The secret to a successful meditation session

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
Freawaru
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by Freawaru »

Hi Meindzai,
meindzai wrote:I don't think there is anything wrong in trying to set up certain conditions for a meditation session to be more "successful," however you are defining success.
Agreed. However, it seems that different persons react differently to different conditions, it is quite a journey to find out what works best for oneself.

Another condition I heard is very helpful to many is to meditate in a group or/and the presence of a teacher. Just like with rituals I tried it but it showed no effect whatsoever in my case (don't know what is different in me) but I have heard this so often that I would say "give it a try" just as in the case of rituals.
On the danger of sounding zenish: whatever works. :smile:
In fact this is what Sila is all about, isn't it?
I don't think so. Sila is an inner condition, f.e. one of them the self-consistency of a personality. There are people who are more or less always in some state of lying to themselves, this lying takes so much energy, produces so much diversity, they can't concentrate properly on their own mind (not to mention develop awareness of their own mind).

I don't know why but there are many people who can't stand it if they have done something wrong, whatever it is. They can't face failure or being wrong, even for the small things. So they are in a constant struggle to alter the facts in their mind in such a way that whatever happens it is either the fault of others or did not happen at all. In their mind they are busy altering memories, meanings, intentions and so on. They are not aware that they do so. They really believe what they say, what they remember, what they imagine. They do not lie intentionally to others but they lie to themselves. It is my observation that this type of persons can't meditate at all because they can't concentrate on their own mind. Concentration on other things, work, crosswords, etc seems to be intact but not on their minds and even body is reduced.

I suspect they develop this lack of inner sila because they were taught that external (social) sila is important and has to be kept at all cost.
meindzai
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by meindzai »

Freawaru wrote: I don't think so. Sila is an inner condition, f.e. one of them the self-consistency of a personality. There are people who are more or less always in some state of lying to themselves, this lying takes so much energy, produces so much diversity, they can't concentrate properly on their own mind (not to mention develop awareness of their own mind).

I don't know why but there are many people who can't stand it if they have done something wrong, whatever it is. They can't face failure or being wrong, even for the small things. So they are in a constant struggle to alter the facts in their mind in such a way that whatever happens it is either the fault of others or did not happen at all. In their mind they are busy altering memories, meanings, intentions and so on. They are not aware that they do so. They really believe what they say, what they remember, what they imagine. They do not lie intentionally to others but they lie to themselves. It is my observation that this type of persons can't meditate at all because they can't concentrate on their own mind. Concentration on other things, work, crosswords, etc seems to be intact but not on their minds and even body is reduced.

I suspect they develop this lack of inner sila because they were taught that external (social) sila is important and has to be kept at all cost.
You are bringing up good points about one of my favorite subjects - cognitive dissonance. But I don't think that this diminishes the value or sila as described in the eightfold path - which is not so complicated. Abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants. I think that the fouth precept is the most difficult, especially when self-deception is taken into account . But I think that if one is a sincere practitioner of the precepts then one can eventually arrive at the true spirit of the precept , which includes clarity and honesty towards oneself. I think meditation is supportive of this, but is itself supported by the day to day "external" sial.

-M
nathan
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by nathan »

...is the session before that, etc..

:anjali:
But whoever walking, standing, sitting, or lying down overcomes thought, delighting in the stilling of thought: he's capable, a monk like this, of touching superlative self-awakening. § 110. {Iti 4.11; Iti 115}
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catmoon
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by catmoon »

nathan wrote:...is the session before that, etc..

:anjali:
Practice practice practice, hm? :jumping:
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BlackBird
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by BlackBird »

I think the very fact that you've sat down to meditate is a success unto itself.

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nathan
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by nathan »

catmoon wrote:
nathan wrote:...is the session before that, etc..

:anjali:
Practice practice practice, hm? :jumping:
Yes and no. To be effective and expedient for it's purposes meditation should persisted in, unbroken for as many days, months or years that it takes to achieve the given objectives. That meditation is more commonly divided up into relatively brief and sparse periods of time spread over many years changes the context of that activity in significant ways. So, in terms of the objectives that the Buddha indicated should be sought for by meditating monks, the division of meditation into brief and intermittent sessions is most certainly a prescription for continual failure. However, given that people today have all sorts of other objectives in mind when they apply themselves to the practice of meditation, the degree to which a meditation 'session' could be considered a success will depend upon whatever those objectives might be. If people have no objectives whatsoever or objectives only after the fact it would then be a simple matter of whether a person chose to describe the given 'session' as successful or not.
But whoever walking, standing, sitting, or lying down overcomes thought, delighting in the stilling of thought: he's capable, a monk like this, of touching superlative self-awakening. § 110. {Iti 4.11; Iti 115}
Spiny Norman
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by Spiny Norman »

catmoon wrote:Aren't they all succesful?
Not if you can't concentrate on the object of meditation. That's why we need a lot of practice. :tongue:

P
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salmon
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Re: The secret to a successful meditation session

Post by salmon »

1. Maintain a clear conscience (ie. keep your precepts ALL THE TIME). A clear sila means that nothing can shake/shock/shame you when you are sitting.

2. When the mind is at a calm, comfortable state, regardless of whether or not I am in a meditation room, just make use of that 5 minutes to meditate. It's akin to a power nap. More effective than a "forced sitting".


This may not work for everyone, but it works for me :smile:
~ swimming upstream is tough work! ~
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