Dangers Of Excessive Meditation?

[Marios Tsagoulis]

So, i decided to do a meditation retreat in my home.

3 days of full meditation

First day everything went beatifull. 10 sessions of 30 minutes each (5 hours total)

And now i am on my second day.(3 sessions till now)

And a thought just hit me.

What if my brain hasnt used to so much meditation?

What if is too much?

I have been meditating for 30 minutes a day for 1 and a half year.

I know that i act in a place of fear but...maybe arrogance can hurt me...

Any advise?

 

 

Edited November 18, 2017 by Marios Tsagoulis

[Ether]

Nothing will happen lol

[jhmarrio]

I would suspect there to be great resistance from the body and the brain especially in our over stimulated society. I have seen this when I meditate for prolonged periods of time. This probably signifies the most potential for growth... like someone at the gym pushing for that extra rep... its usually the hardest one but probably has the most benefit too. With that said I think there is a balance which needs to be assessed on an individual basis. I know for myself, I'm more content at this stage of my journey to have regular daily practice for shorter periods of time rather than marathon sessions spaced out. Ill also add, this doesn't mean you can't be mindful in your daily activities and obligations and practice here too...

[Shin]

The good old "but what if x, maybe it's too dangerous to do y" which 99.99% of the time means "How can I deceive myself to stay inconscious".

@Marios Tsagoulis What do you think you are working out when you meditate ? 

Edited November 18, 2017 by Shin

[Marios Tsagoulis]

@Shin I dont think that i just want a reason to stop my retrretreat.  It doesn't feel at all unpleasant. 

It is just like working out.

If you workout wrong you can damage yourself

Not that there is a perfect way to working out

But you must have a balance. 

It might be 3 days of meditation but I was thinking to do it more often.  Thats why I am concerned

 

[Marios Tsagoulis]

@Shin i work out my conciousness.

I'll give you an example. 

If someome hears all day bineural beats he might be damaged.

So i guess (as i really understood what im really asking)..

How much REST does the brain needs from session to session

And is it over 6-8 hours of meditation too much activity for the brain?

Of course i dont want the "perfect" answer to what im asking

I just want some guidance!

 

[Shin]

@Marios Tsagoulis I highly doubt you can have problem with too much meditation, if meditation is the only thing you really do.

If you're listening to audio, or if you are in a very painful position for your body, then yes it can be a problem.
Otherwise there is no reasons, raising your consciousness won't damage your body or your brain, it does the opposite.

The only way you could damage the body would be to activate your kundalini, but don't worry about that, generally it happens after self-realization, so it's not a problem right now.

[Leo Gura]

@Marios Tsagoulis Lol. You already failed by logging online.

Your mind tricked you. Let that be a lesson for next time.

FYI, standard Zen training begins with 100 straight days of meditation, with no talking to humans for 100 days. And that's just the start.

Quote

And a thought just hit me.

That's the whole problem right there. You see?

[Edvard]

24 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Marios Tsagoulis Lol. You already failed by logging online.

Your mind tricked you. Let that be a lesson for next time.

FYI, standard Zen training begins with 100 straight days of meditation, with no talking to humans for 100 days. And that's just the start.

That's the whole problem right there. You see?

Is it OK to have a daily one time short look at the phone to see if you have gotten any important messages during a 10 day retreat? Or will this usually spoil a lot of the practice?

Thanks.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Edvard

[Leo Gura]

@Edvard 20 years ago, you couldn't even imagine a phone message.

Now you can't live for 10 days without one.

[Edvard]

14 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Edvard 20 years ago, you couldn't even imagine a phone message.

Now you can't live for 10 days without one.

For me I can, it's just that someone's eventually gonna report missing person to the police...

[Shin]

5 hours ago, Edvard said:

For me I can, it's just that someone's eventually gonna report missing person to the police...

Then tell to all the people you regularly see to not expect to talk to you for 20 days.

How hard is that ?

@Edvard No. 
What I'm saying is that your mind is tricking itself to stay lazy.
You could look at your phone, that's not the problem ,the problem is that the only reason you presently would is to distract yourself.

What other people think of you is irrelevant, 99.99% of people will think you're stupid to just sit and meditate, so don't expect them to understand why you're doing a retreat.
That's one of the main reason people get stuck in this work, you really need to stop about what other people think of you. 
How could you do what almost no one is doing, if you think other opinions matters more than what you feel is right ?

Edited November 19, 2017 by Shin

[Edvard]

@Shin Makes sense, just a little messy + people would probably think I'm crazy. So thought that if it doesn't matter I could as well have a quick look at the phone. Unless it's a problem, which you are saying it is?

[Marios Tsagoulis]

@Leo Gura 1st day 10 sessions of 30 minutes

2st 3 sessions.....

Today 10 sessions

Important question:

When you trully cant finish a session a) push it till the end (so i guess do it mechanicly)

B) stop and rest for a short period

Are there any benefits of just waiting the timer to buzz?

[AlwaysBeNice]

You might become too happy for other people to relate too.

In all seriousness, there's nothing dangerous about it, the only danger is that you'll experience something quite profound that then an ignorant mind might want to use as a new identity, or worse, use it to create fantasies about itself and use that as an identity, of course still based on fear which it is too immature to admit still.

But that you fix easily by learning to just stop believing your thoughts, maybe think: 'thoughts, thoughts, thoughts' and see that it has nothing to do with who you are or reality, and that also there is no joy to be found in other people's admiration. 

[Leo Gura]

23 minutes ago, Marios Tsagoulis said:

When you trully cant finish a session a) push it till the end (so i guess do it mechanicly)

B) stop and rest for a short period

Are there any benefits of just waiting the timer to buzz?

Both ways have their pros and cons.

Pushing through to the end, even mechanically, can be good because it disciplines the mind. Often times, as soon as you accept that you are stuck there for the entire length of time with no option of retreat, your mind will surrender and get down to some serious meditating.

If you give yourself too many options during your sits, the mind will tend to be restless, thinking up ways to sneakily excuse itself from the task at hand.

The whole point of doing a retreat is to be extremely strict about it. That's what makes it different than regular daily meditation. You are on this retreat to meditate 24/7, without break. Even during your breaks, you must be meditating. Even as your head hits the pillow at night, you must be meditating.

You meditate until you start to lose your mind, and that's just the point when the real meditation starts

Retreats are serious things. It should scare you when you think about doing one. A retreat should be the toughest week of your year.

[Max_V]

@Leo Gura Fuck, just when I thought I would go on a retreat because it seemed enjoyable and peaceful  

[Leo Gura]

@Max_V Ain't nothing enjoyable or peaceful about a retreat. It's the most disturbed you will be all year.

That pain is how you know spiritual purification is happening. That's the devil leaving your body

If you want enjoyable and peaceful, go to a movie.

[Marios Tsagoulis]

@Leo Gura i was aware that i wasnt so strict about it!

Its the first time that i meditate for so long. It was  a test.

Of course next time i will be much more strict about it

Thanks

[Alexo45]

The dangers of excessive meditation:

Never waking up.