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Permalink Reply by Ritousame Yaukara on October 9, 2012 at 5:17pm

Anything that puts me into a 'zone' seems to be meditative for me. I do take time out of my day to relax and go into a light trance, however.

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Permalink Reply by zanthi on October 9, 2012 at 5:40pm

There's no one proper way as meditation can be different things. What you're describing is mindfulness meditation, which is one way to get to your destination.

http://www.ananda.org/meditation/support/articles/mindfulness-medit...

I personally use mantra meditation as my daily practice, but to dig into the subconscious I usually just lie down with a crystal or two.  It's not so much in the method itself, but in your consistency in practice.

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Permalink Reply by CJ Jugarap on October 9, 2012 at 9:13pm

Thank you Ritousame Yaukara and zanthi.  I've taken the responses in account and decided to go with the flow this time around.

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Permalink Reply by Kung00fu on October 10, 2012 at 1:32am

This is what the Buddha had to say about meditation in an recent interview:

 

Me: One blog member wants to know what advice you can give us on meditation.

Buddha: Do not give up.

Jamie leans back in her chair, claps her hands and laughs.

Me: That’s a big one. I’ve already given up, Buddha. I’ve given up. My mind has too many monkeys.

Buddha: Why are you letting the—

Jamie: Oh, this is a question to ask yourself.

Buddha: Why are you letting the external routine: the career, the schedule interfere with the lesson of disciplining the mind? Meditation is not about getting the mind to turn off or go blank. This is a falsity—

Jamie: Is that a word?

Me: Oh yeah.

Buddha: –that has been taught for many centuries. Meditation—

(Pause)

Jamie (to Buddha): Yeah.

Buddha: The purpose of meditation is to get the mind to recognize human judgment. When the mind can recognize it, it can then begin to pull it away from the daily experience. This is what will allow joy to come from within, because you will truly be able to hold your own responsibility, your own definitions of self, and not allow external life to influence and change the way that you would react. Life is about being in service, but it’s not about being in service to others; it’s about being in service to self.

Me: Wow.

Buddha: And it starts first with the mind. Meditation is an understanding, not a quieting.

Me: Oh, interesting. So, the monkeys in the mind—you want to get rid of the judging monkeys, is that right?

Buddha: Yes, and you let the other monkeys go and play.

Me: Okay. I’ve got a lot of monkeys playing. I’ve got a whole jungle gym set up in there in my mind. I really do. It would put the McDonalds playgrounds to shame.

Jamie laughs.

 

Me: But anyway. All right. Let’s see. How do you feel about Channeling Erik? The blog.

Buddha: I’m proud of it.

Jamie: Sorry, he was mentioning something about this story of his. You were talking about monkeys. He tells a story about a monkey king.

Me: Okay. Let’s hear the story.

Buddha: It’s a story about valuing life. First I’ll answering any further questions before I tell the story.    

Me: Okay. So, Channeling Erik. How do you feel about it, and what advice do you have for changing it.

Buddha: You are asking for guidance?

Me: Yes.

Buddha: First is to not feed the grief or sadness in people. You do not need to help them identify. They know what it is. Start feeding them the joy, identifying the joy in life. It is the people that need to be told that they are grieving or told that they are sad that do not desire to grow from it. This is neither positive nor negative, but if you wish to be the beacon of light that you are—a guiding light—then pose to them questions and give them options and directions to find the joy and the happiness through the experiences that they’ve had.

Me: Sometimes that’s very hard.

Buddha: You can thank the mind for that.

Me: Yes!

Buddha: It is not the heart’s natural state to stay within sadness or grief.

Me: How do you do that, though? How do find joy through grief?

Buddha: You address the mind.

(Long pause as Jamie listens)

Buddha: You give the mind—

Jamie laughs and points her fingers to both Erik and Buddha.

Jamie: Erik and Buddha are talking back and forth. So, they came up with sort of this idea that you the mind a one time ticket to just run through everything of what happened, what could have happened, what should have happened, like these are the possibilities, and then tell your mind that no matter how much it thinks of it, it will not change what it is.

Buddha: And through the practice and discipline of meditation, stay in the moment of now and without judgment. And when you achieve this, the heart goes back to its natural state, which is pure joy.

Me: So, we’re not talking about, uh, we’re talking about (finding joy) in spite of grief not finding joy through grief.

Buddha: Correct.

Me: Okay. That was a little confusing. All right. What do you think about Jamie?

Jamie (looking at me stunned and embarrassed, whispers): What are you doing?

Me (in a “cat who swallowed the canary” voice): I just wanna know.

Jamie: About what?

Me: Buddha, what do you think about Jamie?

Jamie (laughing and blushing): He pats my arm and he says, “Kind woman.”

Jamie (mussing her hair, looking at Buddha with eyes downcast): Thank you.

(Long pause)

Me: Buddha, is that all you got?

Jamie (looking very uncomfortable and still avoiding eye contact): Uh, no. He says that I behaved embarrassed, because I couldn’t take a complement.

Me: Aw.

Now I felt it may have been a mistake to ask this question, because like other mediums, Jamie has had a life full of scorn and ridicule for her gift. It’s taken its toll.

Jamie (solemnly): He says that I should look at that cuz somewhere I’m judging myself that I’m not good enough to be called a kind woman.

Me: Aw. I have the same problem.

Looking at Jamie’s facial expression, it almost seems like she’s going to cry.

Me: Okay, time to move on. Now, Erik, do you have any questions for Jamie? I mean for Buddha?

Jamie: Erik said he asked his question.

Me: Oh, that’s it?

Jamie shakes her head.

Me: Come on! You can come up with more! Jamie, do you have any questions for Buddha?

Jamie: Um—

Me: Except that y’all wanna maybe buy one of those heart necklaces that are sort of broken in half? The little BFF ones?

Jamie (laughing hard): “Best” (for me) and then he’ll wear “friends.”

Me: I think y’all should do it; I really do! What do you think, Buddha?

Jamie (giggling): He’s so happy! He smiles.

Me: Happy Buddha!

Jamie: He’s telling me that he’s had a wonderful day today to sit and teach again.

Buddha: If you wish to talk with me again, you can.

Me: How wonderful! Well, it’s my hope, Buddha, that we can share this video and spread your light across the world. It’s being spread, of course in many ways, through many venues, in many avenues, but I hope this is another sliver, another way that it can be spread again. I’m so appreciative for the time you’ve spent with us.

Buddha (putting his hands together as in prayer): Thank you.

Me: Thank you!

Buddha: Love to you and each who listen.

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Permalink Reply by CJ Jugarap on October 13, 2012 at 2:01am

Thanks Kung00fu and Ain Light!  Thanks for sharing that Buddha story as well.  I will be applying this in my journey of awakening. 

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