This post shows up right on time when I just came back 3 days ago from my 10-day vipassana meditation when I was embarking meditation for 6-8 hours a day for 10 days.
I couldn't agree for more. I wish I could have read it before the retreat, but I've learned a lot during the process at the monastery. I think you've made the process much easier for new people to understand, but again, only by practicing it so more people can relate.
Some key takeaways for meditation:
- It is a hard habit to start and sustain unless you have experienced what does it feel to be enlightened. To feel oneness and wholesome in yourself. This takes a lot of effort. You need to enjoy the process.
- For me, mindful walking is the quickest way to be engaged and focused into the present moment. Just be aware the way you walk and walk very slowly.
- When I was first starting it, my teacher monk only told me to observe my thoughts and listen to my abdomen by breathing but without forcing the way I breath, e.g. deep inhale/exhale. Then, I realized it was easier if I listen to my breath compare to abdomen. So, I sticked to the breath, and it works!
- Then, I expanded my awareness into the body scan. It's basically touching your part of body by using your mind. This is definitely hard to digest when the monk told me for the first time. Only by practicing it I could notice it eventually, and it allows me to feel the present moment with more richness as now I can feel the part of my body.
- Do not force anything to happen. Since I've felt what does it feel to be enligthened (peaceful, calm, empty), sometimes I tried to force my act to get calm faster, such as playing around with how long do I inhale/exhale, the posture of my body, forcing awareness to the room and temperature, etc, but it didn't work that way. Let it come naturally without forcing anything to happen because there's nothing wrong and nothing to be fixed or improved. The more you try to fix/improve, the less calm you are. 100% agree with Loch Kelly: “What is here now if there's no problem to solve?”
- Make sure to Begin Again. Ability to begin again is necessary during meditation. Sometimes our minds are drifted away. We lost in thoughts for God knows how long. Begin again shows a willingness to return to the moment without judgement and disappointment with a mind that is truly free of the past. Begin again is also an ethical force. It’s a foundation of forgiveness. We should forgive our pasts. It builds the resiliency of our minds.
I wish the monk explained it more clearly based on this post, rather than told me to just sit and observe my thoughts without judgements. It took more time but I learned the hard way :)
I was at a karaoke night with friends recently - so often at such events I'm way too in my head - but inspired by something you wrote, I gently tried to broaden out my attention. And it helped a lot.
Instead of trying to 'think' my way into the 'right' behavior, I'd keep noticing the cool little invitations right in front of me - 'oh look my friend is trying to make eye contact LETS SING TOGETHER.' There are so many signals worth taking in if I just broaden my awareness.
Some of what you describe here - if I cultivate this stuff when I'm with others - appears integral for polishing my social skills, of all things! So, thanks
This might be the post that convinces me to try meditation. I feel like I already do the one-pointed attention thing when listening to music deeply. Now I just need to label it and make it an intentional practice, apparently.
I think many people who are sensualists, amateur phenomenologists, experiential sommeliers etc, are already doing lots of stuff that could be called "meditating," and could use that stuff as a springboard for/form of deeper practice.
This is awesome! Thank you for the reminder. I came to the realization, at some point last year, that that was precisely what I was doing during many sits : ''' a venue for staging another fight between you and how you’re supposed to be''.
It's still new, oddly freeing (''I'm allowed to just do that?!'') to envision my practice as more relaxing than striving towards something. Curiosity does need relaxation as a background, at least for me. It brings me joy to see it all laid out like this in your nice and simple words.
I've never really ("successfully") meditated, but what you describe is how I feel (most of the time) while swimming. I will try these ideas on dry land!
Did my first self-initiated 3 min meditation this morning, after watching and reading lots of things about meditating I finally am starting it! Thanks for the great information! :))
At this point in my practice I rarely use guided sits, although I do sometimes, to try out a novel technique or get a sense of a respected teacher's vibe
There are lots of great guided meditations, it's hard to find horrible ones. Loch Kelly's are both pleasant and for some people quite psychoactive
> For the vast majority of people, it is easier, more calming, and more natural to maintain a broad, expansive awareness than it is to narrow awareness down to a few sensations.
I tried doing the exercise that followed this passage, and for me, when I try to make my awareness, "become as broad and inclusive as possible—notice the fullness of your peripheral vision, the richness of body sensation, the temperature in the room, the air around your head" etc, then, in a matter of seconds into doing this, I start feeling a bit tingly around my feet and a bit uncomfortable - it feels too intense.
In contrast, when I narrow my focus to, say, my breath, and try to pay close attention to it, that doesn't feel too intense, but it becomes about being able to concentrate.
For me, the thing that feels easier, and more natural is perhaps something in the middle. My awareness isn't so expansive as to be taking in peripheral stuff, but also not trying to focus on one thing - this is how I imagine I spend most of my day, and it probably isn't 'meditative'.
Mainly wanted to note that if it's indeed true that 'maximally expansive' awareness feels comfortable for the vast majority of people, then perhaps I fall in the minority. But also possible that I'm misinterpreting things.
I very much like the ideas around 'wholehearted attempt to be thoroughly alive to your experience for one full breath' and stuff you mentioned about Loch Kelly having his big unlock during soccer practice.
If super broad awareness is too intense at the moment, then go for something narrower! Most people are not familiar with awareness expansion at all, so some amount of overcorrection can land them in a comfortable spot. But whatever works for you works for you.
So I'm going out on a limb here as I have quite a niche problem but for me meditating consistently triggers mild derealisation, i.e. everything looks weird, foggy and unreal for an hour or so afterwards. It's not disabling but unpleasant enough that I've had to stop practise. Have you encountered this before? Not sure if I should simply give up practise or if there are ways of working with this issue (n.b bringing mindfulness to the altered states makes it more intense)
Hey! I'd need more details about what you're doing and why to comment... Care to shoot me an email with some more info? If I don't have any good ideas I'll refer you to someone who knows more than I do :)
i also had this problem. if you want you can ask me about it. tldr it didn't exactly go away but for me roughly half of the derealization aspect was a kind of defense mechanism. hard to know if you're the same!
i just got back from a retreat so just saw this. in my case it was straightforward once it happened. i just needed a larger dose of meditation than i had before. low dose of meditation => got very sensitive, then shut back down to where i had been. high dose of meditation => got extremely sensitive to the point where sensitivity was co-mingled with awareness => awareness sees the sensitivity and understands that i was not as sensitive as i thought, that most of my feeling of sensitivity was a defense mechanism => awareness sees the defense mechanism and, as awareness does, dissolves it.
awareness works the same way that when you read a post in discord with a notification number on it, that notification number disappears.
i walked around like i was on mushrooms for a month or so, but also reasoned that was fine (fine in the short run, in the long run either i get used to it or it goes away, both are fine). it did go away but it comes back at times.
the "larger dose" in my case was a six day silent zen retreat.
Loved this, Sasha! It makes meditation more approachable - particularly the expanded awareness aspect of meditation. Do you think this approach works equally well for someone who's extremely busy and can only find short, sporadic moments to meditate?
This was probably the most helpful thing I’ve read on meditation. Thank you
I will the same, thank you
This post shows up right on time when I just came back 3 days ago from my 10-day vipassana meditation when I was embarking meditation for 6-8 hours a day for 10 days.
I couldn't agree for more. I wish I could have read it before the retreat, but I've learned a lot during the process at the monastery. I think you've made the process much easier for new people to understand, but again, only by practicing it so more people can relate.
Some key takeaways for meditation:
- It is a hard habit to start and sustain unless you have experienced what does it feel to be enlightened. To feel oneness and wholesome in yourself. This takes a lot of effort. You need to enjoy the process.
- For me, mindful walking is the quickest way to be engaged and focused into the present moment. Just be aware the way you walk and walk very slowly.
- When I was first starting it, my teacher monk only told me to observe my thoughts and listen to my abdomen by breathing but without forcing the way I breath, e.g. deep inhale/exhale. Then, I realized it was easier if I listen to my breath compare to abdomen. So, I sticked to the breath, and it works!
- Then, I expanded my awareness into the body scan. It's basically touching your part of body by using your mind. This is definitely hard to digest when the monk told me for the first time. Only by practicing it I could notice it eventually, and it allows me to feel the present moment with more richness as now I can feel the part of my body.
- Do not force anything to happen. Since I've felt what does it feel to be enligthened (peaceful, calm, empty), sometimes I tried to force my act to get calm faster, such as playing around with how long do I inhale/exhale, the posture of my body, forcing awareness to the room and temperature, etc, but it didn't work that way. Let it come naturally without forcing anything to happen because there's nothing wrong and nothing to be fixed or improved. The more you try to fix/improve, the less calm you are. 100% agree with Loch Kelly: “What is here now if there's no problem to solve?”
- Make sure to Begin Again. Ability to begin again is necessary during meditation. Sometimes our minds are drifted away. We lost in thoughts for God knows how long. Begin again shows a willingness to return to the moment without judgement and disappointment with a mind that is truly free of the past. Begin again is also an ethical force. It’s a foundation of forgiveness. We should forgive our pasts. It builds the resiliency of our minds.
I wish the monk explained it more clearly based on this post, rather than told me to just sit and observe my thoughts without judgements. It took more time but I learned the hard way :)
Broad awareness (vs. narrow awareness).
Collectedness (vs. concentration).
I was at a karaoke night with friends recently - so often at such events I'm way too in my head - but inspired by something you wrote, I gently tried to broaden out my attention. And it helped a lot.
Instead of trying to 'think' my way into the 'right' behavior, I'd keep noticing the cool little invitations right in front of me - 'oh look my friend is trying to make eye contact LETS SING TOGETHER.' There are so many signals worth taking in if I just broaden my awareness.
Some of what you describe here - if I cultivate this stuff when I'm with others - appears integral for polishing my social skills, of all things! So, thanks
This whole series has been incredible. Nothing has helped me more as a meditator.
:)
This might be the post that convinces me to try meditation. I feel like I already do the one-pointed attention thing when listening to music deeply. Now I just need to label it and make it an intentional practice, apparently.
I think many people who are sensualists, amateur phenomenologists, experiential sommeliers etc, are already doing lots of stuff that could be called "meditating," and could use that stuff as a springboard for/form of deeper practice.
This is awesome! Thank you for the reminder. I came to the realization, at some point last year, that that was precisely what I was doing during many sits : ''' a venue for staging another fight between you and how you’re supposed to be''.
It's still new, oddly freeing (''I'm allowed to just do that?!'') to envision my practice as more relaxing than striving towards something. Curiosity does need relaxation as a background, at least for me. It brings me joy to see it all laid out like this in your nice and simple words.
I've never really ("successfully") meditated, but what you describe is how I feel (most of the time) while swimming. I will try these ideas on dry land!
Loch Kelly, who's one of my favorite teachers ever, had his first big meditative unlock during... I think soccer practice?
Are you involved with evolving ground/vajrayana?
This post reminds me of Chapman's https://vividness.live site and related actors, particularly the life-affirming self-love open awareness vibe.
I'm not involved with them, I just completely adore their work and count them as a major influence!
Did my first self-initiated 3 min meditation this morning, after watching and reading lots of things about meditating I finally am starting it! Thanks for the great information! :))
Thank you Sasha for mentioning me! Hope you are well!
Wondering if there's any difference between meditation and daydreaming in terms of the mental state and the effect they produce on the body?
Great post. Do you usually use an app or any type of recording when you sit, or do you just... do it?
At this point in my practice I rarely use guided sits, although I do sometimes, to try out a novel technique or get a sense of a respected teacher's vibe
There are lots of great guided meditations, it's hard to find horrible ones. Loch Kelly's are both pleasant and for some people quite psychoactive
Nice, makes sense. I’ve actually been doing Loch Kelly’s course on the waking up app for like a week
> For the vast majority of people, it is easier, more calming, and more natural to maintain a broad, expansive awareness than it is to narrow awareness down to a few sensations.
I tried doing the exercise that followed this passage, and for me, when I try to make my awareness, "become as broad and inclusive as possible—notice the fullness of your peripheral vision, the richness of body sensation, the temperature in the room, the air around your head" etc, then, in a matter of seconds into doing this, I start feeling a bit tingly around my feet and a bit uncomfortable - it feels too intense.
In contrast, when I narrow my focus to, say, my breath, and try to pay close attention to it, that doesn't feel too intense, but it becomes about being able to concentrate.
For me, the thing that feels easier, and more natural is perhaps something in the middle. My awareness isn't so expansive as to be taking in peripheral stuff, but also not trying to focus on one thing - this is how I imagine I spend most of my day, and it probably isn't 'meditative'.
Mainly wanted to note that if it's indeed true that 'maximally expansive' awareness feels comfortable for the vast majority of people, then perhaps I fall in the minority. But also possible that I'm misinterpreting things.
I very much like the ideas around 'wholehearted attempt to be thoroughly alive to your experience for one full breath' and stuff you mentioned about Loch Kelly having his big unlock during soccer practice.
If super broad awareness is too intense at the moment, then go for something narrower! Most people are not familiar with awareness expansion at all, so some amount of overcorrection can land them in a comfortable spot. But whatever works for you works for you.
So I'm going out on a limb here as I have quite a niche problem but for me meditating consistently triggers mild derealisation, i.e. everything looks weird, foggy and unreal for an hour or so afterwards. It's not disabling but unpleasant enough that I've had to stop practise. Have you encountered this before? Not sure if I should simply give up practise or if there are ways of working with this issue (n.b bringing mindfulness to the altered states makes it more intense)
Hey! I'd need more details about what you're doing and why to comment... Care to shoot me an email with some more info? If I don't have any good ideas I'll refer you to someone who knows more than I do :)
Thanks Sasha I will do :)
i also had this problem. if you want you can ask me about it. tldr it didn't exactly go away but for me roughly half of the derealization aspect was a kind of defense mechanism. hard to know if you're the same!
Sure yes I have come to the same conclusion, let me know if you have any tips on dealing with it
i just got back from a retreat so just saw this. in my case it was straightforward once it happened. i just needed a larger dose of meditation than i had before. low dose of meditation => got very sensitive, then shut back down to where i had been. high dose of meditation => got extremely sensitive to the point where sensitivity was co-mingled with awareness => awareness sees the sensitivity and understands that i was not as sensitive as i thought, that most of my feeling of sensitivity was a defense mechanism => awareness sees the defense mechanism and, as awareness does, dissolves it.
awareness works the same way that when you read a post in discord with a notification number on it, that notification number disappears.
i walked around like i was on mushrooms for a month or so, but also reasoned that was fine (fine in the short run, in the long run either i get used to it or it goes away, both are fine). it did go away but it comes back at times.
the "larger dose" in my case was a six day silent zen retreat.
Loved this, Sasha! It makes meditation more approachable - particularly the expanded awareness aspect of meditation. Do you think this approach works equally well for someone who's extremely busy and can only find short, sporadic moments to meditate?
brilliant stuff, thank you.