Observations on meditation

[Lonewolf]

Many of the problems that we all have with procrastination are actually due to what we pay attention to. Like illusionary monsters in Dr. Who, the monster only has power for as long as you believe it exits.
So, the mental chatter, impulses and negative conditionings only really have influence for as long as you listen to them and believe that they can influence you.
In meditation, you purposely turn your mind away from mental static and towards silence. After 5 minutes or so you realise that you are not your internal mental traffic and that this is just an external effect of the mind and furthermore, that this noise can be controlled and expelled from your consciousness. That knowledge helps you to focus on important things and get control over procrastination.
I find that this effect lasts for about an hour after meditation, and then it needs to be renewed for a few minutes; but if you can keep up that cycle all day then you will be in a much stronger place.

[ahimel]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Like illusionary monsters in Dr. Who, the monster only has power for as long as you believe it exits.

Interesting... in a book I read on the psychology of evil, he characterized Satan almost exactly the same way. Let me see if I can find the quote....

"Satan cannot do evil except through a human body" -- Robert Peck
Since Satan is not a physical being, he has no ability to affect things in this world. The only way he can get something done is to convince a person to do it for him. And since few people are inclined to do something because, "I'm Satan, and I said so." he has to tell people lies in order to manipulate their actions. So he'll tell people that they're small and weak in order to keep them in an evil situation, or to keep them from speaking out against evil. Or he'll tell people that their neighbor/neigboring country is out to get them. Or that cleaning the stove is much more important than volunteering at the soup kitchen. But the instant you examine this claim and say, "What? You're full of it, dude!" he loses all power over you.

This would imply that your mental chatter is in some way related to (although not necessarily inheirently) evil, and that clearing it away should lead us closer to God/truth/astral space/goodness. And indeed, that is exactly what we find.

[Lonewolf]

I think our minds are geared towards survival, and therefore fear plays a stronger or more visceral role than goodness (for want of a better word) as it helps us avoid threatening situations.
From a psychological point of view, Satan and God could be correlated to the Id and Superego - the Id is the seat of all our subonscious and primitive drives and fears; the Superego is conscience, rationality etc. There is a constant battle between the two for supremacy. When you are procrastinating, Big D is winning.

[Nikos Sokin]

Thanks Lonewolf, for sharing.

I have been haphazardly meditating, trying to improve concentration. How often and for how long did you meditate for when you started?

[Lonewolf]

Well, there are lots of different styles of meditation. It is probably best to do a course first and get aquainted with different systems. Generally beginners find it easier to use guided meditational tapes and also focusing visually on candle flames. Get yourself an egg timer, start it on 5 minutes, then increase the length of your meditation each daily session by 5 minutes until you can do it for an hour without fidgeting.
For myself, I don't have this much time, so I do 4 X 10 minute meditations throughout the day. Each hour, if you stop what you are doing for a minute and cultivate stillness, then you will tend to prolong this effect.
Motorcycle riding and swimming also contain elements of meditation within them (heigtened concentration, breathing, overwhelming focus on technique to the exclusion of other thoughts).
The first realisation you will have is just how much mental pollution there is in the mind.
When doing meditation courses, be aware that some of them are recruiting grounds for certain cults. One course that I can reccomend is run by the Brahmi Kumaris - any payment is by no pressure donations. Sri Chinmoy is another one, also Sri Mataji - all decent courses.