need help choosing a meditation technique

[zunnyman]

I need help choosing a meditation technique based on various pros and cons, my experiences, and leo’s video advice 

Do nothing

* I have been doing this for 1.5 years and learned a lot about its application, and feel like since I did it so long I might as well master it (might be attached to the amount of time I invested) yet ..

* most days I just feel like I am in monkey mind and doubting myself if I am doing it correctly even though I have read a lot on do nothing and many days I can say with certainty I am doing it right. This is my biggest reason for changing to strict mindfulness meditation with labeling

* feel like I am going deep and noticed much spiritual purification with this

Strict mindfulness meditation with labeling 

* Always feel like I am doing this technique right, and don’t get lost in monkey mind due to the labeling component that gives the mind focus 

* Noticed towards the end of the video leo says to shine mindfulness on the I, and I got the sense that I can’t have ego-death with just focusing on the 6 types of sensations he says to place mindfulness on. The reason i say this as a problem because, I really care about “proper application” and after being unsure about the “do nothing” technique for so long, I want a technique where my “proper application” is very on point. And I don’t know how to shine mindfulness on the I, as well as I do for the 6 sensations

* On leo’s start page, he said this is the most important habit to build 

Leo’s next level of meditation 

* Through this technique I have personally experienced the most joy and peace, and almost ego death many times even though I have done this maybe a total of 20 times

Strong determination 

* Leo says this is the fastest path to enlightenment 

[Guest Quanty]

Best technique, no technique. Let everything go, even meditation. Listen to breath like you depend on it. That is it. 

[zunnyman]

I don’t think I am ready for “no technique” as that just leaves a beginner like me confused. 

But I do like attention on the breath. It puts me in my body, good suggestion. I will consider this as well among the other techniques

[Violina]

Vipassana - just focus on your breaths. That's all. Seems easy, but it's very difficult (for me).

[zunnyman]

So many techniques haha, don’t know how to decide which one

@Outer Why do you recommend self inquiry over other meditation techniques? Have your results and experiences been better? Do you find application hard? I remember trying it in the past, but just getting frustrated with it. I guess I have a problem with techniques that have a risk of improper application or much monkey mind you can get lost in or just the doubt of not doing it right, and getting disheartened and unmotivated because of that feeling. This is why something like strict mindfulness or strong determination or awareness on the breath appeal to me as it just seems so hard to get it wrong. I would hate to spend years doing meditation wrong. Well it seems like thats what I did already with do nothing. Not sure haha

[zunnyman]

@Violina @Quanty Wow 2 people for the breath haha

Why do you guys like this technique more than other meditation techniques? 

[Torkys]

You can also try being aware of your breath for 5/10/15 minutes then switching to Do Nothing - with the latter, you just want to maintain a non-resistant attitude. In my experience, this supercharges the spiritual purification. 

I am voting for the Do Nothing technique

[Dogsbestfriend]

Agree with @Outer  - self-inquiry is very helpful to the other methods of meditation. But understanding yourself and your thoughts - breaking them down, it becomes much easier to experience stillness.

[Till]

From my personal experience with my meditation group which I organize is, that people focus too much on just thinking about there formal meditation. For example if you step by step make changes on your diet, it could supercharge your already existing meditation practice. 

It is much easier to target a new field and get improvement out of it, than to optimize something even more in which you already spend lots of afford on.

[luckieluuke]

I prefer breath. It´s our most natural and close experience. It´s between something we can control and not control. It´s the most basic and profound thing. It´s also in my experience the most difficult because it´s so ordinary, which makes it so strong. Even if I count my breath i´m counting, using mathematics and exterior concepts. Just focus on your breath is the closest to this moment you can get. Let go of all concepts and ideas. Labeling and self inquiry is just something else to get caught into.

Other techniques might seem better because momentarily you seem to get more clarity. Like if you chant the same word repeatedly. That is more like a trance and can be effective to still the top layer of your mind. But if you want to still your mind to the deepest level. Breath is the simplest and most direct way to go. 

Edited July 6, 2018 by luckieluuke

[Crystalous]

The problem is that you need help choosing a meditation technique.Stick with one....every technique gives you results.Stick with one for three months to see what are the benefits and after it you can try a new one.

[Naviy]

Recently I started to feel resistance to any formal techniques. When I am performing a formal technique, it feels like I'm missing something or sabotaging myself.

Now I do something that I call "freestyle" meditation. Basically, it's a combination of all the popular techniques and also some intuitive internal action.

I sit and feel what would bring me the most clarity now. And do it.

For example, I might feel that I need to give attention to my thoughts and let them run through my mind for a while. Then I might feel that I need to focus on my breath more. Then gently let my thoughts go. Then focus on some physical feelings. Then inquire what a thought is and how all my knowledge is based on thoughts. And keep inquiring on different topics. Then -- feeling my emotions. Trying to see the source of them. Let them go. Intuitively let mind and body to heal. Then Do Nothing with no control for a while. And then focus on breath. Count breaths or just focus on the sensation of breathing. And so on. Sometimes I do even guided meditations.  

I like it, but I am not 100% absolutely sure that it's not just me trying to avoid effort, that is especially necessary for strict formal techniques. However, intuitively this style of meditation feels effective. 

[luckieluuke]

@Naviy I like this as well. But one danger for me is that like @Crystalous said it´s usually good to stick to one method. For me if I change between say 4 methods I only reach 25% in each instead of 100% in one. If you keep swapping methods you don´t go as deep as you would with only one method. And the deeper you go the more effective it is.
So I agree with @Crystalous Just choose a method an stick to it. Personally I choose breath. 

[Naviy]

@luckieluuke

Yeah, but it is a little bit different from blindly jumping from one technique to another.

Because in "freestyle" technique you actually know and feel what will bring you the most clarity/awareness/healing right now and you do it. For this you need to have some experience with each of the popular techniques. You have to "get" what's the essence, idea, usefulness of each technique is, so you could consciously switch between them and even effectively improvise and follow intuition.   

I guess, that if you've been doing a technique for less than a year, then you might not have enough reference experience to actually get the purpose of this technique. And you cannot effectively use it via intuition then.

Actually, what I've mentioned in my post, is more an improvisation and intuitive inner action than switching between formal techniques.

Edited July 6, 2018 by Naviy