Search found 14 matches

by RatherSkeptic
Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:26 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: A few Anapanasati questions
Replies: 4
Views: 1642

Re: A few Anapanasati questions

I agree with these answers, blo0ms. If you try to control the breath, you will put even more hard work on your practice then you already have. Meditation itself is hard work where you'll be busy enough to force your mind to the object of meditation (like the breath) again and again, until you attain...
by RatherSkeptic
Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:38 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Don't like to meditate
Replies: 51
Views: 17476

Re: Don't like to meditate

We'll let me try it again by posting a simple question:

Why would the mind EVER bother to focus on the meditation object (all by itself, without my doing), if daydreaming and reverie are obviously so much more colourful and exciting?
by RatherSkeptic
Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:00 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Don't like to meditate
Replies: 51
Views: 17476

Re: Don't like to meditate

So you're saying that focusing on the breath is wrong - in samadhi? Because the mind would turn to the breath by itself? Sorry, but that's not just very unconvincing, it's also a direct contradiction to what I've read about Samatha meditation. For instance, I've read "beyond mindfulness in plai...
by RatherSkeptic
Mon Oct 01, 2012 4:02 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Don't like to meditate
Replies: 51
Views: 17476

Re: Don't like to meditate

I see a lot of: "If only I were more motivated, if only I could concentrate more, if only I could not control the breath etc." This attitude of trying to change things is what you take into meditation and that's exactly why it isn't working and why it isn't enjoyable. Meditation is having...
by RatherSkeptic
Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:14 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Don't like to meditate
Replies: 51
Views: 17476

Re: Don't like to meditate

I have been meditating twice a day for 2 years and half and still, time to time, I have to clench my teeth and fists to sit and meditate. Aversion toward meditation is very common and sooner or later, you need to confront it. And? Did you discouver any progress during these last 2 years? Something ...
by RatherSkeptic
Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:20 pm
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Jhana Question
Replies: 68
Views: 20679

Re: Jhana Question

If I understood your answers correctly, you are recommending the use of concept-method first to gain samadhi. Allright then, even if it sometimes reminds me of hypnosis. Now, there's another question which has been certainly discussed before, but I feel the need to bring it up again: Where to locate...
by RatherSkeptic
Thu Aug 30, 2012 12:42 pm
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Jhana Question
Replies: 68
Views: 20679

Re: Jhana Question

Hello here, I think I could use this thread, because I also have some issues about Samatha meditation. The more I read about it, the more confused I am. But I definitely need some advice, as my own progress in samatha after a whole year of practise is somewhere around 0,00% : I always wonder how exa...
by RatherSkeptic
Fri Jun 01, 2012 3:14 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Samatha and Vipassana question
Replies: 44
Views: 19748

Re: Samatha and Vipassana question

You mentioned just Mindfulness in Plain English , which I read too. I'd like too say that I'm also a bit confused about the difference between Samatha and Vipassana. So I've read Gunaratanas book about Vipassana, and the one about Samatha. However, I struggle to find the actual difference - not the ...
by RatherSkeptic
Thu May 31, 2012 7:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Re: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

Thanks for all of your advices. So it is said you should not judge situations, even if they are unpleasant, right? Well, I think that the two examples about unpleasant situations (job interviews and thirst) were a bit clumsy choosen by me . It's just first-world-pains. Maybe I should try it with ano...
by RatherSkeptic
Thu May 31, 2012 8:50 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Re: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

hi, I think that we don't practice meditation to replace reality with something else.I think when we meditate we practice seeing reality as it IS.When you encounter something that makes you feel sad.That's reality..When you encounter something that makes you happy ..That's Reality..When it changes....
by RatherSkeptic
Wed May 30, 2012 9:52 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Re: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

@LonesomeYogurt I just read that text from Mahasi Sayadaw, and there's one sentence that illustrates my current doubt about meditation very well: If you are thirsty while contemplating, notice the feeling, thirsty. Now, we all know how important regular trinking is for our human body that consists t...
by RatherSkeptic
Wed May 30, 2012 5:27 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Re: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

@hanzze I'm really sorry, but I still don't get it. I can only repeat that IMO, morality is not the problem that keeps me away from any experience of progression. @kirk5a In my experience, the more consistent the application of wakefulness in daily life, the more positive qualities result. You talk ...
by RatherSkeptic
Wed May 30, 2012 1:37 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Re: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

I started practising vipassana meditation... Hmmm; any anapanasati? Because that includes the essential complement to vipassana, which is samatha, and I wonder whether this aspect has been developed. Yes, I focused on samadhi too, as I first counted my breaths up to 100 and then back to 1, until I ...
by RatherSkeptic
Wed May 30, 2012 11:51 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?
Replies: 38
Views: 7805

Can Meditation stand against the forces of reality?

Hello/ Namaste Meditators. I registrated to this forum in order to find out whether I'm doing something wrong in my meditation practise, or that sth. might be wrong with myself, or that maybe meditation itself is nothing more than a joke. I need to find out! I started practising vipassana meditation...