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bernd the broter:
tbh I'm not sure what your question is.
I like the Metta practice which I learned from Ajahn Sujato.
You may want to look into that. It's very simple and not "wishy-washy", and calming.
If you do it right, it will eventually lead to Jhana (, which I personally haven't achieved yet).
If you look into my old posts you'll find audios of Sujato explaining the technique. Maybe his approach is helpful for you.
Hi
Bernd, I'm not familiar with Ajahn Sujato. I have had a quick look at
his resume, looks very interesting to say the least. I didn't mean to
imply btw that I thought Metta is a 'wishy-washy' technique or practice.
Perhaps I just haven't developed the skill for it yet. What I meant was
that I can't tell if I'm doing it correctly. Of course I feel
compassion and kindness but not all the time, and sometimes I find it
hard to find. So in cases where there may be other emotion I feel like
it's a guessing game.The closest I can say is I feel warmth, beyond that
I may just be conceptualising. Maybe that's enough, I'm not sure. Anyway, listening to your recommendation now, thanks for your response.
Dream Walker
Sam sThe first few times it felt like coming home. Blissful, cleansing. I was nice to people afterwards. But then after practice yesterday it just felt like I was imagining any sense of 'love' while I was there. I could feel and i was letting go, but I wasn't bathed in any form of love or emptiness if strictly honest. So now I'm wondering if this is a worthy way to practice or if it's just visualisation and imagination. Part of the attraction to this style is that I can bring some more of a sense of joy and metta into my daily life. But on the other hand the breath is stable, even space is more stable. So maybe I should stick with the basics, or stick with working with metta/love at this stage?
(NB. I have recently after a few months gap also reintroduced straight noting sitting practice at a different time of day. The Vipassana feels like the tough bit that I never make progress on, and so I want the concentration practice to introduce a bit of pleasure).
Just? Everything is just everything.....what do you want it to be? If you are practicing visualisation and imagination then do so and do it well and see the results. Notice the results and measure them and maybe write it down. Maybe you are JUST doubting. If so, notice that with all your ability.
Here is what I do
- Start meditation...get comfortable and adjust body....scan it to make sure it is relaxed and calm and make any last minute adjustments...crack pop snap stretch
- Internally I say "May we be happy" and focus on my stomach area....I notice the sensations there as I say this and cultivate the giddy feeling of opening a presrnt as a child or on a swingset. I take this feeling as an object and expand it with each inbreath. This gets me into a light sense of jhana. I expand this bubble of happiness with each inbreath until it reaches my heart chakra.
- Internally I say "May we be filled with loving kindness" (sometimes I shorten it to "love") and focus on my heart area....I notice the sensations there as I say this and cultivate the feelings/sensations that arise there. I take this feeling as an object and expand it with each inbreath. This shifts me up a jhana. I expand this bubble of loving kindness with each inbreath until it is as big as I can.
- About 5 to 10 minutes of this and I move to noting or if I am then concentrated enought to not start the internal dialog I just notice without the note.
- Sometimes I just let go completely and sink into a deeper jhana.
- 45 minutes up.... bow, get up and do it again later but at least once a day
That is my most typical sit for the last couple years. Metta to jhana to noting to bare awareness to letting go.
Wanna try it and see what it does for you?
Here is a wonderful article that I think you might enjoy -
http://integrateddaniel.info/magick-and-the-brahma-viharas/Good luck,
~D
Hey DW,
Thanks. I've had a quick run through of your practice and it seems like a really interesting way to get into jhana. I will start my Vipassana practice that way for a few days and see how I get on with it. But you put it into a simple and understandable way, so I thank you for that. Thanks for the link also. I've been round and round with my belief and magick (initially through the Secret- eurgh!). I'm interested and I kind of half believe it. At the moment I'm at the stage where I think if I have a regular once/twice daily practice focusing on Metta it would do myself a huge amount of good, if not the rest of the world. If other beings are benefiting then I'm certainly happy about that.
Sam