Recommendation for time put into consciousness-work daily.

[Max_V]

If one were to really want to progress in consciousness-work, how much time of meditation and self-inquiry is recommended?

I know I must find my own balance, but I’d like to have a standard set that I can work towards or stick around so that I can  be sure that through the years, growth is happening, and remind myself of that.

Right now I meditate 1 hour in the morning and 30 min in the afternoon. Next to that I do 30 minutes of self-inquiry in the evening.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Max_V

[nightrider1435]

That seems like a good balance. If you really want to ramp it up though... Psychedelics... But to each of their own, they are not for everyone. I know you're a young person, so I would recommend to just keep doing what your doing. 

[Danielle]

Quality over quantity. I use to do 1 hour and a half of daily meditation and found that I get lost in the monkey mind after an hour, now I do 40 minutes of laser focused meditation. My best advice is to judge by the signs outside of your practice. Any signs of purification? Insights coming? Sense of well being etc.  A good sign of progress is little to no difference in awareness when you're meditating and when you're not. Best practice is practice outside of practice 

[LaucherJunge]

About 2 hours of work daily is good in intermediate stages in my opinion, for beginners it is usually way too much and could lead to loss of motivation.
I would say after you hit 2-3 hours of work daily the best things that you can try doing to advance are being really aware during anything you are doing during the day or simply be aware of the breathing while doing it, this adds alot of growth. Also I highly recommend to meditate into sleep, Osho was saying that when you fall asleep meditating you will continue meditating while asleep, this adds many many hours on top although it is surely not as easy as it sounds at first.

 

[Joseph Maynor]

I'm kind of a nerd so I work on it all day alongside my work work.  I have my own solo business, so I work on this stuff all day long in my office.  I do other things in my day, but I always have a toe dipped in this stuff.  I am working hard on identifying my limiting beliefs relative to my life purpose now.  I am also mediating, writing some essays, journaling, doing psychedelics, and participating on here.  I also just got done watching all Emerald's YouTube videos, which are very good.  I also took amazing notes on her videos as I watched them.  I have a knack for taking just the right couple few notes so I don't end up with a lot of notes.  If you end up with a lot of notes, it's a pain in the ass to read them.  You want just the juiciest meat when you take notes.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Max_V]

@Joseph Maynor @LaucherJunge @Danielle @nightrider1435  Thank you guys for your suggestions.

I’ve committed to always being mindful throughout the day, which already I feel has been becoming easier and easier. So that is a big component of growing spirituality that I’ve added in my daily life. It’s very difficult but very satisfying.

I guess I will just keep experimenting with different amounts of time and balance between contemplation and meditation. I both love these very much, so it will take some time to figure out the right amount of time for both of these.

 

[Faceless]

Watching, listening to thought, and the field of reality objectivity is as important as an animal in the wild constantly observing its surroundings for danger. This is intelligence. 

[Girzo]

Please notice that you won't read on this forum that you should meditate 8 hours straight daily, because guys and gals practicing that hard don't have time to post on Actualized.org  

I would say meditate as much as you can! All day, all night. But I know it might be impossible considering everyone has to survive, so plan a week-long retreat and see what benefits long periods of meditation give, you can then compare it with shorter sessions and develop an understanding of how much meditation is enough for your purposes. Cheers

Edited January 15, 2018 by Girzo

[Max_V]

@Girzo I plan to do that in the future when I have all the time in the world to commit myself to this. I might even go and live in a monastery or ashram for a while.

But for now, I want to meditate and contemplate as much as I can next to finding my life purpose, studying hard for school, and reading books.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Max_V

[nightrider1435]

3 hours ago, Max_V said:

I’ve committed to always being mindful throughout the day, which already I feel has been becoming easier and easier. So that is a big component of growing spirituality that I’ve added in my daily life. It’s very difficult but very satisfying.

This is huge for growth, its like a snowball going down a mountain, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.