meditation

[mrdc]

hi
i just finished reading practicing the power of now.
it talks about meditating on your inner body, feeeeling it.
I just have had NO success in that.
I really like what he's saying but the experiental aspect is definately elluding me.
I have great difficulty in the whole Feeeeeling thing.
Any suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks
dc

[kiki]

I'd like to suggest you do something like T'ai Chi Ch'uan or Qigong. These are Chinese practices which are designed to unblock the engery channels and help one regain or maintain health. You will gain the ability to feel more keenly the chi, or life energy, that is all around and within you. Qigong is simpler than the full T'ai Chi practice and is specifically designed to address health issues. I especially recommend something called Spring Forest Qigong - it is a series of movements, breathing, and meditation that is quite simple and can be learned in a matter of minutes.

[James]

I have seen people doing Qigong and other moving mediations at retreats, it is beautiful to watch, and looks relaxing. Maybe it is time I tried it. Tolle's partner Kim teaches her own style of moving mediation, humorously referred to by Eckhart as "Kim Chi".

mrdc there is a Tolle recording called Gateways To Now that I am always plugging, (I actually heard about it first through Heidi) you might want to check it out also, it gives a specific exercise of getting in touch with the energy field of the inner body. It helped me do that more. It opens a whole new world of awareness.

Yoga, stretching, body work like massage, and exercise in general are all relaxing and help one get into the inner body energy field, and out of the mind, thus more in the Now.

The trick is not to turn any of these pointers into a task or a how to approach, pointers just bring you back to what always, already is, resting in your natural state of being. You can be resting, whether you are moving or not moving.

James

[Onceler]

I agree with Kiki about tai chi. I have used a beginners tai chi dvd from Gaiam that is easy to use and effective. I do the morning exercises which involve stretching movements. I do this before or after meditation to enliven my sense of energy. It seems to have resolved several nagging running injuries as well.

[Webwanderer]

All of these suggestions are good by beings who know from experience. You might also do something as simple as breathing exercises. Just a few deep connected breaths will ramp up your internal energy. You should find it much easier to recognize the inner body when it's magnified by this technic. Breathe and rest in silent presence.

And welcome to our forum.
WW

[Onceler]

Yes, WW, Breathe. I forgot to add that this is a key, compelling part of Tai chi. Being connected with you movements and breath. But, you certainly don't have to be doing anything in particular to breath and use ones senses, as you so often point out. Your advice on this has helped me many times.

It also can take some "time" to develop. Be patient and persistent. Return to breathing and presence frequently. As Tolle says, it is not how long you stay there, but how often you return to a state of awareness and presence that is important.

[PlutoISaplanet]

I
mrdc there is a Tolle recording called Gateways To Now that I am always plugging, (I actually heard about it first through Heidi) you might want to check it out also, it gives a specific exercise of getting in touch with the energy field of the inner body. It helped me do that more. It opens a whole new world of awareness.

James

Ahh, so it's you that I have to thank for this! I saw this recording recommended so frequently here that I finally went to ITunes last weekend and downloaded it. And, I have to say, you were all right! I have gotten so much out of this recording. Even though I've had ET's books for years, something on this recording is really resonating with me.

I experience periods of anxiety with strong physical symptom, so going "into the body" often feels uncomfortable to me. However, the exercises on Gateways are very effective for me, and I've responded positively to them.

[Sighclone]

Hatha yoga is very transcendant for me. I first learned some poses over 35 years ago, and the non-focussed breathing (asanas) is part of the yogic experience. It is definitely a spiritual, elevating.

Andy

[ginkgo]

I started doing yoga and tai chi at age 13. Both are very good. Tai chi will not make you limber and stimulate the glands like yoga, but tai chi is better than yoga at slowing down time. A lot of stress is from rushing and the ability to measure time. Phelps won a race by one one-hundredth of a second. But there are many other ways to help you be more focused and be more in the present. Modern psychology has studied this but many do not know about it.

[andy]

In meditation, there is always a meditator doing a meditation on an object to achieve some end.

Just simply sit and be

[Sighclone]

andy -

Welcome to the forum. Meditiation is simply a step on the path to clarity. Most people cannot simply sit and be, because BMS takes over. BMS, or "Busy Mind Syndrome", coined here by James, is what happens to most people when they try to sit and be. A jillion thoughts and feeling intrude. Mantra-based meditation is a start to quieting the mind. Use of a mantra ending in "ing" has been recommended by Tom Campbell (My Big TOE), due to its inherent resonant frequency.

Namaste, Andy

[andy]

andy -

Welcome to the forum. Meditiation is simply a step on the path to clarity. Most people cannot simply sit and be, because BMS takes over. BMS, or "Busy Mind Syndrome", coined here by James, is what happens to most people when they try to sit and be. A jillion thoughts and feeling intrude. Mantra-based meditation is a start to quieting the mind. Use of a mantra ending in "ing" has been recommended by Tom Campbell (My Big TOE), due to its inherent resonant frequency.

Namaste, Andy

Just simply sit and be. This includes being with your BMS. A thought arises - "I cannot get rid of this BMS!!" - ask the question "Who is the I that cannot get rid of this BMS?"

Thoughts come and go, that is their nature. When one notices ask the question "To whom are these thoughts for?"
Allow the mind to enquire to its own nature, trace back to the source.

Mantra is like feeding a fat kid some candy to get it to go somewhere and then whipping him when it starts eating it. The thing is you don't know to where you are going, only a conceptualised notion. What happens when the mind does stop? Where then? Self-enquiry is coaxing the kid to find out what it really is, by turning the kid to candy and asking it to eat itself. Use the minds nature for what it is good at - enquiry. When the mind fails to find itself, the self identity slowly dissolves. Sri Ramana Maharash advised this method as the most effective means for self-realisation. All other yoga techinques assume an entity doing something to achieve something. E.g. In Mantra, who is the I generating the mantra and who is the I listening to the mantra?

[catatonia]

Where I live there is a new age society that does guided group meditations. I attend when I'm unable to cope with my thoughts. I also have trouble meditating by myself.

[andy]

Where I live there is a new age society that does guided group meditations. I attend when I'm unable to cope with my thoughts. I also have trouble meditating by myself.

Hi catatonia,

There is a great meditation methodology called vipassana, mindfulness and insight meditation. If I could summarise the "how" of Echkarts teachings, I would really recommend this meditation. It teaches us to be present, to be mindful in each moment.

There are some excellent guided meditations and workshops on this site for free:
http://www.audiodharma.org/

Take care,
Andy.

[Sighclone]

Here is Eckhart on meditation, from a 2001 interview:

DC: What about Buddhist meditation practices?

ET: There are some Buddhist practices that are very simple, such as Zen, where you're just sitting and watching. It's perhaps no practice, and that's the best kind. Sometimes people ask me about vipassana saying, "Oh, when you talk about feeling the inner body, that reminds me of vipassana." Of course, it is the same principle—that is, inhabiting the body. So vipassana is fine until it becomes a technique that has many stages and that takes time to develop. That can be okay for people for a while, but then you have to leave the technique behind. if anybody reading this interview feels a reaction at this moment, that might be a sign that there's an ego identification with their practice, and it's time to let go. [Laughter]

DC: I have often heard the comment that people can wake up without a practice, but then they go back to sleep. The conclusion is that the practice is necessary to stay awake.

ET: A practice can be helpful, but didn't the Buddha compare it to a raft, suggesting it be abandoned when you reach the other shore?

Namaste, Andy