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Offlineilike_trees
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Registered: 11/22/09
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Last seen: 10 months, 22 days
Literature on Meditation
    #13522756 - 11/22/10 04:51 AM (13 years, 3 months ago)

Hello Shroomery, it has been awhile!

Unfortunately the last six months of my life have been spent in a little box with a terrible view. Unfortunate as the circumstances may have been, I am a free man now, a new man in fact! Gone are my aspirations to be intoxicated as often as possible, gone are my foolhardy goals to be "cool," and instead those facets of my life have been replaced with a need for meditation, self exploration, and enlightenment.

While I was on vacation, I spent a lot of time thinking, eventually this thinking turned into what I now understand as a form of meditation as my train of thought gradually became clearer and clearer the longer I kept it. This activity has laid the groundwork for my new outlook on life, and now I'd like to practice some more traditional and serious forms of meditation.

I was wondering what are some books you would recommend to a first time practitioner of meditation, and some methods you yourselves might be using today. Any suggestions are welcome and I appreciate all feedback.:heart:


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Old and in the way


Edited by ilike_trees (11/22/10 04:54 AM)


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Invisiblec0sm0nautt
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Registered: 05/19/08
Posts: 10,303
Loc: The Astral Realm
Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: ilike_trees]
    #13523539 - 11/22/10 10:29 AM (13 years, 3 months ago)

There is a sticky thread on the top of the forum which has a lot of good information. I'd recommend Journey of Awakening: A Meditator's Guidebook by Ram Dass. It allowed me to find a technique which I clicked with. I've read a lot of great stuff about the book Zen Mind, Beginner Mind but I have personally never read it.

Perhaps the easiest technique for a beginner is breath awareness. Simply bring your attention to your breathing. Try and breath with your belly, deep breaths. It may help to count the breaths at first ooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeee (in) ttttttttwwwwwwwwwwooooooooo (out)... up to ten and repeat. If you find yourself getting caught up in day dreams or other thoughts simpy acknowledge this and bring yourself back to your breath.


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Offlinemoi
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Registered: 02/17/10
Posts: 843
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: c0sm0nautt]
    #13525016 - 11/22/10 03:29 PM (13 years, 3 months ago)

there's just one thing that i can advice you with 100% certainty... not a book or technique, but doing a retreat.

and beside this... i would personally recommend you to read ramana maharshi (e.g. "be as you are", found it somewhere in this forum). he's extremely straight forward, leaves no question open and advices to do self-inquiry as the most direct way to self-realization. it sounds very good. but i can't honestly tell how good it really is. i'm sure SWIM will send the pdf to you.



a retreat is the only thing i can advice you with ABSOLUTE certainty!


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Offlineleery11
I Tell You What!


Registered: 06/24/05
Posts: 5,998
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: moi]
    #13525029 - 11/22/10 03:33 PM (13 years, 3 months ago)



--------------------
I am the MacDaddy of Heimlich County, I play it Straight Up Yo!

....I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow, to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human......
Om Namah Shivaya, I tell you What!


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Offlineilike_trees
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: leery11]
    #13528464 - 11/23/10 07:49 AM (13 years, 3 months ago)

Thank you all for your advice!

@ moi: I was considering visiting the Shambhala Mountain Center for a retreat, but unfortunately I will be on very strict probation for a while. Maybe I could convince them that they are intruding on my religious freedoms or something :cool:

I have been practicing breathing from the stomach as much as possible. Making conscious effort every hour to focus on filling whole abdomen with air and feeling it make my whole body relax. It is a very amazing sensation!


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Old and in the way


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InvisibleJohnnyZampano
Registered: 11/03/10
Posts: 325
Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: ilike_trees]
    #13537936 - 11/24/10 11:01 PM (13 years, 3 months ago)

I think it all depends on which type of meditation you are going for. Personally I have found my path in Mindfulness and Theravada Buddhism. Mindfulness in Plain English is the best book on meditation I have read, giving basic instructions and builds on them. Its also free (http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php).

"Wherever you go there you are" is also a great read, but not a guide."


As posted before a retreat is the best way to go, I just did my first one (3 days) and had the most amazing time. But because of your situation I would recommend sitting with a group. There are a few in the Springs and Denver, not sure where you live but look around.

I would recommend a daily practice. 10 minuets or 5 hours, just set a time and do it everyday. Really helps you get into a routine, and having that time set aside to do nothing but meditate can be a life saver.

Well, welcome back from vacation and welcome to probation. I was awarded five years on paper but they seem pretty lax about it, just have to check in every 2 months. Tired ramblings...

Anyhoo's stick with it, its worth the effort.


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Offlineilike_trees
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: JohnnyZampano]
    #13538451 - 11/25/10 02:18 AM (13 years, 3 months ago)

Thanks to you folks I now have a list of 8 books I need to read. About as good a way as any to spend all my newly found free time haha. Cant wait to start trying out different types of meditation! :cheers:


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Old and in the way


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Invisiblederanger
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Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 6,840
Loc: off the wall
Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: ilike_trees]
    #13541676 - 11/25/10 09:31 PM (13 years, 2 months ago)

Mindfulness in Plain English.  amazing book and a MUST READ!

http://www.amazon.ca/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Revised-Expanded/dp/0861713214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290745804&sr=8-1

"The first chapter, "Meditation: Why Bother?" establishes the tone that meditation is an effective means to profoundly change the way one approaches life. I happen to follow a faith other than Buddhism, and the principles put forth in this book have a universal appeal that should alienate no one. Additionally, the writing has a contemporary style and the subject is presented as a practice that anyone can cultivate and apply to their daily lives. This is impressive when one considers the author was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1939 at the age of twelve."


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Offlineroboto212
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Registered: 12/25/09
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: deranger]
    #13543032 - 11/26/10 07:22 AM (13 years, 2 months ago)

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book...

yes people are getting enlightened.... yes anyone can get enlightened it is not some mystical thing... yes you will experience very altered states, extreme bliss, sadness, anger, pain, pleasure, etc... the spiritual path is compared to a sine wave in the book... you go to a peak, then a trough, then you gain equanimity...

Dont read it unless you are serious about having your life change... its the most straight forward book on Buddhist Vipassana meditation out there... it will get you enlightened

Free copy : http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/dharma-wiki/-/wiki/Main/MCTB;jsessionid=724101A9433ABCC269CB73F7CA399CE0?p_r_p_185834411_title=MCTB


I highly recommend browsing the forums and just reading peoples accounts on everything...it will spawn some faith into the techniques being used, faith that they can bring results, and faith that the desired results will shift your perception on all phenomena, thus ending fundamental levels of suffering.


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ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ


Edited by roboto212 (11/26/10 07:55 AM)


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Offlineroboto212
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: roboto212]
    #13543050 - 11/26/10 07:32 AM (13 years, 2 months ago)

oh and someone above me posted to do a retreat... nothing is more powerful than going on a Vipassana retreat and actual following the vipassana technique the teachers will bestow on you....

Generally most people dont like it when you go around spouting that you are enlightened, or have more ultimate realizations than the next guy on the street... and I can see how it comes from an ego-centered point of view if you do end up seeing someone say they are enlightened, but I will give my brief description of my Stream Entry (becoming a Sotapanna) because I am very excited, and I feel like someone that really wants this wont look at it with an ego judging their right view :smile:.

I achieved Stream Entry, or first path in Therevadan Buddhism, sitting in a Hostel in Hilo, Hawaii, while listening to a guy talk about his back problem. I am eternally grateful that I found the path of meditation, and I truly wish for all being to be happy!



Journal entry:

"I have attained Stream Entry! or atleast I am 95% sure.

The other day while sitting in the landing at gaiayoga, I was sitting on the computer talking to Megan, when I had a subtle shift. At the time I was still in the Dark Night, I had a spiritual hangover and an uncomfortable pressure in my third eye region (middle of the brow), when I began looking at the uncomfortableness behind the sensations. I applied my insight into the three characteristics on these sensations and I totally accepted that I was experiencing these uncomfortable sensations, for a few moments I was at peace with all the sensations, pleasant or unpleasant that made up my reality. With a silent whoosh came a wave of relaxation and a very deep sense of peace, something that felt very familiar, a peace like I was a child again, simply observing the world.

I took that experience as the 4th and final Vipassana Jhana in my insight cycle, meaning I had somehow navigated through the Dark Night with extreme ease. I attribute this to my diet, yoga, running, and general attitude towards life. I had passed through the 3rd Vipassana Jhana of the Dark Night and hit Equanimity to all sensations and formations, this was exciting at the time, but I still had not moved through the equanimity phase.

I left gaiayoga with Glen and Seth monday morning, got to Hilo in the afternoon and got all my stuff to the Hilo Bay Hostel, where I decided to spend the rest of the day on the computer talking to Megan, reading some books and doing some light informal insight practice.

I was sitting in the lounge area of the Hostel, on the computer, talking with another fruitarian that is visiting the island on vacation, and another guy that has traveled the world. The guy that was traveling around was talking pretty much non stop, so I began to kind of zone him out and do insight practice while just sitting there listening. Before I knew it I had a kind of hiccup in my reality, like reality skipped a beat, and then a wave of bliss came over me... I couldnt help but have the biggest smile on my face while this guy was talking to me. I didnt know if that was Stream Entry, or my blip of Nirvana, or not at the time, but later on.

I continued to sit there in the lounge area enjoying this big wave of bliss that all of the sudden came. While the guy was talking non stop I felt like I didnt want to sit here and listen to him, I had bigger things to focus on like meditating, but at the same time I was at complete peace listening to him talk, and my mind was empty of any noise that would normally be judging him or the situation. I was at peace, complete peace :smile:.

I later went back to my room and sat down to ponder whether that was stream entry, observing various aspects of reality. Indeed reality felt very different, but it was a subtle change. Colors are brighter and more alive, sounds are more vivid and alive and they feel a part of me, rather than outside of me. My mind feels more spacious, and more quiet, more at peace all the time. My concentration abilities have increased, though I havent had a chance to sit down and do any formal concentration practices. Interacting with people is slightly different, I definitely feel more at peace with listening to people all the way through without the mind coming in a judging them half way through the conversation, I listen to them more fully, am more present for others.

I am also cycling back through the insight cycles again, which is what naturally happens when you achieve Stream Entry, or the First Path of Enlightenment. Its weird cause I dont feel more enlightened, I feel more normal than before... like this is our natural state of being... I am cycling through the Arising and Passing Away Vipassana Jhana right now... and its very energetic. Last night I couldnt sleep because I had this orgasmic energy running up and down my spine alot of the night, and I wasnt tired at all... it was fun but I feel slightly tired this morning. "


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ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ


Edited by roboto212 (11/26/10 07:33 AM)


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InvisibleJohnnyZampano
Registered: 11/03/10
Posts: 325
Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: roboto212]
    #13545137 - 11/26/10 06:35 PM (13 years, 2 months ago)

Thanks for the above post! Master the Core... is a great book, just started reading it after someone at a retreat recommended it. It is refreshing to know people out there are breaking though and getting somewhere real. At this point in my life its almost like what else is there to do but try? Nothing will ever fulfill me, so why bother? But due to unfortunate circumstances I am have to work and be tied down for a years, but that's life. Hopefully in a few years I will have enough saved up to myself east and really devote some time to sitting.

The Big Island is a special place, great to hear stream-entry happened there, and what a place! The hilo bay hostel is amazing, had some great nights there and met some people that became very good and life changing friends. I just got back from a year on the island, living down in Puna mostly, a cottage on Papaya Farms, and sometime at Cinderland. That area, and the Ayahuasca really got me interested in meditation and finding my path, glad I was able to spend as long as I did there.


Edited by JohnnyZampano (11/26/10 06:39 PM)


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OfflineDarkMoon21
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Re: Literature on Meditation [Re: JohnnyZampano]
    #13550722 - 11/27/10 10:54 PM (13 years, 2 months ago)

The everyday practice of dzogchen is simply to develop a complete carefree acceptance, an openness to all situations without limit. We should realise openness as the playground of our emotions and relate to people without artificiality, manipulation or strategy. We should experience everything totally, never withdrawing into ourselves as a marmot hides in its hole. This practice releases tremendous energy which is usually constricted by the process of maintaining fixed reference points. Referentiality is the process by which we retreat from the direct experience of everyday life. Being present in the moment may initially trigger fear. But by welcoming the sensation of fear with complete openness, we cut through the barriers created by habitual emotional patterns. When we engage in the practice of discovering space, we should develop the feeling of opening ourselves out completely to the entire universe. We should open ourselves with absolute simplicity and nakedness of mind. This is the powerful and ordinary practice of dropping the mask of self-protection. We shouldn't make a division in our meditation between perception and field of perception. We shouldn't become like a cat watching a mouse. We should realise that the purpose of meditation is not to go "deeply into ourselves" or withdraw from the world. Practice should be free and non-conceptual, unconstrained by introspection and concentration. Vast unoriginated self-luminous wisdom space is the ground of being - the beginning and the end of confusion. The presence of awareness in the primordial state has no bias toward enlightenment or non-enlightenment. This ground of being which is known as pure or original mind is the source from which all phenomena arise. It is known as the great mother, as the womb of potentiality in which all things arise and dissolve in natural self-perfectedness and absolute spontaneity. All aspects of phenomena are completely clear and lucid. The whole universe is open and unobstructed - everything is mutually interpenetrating. Seeing all things as naked, clear and free from obscurations, there is nothing to attain or realise. The nature of phenomena appears naturally and is naturally present in time-transcending awareness. Everything is naturally perfect just as it is. All phenomena appear in their uniqueness as part of the continually changing pattern. These patterns are vibrant with meaning and significance at every moment; yet there is no significance to attach to such meanings beyond the moment in which they present themselves. This is the dance of the five elements in which matter is a symbol of energy and energy a symbol of emptiness. We are a symbol of our own enlightenment. With no effort or practice whatsoever, liberation or enlightenment is already here. The everyday practice of dzogchen is just everyday life itself. Since the undeveloped state does not exist, there is no need to behave in any special way or attempt to attain anything above and beyond what you actually are. There should be no feeling of striving to reach some "amazing goal" or "advanced state."  To strive for such a state is a neurosis which only conditions us and serves to obstruct the free flow of Mind. We should also avoid thinking of ourselves as worthless persons - we are naturally free and unconditioned. We are intrinsically enlightened and lack nothing. When engaging in meditation practice, we should feel it to be as natural as eating, breathing and defecating. It should not become a specialised or formal event, bloated with seriousness and solemnity. We should realise that meditation transcends effort, practice, aims, goals and the duality of liberation and non-liberation. Meditation is always ideal; there is no need to correct anything. Since everything that arises is simply the play of mind as such, there is no unsatisfactory meditation and no need to judge thoughts as good or bad. Therefore we should simply sit. Simply stay in your own place, in your own condition just as it is. Forgetting self-conscious feelings, we do not have to think "I am meditating." Our practice should be without effort, without strain, without attempts to control or force and without trying to become "peaceful."If we find that we are disturbing ourselves in any of these ways, we stop meditating and simply rest or relax for a while. Then we resume our meditation. If we have "interesting experiences" either during or after meditation, we should avoid making anything special of them. To spend time thinking about experiences is simply a distraction and an attempt to become unnatural. These experiences are simply signs of practice and should be regarded as transient events. We should not attempt to re-experience them because to do so only serves to distort the natural spontaneity of mind. All phenomena are completely new and fresh, absolutely unique and entirely free from all concepts of past, present and future. They are experienced in timelessness. The continual stream of new discovery, revelation and inspiration which arises at every moment is the manifestation of our clarity. We should learn to see everyday life as mandala - the luminous fringes of experience which radiate spontaneously from the empty nature of our being. The aspects of our mandala are the day-to-day objects of our life experience moving in the dance or play of the universe. By this symbolism the inner teacher reveals the profound and ultimate significance of being. Therefore we should be natural and spontaneous, accepting and learning from everything. This enables us to see the ironic and amusing side of events that usually irritate us. In meditation we can see through the illusion of past, present and future - our experience becomes the continuity of nowness. The past is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is only a projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes assoon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to establish an illusion of solid ground? We should free ourselves from our past memories and preconceptions of meditation. Each moment of meditation is completely unique and full of potentiality. In such moments, we will be incapable of judging our meditation in terms of past experience, dry theory or hollow rhetoric. Simply plunging directly into meditation in the moment now, with our whole being, free from hesitation, boredom or excitement, is enlightenment. - H.H. Dilgo Khentyse Rinpoche


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-=-Never Sigh For Better World
It's Already Composed
Played And Told-=-

Science gives a consistent how with an incomplete why.
Faith gives an inconsistent how with a complete why.


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