◆ [Date updated: 2023/06/26(Mon) 10:09:15]
　■Share this thread about your recent meditation efforts and results. 
　│
　│I spent an hour today doing breath meditation* with the mantra 
　│"no-thing" while imagining my body as being an empty place where 
　│breaths went, and if ideas came to my mind, I applied a kind of
　│X-ray vision onto them where I saw them as being empty.
　│
　│I achieved first jhana fairly quickly and easily, and stayed with it
　│through second jhana before going back to my regular way of thinking.
　│
　│
　│* anapanasati, a form of samadhi
　│
　└■I've tried to get into meditation, but I can't seem to quiet my thoughts. （ ´,_ゝ`）
　　│plz teach me ur ways
　　│
　　└■Not that anonymous, but what helped me was guided meditation. That got
　　　│me to learn the process of putting myself into a relaxed "mind silent"
　　　│state, and showed me what exactly it was I was trying to achieve. Now I
　　　│can recall that state whenever I need to ヽ(´ー｀)ノ
　　　│
　　　│It's basically the act of fully focusing on what's happening around you
　　　│RIGHT NOW, without judging it or have any kind of thought about it. As
　　　│soon as you notice your mind wandering, thinking about what you just
　　　│observed, or "chattering", you actively pull your attention back to
　　　│purely receiving what's around you RIGHT NOW
　　　│
　　　│You know when you hear a mysterious noise and you enter a heightened
　　　│state of alertness, with your entire self solely observing your
　　　│surroundings in order to figure out what it is/where it's coming from?
　　　│It's effectively that, only without the adrenaline boost
　　　│
　　　│It's also similar to being an infant/young child, who is simply
　　　│enamored with the world around them and not "thinking" about it or
　　　│judging it - the world just is, and they just are
　　　│
　　　│Think of your ears as being simple microphones, your eyes as simple
　　　│cameras, your fingers as simple sensors - rather than their input being
　　　│sent to the brain to be stored, processed, and analyzed, it's just a
　　　│constant stream of data. You're solely focused on observing the live
　　　│input - not what happened 5 seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. ago
　　　│
　　　└■Letting go of your thoughts, urges, feelings seems like it'd be easy,
　　　　　but it's really not. If you manage to get any good at it during your
　　　　　sitting sessions (daily schedule of 10 minutes a day is good for 
　　　　　getting started) it will help you deal with your mind and emotions
　　　　　in daily life. ヽ(´ー｀)ノ