Buddhism/meditation

foxdude

foxdude

Well-known member
Buddhism has been gaining alot of 'popularity' in western society for the last ten years. I got into contact with it through some acquaintances, and the way these people had changed their lifestyle really caught my attention. I'm now slowly 'getting in to it', mainly by reading a biography of the dalai lama, trying to practice meditation...but I find it very difficult (yet fascinating)
Are there any practicing Buddhists on the forum? people who have experience with meditation?

Can you tell me how you started? did you meditate alone or did you get help?
Do you have a special room, time,... to meditate?
I really want to learn to meditate, but it's so hard...

tips, personal stories,... all welcome :)
 
PunkRotten

PunkRotten

1
Don't need to be a Buddhist to meditate. I do meditate from time to time, but fell out of the habit. Although I still do some breathing exercises when I need them. The trick is, if you wanna practice it and get good at it, find a good time to do it. Be sure to try and practice around the same time everyday, try to be where you wont be disturbed either.
 
coyote

coyote

Well-known member
Not a Buddhist.

you could say I'm Taoist, if you need a label

I'm a big proponent of "waking meditation" - losing yourself and your mindfulness in everyday tasks - cycling, cleaning, hiking, work, etc.

It's all about getting out of your head and being fully present in what you're doing
 
S

Scira

Member
I have looked into Buddhism a little bit and I occasionally practice non-spiritual meditation. I say non spiritual because I have never received a spiritual experience and have read enough about psychology to disbelieve nearly all of them I have heard described. I would maybe describe myself as a philosophical Buddhist in some ways, I try to practice moderation, I rarely indulge in alcohol and when I do it fairly limited, and right now I am unwillingly celibate :), even though that is usually one of the rules reserved for monks.
I find Buddhism somewhat empowering and I encourage people to look into it.
 
fife_girl

fife_girl

Well-known member
i meditate now and again but i should really do it everyday!
i managed to get to a deep state where i couldnt feel my body but i kinda freaked out because i was wanting to try astral travel then the thought scared me a little and so i brought myself out of it, id like to get to that level again :)
 
Ren Koutaisou

Ren Koutaisou

Well-known member
Meditation is something I have been trying to get into for a while, but it is hard and most of the time I choose to do something less productive instead. When I do meditate, it is for long periods of time and time seems to fly though.
 
EscapeArtist

EscapeArtist

Well-known member
Hm. I was beaten. I was going to mention waking meditation. I find running to be very meditative, especially on a treadmill seeing there is less to distract you and cause your nerves to spike.
 
Paahi

Paahi

Well-known member
Mindfulness is great, it's like constant meditation that you can practice no matter what is happening.

YouTube - Thich Nhat Hanh

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
-Buddha

"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."
- Lao Tzu
 
Changingmymind

Changingmymind

Member
Yeah i think buddists are amazing, i would love to meet one someday, for me to have a good meditation session i need to be relaxed, so i work out then have a shower first, also when ever i have 10mins free time i close my eyes and take deep slow breaths, i dont really need a special time in the day to do it.
 
Changingmymind

Changingmymind

Member
Malady said:
I'm not buddhist but am interested in and study theravada buddhism and am learning meditation. I think that if everybody practised some form of meditation (particularly metta) then the world would be a far more simple and peaceful place. It's not easy at first but I would recommend it to anyone.
Click to expand...

Yeah i completly agree, they should teach it at schools from an early age, i bet the changes over time to the children would be awsome.
 
K

KevinR

Member
I've been listening to soundtracks with binaural beats for the last 1,5 year. Binaural beats can help you get into a meditative state by using your own brains "frequency following response". I won't get into the details here. You can google it :) I use a program called "Holosync".

Anyway, this stuff has helped me a lot in making progress in overcoming SA. I'm not there yet completely, but I think my anxiety is down by 50%. I have a normal job, a social life and a love life. Not all due to Holosync, but partly, yes.

It's worth looking in to.
 
shellshackled

shellshackled

Member
I became interested in Buddhism and meditation about 10 years ago. I started off trying to meditate by myself (using techniques I had read about in various books on meditation), but I soon found that it was extremely difficult to do without any guidance. So, I began buying guided meditation cds to help me with the process. All the cds I've bought over the years have been very helpful, but the one I find the most helpful (and the one I've used the most) is Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Guided Mindfulness Meditation". The only drawback is that you can't buy just the sitting meditation instruction. It's a set of 4 programs: a guided body scan relaxation, a guided sitting meditation, and two gentle guided yoga routines. All of the programs are good, but I only use the sitting meditation cd.
 
E

emerald_star733

Well-known member
i have certificates in meditation and reiki(healing art), however, i don't know what has happened to me.. i used to be a very spiritual person and the last couple of years i find it very hard to calm my mind therefore i don't dare try and heal anyone else as i cannot even heal myself at the moment.. but when i was doing it, wow, it was amazing... very very helpful and i plan to get back to it.. i am just not ready yet.. i am just allowing myself to feel a bunch of emotions that need out as before i masked them and kept them in through being spiritual etc. i thought sweeping it under the rug and everything would be ok... ha.. jokes on me.. so i am feeling all the bad stuff first, analyzing it, accepting it, letting things go one issue at a time or trying to.. then getting back to mindfulness and being in the present moment as lately i am stuck in the past but also accepting that i need to be ironically right now..
::eek::
 
rileyrose

rileyrose

Member
I became a buddhist as part of a project to heal myself with mindfulness and meditation practice. I joined a zen buddhist organization and went regularly to the local center and to retreats. But i failed to make the experience healing as the meditation meetings also demanded social interaction, and I felt sooo inferior and sooo ashamed of myself. I am leaving the organization at the end of December and will instead try to practice buddhism on my own until I can tolerate myself and my own behavior in social situations with people I respect.

I still think that mindfulness and meditation can help with anxiety, and I have found the books by Thich Nhat Hahn especially valuable.
 
lunarla

lunarla

Well-known member
I'm currently reading Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield. It comes with an audio disc as well. I've always been interested in meditation, but never exactly knew how to go about it. Surprisingly, the book and disc have actually been fairly helpful!

Counselors have suggested breathing exercises and stuff to help with anxiety and panic attacks, but those techniques would always backfire on me 'cause I would end up breathing very quickly and irregularly. The book taught me how I should be breathing, and completely changed the erratic breathing. Essentially, it's not about changing your breathing, or trying to breathe deeper, but to just acknowledge that you areeee breathing, and have that be your focus while meditating. At least, that was the first exercise. It goes through other types of meditation as well. In case anyone is interested, I'll list those...

Meditation 1: Connecting with the Breath
Meditation 2: Working with Sensations in the Body
Meditation 3: Working with Feelings and Emotions
Meditation 4: Witnessing Your Thoughts
Meditation 5: Forgiveness Meditation
Meditation 6: Lovingkindness Meditation
Meditation 7: An Eating Meditation
Meditation 8: A Walking Meditation

:)
 
P

pskdiesi

New member
Meditation is more close to budhism as it is most practiced in this religion. Well Muslims also claims that their prayer, called i guess Namaz or Salah is also a form of meditation. It may be as if you read the deeply about Salah or Namaz, whatever, the old practitioners were totally lost when they used to offer their prayer and that's called meditation i.e. to concentrate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top