Do you meditate for those mind gains? What's your style? Preferred sitting posture? What are your results?
I want to start meditating but I don't know where to start.
Meditation
Joseph Long
Jaxson Ortiz
I'm glad you ask, OP, meditation goes so well with general health and body care, it's amazing.
I've been practising meditation for rougly three years with great results. Now carefull with all the stuff you'll find online, most of it is bs.
Meditation could be boiled down to the work of the mind, on the mind, through nothing more than the mind. What for ? Fucking mind gains nigga
Now as it aint helping much, I'd recommand you to look into buddhism traditions (there are many) and literature (same). Find translations of actual body of works or go from Lamas writings. Bokar Rimpoche is a good start.
Do NOT bother with chakras shits and ayy lmao energies at this point. I'll get to that later.
There are several vehicles or traditions from the buddhist world to use. Mahayana and Vajrayana are those I practise. Mahayana is more focused on extended works of self discipline and living well, while vajrayana is more focused about "smart ways" and other mindtricks you can use to get mad spiritual gains. Mahayana is said to be able to free man from Samsara (the great veil of bullshit) in several lives, while vajrayana offered to burn that shit down in a life if you're good.
Now where would the average Veeky Forumsizen start his journey in all of this big hippie mess ?
First step into meditation is called Asana. It is posture.
Your body is a temple and you should fucking know it, so get these pillars straight and sit on your ass. The space you create in asana is where mental work will begin. Lotus position or Vajrasana is a must as they're easy and stable.
>Cont
>Pic related is mord Vajrapani and odds are, he can fuck you up
Charles Rogers
Thank you mindbro! And what about the meditation exercise in itself? Do I count my breaths? Do I try to think about nothing or everything?
Lucas Rivera
Second step is to get working on your breath. I'm stressing this point cause mastery of breath (pranayama) is a vital point for advanced practises. A good work on this is called "the yogi science of breath" by William Walker Atkinson. I could hardly reduce it all to once thing, but, mouthbreathing is for faggots.
Third step - actually getting into meditation
Now there's thoudand ways to do this, from simply just observing your respiration, ideas, and other stuff without judging or having a thought arise, from complex visualization of metaphorical energetic entities. Most accessible form is to get into an asana (if you cant just in a position where you feel relaxed), then start breathing real slow and observe with all your attention the breathing, for as long as you can.
Now that's not really meditation, that's relaxation. But being able to relax at will is essential for meditation. Your body and mind are going to fucking resist you at first, and you'll have to tame these through pure will. Onxe you're relaxed, you start focusing on your own body. Your hands are great for that. They're sensible as fuck, enough to be able to feel a sort of tingling on all its surface. You should be able to feel all of your body at will with practise. Doing this will greatly improve focus and ability to stay entirely into a specific state of mind you've defined for a period of time you've also defined.
About to get on that hol on
Anthony Bailey
Then comes a great tool, mudras. They're hand gestures of symbolical and metaphysical values. Ever seen religious pictures from all over the world with dudes holding their hands in weird ass gang signs ?
Mudras are gang signs from the gang of heavens. Basically your hands can function as control panels for a shitload of unconscious body mechanisms. Mudras can help with stomach ache, headache, body cleansing, blood circulation, etc etc. They're yoga of the hands.
Mudras are no "you gotta believe it to work" shit. Your hands are hardwired to the rest of the body. Mudras are interesting for mind gains cause some mudras help with focus and spiritual awareness. Gyan (literally the fucking hand meme) and pran mudras are a prime example of this. Gyan is a strong focus helper as well a potent energetic nexus. From experience I've been able to do crazy sessions with gyan alone.
>Some other meditative supports
>Mantras
Mantras are sounds from the tibetan tradition that seek to translate pure abstract energies and concepts into a tangible form you can experience. You've all heard of monks chanting AUM, well this is a mantra, and a strong one at that. Learn to use them as well. They are among the "smart ways" of Vajrayana. Mantras are advanced tier ways but basic shits like chanting Aum will always help mental gains.
>Yantras
Yantras are graphical representations of pure abstract energies and ideas. You're supposed to meditate on these images until they work their magic on you. From experience you can encounter yantras during visions on your meditative journey while fucking around with strong energies. Yantras are more advanced than mantras but maybe some of you will have easy success with these.
Jayden Morales
If you do your own researches on the stuff I've talked about here you should be good.
There's nothing definitive
Everything's allowed
Inifity awaits
As above, so below
It's all about willpower
The suffering can be stopped
If you go to /x/, dont bother with anything but the essential readings and the archives. All else is garbage.
Godspeed
Grayson Carter
Don't focus on nothing, it's silly. There will always be something. However, if you focus hard enough on just one thing untill everything else, including you, dissolves, you're getting close to grasping void.
Zachary James
Last post and I'm gone
My results have been a better detached lifestyle. I used to be a full blown underachiever autismo with social anxiety and self image issue to being comfortable af with others and actually loving myself and what I do.
Above that I've had beautiful experiences and found a well of energy for what I wanna achieve in my life. So far shits are looking good. The past 3 years have been decisive for me and meditation surely played a part of it.
I'm done hijacking the thread. Farewell !
Jackson Kelly
This pasta is way too long and impractical
Bentley Cook
If you're meditating for "gains", you're doing it wrong.
Meditating doesn't have a means to an end. Don't meditate to reach a certain accomplishment or to get more fulfillment or whatever it is.
Meditation is full acceptance of what is in this moment.
Not trying to reach a certain point or a certain state of consciousness.
Matthew Cook
Could you give me a list of books or websites to read on this topic in greater detail in the order I should read them?
Matthew Ward
Christopher Miller
Fuck off this is a christian board, praise Mary and Jesus those are your mantras and your meditations.
Justin Martin
Op here, thank you for your very thorough posts mindbro! I'll start meditating ASAP.
Aaron Stewart
Nice sources ya gebroni
James Nguyen
that's only if you're already retarded. In that case everything can trigger psychosis.
Chase Brown
The point of meditation is you're not doing it to gain anything.
You might coincidentally gain better mental clarity and reduced stress, but if you try to meditate with the idea that the process will directly benefit you, you're missing the point of meditation.
To try and clarify, we spend the entire day actively in pursuit of something, performing actions to directly or indirectly influence a desired outcome. Meditation is meant to be a break from that.
Dylan Barnes
...
Kevin Morales
Sit down cross legged, close your eyes, and breath deep(through nose). 11 minutes is a good time for beginners. You might be surprised how hard it is to keep focus for such a short time.
Adrian Ortiz
other recources you recomend?
Julian Howard
>You have to know lotus or Vajrasana
>lotus is easy
>Vajrasana being good for you at all
Hero pose is better, but still not an easy pose. I've been practicing zen for about a year and attend a legit monastary.
I'd like to add that zen and theravada are both pretty effective technique wise. I actually really enjoy janas myself, I find them quite relaxing.
But the heart of my practice and philosophy is traditional Zen.
Nathaniel Collins
this is a common misconception
meditation is the pursuit of a goal and you need to be semi obsessed
it can be stressfull
Colton Peterson
Fuck that. Go stare at a wall for 3 hours and use your breath as anchor. Nothing wrong with these techniques, but they can really lead you astray.
Start by looking into the first janna if you guys are serious. What a shitty copy and paste, full of broscience.
When you can reach samadhi (access concentration) for longer periods of time you will hit the first jhanna which is rapture.
I'll explain the process:
>Sit down
>Observe your breathing, no catchy phrases or anything. Simply observe your breathing, you'll notice you access concentration when you do this. If you feel as if you're breathing manually that's fine. Just relax and stay aware.
>You will get thoughts at first A LOT for long periods of time, up to a minute per thought. >Feels like you're going crazy, that's how you know it's working! When there is just car accident after car accident of thoughts and forgetting your breath. Just smile, let go and observe the breath again.
>You will continually get better at this
>Eventually you will observe your breath for a fairly long period of time without interruption and feel extreme happiness. I started laughing for about 5 minutes when I was meditating the first time it happened, you will know when it happens.
I recommend starting with 10 minutes for 2 days, bump up to 15 for 3, etc.
30 minutes is hard to get past at first, I usually meditate twice a day for one hour.
Henry Gutierrez
Not true. You're practicing to get better at the practice. There is no end point. It is simply practicing.
You can become 100% perfect at any practice can you? Of course there are levels of mastery, but perfection does not exist. Well, none of this really does. Only the one does. :)
Lincoln Hill
incorrect
it depends what your goal is
you can have an endpoint that youre going for
Christian Wood
Seiza is best meditation posture, prove me wrong