Meditation

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by aaron, Jul 29, 2005.

?

How effective is your meditation

  1. I'm peaceful after

    54 vote(s)
    46.6%
  2. I'm more aware

    41 vote(s)
    35.3%
  3. I'm more in a daze

    7 vote(s)
    6.0%
  4. Doesn't work for me

    14 vote(s)
    12.1%
  1. aaron

    aaron Chinese Martial Artist

    When you hear meditation, you would probably think of boring old people humming and staying still. Most people say its the calmness of body, relaxation, and all. This article will help tell you more about mediation from my experience and some research on the internet.


    What made me start using meditation?

    I started using meditation because I was absolutely bored to death, I had a headache, and I was worried about my training because I lost my edge in martial arts after I broke my left hand last month. I was one very stressed person because time felt like it was moving too fast and too slow and I was worrying about fall when school starts.
    After many minutes staring at the Google webpage, I decided to type meditation because when I thought of that, I wondered what it was really like to meditate and why people were so calm and such. When i first read it, it said the reason why people meditate is because that person is either depressed, has a headache, stressed, and other things. So then I began to read the tutorials to meditate, and started doing so.

    What does it feel like to meditate and what are the later effects?

    When I meditate, I just sit in a chair or on the floor with my back straight, eyes closed, breathing slowly and thinking of many things and try solving my problems. I could either think of fear, sadness, happiness and such but when that problem is too much i leave it. When I meditate, and sit in a quiet room, I pay close attention to my breathing and making sure I take full deep breaths. While I meditate I figure out why some of my problems is the way it is.
    When I finish meditating, I open my eyes, and I gaze at my surroundings, but it felt different. I felt no emotion, it felt that time stopped before me and my eyes were open wide. I finally felt the tranquility and peace that I was looking for. I tried thinking about my problems but I couldn't think of it because life felt peaceful for that moment.
    Soon I decided to try my martial arts pattern, I knew my pattern or form was hard and took stamina to do, but I felt power when I needed it, and my pattern felt so peaceful, I was so focused, I believe martial arts was build that way, and not hatred or desire. I felt I have finally found the meaning of martial arts, because it was so peaceful that the pattern felt like instinct. After that, I felt that having that peace is the reason some great martial artists beat the ones with anger and such. Legendary Martial Artists, real and myth had always beaten the Martial Artists that uses anger. The legendary Martial Artists always challenged other martial artists that were peaceful. Maybe having peace can help you control your body and makes you more aware of your surroundings then being angry and blinding yourself from what can cause you your downfall.

    Meditation for health.

    Supposedly it helps you for anti-aging, and boosts your energy and boosts your immune system because meditation increases a type of hormone. Meditation is good for people with high blood pressure.


    How to meditate (this is my personal way)

    1. sit down in a quiet place either chair or ground
    2. Close your eyes and breathe deeply in and out, and have your back straight. Also try relaxing your muscles and make sure your body is not tense.
    3. Think of your problems, and try solving it, ask questions to yourself. If its to hard to figure, just drop it and think of new one. Let those thoughts come to you.
    4. Make sure you notice your breathing
    5. After 5-15 minutes, you may open your eyes and stand up.

    I hope my experiences can help you on being the best MA fighter there is.
     
  2. tkd rob

    tkd rob New Member

    interesting. think i might start it. Arent you meant to empty thoughts from your head and let your mind go blank instead of thinking about things. ive tried it before and its not easy
     
  3. aaron

    aaron Chinese Martial Artist

    I think meditation is to achieve that emptiness. The emptiness comes from that peace you feel after waking up from meditation. When meditating right, you control you breathing, your blood flow, and basically your body. When waking up from meditating, you will feel emptiness because your problems are basically solved and you feel that you have full control of your body.
    Empty thoughts come when you have solved your problems.
    A stressful person or a depressed person, and a person that has ADD would have trouble emptying their thoughts because those thoughts could be severe and the only way to empty them is to solve those problems.
    Meditation for me, is basically the control of the mind, and the body and thats it. Maybe thats why some people cant do taichi, because they try so hard at emptying their minds, that they forget the peace and tranquility that tai chi was built for. You cant control your body and mind if you are not at peace with yourself.

    When you meditate, and let your mind wander, you will feel that you do not want to open your eyes or move because you feel this energy around you. Maybe thats what really chi is.

    So basically to sum this up, to achieve emptiness, is to achieve that peace from meditation. You should not try to empty your mind because when you are trying to empty your mind, you are basically stressing yourself out, in which we do not want. Letting your mind wander and solving your problems is a natural way to achieve that emptiness.

    Also let meditating be yours, not some religious thing, make it personal, you could apply it a religion or something. Its not necessary to use a bead bracelet or say oohm. I think saying OOhm is more on the buddhist side but i think its better not to do it because your thinking more about the ooohm sound then thinking about your problems!
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2005
  4. thejimbo

    thejimbo Valued Member

    The method described is about what I use but I have a different perspective on it. first, I learned that to clear your mind the most important thing is to RELAX. Your mind is hard to clear because of these "random" thoughts showing up. You probably don't want to focus on the thoughts just acknowledge that they're there. Eventually they will run their course and your mind will begin to empty. Think of it like a glass of water with red dust in it. If you shake it, i.e. think or focus to much, the water gets dirty. But if you relax and let go, let things run their coarse, eventually the dust will sink to the bottom and the water will be clear.
    I still have to focus on things like my posture or tension in my body or many other things. sooner or later though, you will relax into a clear mind maybe even "Emptyness" or wuji state, still working on it myself though. ya also get good days and bad days just keep at it and relax.
     
  5. aikiwolfie

    aikiwolfie ... Supporter

    Meditation is used by many to acheive a greater awareness of their surroundings by calming the mind. That being the case how can one be aware of anything with an empty head?
     
  6. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    It means that because your mind is clear from "distractions", there is more space for concentration on the senses... or something like that. :)
     
  7. aikiwolfie

    aikiwolfie ... Supporter

    I've always been taught that during meditation the mind should be calm. If you are aware of the wider world around you, meaning you can hear all the different noises etc. Then your mind is not empty by any stretch of the imagination.

    Focusing the mind on the process of meditating to avoide becomeing destracted still doesn't empty the mind. The mind can become clear and it can be free of distraction. But it cannot be empty.
     
  8. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    "empty" is a discription people use.
    Perhaps you're taking it a little too literally.
     
  9. aikiwolfie

    aikiwolfie ... Supporter

    I know, but many people think empty literally means "empty".
     
  10. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    Take this example.

    I have a glass of water. If I were to pour the water away then I'd say I was emptying it. Once I had poured the water away I'd say it was empty. Ofcourse it's not literally empty as there are still a few drops of water but for all practical purposes it is empty.

    I think you are supposed to empty your mind of "thoughts", by which we'd mean distracting thoughts I'd guess. That's why people might describe it as "emptiness".
     
  11. JinkokMike

    JinkokMike New Member

    Well I feel very aware and peacefull after meditation.
    As for "Emptyness" I agree with strafio and his nice example ;)
     
  12. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    Works for me, I meditate before any stressful situation, tournaments, dental work, etc....
     
  13. scorpiousmac

    scorpiousmac Valued Member

    Good topic.Tried it a couple of times myself but just couldn't get into it.Going to give it a try when I get back from work,after reading this thread I think I might have some success.
     
  14. Blunt Blade

    Blunt Blade Valued Member

    I spent some time investigating and practising, got my info a Glenn Morris book, I really enjoyed it but lost the way and spent the time reading instead. Finding time was difficult, busy life and all that, but I often think about getting my **** of the chair and on to the floor again.

    Not entirely sure of the benefits I gained as I spent too little time over a consistent period, felt nice though!
     
  15. aaron

    aaron Chinese Martial Artist

    Supposedly doing it 10-15min right before bed is good for you. Because it increases the oxygen flow in your body.
     
  16. Tyranith

    Tyranith New Member

    I actually practise meditation, even though I've never been formally taught how to do it, it still works for me. If I'm feeling disconnected, frustrated, or otherwise 'unbalanced', meditation in some form or another helps focus my thoughts.
    I think there are many different forms of meditation, all that 'meditation' really means, is making yourself better able to cope with something via introspection.
     
  17. MartialWay

    MartialWay New Member

    The reason I meditate now is to try to achieve no thought whatsoever. A complete Blank only concentrating on breathing.
    The reason I started is because my inner monologue was just completely out of control to the point where I couldnt even control what my mind would be saying, thinking and plotting.
    Meditation helps me to calm my mind and focus my concentration. Afterall this may sound odd but the last thing you want to be doing in a fight/match/brall is thinkin hehe. At least not with inner monologue, or another term for it would be Internal Diologue, the form of thinking with words.
    To be fully aware during a fight one needs to have his MIND on the fight not his/her opinion.
    It is said that if you meditate for long enough time..weeks months years..that your brain will give up completely on rational thought and mental speaking through words and you will be left with only your raw intuition, some think that this is what happens when you become enlightened.
     
  18. MartialWay

    MartialWay New Member

    As far as the misinterperetations of "empty" I can only see this word pointed out by those with pesimistic views already formed about meditation.
    If your brain were truly "Empty" then it would not be a brain but a hollow sac of flesh. So yes if you must choose to literalize to pick apart a theoretical view then you can say that you are correct.
    If an instructor tells you to "punch through the bag" and really believed that such a thing were possible he would truly be a foolish intructor for putting his equipment in situations where it could be destroyed.
    But while being literal about the latter it just sounds silly. haha.

    What i suggest is use meditation as a tool for calming the mind in practice for when the need for utmost concentration might arise.

    Also for the original poster...if by using meditation helps you more with the way you are doing it then let noone stop you from continuing that method. As I understand thinking about your problems and trying to come up with logical solutions is a wonderful thing.
    Maybe you should try another form of mediation to clear your mind.

    Choose a Kata you know well. Practice it over and over until you have it down almost perfectly to the point where you dont even need to think about the techniques and order. While practicing your kata, concentrate on clearing your mind of all inner monologue..all rational thought. Try to achieve "no mind" If you can achieve "no mind" while doing a complicated sequence of fighting moves then you will be a formidable warrior indeed
     
  19. Makoto

    Makoto New Member

    Here's my interpretation of the "empty" mind:

    I think. A lot. Obsessively. As in, SERIOUSLY badly obsessively. It's well known to my family and friends that I get obsessed with things, to the point where I will think of nothing else for weeks, months, and sometimes years. Nothing else substantially, anyway. So my mind was always full, always busy, and I was actually very stressed.

    What I do, is every morning I write down what I'm thinking. Anything. It doesn't have to be coherent--in fact, it usually isn't. Yesterday it was something about a dream I had, and what it meant (going on even though you know death is coming and it isn't worth it) and how it connected to what I'd been thinking that day. And once that was out of my mind, I didn't have to think about it anymore.

    That's an empty mind. It's not having important thoughts in your head, or in the back of your mind. Whatever comes up, comes up. Let it be, but don't dwell on it. It'll go away.

    So yeah. Meditation works well for me, as long as I do that. If I use it as a time to keep thinking, it's more stressful than not. *shrug*
     
  20. Strafio

    Strafio Trying again...

    I'd say that your rationality and intuition become one - no more conflict.
    Your intuition is rational and your rationality is intuitive.

    An irrational intuition needs to be held in check, take various phobia's for example.
     

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