing it for things to "happen". You're doing it to slow everything down and stop things happening. Now, paradoxically this can sometimes cause these types of things to happen, but if you set out with the goal of having these expereinces then you most probably won't arrive at them.

Alobar, yogi's have stories of becoming animals and seeing the world through their eyes etc. Read "Autobiography of a Yogi" for a good understanding of this stuff.

[mr giles]

Great thread Ads, thanks for your time.

I have found that after meditation I have double vision. It isn't just blurry vision; when I look at an airplane in the distance I see two distinct clear copies. To actually see anything I have to shut one eye. My vision returns to normal after 10-20 minutes. What's going on here?

More info: I've tried meditating with my eyes closed, open while focusing on something, and open without focusing. I meditate for 20-30 minutes.

[Dan Cole]

I find that every morning when I wake up I immediately go online and start to answer the dozens of E-mails I typically wake up to and that I am left feeling confused and cluttered throughout the rest of the day. I also have a hard time finding the time to exercise each day ( I like to do some bodybuilding type workouts daily as well as cardio ).

This thread has inspired me to NOT check my E-mail as soon as I wake up tomorrow but instead meditate ( or try ) for 20 minutes and then go to the gym and work out before I even go online at all. I am pretty hopeful that this will help me use my time more wisely.

Thanks for making a great thread.

[adsman]

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Great thread Ads, thanks for your time.

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I've been meaning to thank everyone for their interest and appreciation of this thread myself, so thanks to you guys.

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I have found that after meditation I have double vision. It isn't just blurry vision; when I look at an airplane in the distance I see two distinct clear copies. To actually see anything I have to shut one eye. My vision returns to normal after 10-20 minutes. What's going on here?



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I have no idea what's going on here. Better to speak to a doctor about this. Open eye meditation is challenging. I recommend the closed eye method.

[ConspirEDD]

adsman,

I just found this thread. I found it to be a great read, and you are very articulate in your description of meditative states. From what I've gathered, you worked with Dr. Reid? I've never heard of him, but if you recommend it, I'll look him up.

I spent more than a year entirely spaced out, reading through people like Timothy Leary, Alan Watts, Ram Dass. In hindsight, I suppose I may have gone too far with the 'tune in, turn on, drop out,' ideal. But my experiences along the way were invaluable.

I'm curious what you think about this idea of 20 minute meditation. It almost seems like a way of cramming an eastern ideal into a western schedule. As if, 20 minutes of letting the ego away, will beget an enhancement of your life. How can the average ego hear this and not think, 'ok, this sounds do-able. I can schedule 20 minutes into my planner. If it means I'm more productive at work, great. If not, I'll stop doing it in a week.'

I've always been attracted to the idea of completely leaving civilization and being a monk, or something like a monk.

Sorry if this is slightly OT, but for people enjoying this thread, I highly recommend the following DVD's:

-What the Bleep do we Know?
-Fierce Grace
-Waking Life
-Timothy Leary's Dead
-Timothy Leary's Last Trip
-1 Giant Leap


to a lesser extent:
-Koyaanisqatsi
-Naqoyqatsi
-Powaqqatsi



I was very uptight when I approached these subjects, but these films may help some people ease the transition.