The Planet's Sangha: Buddhist discussions, thought, etc.

[girl_dee]

i've always found i like the beliefs of the Buddhist way, and a while back was made to read the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh (who is fascinating) which i was grateful for. i have found his teaching to be simplistic which i appreciate. i also learned that i have to handle my spirituality to please myself, not someone else. i also learned that not all who claim Buddhist actually walk in that light. i like to learn from people who actually walk in the light of the Spirituality they claim.

i started to dive deep into my own spirituality when it was what helped me cope and find my way. The Buddhist word is relaxing and calming to me. One thing that comes to mind was being told to touch the Earth for a grounding experience, how simple is that? Visiting the monastery on top of a beautiful mountain a few times touched me deeply and i wanted to learn more about the Monks and their whole way of life. They are so at peace. i wanted that too. Touching the prayer wheels and sitting in that energy moved me greatly.

After a mini nervous breakdown a couple of years ago, i stopped looking into Spirituality to fix me. i reclaimed some of my own roots and although i still agree with the teaching of Buddha, i don't use that as my only source of Spirituality. i call on ALL of the deities that have helped me throughout my life, Buddha is just one of them.

[Martina]

I doubt that this is true for people in very serious chronic pain, but one thing I have noticed as a meditator who lives with arthritis pain is that first, because of your awareness, the pain gets much worse. You had no idea how much pain there was. It's damned near everywhere. Your body practically throbs with it. And then it recedes. I imagine that the same number of neurons are firing -- or however pain works. But the pain seems to rest almost. I know that the pain is there. But I am neither distracting myself from it nor focusing on it, and it becomes less significant. I wish I could explain it better. But I am impressed with how much meditation helps my arthritis pain. And sorta surprised that the process begins with the pain seeming to get much worse.

A friend of mine goes to the chiro -- a good one -- and after he hasn't gone for a while and goes back again, he realizes how much pain he has been enduring. It's not till the pain is less or even gone that he realizes how much there was.

I don't know what the research says, but I doubt that meditation lessens my pain. It's just that if I meditate, more of the time my reaction to it is, "Oh. That's pain," not fear and self-pity. I then move around more, which I think DOES help the pain long term.

[mariamma]

You've discovered a deep truth. It's not uncommon, what you describe Martina. It is difficult to manifest without a teacher though. My foster-parents are Buddhists and practice Vipassana meditation and yoga for back pain. When they meditate 2 hours every day, everything else in life flows and the pain and struggle and misery is significantly less. It has to do with perception as you imply. If you focus on the possibility and expectation of pain, you will experience more pain. Meditation can significantly increase well-being and happiness (serotonin). All that focus is healing your body, little by little. Over time, you probably will find you're maintaining mobility as where others with arthritis who rely on medication solely may have decreased mobility.
Namaste ~ the Light in me honors the Light in you

Originally Posted by Martina

I doubt that this is true for people in very serious chronic pain, but one thing I have noticed as a meditator who lives with arthritis pain is that first, because of your awareness, the pain gets much worse. You had no idea how much pain there was. It's damned near everywhere. Your body practically throbs with it. And then it recedes. I imagine that the same number of neurons are firing -- or however pain works. But the pain seems to rest almost. I know that the pain is there. But I am neither distracting myself from it nor focusing on it, and it becomes less significant. I wish I could explain it better. But I am impressed with how much meditation helps my arthritis pain. And sorta surprised that the process begins with the pain seeming to get much worse.

A friend of mine goes to the chiro -- a good one -- and after he hasn't gone for a while and goes back again, he realizes how much pain he has been enduring. It's not till the pain is less or even gone that he realizes how much there was.

I don't know what the research says, but I doubt that meditation lessens my pain. It's just that if I meditate, more of the time my reaction to it is, "Oh. That's pain," not fear and self-pity. I then move around more, which I think DOES help the pain long term.

[girl_dee]

i've often wanted to learn to really meditate, REALLY meditate. i've tried so many times but i just can't get to the level i want to. i am a hypnotherapist and i think that somehow interferes with my inability to really get to the level i want . i keep putting myself in the role of the person putting the other person under.

i know that there are different levels of meditation, and sometimes when people say they are meditating they are doing other things, or actually just relaxing... in reading those books a couple of years ago i learned about mindful meditation etc... but that is not what i want,

i want this:

[sylvie]

i am new to this thread, and fairly new to exploring my spiritual side. It feels like i have already been walking a Buddhist path for a very, very long time, as i read literature and visit the journey within, it all feels so familiar and i am nodding in agreement ... In these passed few weeks, though...i have had much self exploration, meditation time and am very much on a very deep journey of self, and looking forward to sharing more as i explore and walk this path..

[Glenn]

Cajun; If you really are serious about going deeper, you can learn how to stop your breath and heart rate. You must find an adequate teacher you can really trust, and there are'nt many in the USA I would trust with this. But I have found one of the best here, and his name is Brother Achalananda Vice President of Self Realization Fellowship (SRF).
Has anyone heard about/ been able to activate the pineal gland to produce DMT? (Dimenthyltrptamine) The only resource I have ever run into about this is Dr. Rick Strassman's stuff on the web.
Rick Strassman on Dmt the pineal gland-YouTube.
DMT:The Spiritual Molecule(2012)-Hulu

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by Glenn

Cajun; If you really are serious about going deeper, you will have to learn how to stop the breath and heart rate. You must find an adequate teacher you can really trust, and there are'nt many in the USA I would trust with this. But I have found one of the best here, and his name is Brother Achalananda Vice President of Self Realization Fellowship (SRF)
Has anyone been able to activate the pineal gland to prduce DMT? (Dimenthyltrptamine) The only resource I have ever run into about this is Dr. Rick Strassman's stuff on the web.

Hi Glenn and thank you.

in my work, Reflexology we tap on the pineal gland (and much more) and i see the effects of doing so. i've never thought of doing that in Meditation but i would love to.

[aishah]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

i've often wanted to learn to really meditate, REALLY meditate. i've tried so many times but i just can't get to the level i want to. i am a hypnotherapist and i think that somehow interferes with my inability to really get to the level i want . i keep putting myself in the role of the person putting the other person under.

i know that there are different levels of meditation, and sometimes when people say they are meditating they are doing other things, or actually just relaxing... in reading those books a couple of years ago i learned about mindful meditation etc... but that is not what i want,

i want this:

in my experience that feeling only comes after a LOT of mindfulness and insight meditation. to be honest you kinda have to get past the boring suck with basic forms of meditation to get to the good stuff, and even then it goes in circles/waves. i've always been taught that in the context of buddhism, feeling attachment to the good meditation experiences is an unskillful emotion though. that may or may not help, hehe.

i've also felt a strong sense of deep meditation sometimes when in dhikr circles. muslims - particularly sufis - have a tradition of reciting parts of the qur'an or the names of allah and in a powerful dhikr circle the recitation actually changes the energy in the room. and sometimes when listening to synchronicity meditation - it is supposed to actually change your brain wave patterns and it definitely does SOMETHING to my brain because i can feel it really deeply.

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by aishah

in my experience that feeling only comes after a LOT of mindfulness and insight meditation. to be honest you kinda have to get past the boring suck with basic forms of meditation to get to the good stuff, and even then it goes in circles/waves. i've always been taught that in the context of buddhism, feeling attachment to the good meditation experiences is an unskillful emotion though. that may or may not help, hehe.

i've also felt a strong sense of deep meditation sometimes when in dhikr circles. muslims - particularly sufis - have a tradition of reciting parts of the qur'an or the names of allah and in a powerful dhikr circle the recitation actually changes the energy in the room. and sometimes when listening to synchronicity meditation - it is supposed to actually change your brain wave patterns and it definitely does SOMETHING to my brain because i can feel it really deeply.

Wow that is so true. like once i was told to *go meditate*... i can't meditate on command. i need time out to do that. i can stop what i am doing, try to clear my head but not to achieve the level that moves me deep inside. i also learned about the different types of meditation in the readings i was doing. i think some may think they are meditating when actually they are just being still, and sometimes we meditate when we are deep inside our own self.

When i would kneel, really kneel, there was nothing else to do but focus, and for me a little added pain helped bring me to such a quiet state, but still i always wanted that blissful peace that i never could reach, where everything just shuts down. Maybe i was just in subspace, for me i'm flying at that time, but still would not consider it meditation.

[aishah]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

Wow that is so true. like once i was told to *go meditate*... i can't meditate on command. i need time out to do that. i can stop what i am doing, try to clear my head but to achieve the level that moves me deep inside. i also learned about the different types of meditation in the readings i was doing. i think some may think they are meditating when actually they are just being still, and sometimes we meditate when we are deep inside our own self.

When i would kneel, really kneel, there was nothing else to do but focus, and for me a little added pain helped bring me to such a quiet state, but still i always wanted that blissful peace that i never could reach, where everything just shuts down. Maybe i was just in subspace, for me i'm flying at that time, but still would not consider it meditation.

for me meditation is like exercise. it sucks and i don't wanna, but when i do it, i feel better. and when i do it on a regular basis, i notice changes in my life and behavior, like the ability to be mindful with normal tasks, be a better listener, respond more with compassion. and eventually i become more at peace in meditation and outside of it. sometimes that leads to more intense meditation experiences, but i was taught that that shouldn't be the focus or goal of meditation (for me at least).

i definitely agree that flying in subspace has some connections...i love that blissful feeling. it's different than what meditation feels like for me. but it can also be a state of heightened awareness.