Do Nothing meditation

[starsofclay]

So I have been trying to practice (or not practice?) the do nothing meditation for a few days. I have never been able to form a successful meditation practice no matter how many times I've tried, so hopefully this will be the ticket. I put "do nothing" in the search box, but no results are found, so I'm making a new thread. I'll probably update it as more questions arise...

First of all, doing it with open eyes as Leo suggests is very distracting.. they cross and create double vision, move around, sting, etc.  For experienced non-doers, does this resolve over time or do I teach myself to not be bothered by it? Does the meditation lose any benefit by closing the eyes? 

Also, when I enter a stream of thought, I can't tell if I am forcing the thoughts or if I am observing them. Very tricky. 

Any other advice that you wish you knew when you started? 

[Stardog]

I believe you may have some success if you do some research into Shinay meditation. Yongey Mingyur in particular is very fond of this technique, and talks about it in length in his book The Joy of Living, but if you'd rather not invest in a book just for one concept, he also has a number of videos on youtube where he breaks the technique down. To paraphrase his core points, notice that you're breathing. Don't try and concentrate on the breath or count them or anything, just be aware that you're breathing in, and then that you're breathing out. If you just notice that you're breathing, it keeps you from getting lost in whatever thoughts are arising.

As for the eyes closed/open argument, the biggest downside to closing your eyes is it tends to make it easier to be carried away by your thoughts. Ideally you'll reach the point where the discomfort doesn't bother you, its just a sensation that you'll observe. You may also just get used to having your eyes open, and the discomfort will cease to even arise. I find with my eyes open its easier to remain anchored than if I close them, but that's the only real difference. If I can manage it, I prefer to do Shinay with my eyes closed just because its more comfortable, but I'll often resort to eyes open if I notice I can't keep from engaging with my thoughts. As for the forcing thoughts issue, that actually means you're doing well, even if it doesn't feel that way. Thoughts actually arise completely independent of you, that feeling of "forcing" them is just you noticing the stream, awareness of a thought prompts another thought and so on. The next step will be not engaging with them as they come, which comes just comes down to practice. As long as you are aware that you're thinking, don't worry to much about how much your thinking. Its when you start daydreaming that it becomes a problem, but even then all you have to do is think "these are thoughts" and notice where you are in your breath. Mingyur also emphasizes short practices, but many times. Do like 5 minutes of do-nothing/shinay, take a break, do 5 more, etc. Eventually you'll be able to do it for longer, but a few short, successful sessions are significantly more helpful than a single long session where you're constantly getting distracted/frustrated.

Hope that helped, I'm not an expert by any means but I'm definitely familiar with the problems your having, and this is what has helped me to iron them out.

[starsofclay]

@Stardog thanks, that's pretty helpful. I will look up the Shinay videos when I have a chance. 

I have tried variations with eyes open/closed, but I see what you are saying about engaging with thoughts, and it makes sense. I like how this meditation can be done anywhere, any time, and for any length of time.  I have tried it in the bathtub, in a chair, and this morning when my alarm went off, I snoozed it for 5 minutes at a time and tried to practice in between each snooze, for a total of 15 minutes.  That was more or less successful because I often slip into a short dream or start seeing images almost immediately when doing it that early. That being said, it's also kind of fun to explore the hypnagogic state, although distracting for the purposes of meditation. 

[starsofclay]

An update:  wow I don't know how long I practiced this morning, no more than 10-15 minutes. At the very end,  thoughts took on a different form, almost like commands. I should do this, and I should do that. Random things that weren't in my thouht stream at the time. Also got a couple images... One of a few cars going down the highway, and one of a sparkling puddle of water. Did my best not to engage in the images, or be distracted. 

Still no silence or peace, but feeling very hopeful with this meditation.  It's one that I can sustain for longer periods of time and not get aggravated when I mess up. 

[Faceless]

?Don’t get caught in hope my friend. Just an extension of the belief that this method will bring about security of the mind. This is a movement of escape. Do you see that? 

Trying to do nothing is still doing something.  

U see this “trying” is the flaw here. 

Edited January 30, 2018 by Faceless

[starsofclay]

@Faceless I see what you are saying, though I meant hope in finding an actual meditation, not in the effects and benefits. I can see how I framed the sentence wrong, though. 

Fundamentaly I understand that there should be no trying, but oh well, I'm still a baby at all this

[Faceless]

3 minutes ago, starsofclay said:

@Faceless I see what you are saying, though I meant hope in finding an actual meditation, not in the effects and benefits. I can see how I framed the sentence wrong, though. 

Fundamentaly I understand that there should be no trying, but oh well, I'm still a baby at all this

??

Just so u know this doesn’t have to be a long drug out process. I wish u the best friend 

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by Faceless

[YellowButterfly]

I've had this type of meditation do wonders for me and I found it's actually the best way I've ever tried to achieve results. When I do this meditation I basically allow myself to breathe, blink when need be, as well as allow involuntary leg jerks or body movements. My vision did get blurry as well but I just allowed this and blinked when absolutely need be while keeping my eyes focused on a fixed point. I didn't really focus on whether or not I was having thoughts or to stop them as I just let them be and honestly focused more on the feelings within my body as well as the spot I was looking rather than attempt to control anything as well as maintaining a positive emotional state. If I got an itch or something I just let it be until it faded and the sensations honestly do fade. I found it can also help listening to a binaural or a singing bowl as I do this though it became quite intense as it is what led me to my kundalini so if it ever got too intense I just paced myself a bit more. With meditation sometimes you do have to pace yourself.

[RawJudah]

I’ve been trying this technique since 23rd November last year and just recently I’ve stopped because all I’ve really been doing is daydreaming and not focusing at all. Which I only come to understand by reading another post on here the other day. I’ve been daydreaming instead of actually meditating lol.

Such a waste of time when I thought I was getting somewhere with it!

 And I know exactly where your coming from with the eyes open and it hurting/constantly trying to keep them open. To me it seems when I’m not tired it makes it easier, but I work a full time job and when I get home I’m so tired it’s unbelievable. 

I’m going to give it another try Next month I reckon.

[molosku]

Try this: when you notice you are trying to figure out how to do "do nothing", drop the figuring out. 

When you notice you are suspecting you are doing it wrong, drop the suspicion. 

When you notice you are trying to drop something, drop the dropping. 

When you notice you are trying (to meditate) drop that also. 

If you notice you are trying to remember what I adviced, drop that remembering. 

Non-manipulation meditation sound nice and relaxing but it's actually often quite difficult as you have been contioned by others and yourself to constantly manipulate everything. How to manipulate yourself to not to manipulate?  Its simple, all you need to do,  is....... 

Edited January 31, 2018 by molosku

[starsofclay]

@YellowButterfly this is good advice, thanks. I'm quite used to letting itches be, because I've experimented a lot with trying to induce trance and sleep paralysis. Was never successful though and I think that practicing do-nothing will greatly help in those areas, because I could never quiet my mind enough.

 @RawJudah could you tell me in your words how you were daydreaming and not doing this correctly? 

@molosku thank you, this is very good non-advice 

[Stardog]

Glad to hear you're making progress. I like what you're doing with the snooze button, I used to do something very similar. In a book on meditation by the Dalai Lama (can't remember the title off the top of my head) he actually suggests meditating first thing in the morning, as opposed to the late morning/fully awake approach many western meditation teachers suggest. I've done both and find the results to be interesting. My later meditations definitely feel better in the moment, I reach deeper states and am more focused, BUT I feel like the first thing after I wake up meditations are more helpful long term. While I'll often lose concentration or even fall back asleep, my mind feels much clearer throughout the day and after I've done it consistently for a while I start to notice much more awareness in my day to day life even when not meditating. I think doing it first thing in the morning before you're at your mental peak shifts your mental baseline more efficiently than focusing on peak mental times. The initial results aren't as drastic, but I find them to be more consistent. I fell off the meditation train a few months ago and have been slowly rebuilding the habit since. You've inspired me to practice what I preach, I think the next habit I build back up will be the early morning meditations.

One thing I want to throw out there, I don't think this meditation technique on its own is meant to bring "silence or peace." Rather, its really good for getting you used to interacting with your mind without being dragged along by it. Essentially, in my experience the idea isn't really ever to achieve silence or peace (Yongey Mingyur actually recommends actively bringing thoughts to mind during Shinay if you ever feel like there aren't any there to observe,) but to build up and stretch your mental muscles, like warm up exercises. After you've gotten the hang of this (by which I mean can observe without engaging) try moving on to meditating on the breath. THAT will entail actually quieting the mind and bringing about relative silence and peace, but I don't think that's what you should be looking for with this exercise.