How Personal Is Meditation?

Namaste
(I once heard that means I acknowledge the enlightened being in you, is that true?)

How better to start a new year than with learning about something new. My interest is,

1. what does "meditation" mean to you?
2. what's "the meditative state" like in your experience?
3. do you practice other "mindstuff" astral, lucid or else?

Hope you all share your stories with me.
Not to taint your answer, but I'm thinking, meditation can only be one tool on the way to connect with what lurks in the deep corners of the mind.
I think I accidentally learned about two previous lifes either in the area, or attached to me. Maybe a third option I never thought or heard of.
Anyhoo
Meditation, especially kundalini gets whispered a lot in circles with focus on figuring out "it".
Because what I personally learned last year, no matter how much we pretend to be one big soul, we can't understand eachother. Very often the outlook of a person, the perception of everything around the self is so vastly different than the next person. Not in general, but the details are ...colourful.
Can it be the goal to surpress that explosion of life, this abundance erruption in smell and colour and forms?
Or do we have to deal with and find new ways to make our individuality something that unites us, rather than dividing us into artificial subgroups.
I am. You are. We are. Not a zero, 1.
But maybe there really is a "space" where the souls live, where we are one gascloud(or similiar) of consciousness. How would you try to prove that?
First find the method they all share, which in this case would be meditation. Even tough maybe I/we/some are doing some things wrong and don't find the connection port.

And we're back with my questions from the top: how are you doing it?

Basically, yes. But practically hard to achieve. Cause our brain has biases towards another.

thus the word, "Do not do unto others what you don't want others do unto you." And.

"What you do to the least of them, you also do to me." One can't achieve it unless you're ready to live the worst imaginable life. But none is worse if you believe in it.

thus the word. "If you want to enter the Kingdom of God, leave your life and follow me". That's the true enlightenment you are looking for and I believe anyone is ready to live a Vagabond life.

a reply to: boozo

That's kind of the opposite of what I was asking for. I ask for apples (personal experience with meditation) you give me fish (thousands of years old platitudes).
Got anything of value too?

a reply to: Peeple

I think while sleeping.
Not laying awake thinking;
not dreaming;
but actually thinking while sleeping.

I wasn't sure if that was a thing or not, so I looked it up. It is a thing.

The moral of these studies is simple: the unconscious brain is our own personal supercomputer. While our consciousness can only process about 40 bits of information per second, the unconscious can process several million bits per second. As a result, it plays an essential role in helping us learn new information and properly assimilate it into our existing store of knowledge. It also happens to work best at night. It’s ironic, but true: some of our best thinking is done while sleeping.

Thinking During Sleep

a reply to: pthena

That's pretty cool. Especially if you can remember it. All my dreams even the exciting ones fade.

a reply to: Peeple

Nothing much in Solitary Meditation.

a reply to: boozo

Repeating mantras is also a form of meditation. Getting lost in a moment. I think there is a lot to it and most could need a teacher to correct their posture. Most seem to focus on surpressing thoughts, control the awareness through attention focus and not so much achieving this state of now, here and somewhere else.
Are we looking enough for bliss in meditation? You're supposed to do it without intention or purpose. Can you do that?
I say that's impossible.

Walking and breathing and with the sunshine beaming down and focusing on a peace of mind with no regrets in life is the most purest form of meditation known to modern mankind.


I don't need to sell books. And yes, I mentioned breathing, which is taught and if taught incorrectly can lead to issues, but I'm not a Dr. on this such matter.

Meditating is when the mind of thoughts and the regrets of life are in balance and lead to ones freedom of the purest of thoughts for the day.

a reply to: Peeple

All my dreams even the exciting ones fade.

Some people say to wake up and write down your dreams.
Some people wake up, think about their dream, go back to sleep and re-view certain parts of their dream.
Some people dream dreams on a night that they have dreamed before, either a short time back or a long time back.

And some impatient people simply cut out the down time. They dream, leave the dream while remaining asleep, think about the implications, dream the dream again while analyzing and taking note of different things, leave the dream again for further thought; all while still asleep.

Think how boring this would be:
"I had a dream last night."

"Yeah? What did you dream?"

"I dreamed that I was thinking about wet dust."

originally posted by: Peeple
Namaste
(I once heard that means I acknowledge the enlightened being in you, is that true?)

How better to start a new year than with learning about something new. My interest is,

1. what does "meditation" mean to you?
2. what's "the meditative state" like in your experience?
3. do you practice other "mindstuff" astral, lucid or else?

Eastern religions think of God as being pantheistic. God is nature. God is everything that is. And since we are part of nature we are part of God. So in Eastern religion you become attuned to God. You meditate and try to have the God experience. It's a very different way of thinking about God than the Western way. It is a direct knowing of the divine that exists in each of us but is not normally available for us to experience without some effort. Meditation is the effort. God is waiting. Good luck!

a reply to: Peeple

I've been practicing mindfulness and breathing meditation for several months now. I have noticed a significant change in my behavior, and reactions to my environment, for the better.

1) To me meditation (mindfulness and breathing) is simply inducing coherent focus in your mind, while changing your heart rate variability with breathing to calm the body. It is a harmony between the metaphysical soul and the physiological body. I also use "mantras" to implant scriptures from the Bible, directly into my subconscious mind. While I find it beneficial, I believe meditation is simply a tool, which can be use for good or bad. I know someone who ruined himself with meditation.

2) In my experience, the meditative state is total calmness coupled with vivid awareness and intensified focus. Its not easy to describe, but I think its a form of self hypnosis.

3) I'm new to meditation, but as a Christian, I've made a habit of citing my known sins to God on an as needed basis. I've been doing that for about 10 years now. This is commanded for all Christians in 1John 1:9. It wasn't until after I researched mindfulness and meditation that I realized the Bible teaches mindfulness of our sins as individuals. It has helped me to realized what my areas of weakness are, and how to grow out of some of those flaws.

Astral projection and lucid dreaming are things that just happen to me. I'm not very good at controlling those things.

When it comes to the questions of soul, consciousness, and unity, I believe that God consciously created us from His own spiritual fabric. We are smaller quantized reflections of Him, only born as blank slates (and corrupted due to the fall). Though we are all separate individuals, we can be become one by fellowship with God. I believe faith in Christ is a prerequisite for this level of unity. While unity and individuality sounds contradictory, so does the wave-particle duality of quantum mechanics, yet somehow it works.

a reply to: Peeple

1. what does "meditation" mean to you?

Meditation is something other people do.

2. what's "the meditative state" like in your experience?

Don't know.

3. do you practice other "mindstuff" astral, lucid or else?

One eye in each world and hang out with friends.

If you want to put it in a nutshell then I would use the word networking is perhaps closest.

If I were to define what I mean by networking, I would say individual non-hierarchical connections between selves, and interfaces between selves.

Networking is not collective consciousness nor hive consciousness nor cosmic consciousness or other things like that.

One connects directly or indirectly via a mutual interface with others without the "egregor as middle man".

Something like that : )

A few qualifications on the above.

Just outlining an alternative perspective and not saying one way or another way is right or wrong.

My home grown way just suits me as an interactive interface with other Beings.

The words of Reverend Walsh speak volumes.

a reply to: Peeple

How Personal Is Meditation?

About a quarter personal.

The way of the Tao is to go.
Sitting around Injun style and focusing on breathing never got me anywhere.
Action is my form of meditation.
It can be something as simple as whittling a piece of wood.

originally posted by: skunkape23
The way of the Tao is to go.
Sitting around Injun style and focusing on breathing never got me anywhere.
Action is my form of meditation.
It can be something as simple as whittling a piece of wood.

You would make a great guru. I haven’t read a better explanation.

yes meditation and astral is not the means to get it

a short rest for your thoughts yes, empty your mind no. he....he

op , you are so correct about others and their frame of reference ....I knew of it forever but just this month kinda...I've re-learned the differences are huge and hugely colorful as you put it.

originally posted by: Peeple
Because what I personally learned last year, no matter how much we pretend to be one big soul, we can't understand eachother. Very often the outlook of a person, the perception of everything around the self is so vastly different than the next person. Not in general, but the details are ...colourful.
Can it be the goal to surpress that explosion of life, this abundance erruption in smell and colour and forms?
Or do we have to deal with and find new ways to make our individuality something that unites us, rather than dividing us into artificial subgroups.
I am. You are. We are. Not a zero, 1.
But maybe there really is a "space" where the souls live, where we are one gascloud(or similiar) of consciousness. How would you try to prove that?
First find the method they all share, which in this case would be meditation. Even tough maybe I/we/some are doing some things wrong and don't find the connection port.

interesting thought

just to play devil's advocate, if the above statement is true and there is a gascloud that connects us all, it must honour free will. in other words, it may offer suggestions but it cannot make the decisions for you.

intuition might provide answers, proof is a bit harder

originally posted by: skunkape23
The way of the Tao is to go.
Sitting around Injun style and focusing on breathing never got me anywhere.
Action is my form of meditation.
It can be something as simple as whittling a piece of wood.

cool you must have read my post

a reply to: Peeple

Because what I personally learned last year, no matter how much we pretend to be one big soul, we can't understand eachother.

Hey Ms. Peeple, how you doin' today? Happy new year to you are your loved ones.

I live my life as an individual. I insist so strongly on "being myself", not letting unwanted influences into my life or mind, sifting through all the "spam" of life that I appear unusual to others and not able to fit in because I will not compromise when it comes to surrendering to the "mush" of propaganda the system throws at us like a 24/7 "Mind Game".

I am not looking for that place where my individuality can dissolve. I guess that is "the Borg" agenda. I don't think we as organic humans will ever achieve that through spiritual means. Look how the authorities all through the ages have had to whip us into collectives to obey their instructions. They still use every kind of financial pursuasion on us, huge amounts of laws, dictates, instructions, health and safety, political correctness. These are all tools of adhesion and cohesion. These tools replace the "priests" of old who shouted from pulpits how we must behave and our fellows kept us in check socially by censure and moral reroval if we fell out of the mould. Being "one" to me is like wearing a uniform and losing self autonomy, having to listen to another voice telling me to do what an alien will wants me to do. No way!

I have fought so hard against all this. I do not want to LOSE MYSELF. As I see it the Creator made us all to be individuals with our own drives, our own vision, like a "one off" masterpiece of art; NOT a roll out production of "plastic gnomes" (I am trying to make you laugh here)



I do not want to dissolve my consciousness into the collective. I don't believe meditation can take us there. I do think it can dissolve our consciousmness and let us reach some interesting places. I am too busy playing with all the toys that are here to want to spend time in nothingness and losing my senses.

Yes, we are very different, all of us. There are places we can meet togethr though. In relationships we can dissolve into another through emotion, sharing vision and sexuality/sensuality. We share collectively in all manner of groups. I shun groups, but anyone would guess that about me because of my inability to compromise my own vision. It is a great strength, but can also be a great weakness at times.

I have given you a slight glimpse of my world here and our world's are different. Yet I like to read your thoughts. When I was reading this thread today it made me even care about you and made me feel an emotion. You are a gentle person and there is much warmth about you. I like your craziness of vision and your experimental "gung ho" attitude to this life. It is very charming, so please continue to dream in YOUR WAY.

Before I read your thread I was beginning to think about a thread I am going to write later about AI and losing ourselves to the cyborg collective. I don't think meditaion will take us there, but the implant interfaces that make it possible for us to meld with the machines (get plugged in) will be a huge potential threat to the organic human INDIVIDUAL.

There is a great British old series called "The Prisoner". It is all about the struggle to maintain the individual in a society of numbers and totalitarian control.

Digital is great, but the machines are the biggest fascists to ever threaten us. With them there will only be ONE WAY. There will be no room for individuality. It really is coming. I will tell you about in my thread later. It relates to something Elon Musk has been saying lately.

All the best now.