Meditation Questions

[zambize]

Hey everyone!  Started to take my meditation a bit more seriously recently, and I just had some questions so if you could answer any of them, I will read your responses and thoughtfully consider them so of course feel free to write as much or as little of a novel, I'll appreciate what I can get.

 

1.  I've increased my meditation habit from about one our a day to three hours a day and it started out a bit rough but now I could almost consider it enjoyable.  It ebbs and flows but if I'm not dealing with a particularly negative emotion bubbling up, the baseline could be considered lightly enjoyable.  Anyways,  that seems like it's a great sign of progress and as happy as I am about that, I'm afraid that my progress is going to slow.  Can I really be deeply benefiting from an experience that I consider largely enjoyable?  Is it wrong for me to assume that a lot of the progress I am receiving comes through dealing with and accepting negative emotions, and now that I just don't have as many negative emotions popping up, I shouldn't expect the same level of progress?  Should I increase difficulty to something like SDS?  I'm going to leave it at that for this one, but if you have a good point that isn't related to one of the questions I asked please type it out for me!

 

2.  During meditation I get deep senses of peace and happiness and really all sorts of emotions.  When something seemingly mystical comes up, should I keep the same mindset of accepting my thoughts and feelings and letting them go, or should I be deeply investigating these feelings?  I'm not always sure whether to pull out my magnifying glass and look deeply into the nature of some of these feelings vs. just kind of feeling/accepting/letting go.

 

3.  Is there something to be gained from doing one twelve hour meditation, vs three four hour meditations vs. twelve one hour meditations.  Does splitting it up and taking breaks strongly or weakly effect the results of the meditation assuming all twelve hours are completed?

 

I'll spare you guys more questions for now, but I was impressed with some of the thoughtfulness that you guys put into my first question(s), so thank you!

[non_nothing]

12 hours ago, zambize said:

, I'm afraid that my progress is going to slow

 

12 hours ago, zambize said:

but now I could almost consider it enjoyable

 

12 hours ago, zambize said:

Can I really be deeply benefiting from an experience that I consider largely enjoyable? 

 

12 hours ago, zambize said:

I shouldn't expect the same level of progress? 

 

12 hours ago, zambize said:

Should I increase difficulty to something like SDS? 

 

12 hours ago, zambize said:

I'll spare you guys more questions for now, but I was impressed with some of the thoughtfulness that you guys put into my first question(s), so thank you!

Why do you ask questions? What do you want?

[Consilience]

1) It’s perfectly fine to enjoy your practice. I feel like sustaining 3 hours per day is plenty of difficulty for now. The biggest thing is dont get lost in the bliss. Are you trying to feel good or are you trying to observe what’s true?

2) I would dedicate a specific time during your meditation to be examining emotions, and another segment towards surrendering and letting go. It sounds like you’re over thinking this one a bit. 

3) This is a great question. From my experience, it depends. Ive found that quality is more important than quantity for meditation. So maximizing quality is key here. However, Ive also found there to be a non-linear increase in efficacy as the mediation practice lengthens such that I suspect 1 super solid 12 hour session would yield greater growth than 12 1 hour sessions. But! This doesnt take into account time and also like... there’s no way id be able to sustain a 12 hour session at this moment, so the 12 1 hour would actually be more helpful given the quality principle. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Consilience

[PsiloPutty]

1) Wow, 3 hours a day is hardcore, especially since you were doing only 1 hour before. Might not be sustainable since it was such a huge jump in time, but more power to you for trying. I also think that your spiritual progress would improve if you incorporate some SD sits in there. Have you done them before? If not, I bet a 1-hr SD sit per day would get you further than doing 2 normal hours of meditating. 

2) I hear ya. I always check out strong emotions that surface during meditation, but if anything mystical happens, I'm not going to do anything....just go with it and keep breathing. I could easily imagine the whole experience dissipating if I were to focus my attention on something mystical as it manifests. 

3) I just don't know, other than to say that very few people can sit and meditate for 12 hours straight, myself for sure included. I wouldn't think it would be very productive, especially if you're fighting off sleep, and how could you not be? If someone gave me vouchers for 12 hours of meditation, and I could use them in the way I think would be the most effective for me, I'd do twelve 1-hr sits. 

[zambize]

20 hours ago, Consilience said:

1) It’s perfectly fine to enjoy your practice. I feel like sustaining 3 hours per day is plenty of difficulty for now. The biggest thing is dont get lost in the bliss. Are you trying to feel good or are you trying to observe what’s true?

2) I would dedicate a specific time during your meditation to be examining emotions, and another segment towards surrendering and letting go. It sounds like you’re over thinking this one a bit. 

3) This is a great question. From my experience, it depends. Ive found that quality is more important than quantity for meditation. So maximizing quality is key here. However, Ive also found there to be a non-linear increase in efficacy as the mediation practice lengthens such that I suspect 1 super solid 12 hour session would yield greater growth than 12 1 hour sessions. But! This doesnt take into account time and also like... there’s no way id be able to sustain a 12 hour session at this moment, so the 12 1 hour would actually be more helpful given the quality principle. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Yeah, I'm going to mix it up during meditation then.  As far as time wise Ill just do the maximum I can until I feel like the quality of my meditation is becoming questionable and just split it up so I can refocus.  Thanks for the reply!

[zambize]

18 hours ago, PsiloPutty said:

1) Wow, 3 hours a day is hardcore, especially since you were doing only 1 hour before. Might not be sustainable since it was such a huge jump in time, but more power to you for trying. I also think that your spiritual progress would improve if you incorporate some SD sits in there. Have you done them before? If not, I bet a 1-hr SD sit per day would get you further than doing 2 normal hours of meditating. 

2) I hear ya. I always check out strong emotions that surface during meditation, but if anything mystical happens, I'm not going to do anything....just go with it and keep breathing. I could easily imagine the whole experience dissipating if I were to focus my attention on something mystical as it manifests. 

3) I just don't know, other than to say that very few people can sit and meditate for 12 hours straight, myself for sure included. I wouldn't think it would be very productive, especially if you're fighting off sleep, and how could you not be? If someone gave me vouchers for 12 hours of meditation, and I could use them in the way I think would be the most effective for me, I'd do twelve 1-hr sits. 

1)  Yeah,  I've tried them they were certainly rough but if it's noticeably more effective I would be willing to do it for an hour a day.

2) I think I'm probably on the right track here then.

3) I wonder if the opposite extreme would be even more productive, like have a buzzer go off every single minute to mark that you should be refocusing on your meditation.

[PsiloPutty]

LOL, I sure wouldn't want a timer sounding every minute while I meditate.... I wouldn't be able to get deep enough or stay there long enough. This is why 45 minutes to 60 minutes seem to be the most popular sit durations for people. It's a good balance.

Have you read much about SD sits? Go to YouTube and just punch in strong determination sitting. You'll find a video by Leo, and another one by Shinzen Young. Both good videos that will motivate you to give it a try. I find SD sits emotionally very productive.