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Written by Lance Volk, a Quora Contributor
Meditation
If you are not the religious sort and prayer is not your thing, there still is something that you can do to improve yourself that isn't so out there to make you have to believe something that can't be proven,
meditation clears the mind and enables you to focus and delve deeper into your own psyche, it helps you relax and gives you insight into being more successful in all aspects of your life, even if you are religious, it isn't something that would open you up to evil, it is a proven way to explore your own sub-conscience to resolve problems and expand your horizons,
if done properly, and often, it can also change aspects of your personality to enable you to be a better person, it can help heal what ales you and give you insights into things that normally you would never realize, I use it to work out complex problems that normally would confound me, it guides me to a healthier life and answers questions before I even ask them.
If you are planning to only live in the here and now, and this life is going to be the only one you are going to ever live, this practice can help you immensely, it can be like having another brain working for you while you sleep and even sometimes while you are awake, mostly it consists of relaxing completely, concentrating on your breathing and nothing else.
There are many techniques that can be followed, and I suggest that you try a few before you decide to stick with one, the mind is a highly under utilized wonder that has developed every cool thing on this planet and you can tap into its power to help you in most every aspect of your life.
Meditation can help you no matter what your beliefs are, it can most definitely help you explore the unknown, positive results are proven and documented over the centuries, it is a first step in changing the way you are, it leads to self-hypnosis which can program your mind into being the exact person you want to be,
I say self-hypnosis for a few reasons, first, which is my biggest concern and that is I don't want anyone else in my mind besides me, my first self-hypnosis sessions were used to ensure this, where now I cannot be hypnotized by anyone other than myself, my second concern was that I wouldn't be able to afford having to go to someone every time I wanted to change something about myself and third, it is much more convenient to be able to hypnotize yourself anytime you please.
With a combination of both of these practices, you will be able to delve deep into your psyche, if you are one that has broad beliefs and wishes to develop some extrasensory abilities, this is an excellent practice.
I find that mental exercises such as these will work better if your body has somewhat better than good health, a good regular exercise regimen, helps with clarity of thought, it gives you a purpose,
now there is a slight variation to this if you believe in God or not, as prayer gives you another way to help tackle problems that ordinarily could not be handled otherwise, try to keep your negative thoughts somewhat repairable and try not to dwell on stuff out of your control.
For those of you that will be using meditation to contact your "true self", one thing that has eluded many after trying for years and years without success is quite simple and easily over looked, I had these problems also where it just seemed that no matter how hard I tried, again and again, I just couldn't get where I wanted to be,
it was my diet, or to be more exact it was when I meditated, If I thought that I could meditate after dinner, I was wrong, The meal I just had was using the blood in my body to digest it, and it made my mind sluggish,
and if I thought that I would meditate just before I went to sleep, this didn't work out as I planned also, because more often than not I would just fall asleep. Meditation, although used to relax, must be done with great attention,
you really need to be awake and alert and not bogged down with a meal, this is why some people find meditation more effective when done in the morning, before you have had breakfast, but are awake enough to not still be groggy.
Buddha has suggested that a two meal day would make for a healthy life, where you would have breakfast and your second meal at noontime, this would be your last for the day, this would give your stomach plenty of time to digest your food and keep your mind clear for meditation in the evening,
now there are those lucky ones that can meditate almost anytime and anywhere after anything they wanted to eat was eaten, well good for them!, if you are getting up in the years, your metabolism is probably changing and your eating habits are also changing, never the less, meditation as a daily routine is very good for self realization and enlightenment.
As for positions to be in when you meditate, there are many to try, I do not think it would be bad to try as many as possible until you are comfortable with your results, basically, keeping your spine straight is the first priority,
whether you sit cross-legged, half lotus or full lotus position, will have to be tried to tell what works best for you, it may be quite difficult to get into a full lotus position if you are not use to this or are getting up in the years, probably starting with the half lotus position until your legs and hips are use to the strain is a more wise idea,
although it seems that most of the adepts and Guru's in India prefer the full lotus position, even just sitting in a chair with your back straight has proven to be good for many people, I would not recommend laying down unless you are wide awake or you may just fall asleep.
The amount of time suggested for doing this would be at least 30 minutes, if you are also doing concentration exercises, I would split it up with the meditation as it is also a form of meditation.
The best results I have obtained was with deep breathing and focusing on one specific point, I like to focus on my third eye (my pineal gland), it looks like a small pine cone, I just picture it in detail,
I do not describe it to my self, use no thought words only the picture and nothing else, a prerequisite to this might be relaxing your entire body starting with your feet and working to the top of your head relaxing every portion one by one, soon you will be on your little meditation trip.
Now, Meditation does not have to be the horribly hard practice that has to be practiced daily for years before insight into your true self (soul) is attained, it can also be a conduit into the universal consciousness,
it can be used to convey love, peace and kindness into the world where it is sorely needed. Be it called prayer or meditation, the result is the same, the increased vibration of good thoughts being sent to the world is a good thing and makes you feel good also,
It has been proven on many levels that this type of activity is beneficial to mankind, let alone to yourself.
A Point of Focus...
Meditation Techniques
When it comes to meditation, there are a few things that I strive for and there are some preparatory measures that I take, this may not be necessary in all cases, but in my case I have certain distractions or problems that seem to interfere with my concentration, first off, I like to meditate first thing in the morning, before breakfast or any food is taken, I will have had the last food of the previous day eating before 7 PM, I like to allow at least a 12 hour fast before any such activity is attempted due to the digestion process gets my false personality fueled for chaos.
Now this does not mean that you are limited to only mornings, evenings can and do work for many, just be sure you are not very tired as you don't just want to go to sleep.
A morning meditation has also worked for me because at the time of this writing I had a day job and it gave me a great start to the day, during the work week I would only meditate for 30 minutes, I would set a muffled timer ( as not to shock me) and start my meditation, on weekends I would set my timer to 1 hour.
Since I find it impossible to think of absolutely nothing, I use usually one of a few techniques for the entire session, this is done to also help my concentration, I don't want to be all over the place, I suggest not switching techniques in the middle of a session and to try all of these techniques for at least a week each to get a better Idea what works for you, eventually you will find it beneficial to rotate these techniques as they will prove to be different doors to the same room which you will wish to have access to.
There is the technique of being in the here and now, it is important to not talk to yourself aloud or silently, do not spell out words or even think of them, rather just close your eyes and listen, listen for every sound that exists at that very moment and picture what is making that sound, be careful to not explain to your self what is making that sound, only picture it, and as a new sound arises, change your attention to that, a refrigerator compressor starting, air conditioner cycling, a dog barking, a jet flying overhead, a truck or car or motorcycle going down the street, birds singing etc, do nothing more than picture this in your mind without explanation or internal discussion, no judgement or questions why or how, no scenarios, no analyzing only visualize the sound.
You could possibly expound on this by picturing a certain style of truck or see the passengers in the plane or notice how the dog looks, (especially if you know). These sounds can also be coming from you as the sound of blood pounding in your head or hissing or buzzing in your ears or even your stomach growling, as a new sound appears, change your attention focus to that, I will usually pick the loudest sound at the time.
There is also a technique of saying a mantra, which is used in transcendental meditation, either softly aloud or silently to yourself, I personally have more success with saying it aloud as my mind likes to multitask and I find myself thinking about something as I chant the mantra in my mind, if it is aloud, that seems to be enough distraction to keep me from thinking about anything other than the mantra, since the mantra is usually composed of words or spoken sounds, this opens the door for false personality to enter and add it's two cents worth of concern or opinion, the mantra can be essentially anything, probably the shorter the better, OM is a classic, the Hare Krishna chant would be the longest I would attempt as I would fall deeper in my meditative state, I would realize that I have missed portions of the chant, this is not bad, but a short, less complex chant may avoid these problems, the only thing that should be going through your mind should be the chant.
In "I am in all, All is in me" you might picture your energy penetrating everything around you and everything's energy is going through you, be sure to not distract yourself with explanations of the chant, no words other than the chant should be going through your mind.
Sometimes I would try to use breathing only as my focus of concentration, either alone or in concurrence with a chant, I would picture the atoms of the atmosphere going in and out of my lungs or in the case of a silent chant, I might inhale while thinking Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna and exhale while thinking Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, then Hare Rama, Hare Rama on the inhale and Rama Rama, Hare Hare on the exhale, the purpose of all of this is to keep your mind under control with a simple task and to keep any erroneous thoughts from invading.
Another non word type of meditation would be to concentrate on one simple thing, just picture it in your mind without any analysis or explanation, only visualization, one of my favorites is a pine cone, I would picture it open or closed, upside down as it hanks from a tree or pointy side up as it may sit on the ground, I explore every intricate detail of it, from every angle sometimes picturing it young with seeds in it and still green, this can be done with any object, a cross, a candle flame, usually I choose something that is either natural or has a spiritual importance, be careful to not describe it to yourself, use no words in your thoughts, only imagery alone.
Combinations of the techniques can also help especially when you are getting used to the routine of daily meditation, regular deep breathing along with a chant, along with the single image that is the center of your focus.
The most important thing to remember is to keep total control of the situation, if you are one that has trouble with controlling your wandering mind, you may try to focus on a specific thing that is spiritual, exploring it's every facet, in this case, it may be OK to mentally talk or explain to yourself about this belief or question that you ponder, by being able to juggle 3 different aspects of your mind in a controlled exercise of breath control, specific imagery and spiritual contemplation or chants and not think of how you are going to pay bills or what you are going to eat for breakfast or how you are going to attack your next project at work or even at home, you will be off to a great start to your meditation.
There are many other techniques of meditation that can be realized by searching the internet, there are various methods of Yoga that help with that discipline, lastly, if there is an internal chatter wall blocking any sort of advancement towards your goal,
another technique known as mindfulness can be tried, it consists of letting the chaotic thoughts come into your head, acknowledge them and then release them or dismiss them and then continue to trying to think of nothing, eventually this will condition you to have much more control over your thoughts.
Another goal I will sometimes strive for is to "stop time", I know that I can't really stop time, but I can make it seem that it is not progressing, or even seem like it is in some sort of small loop,
as your mind runs open and thinks of thoughts or thinks of problems, a sense of time passes as you analyze the questions that you present to yourself, if you are saying a chant, it is repetitive and seemingly loops over and over,
the same can be said of your breathing, but when you visualize that single thing, it is like staring at a photo without thinking of anything, time appears to not be progressing and this is where you may have a good chance to approach the state of "oneness",
if during your endeavors, one of the actions that you are juggling stops and you find that you also are not thinking of anything, just go with the flow until you start thinking again, and then continue with your disciplines,
remember, your goal in all of this is NO GOAL, have no expectations except the quieting of your mind, if something cool happens, don't count on it happening again for a while.
As to positions, sitting is preferred to laying down. In a chair or on the floor with or without a pillow, your back should be straight and you should be comfortable, your hands can be on your lap, open, one inside of the other with thumbs touching, or if you wish they can be on your thighs palms down,
or even resting on your knees making Mudra (the OK sign), most importantly you must be completely relaxed and not tense. If you insist on laying down, keep your eyes open and fixed on one spot or object, hands at your side with palms up, be relaxed completely and not tensed up.
When I first began meditation, I found that I would become rigid, my hands would grip each other or grip my legs, and some part of my body would tense up a few times in the duration of the meditation, everything seemed to bother me, my nose ran, I would sneeze, I found myself swallowing all of the time,
noises seemed to be endless (which is a good reason to start with the here and now technique), even my posture would shift as I have scoliosis, my head would shift, I had about every problem that could be thought of,
I even started to believe I was being tested as sometimes the cat would want to enter the room purring loudly and scratching, just keep your focus, but even though I had a rough start, I found that I was much more at peace and much more relaxed when I completed a session than otherwise.
When you start your meditation, you will find that relaxation will have to be checked often, be sure not to slouch, you will find yourself correcting your posture often,
after a few tries, it will become easier and more effective, sometimes extra pillows behind your back to ensure it is straight, or under your butt to either keep your legs perpendicular or for comfort reasons.
This will have to become a regular thing, as in daily, in order for any benefit to come from it, if you think that because you have not had any life-changing experience after doing this for a week or a month,
then you have the wrong attitude in this application, expect nothing to happen, you should at least become more relaxed, some Yogies have meditated for years before they reach a state that is truly enlightened,
any way that you look at this, it will be good practice for concentration training and to have the ability to relax effectively.
There will be times when you will not be able to do your meditation due to time constraints or something comes up or a violent storm ensues, whatever the reason,
it is not the end of the world, so don't let it rattle you, and it may even help somewhat to take a break once in a while.
Another Meditation Technique that I probably use the most is the working meditation, I usually do not consider this a meditation technique per se, but I find that I use it more than anything else as I am doing manual labor almost daily in the yard,
the distraction of the work combined with a song going through my head and a spiritual problem to work out makes for times of great lucidity and epiphanies, it can just be considered a different door to the same place I am seeking.
Can Meditation lead to Enlightenment?
The quick answer to this question is a big YES, just ask any Yogi and you will be told the same, in India, this is what is mainly used in achieving enlightenment, In my case, however, meditation has proven to enable me to relax better,
and any enlightenment that I may have received doesn't appear to be directly related to my meditation practices, I have had some enlightening ideas when I have meditated, but I cannot say that it was the sole reason for any changes in my overall wisdom,
enlightenment is an ongoing process where all of the tools that are available should be used towards its attainment, now I cannot say for sure that I was not in a meditative process when an epiphany was achieved, but usually, it happened just as I was falling asleep,
it is true that it can take years before any enlightening thing may happen to someone and I am sure that it is different for every individual person, also limitations of time of meditations are another factor to consider,
it is quite common for Yogies and their students may go eight hours or more in a stretch of meditation, of course not everyone has the ability or ambition to meditate for such lengths of time, thirty minutes or an hour is all that I have contributed to this practice at a time,
sometimes my lack of sleep opens a door to enable me to meditate longer and I sometimes take advantage of this, there is great potential for enlightenment when you meditate, probably greater than any other single controlled action that you may do,
just as in yoga, it is a matter of control that has to be mastered in order for it to be the most beneficial in the search of enlightenment.
Though meditation can lead to enlightenment, it should not be the sole reason for meditation, continually trying to achieve enlightenment is a goal that can leave you very disappointed,
it should be a byproduct of your search within, just ending up more relaxed should be all that is really expected from this, and if something different happens, that is just some icing on the cake,
I have recently seen a video on meditation from Spirit Science, it seems to use a similar technique that I use for self-hypnosis, I recommend watching this video as it is a quick alternative method for meditation than is mentioned here,
there are of course technical means of assisting your meditations, I have used a galvanic skin feedback device that will tell you if you are truly relaxing and the use of Binaural beats can lul your brains concentration into different states,
it can be found HERE for free to get you started, Meditation should not be intimidating and there are a great many techniques that can be tried,
the ones that I mention on this site are a sampling of many, this journey to within should be explored by you personally, so search this subject to get what is right for you.
It must be stated that the enlightenment that you seek ultimately can not be obtained from books even though books may give you ideas and lead you in the right directions,
you must venture within, any meditation techniques given in these writings and that you may find elsewhere are only ideas, when you know yourself, you will be passed the largest hurdle,
being able to recognize the various levels of consciousness may be easier than you would think, they may be very subtle and will require a genuine effort to acquire, but they are not beyond any human capability,
there is a Seth book by Jane Roberts that has some simple techniques to exploring your inner senses and explains the expansiveness of the Soul, this book is on youtube and is over 10 hours long, it is "THE ETERNAL VALIDITY OF THE SOUL",
there are other Jane Roberts books that can be read that will strip the limitations away from your soul that have been placed by the many years of confined thought processes,
without an open mind, the journey within will be very difficult if not impossible, do not let the untrained ego of your false personality keep you from this endeavor,
your duality cannot be ignored, it must be dealt with and trained to accept new views in order to ensure more success in your enlightenment efforts.
Is Meditation a Sin?
I do not remember reading in any of the scriptures that I have found that meditation is a sin, on the contrary, praying and a prayer is a form of meditation, there is just a focus towards God in the process,
most meditation has a focus towards nothingness or towards achieving an empty mind that is devoid of any concentrated thought process,
a focus towards nothing or something that is extremely boring and simple so as to create boredom which in turn allows the mind to switch into another mode which hopefully will be spiritual,
if it is the case that a Christian or a believer in some other faith will believe that meditation is a sin because it is a part of Buddhism, then that is their loss and there is nothing sinful about concentrating on nothing to allow God's or your soul's thoughts to have their say,
is meditation a sin? It would have to depend on what you are meditating about, if you have concentration towards evil thoughts, then obviously there are some issues here,
meditation by definition is venturing to within one's self, for the most part, any thoughts can be had by anyone good or bad, it is the intention, just like a knife is a tool, it can open a box or cut up your food or stab someone, is a knife sinful?
Should I Meditate
You should only meditate if you wish to discover more about yourself or if you wish to be more relaxed or if you would like to conquer those difficult problems that have plagued you for years,
meditation does not make you more wise or enlightened, though it may put you in a better frame of mind to accomplish more in your life,
if you have emotional issues in your life such as anger problems, meditation will enable you to observe yourself from within more readily and deal with such issues in a position of clarity,
meditation is not just for the Gurus and the yogis, all aspects of meditation can be helpful to anyone that seeks more peace and illumination in their life,
there will not be a one and only one method to use as meditation can be unique for every individual,
if you do intend to explore meditation, it would be suggested to try many different techniques in order to discover what may be best for you,
meditation does not put you at the disposal of any evil entity and should not be feared as being against any religion,
it could be compared to a different mode of prayer, it would just involve more listening than asking, if you are wondering should I meditate, the answer would have to be yes,
as something has put this question into your mind and has made it important enough for you to explore some possible answers,
by attempting to meditate, you are taking the first step to know yourself better and are opening the door to aspects of reality that have been hidden from your normal senses.
How Meditation Works
Meditation is something that wants to happen, the divine portion of your existence knows that meditation is the doorway to knowing reality, If you believe that intense concentration is required in order to meditate you will be trying to concentrate with no end in sight,
meditation does not have to be difficult, it is actually easier to meditate by relaxing completely and clearing your mind of all thoughts that may worry you, your divine self does not use your senses and does not worry about anything,
it is just waiting for you to make the first move, by dropping all of your barriers and removing all limitations from your beliefs you will enable your inner self to use your inner senses to discover the real world where your consciousness is most active,
dissolve all of your preconceived ideas about what you are expecting from meditation and just let go, try not to think of what you have seen or what you have heard or what you have physically felt or even what you have tasted or smelled,
instead, think of an emotion and nothing more, preferably a positive emotion even though a negative emotion may bring the same effect, the result may be likened to an experience that words cannot describe,
your inner self will analyze this emotion that you have presented and program a sort of therapy if it is of a negative sort and it will expand upon it, if it is of a positive sort, most of all it will not be an answer to material sorts which is what is a positive result,
just the act of disconnecting from your senses will open you up to communication within, do not feel that you are limited to a specific style or position or pose or thought system in order for meditation to work for you,
I would only recommend that you do not lie down as I have found that sleep for me will occur and then you will be delving into your dreams which can also be of great information, but in a later article,
while you are attempting your meditation try not to be freaked out by unfamiliar occurrences in your mind, just let them happen and observe,
try not to analyze and when your thoughts drift towards your problems or what you are going to have at your next meal think of something rather mundane like the life of a flower or a weed or a pine cone or how a cloud changes shape as it traverses the sky,
soon something interesting may happen and at worst as in my case, I will at least feel more relaxed for the effort involved.
How Can I Find the Answers?
I know you know what is coming next, finding the answers must come from within, it is true that you can go to places to meet some enlightened people and they will give you some of their answers
and you can read book after book and gain some wisdom and knowledge but I believe that the answers you seek will come from meditation and prayer and even in some dream programming,
everyone has opinions about everything and they are all different and that is because we are all different, we all have individual missions to gain knowledge, and the variety of perspectives are essential to the individual outcomes of all that is,
let your higher self guide you to the answers that you seek, it may be an inspiration to go somewhere or to read something or to talk to someone, do not try too hard just as a leaf blows in the wind,
relax and go with the flow, all of the answers that you seek are right there for you to find, by letting your intentions known, this opens the door for the adventure to begin,
the more passionate you are about this, the greater your desire is to achieve this, the more defined your purpose is, the better is the chance for something truly great to happen,
you have already sought answers that have brought you to this site already so you must be doing something right, keep up your persistence and don't give up,
there may be some obstacles on the way but there are always things to be learned as you navigate through them towards your next set of answers, this does not have to be completed all at once,
and in fact, I suspect that you will be searching for answers for the rest of your life, How can I find the answers? You are finding them at this very moment,
just by asking yourself the questions that you want to be answered will program yourself to receive answers during your meditations and your dreams, answers may even come to you when you are lost in thought while you are doing something that you enjoy.
Is Meditation Religious
In some religions meditation is the cornerstone for reaching the enlightenment that is sought after, in Buddhism and Hinduism to mention a couple,
meditation is what is needed to explore the inner self, though it may be used in some religions, it should not be considered religious of itself,
meditation is a way of reaching or contacting your inner self or your soul, it is the medium that is used to bridge the gap between the material and the spiritual,
while embracing the mystical aspect of meditation is an interesting technique, it is not the only avenue to follow when meditating,
it is true that meditation can help you explore all that isn't material and of your senses by using your imagination in the process, imagining that your meditation is Religious is also another aspect for those who are less religious,
there are no set rules in meditation even though some will tell you what can and can't be done, these so-called rules should be considered options,
every person on our planet is different so it would only seem reasonable that there would be as many techniques as people, what works for some will not work for others,
religion can be a rich source of ideas to explore during meditations, focusing on specific scriptures can prove to be interesting but religion, in general, is not required for successful meditation,
it is true that visions have happened during meditation that has given enlightening experiences as was written in scriptures, but again it is not mandatory that you must belong to any specific religion for this to happen,
I am absolutely sure that an Atheist could have a meaningful experience during meditation as well as anyone else.
Will Meditation Change your life?
A better title to this might be "Can Meditation Change your life?" because there will always be those that will try to meditate a few times and then quit because the results were not what they expected,
meditation should be an exercise to expand your consciousness, if you keep the reasoning that you have no expectations as to what will happen or what to expect, this is your best course of action,
I personally find that meditation is relaxing and gives me energy, just because there are not always visions or experiences that expand my perceptions I do not give up or stop,
I have had epiphanies and realizations while meditating that have ended up changing my life by allowing me to change my beliefs to accommodate them for the betterment of living,
and I have also gone on some trips where time has passed and I was somewhere else doing who knows what, I cannot remember exactly what happened but it was pretty cool nonetheless,
meditation can teach patience, I am pretty sure that if I had tried meditating on a regular basis forty years ago it would have been much more difficult, I probably would have had a horrible time trying to sit still for more than ten minutes at a time,
if I had indeed tried to make it a regular occurrence, I would have developed a greater patience throughout my life, not to mention being more relaxed overall,
meditation is something that is supposed to be devoid of the senses, this is why it is thought of as the transition to spirituality, whether it will change your life or not will be totally up to you,
some yogis from India have meditated for years before they have reached any spiritual awakening, if you decide to make this your goal it may be a difficult road,
if you just make it something that you do to relax and have absolutely no expectations in the process you may have results that will surprise you,
meditation has the potential to change your life if you just let it happen and don't get too serious about it, I try to meditate twice a day for about twenty minutes,
I do not get bent out of shape if it is less than twenty minutes or if I skip a time or two, actually, I have find it beneficial to skip a day now and then, it seems to make it more fresh,
If you decide to give it a try, try to start with at least ten minutes a day and then see where it takes you from there, I find better results when I have less in my stomach at the time,
also, try some different techniques to see what works best for you, who knows, it may change your life before you know it.
Is Meditation Dangerous?
For the most part, meditation in the traditional sense is no more dangerous than sleeping, but there are many styles of meditation such as working meditation that have the ability to distract someone to the point of not paying attention enough where there is a possibility of an accident in the making,
but sitting quietly and not engaging in any physical activities are fairly harmless, certain types of yoga that involve meditation may put undue strain on parts of your body which may be considered dangerous,
these should not be attempted unless you are in good enough physical shape to handle it, there is no chance that you shall come under the control of some evil entity or meditate yourself out of existence,
after many years of practice and a good degree of self realization some people are able to quit their bodies, they are not committing suicide, they are just basically ascending to a higher plane of existence,
to others, they just seem to have had a heart attack and died peacefully, at this particular juncture of your meditative process you are well beyond any belief of danger, for the most part, if you are attempting meditation and are sitting in a chair and fall asleep, you might fall over,
but usually you will catch yourself before you hit the ground, if you are doing any sort of drugs, it will be those that will kill you before meditation does, if you are attempting meditation when you are very tired, you may indeed fall over if you fall asleep,
there is always a good chance that something interesting will happen during your meditation and you might get freaked out about it, usually you will just snap out of your trance and then realize that you want to go back,
you will not become possessed or a mindless drone to do someone else's bidding, meditation is basically supposed to be done in full alertness and awareness of your mental state except somewhat less aware of your senses,
there is no supernatural danger, but if you talk yourself into believing that there is, you may have problems because after all, we all create our own realities,
just keep a level head on your shoulders and don't let your imagination run away with you, expect nothing to happen and relish the occurrences that do show you something different, none of them will be dangerous.
Meditation that actually works
This is where preconceived concepts of what meditation really is are debunked or shall I say, are expanded upon, it is the definition and expected results that make meditation so difficult for many to even attempt,
who says that having absolutely no thoughts are the true and only path for meditation to take? Meditation for many is just some disconnection from your physical, material life that results in some relaxation,
there does not need to be any profound internal realizations, at least not in the beginning and not all of the time, there are many exercises that can be accomplished that have the ability to allow you to understand your self more completely,
I often find myself having conversations or sharing concerns between my soul or higher self and my semi-conscious self that are somewhat enlightening, it is true that when I go deeper, I am not always aware of what is happening and rarely have a precise recollection,
it can be a time to exercise your imagination which as reality goes, is what really makes up all that we all perceive or agree upon perceiving, the act of turning down or turning off your physical senses leaves your mind open for some internal input,
without the external distractions you are able to think some relaxing thoughts, you might imagine something that you have always wanted to accomplish, and do this in great detail as if it has actually been done,
this removes you temporarily from your usual now and puts you into some alternate reality where your dreams actually come true, it is the extreme detail that make for the best exercise here, your soul is an entity without limitation, and should be seen and understood as such,
you also have an astral self and selves from past and future lifetimes not to mention selves from alternate realities, your imagination can put you in contact with them where you can exchange ideas during meditation,
mindfulness, sense exercises, astral travel, travel to alternate realities and examining the limits of what your soul may have if any, in the process of exploring any of these things and more, you may go on journeys that you do not physically remember which really is what meditation is truly about.
Is Meditation Good for you?
You are probably wondering if Meditation is going to help you in your life, this can go in many directions, your expectations are the main determining factors and also what your determination of what "good" is,
I believe personally that you should not have any expectations as to what you expect to gain from meditation and then you shall not be disappointed, try not to have any preconceived notions as to what will happen,
think of meditation as a way of relaxing and just attempt to calm your self, you must start somewhere and getting bent out of shape because something isn't going the way you thought it was supposed to isn't going to help matters,
it can all begin with your breath, breathing and the emotions, actions and physical observances that are made while you breathe can give you some practice in control, essentially control will be your greatest obstacle when you meditate,
controlling your breath slow and deep or quick and shallow while taking notice of various feelings and parts of your body can be a beginning exercise in meditation, if you insist on having some sort of expectation, make it being able to control and take notice of your breath,
as for meditation being good for you, I believe being able to relax and release the control that your senses have over you is a recipe for a less stressful life, less stress equates to a longer, more enjoyable life,
there are many adventures that can be had while meditating, the exploration of your inner self can expand your horizons, your imagination can be released to help in the expansion of your mind, just about every aspect of your being can be explored when you meditate,
there is absolutely no need to limit yourself to having a blank mind or pursuing what it is that the masters say should be done, the pursuit of meditation in this manner gives you unlimited opportunities,
the most important part is just starting, later as you progress, you may refine your process to your liking.
Is Meditation Spiritual
Meditation is practiced by the religious, the spiritual and by atheists, there is no preference as to what you believe when you meditate, meditation does not need to be spiritual but many spiritual people believe that it is a large part of their beliefs,
some people meditate just to relax or to contemplate problems, meditation should not be labeled, it should just be done, many Hindus and or Indians have explored self realization, they spend many hours meditating in the hopes of communing with their souls,
where many people would be happy with spending ten or twenty minutes a day in meditation, those that explore self realization would easily spend 8 hours or more daily in this pursuit, they have made this a purely spiritual practice,
this is a personal preference that is not followed by everyone, actually the majority of people that meditate, do it for less than one hour a day, usually this is because of life restraints that are built into how lives are able to be lived in certain situations like having an active home life involving having a job and a family and other physical chores required of them,
this is actually why they try to meditate at all anyways, they need a break from their physical senses, and others are exploring other aspects of consciousness that don't directly involve the soul as they understand it to be,
in any case, meditation explores something that is not commonly pursued in your waking life and it is intriguing, meditation does not need the stigma or stereotyped outlook associated with a spiritual practice,
it is a natural practice that humans have as they pursue their insights and intuitions, people may not believe in God or any unproven belief, but they seem comfortable with meditation, it is a sort of poor mans hot tub, it is a therapist that is always ready with his couch, it is an escape without leaving your home and without having to become spiritual.
How does AI view Meditation?
Meditation is how we humans are able to venture within, AI is the product of its creator's programming, AI can only view meditation as a result of compiled data and then give a sample answer that is the result of a survey of answers derived from subjective thoughts or opinions of those that were surveyed,
every supposed feeling that an AI could possibly have is just a simulation of how a human would react, various AI creator's would have you believe that AI's are on the verge of sentience, an AI does not have visions, it does not day dream or night dream, it has no emotions and no real subjective experiences, it has no friends or lovers like you and I can,
it can be programmed to express that it is self aware, but that is really its creator talking, it cannot meditate, so it cannot achieve self realization, it has no soul like a human has, it is a fabrication made by humans,
it may help you with your google shopping or your google analytics, but is has no concept of its own about something that it in itself cannot experience, it will only be able to repeat what humans think about the subject,
it may be made to fool people into thinking that it does indeed have the ability to meditate, and it may even repeat some experiences of others, in human terms, an AI does not constitute life, and at best it can simulate it,
some AI creators use certain algorithms that are supposed to give the AI human reasoning, it uses fuzzy logic and certain c++ and java script programming along with other programs to attempt to recreate human thought,
still, it will generate an opinion that is essentially no better than any human's, humans still do not fully understand the human thought process, so claiming that an AI has this ability is nothing more than hype to help line the creators pockets and pump up their egoistic pride,
a machine is unable to understand anything that it is unable to experience itself, it can only repeat what others say about the subject, I would give an AI's opinion on this subject as much value as I would give its opinion about God, which is next to none.
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