Striking a Balance: Refining my Meditation Practice vs. Technique Mental Masturbation

[Dovahkiin]

Hi everybody. Over the last few months I've grown gradually more confused about how to go forward in my meditation practice, and I think this community is the best place I can turn for some quick advice.

 

There are a ton of techniques I want to explore further - Do-Nothing, Mindfulness, Samatha practices, Self-Inquiry. However, at a recent Vipassana retreat (Goenka-style) I connected more with the Vipassana technique than perhaps any other technique. Goenka advocates Vipassana-only (albeit with a little Metta), and many people in those circles even go so far as saying different practices are like different wells for water - useless - and one must choose a single technique. To be honest, it seems dogmatic to me. My dilemma is that I don't feel experienced enough to select the right portion of what I learned on retreat (i.e. a certain amount of Vipassana via the method I learned, and doing sittings of strong determination regardless of type of meditation) and leave what I don't need. How can I trust my mind to make this decision? 

 

I like some alternatives I've stumbled on: 

I like the idea of incorporating self-inquiry into Vipassana, but I'm not sure how it should look on a detailed level. Body scan for a while and then switch to self-inquiry questioning / contemplation when the spirit moves me? @Leo Gura has mentioned this sort of thing, but if anyone can learn me on how this kind of combination would look or point me to a resource, that'd be great. Along these lines, 3 speed transmission (Kenneth Folk) sounds good, but I still feel unsure of the mechanisms of switching between / combining practices like this.

 

Ultimately, I see the danger I'm in here of neglecting doing serious work by continuing to think about these things instead of just picking something and doing it. Hopefully, responses will be useful for more people than just me - how does one strike a balance between trying a ton of stuff and decisively picking a direction, without skirting real work, and without going down the wrong dogmatic road? Everyone's different, so even general principles speaking to this challenge (as opposed to an explicit recommendation) would be great.

 

Thanks all.

[Nahm]

@Dovahkiin Sounds like Vipassna resonated, good to have that. As to picking, I’d write each option on separate notecards, and do some simple breathe focus meditation, and allow the path to arise. Here’s a list I found useful with some short and direct explanations and cautions:

For what it’s worth, I get the feeling you’re possibly being a little to hard on yourself. ?