Strong Determination sitting

[Tony 845]

Ok, Hi I am new on this forum, I have been doing self inquiry, mantra mediation & strong determination sitting for about a year now, the longest I've ever sat for is (2 hours & 5 minutes strong sit) 

i have a some questions for everyone.

shinzen young has a video out its about 17 minutes, saying it's one of the fastest way to enlightenment, but in another interview he said he didn't become enlightened this way it was through self inquiry that really drove the nail home for him . But he also said that with the strong Sits that the pain went away & it became quiet? & that pain didn't hurt anymore so what is that like the 1st phase on enlightenment? Also after enlightenment do you still dream? Also is enlightenment the end of all anxiety? 

Also thank you Leo Gura for starting this forum you have helped me out during the worst times of my life, as well as Adyashanti, Echart, shinzen young & many other awakened/ liberated people. ?

 

Edited August 13, 2018 by Tony 845
Bad grammar

[cirkussmile]

Hey Tony!

Strong determination sitting is amazing, indeed. Its a great practice for equanimity, which is great! Staying equanimous and non-reactive for long periods of time is what you really want. 

I can’t help you with enlightenment because you are already what you looking for. That doesn’t mean you should stop meditating!  

Find your own way but remember that what you are looking for is here and not in another dimension or mystical state. 

 

[Rinne]

SDS is extremely powerful. 

You might find these threads interesting, check them out. 

https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/4845-1000-hrs-sds-in-6-months/

[Recursoinominado]

1 hour ago, Rinne said:

SDS is extremely powerful. 

You might find these threads interesting, check them out. 

https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/4845-1000-hrs-sds-in-6-months/

Great thread, makes me want to meditate again. 

[SoonHei]

Is SDS done with eyes open or closed?

[Tony 845]

Open, also staring at a blank wall close up, its awkward you defiantly need to do it alone, I've had the quiet part come over me almost like a ringing after a while in you're ears where the self talk stops, then the pain talk starts up again after a while.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Tony 845
Wanted to add something

[SoonHei]

bless

[PsiloPutty]

I love SD sits. They teach me so much more about patience, acceptance and the present moment than any other technique. 

[PsiloPutty]

@SoonHei  You can do SD sits with eyes open or closed. 

[SoonHei]

@PsiloPutty gonna try it this week

 

 

Just confirming the method

 

I just sit with eyes open or closed

 

But don't physically move, itch, turn head or anything?

 

And if eyes are open (this is likely how I'll try it first) I suppose I can move my eyes around? Or do I pick an object and keep staring at it?

 

Also, while I do this, what am I doing on the mind / thoughts side? Do I apply the "do nothing" meditation technique for the mind part of the awareness during the sds?

[PsiloPutty]

You have the right idea. Sit down, get comfy, close eyes or leave open (don't look around at things if you leave them open. Let them go out of focus) and then....you just sit there perfectly motionless. Pretend you have an observer watching you the whole time. All they should see is you breathing and swallowing once in a while, with sneezing and uncontrollable coughs as rare exceptions. Bottom line: you will know if you cheat. You can't lie to yourself. 

What you think of and "do" during the sit is up to you. For my SD sits, I usually do a half hour of mantra meditation, an hour of Vipassana and then just plain breath-focused meditation for the last while (2 hours is my new "record"). It gets wild at the end. I start to feel like I'm going crazy. How much time is left? The bell should have rung by now. Did I set it wrong and I've actually done 2.5 hours now? What is time? OPEN YOUR EYES!! No, leave them shut. OPEN THEM!    Lol, this is how the end always goes for me. 

[SoonHei]

@PsiloPutty wooah

 

thanks for that. let's see how it goes for me

 

and hopefully, to save me from craziniess, i sneeze or cough (uncontrolable of course) just to check to see i am still alive  

[PsiloPutty]

@Mikael89   I'm sure the OP will be back, but I've heard of it a few times in regard to eyes-open meditation. Having a wall right in front of your face is very similar to simply having your eyes shut, as there's nothing there to look at. The idea behind it is that your brain isn't interested in directing the eyes AT anything, so eyesight becomes just another sense idling in the background of the meditation. 

Now, if you ask what the difference is between doing that and just closing your eyes, I couldn't tell you. 

[Tony 845]

I've seen it on a video before People staring a few feet from a wall, I believe they were zen Buddhist staring at a wall. From what I've heard a lot of zen practioners do strong sits, for me I'd rather stare at a blank wall, this practice is already hard enough, I'd rather not look at anything to make my mind wonder more & yes I agree when you build yourself up to the 2 hour mark you defiantly start to get monkey mind & start asking yourself if you set the clock wrong, thought I was the only one thanks ? Also I do self inquiry at the same time I do the strong sits.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Tony 845
Wanted to add something

[PsiloPutty]

@Tony 845   Ha, yeah you're definitely not the only one.    

When the end is near and I'm starting to flip out and about to quit the sit, I try to stay with it just another minute because I know that THIS is what I was waiting for....what I was doing the entire sit for. I can almost feel it helping me in those final minutes. I never EVER get that feeling from a regular 45-min meditation. I can't truthfully say that it's "the taste of purification" that Shinzen Young talks about in his strong determination video on YouTube, but it's in the ballpark. To folks that have never done it, it seems like it should be easy to drag the session out another 1 minute or even 30 seconds, but you know what I'm talking about, it frazzles the mind like nothing else I've ever done. It's almost like being at the pool and trying to force yourself to stay underwater for 30 seconds longer. It feels that impossible when you're at the end.

[Tony 845]

    @PsiloPuttyThose last 15-20 minutes are hell, I feel like I'm not gonna have a big breakthrough till I get to the 2 & 1/2-3 hour mark, hope all this pain is worth it one day??‍♂️ I did 2 hours & 10 minutes last night, it's amazing how hard it is just to gain another 5 minutes on you're sit, seems like nothing till you try this shit, when you think about it, it's basically what the Buddha did, he sat under the bodi tree all night long, sounds like a strong sit to me ?

Edited August 14, 2018 by Tony 845
Wanted to add something

[PsiloPutty]

Well, you beat my record of 2 hours and 2 minutes.   

I'm going to do at least one sit like this a week for a while and see how that goes. Saturday mornings are easiest for me. I was only doing them once every few weeks, but I'm now starting to see their potential. 

[Tony 845]

@PsiloPutty I do them 3-4 days a week, sometimes more, this enlightenment thing can't come soon enough ?? & on my off day self inquiry & regular mantra mediation. 

[PsiloPutty]

That's a hell of a good schedule. It's not like I don't have time to do it a few times a week.....just don't have the balls!    Once a week is long-term doable for me. 

LOL, I had a couple fatass bean burritos the night before I did the 2-hour sit. I had a monster bubble of a fart in me, but I knew that pushing it out would ruin the sit, so I just let it churn in there. At times it felt like the pressure would just naturally let some of it out, but nope, it was in there the whole time, grumbling and knockin' at the door. I'm sure you wanted to know that!

[Pernani]

I tried to do a few strong sits b4 and what always keeps ruining them is when the pain gets really intense I start thinking abt how im gonna ruin my knees and joints! I actually used to feel knee pain when I would walk for a while during that time.

Another is: I do the do nothing technique along with it and when it starts going deep my head just lifts up automatically without me realizin it