Hi!...

a cool technique is to simply not think about anything in particular and relax, but only for a short period of time, like 2-5 seconds. If you practice like this then you don't turn the genuine surrender into a maintained fabrication. if you just periodically do this whenever you remember it is really effective. this technique is described by Bentinho Massaro in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yG2INLOgdA

The technique itself is quite good, but be careful of Bentinho Massaro. I know of him mainly through various facebook groups, he's enlightened to some degree but has developed something of messianic complex in recent months and his posts online raise some serious questions about his mental wellbeing. Just a bit of info in case anyone decides to check out his site and other writings, he seems like a nice guy but, as I've mentioned, there's reason to be dubious of his other 'teachings'.

Yes maybe... or maybe not.

and the technique is basically the same as HAIETMOBA, but it is just more clear. I know when I tried to practice HAIETMOBA I would always try to move directly to 'attentiveness' which basically just meant paying attention, which isn't quite the same. The important difference is the periodic nature and the 'just for a second' application because they allow you to really truly surrender for that second instead of fake-surrender for a more sustained period. This is probably what HAIETMOBA was meant to do, but I never did it because there were too many syllables. Anyways, seeing more good results with this method, will report as time goes on.

I think this is buddhism 101 with some marketing slapped on.

Why is this video 10 minutes long? These instructions couldnt be simpler. If you didn't get this technique while studying some sort of buddhist tradtion or AF, you weren't following the instructions.

If it works for you, thats great, but I don't buy the above explanation about how its better than AF.

Not better just I understand what to do more clearly, so better instructions for me.

Also he doesn't pretend this is new at all, and everyone has their marketing, motivation is probably 90% of the path

Thanks. I'm currently using this for the beginning of my practice. It helps to relieve the "okay I have to meditate now" ritualization of the practice.

Thanks for sharing this useful pointer. The frequency of application strikes me as effective. I've not had time to check out any of BM's stuff over the years.

+1 Tommy M's comments.

I know these posts are a few years old, though having just joined recently here (although relatively long time practitioner), I'm enjoying going through many of the rich posts available in this forum.

I'm a fan of this sort of thing. A similar technique, actually my introduction to effective meditation technique (i.e. non-mushroomy) is this: Notice the silent, peaceful pauses in between your thoughts. See if you can expand them, just a little bit at first. So if you're noticing a second between thoughts, see if you can relax your mind into lasting 2 seconds between thoughts.

When you can do that, try 3. Then 4. Then 5. So on and so forth. Even a beginner can rapidly learn this technique and get to a state where there's more peacefulness than thinking.

It's a simple but powerful meditation technique that combines beginner-level insight with beginner-to-intermediate-level concentration. It's a great bridge into more heavy-duty jhana or vipassana or combined practice. It also makes a great warm-up prior to those practices -- try this for 2-5 minutes and once your mind is settled, switch to the more advanced technique. It'll work more efficiently that way.

There was a massive release and relaxation in my solar plexus and heart chakra as I read this, as if the body/mind system finally got some information it had been yearning for. Thank you.