Do Nothing

[Capethaz]

Is it possible attain enlightenment with the Do Nothing Meditation by Shinzen Young? I really like this form of meditation but I'm not 100% confident.

[Leo Gura]

Yes it is. Then again, it's possible to become enlightened sitting on the toilet taking a crap.

Do Nothing is a great technique, but I would supplement it with self-inquiry.

There are MANY different ways to become enlightened. No one way is best for everyone. You gotta find what will work for you.

[DW]

How do I remain conscious of my thoughts without my thoughts disappearing entirely. I seem to stay in a blank for a while and then, unbeknownst to me, I slide into "story mode," etc.. When I finally become aware of my thoughts everything disappears entirely and I arrive back to a blank.  Will this stop after a while of practicing or is there some way for me to tackle this?

[Bombardini]

17 hours ago, DW said:

How do I remain conscious of my thoughts without my thoughts disappearing entirely. I seem to stay in a blank for a while and then, unbeknownst to me, I slide into "story mode," etc.. When I finally become aware of my thoughts everything disappears entirely and I arrive back to a blank.  Will this stop after a while of practicing or is there some way for me to tackle this?

I experience the same thing. It's like I can't be in the present moment and watching a continuous thought stream. The thought just disappear, and then a new one comes up, of course. 

[abrakamowse]

@Emilio @DW  You can't stop your thoughts, only understand they are not you. So, not so important.

[Avi]

@Emilio Once you experience that you are not your thoughts and you can watch them just pass you by, it is so powerful. 

[DW]

@abrakamowse So the main point is to just try to maintain awareness?

[Azrael]

34 minutes ago, DW said:

So the main point is to just try to maintain awareness?

No, don't try to maintain awareness. You actually can't, there is no one who could. There is just a stream of thoughts that sometimes projects some clean awareness, sometimes awareness with some other thoughts and other times just stories over stories and then ... a blank. And then again.

Just let it happen, if you do so after a while a ability seems to develop that lets you watch your thoughts and emotions completely detached and calmly. If that happens you don't actually need silence any more in your head because you don't have to resist any longer and it is not bothering you. It's just weird sometimes

[Pierre]

@Arik Hey, that's well said man, I appreciate.

[abrakamowse]

@DW It's hard to say what's the way because everyone is different. I would say that you have to try in the beginning to understand your thoughts, your ego, to know the difference between your ego (not your real self) and your higher self.

Once you recognize that, he will guide you to whatever you need to achieve enlightenment. At least that's what happening to me now. Your thoughts will become less and less important and you will know what thoughts are to satisfy your lower self.

Your path can be different depending on your circumstances. 

Edited February 19, 2016 by abrakamowse

[Jan Odvarko]

3 hours ago, Arik said:

No, don't try to maintain awareness. You actually can't, there is no one who could. There is just a stream of thoughts that sometimes projects some clean awareness, sometimes awareness with some other thoughts and other times just stories over stories and then ... a blank. And then again.

Just let it happen, if you do so after a while a ability seems to develop that lets you watch your thoughts and emotions completely detached and calmly. If that happens you don't actually need silence any more in your head because you don't have to resist any longer and it is not bothering you. It's just weird sometimes

@Arik I do Vipassana and have never intentionally practised the Do nothing technique, however every now and then I happen to experience a moment of absolute stillness of both thoughts and attention, when my mind seems completely empty, like there's nothing going on there whatsoever, including no attention to the body. I guess that's the right feel of "Do nothing", right?

At that point I don't know whether to return to the technique (i.e. bring attention back to the body) or just remain in that stillness and don't react. I usually choose the latter, because it feels natural and easiest. But it's this "what to do now?" that causes the most distraction, and I'd like to have an answer ready next time, so that no distracting decision has to be made.

What would you suggest to do when it happens again?

[DW]

@Arik Thanks! That makes a lot of sense.

[Azrael]

17 hours ago, Jan Odvarko said:

What would you suggest to do when it happens again?

That's an very interesting question. I'll answer it with an analogy that hopefully answers all kind of similar questions around this topic:
 

The one thing our mind seems constantly focused about is not to screw to things up. To do it right. And so it always will do that with the "Do Nothing" technique because that's natural to do. "Do Nothing" - as I presently see it - shifts your mindset from being always problem-focused to seeing the nature of things as they presently present them to yourself.

So @Ayla once brought me to the realization that all we do is "comfortably laying in our own bed, frantically trying to decipher a map that leads us back home". What does all of this say? All there is is this huge stream of consciousness that sometimes gives you the feeling of "doing it right", sometimes being very quietly, sometimes making you feel very bad, sometimes filling your head up with all these thoughts and then again silence.

Let it happen. If you want to stay in that silence you mentioned, stay in it. If you want to shift your attention to your body, do that. Allow it all. Because all you want to do is create space for the this "great" stream of consciousness to do its thing, and it'll take you to a place where you are aligned with everything it wants to do.

So drop the possibility that you can do something wrong here, just let it happen as it does and it will present itself as everything you currently know. Expect that. And after some while you will start to see that this is okay and there cannot be another way.

Cheers to you,  

[abrakamowse]

I think the main problem is the ego that gets bored,  right?  I heard someone saying that at this point you have to let the ego get so bored that he will leave you alone.

?