Sam Gentile:
Hi Everyone,
I am new here. I feel like I don't belong because I have none of the attaintments but I am here because I could use ssome help. I have been meditating for almost 7 years vipassna/shamatha style and my major issue is that nothing has happened. I know I am not supposed to expect anything but 7 years? I havve had no moments of insight nor the supposed byproducts like clam, stress reduction, bliss,etc. I started meditating with IMS and vippasana and a few years ago switched to Tibetan with my teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, under which I am studying the Bardo of Death.
I just upped my meditation tme to one hour. I have trouble accepting the present moment so I feel I manipulate my meditation experience because it is not the experience I expect or want. I have a hard time sensing the breath. It is really faint so I maniplulate it slightly to really feel it at the abdominal area.I am now used Sam Harris super meditation app Waking Up, which has me asking the right questions like "who is thinking that thought?" Of course I don't come with anyone or a self but I am not sure I am really experiencing that understanding physically. I was so inspired reading DanielIngram's book. I would like to achieve A&P. Does anyone have any tips for me, teachers, books, or retreats? Any help would be appreciated.
Sam
Hi Sam! The amount of years, the amount of time per sit, and the quality of practice are all important factors.
If you have been doing mostly short sits, it's possible that you aren't getting out of your comfort zone. Your recent increase to an hour a day might help. In the future, you can try going on retreat too. It usually takes about 30 minutes to 45 minutes for the mind to get to it's "cutting edge" and then the last 15 minutes of sitting is where new stuff gets discovered. It's fairly common for people to sit for 20 minutes a day and --- while it can be good for general well being -- it doesn't necessarily provide deeper insights into the way the mind works.
The quality of practice is important, too. You need to find something that you really want to explore and work on during your sits. Simply sitting down and not doing anything in particular won't lead to progress... otherwise, everyone that sits on a bus or train to go to work would be enlightened.

 And chickens would be the most enlightened beings of all!

So you have to find some aspect of your mind that you want to investigate and improve. When I got started, I was most interested in emotional reactions and tibetian tantra was the most interesting thing. I think this stuff was what got me hooked:Â
http://arobuddhism.org/articles/embracing-emotions-as-the-path.html  And so I spent my sitting practice investigating how confused emotions clouded my mind, but also how reactions could be transformed into their enlightened/empowered aspect:
A
feeling of insignificance could be transformed to acceptance/equanmity
Fear could be transformed into clarity
Loneliness could be transformed into compassion
Anxiety could be transformed into confidence
Depression could be transformed into intelligence
This idea was really exciting to me. By sitting with the first emotion, it could be transformed into the better state if I didn't run away from it or try to avoid it. Cool! Now I had a sitting practice with a purpose and I could use my negative mindstates like weights in a gym to get stronger.
So finding an exciting practice, something that really calls out to you, is really important.
What sort of practices have you explored? What do you want to try? What aspect of your mind/psychology do you want to work on?