5+ Hours Of Meditation A Day

[Jonathan]

   I intend for this journal to be about my journey with 5+ hours of meditation a day. I've never journaled, nor have I written much before. Excuse the deluded mumbo jumbo that will most likely occur through out my meditation purges/ raising of awareness. Also I'll most likely be quite scattered in how I organize all my sentences. If things seem ill arranged it's because I don't know an ideal order to present my thoughts. All the being said, here goes nothing! 

   I'll write briefly about the logistics of my practice. I wake up and on an empty stomach (aside from a glass of water) I'll set the timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Whatever technique I feel like doing that morning, I'll pursue. If at any point during the sit I feel another technique would be of better use, I'll switch to that. Most sits I'll use only 1 or 2 techniques, sometimes I'll switch it up and use 3. I do try to maintain a single technique if I can through out the entire sit though. After my first sit, I'll wait anywhere from 10-20 minutes to an hour to do my next sit. Which is generally an hour. Then I'll wait 10-20 minutes to an hour again and sit for another hour. After my third sit I'll wait maybe an hour or 2 then do my last formal sit (an hour and 30 minutes). That puts me up to at least 5 hours a day. (I'm not going to go into what makes me decide which technique to use, or when during a sit I'll switch to a different technique and why. I'll go into that another time) After that, I'll pepper my day with non formal sits and just enjoy the massive benefits of an expanded consciousness. 

   I'll briefly discuss how I have the free time to pursue all of this meditation. I live at my mom and dads house. A lot of people live at my parents place. There's my 2 brothers, (ages 19 and 23) my 2 sisters, (20 and 30) my nephew, my mom and dad, and my grandma. There's always a lot going on here. It's less eventful now as my 2 other sisters and 1 other brother have moved out in the last few years. Anyways, to the point of why I can afford all of this meditation free time. Long story short, I've been unfortunately blessed and cursed with a sensitivity to most artificial fragrances. Shampoos, detergents, deodorants, lotions, soaps and the list goes on, all have a strong effect on me. Some of the symptoms include dry eyes, dry throat, dry nose (all of these symptoms get really out of hand if I don't remove myself from the cause quickly) massive headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate, mood swings, depression and possibly a few I've left out. All of these symptoms make it difficult to be in a normal work environment. In the future I'll be pursuing out door work or working at home from my computer.(whatever jobs that entails) Anyways, in the meantime I've got a free pass to use 24 hours of the day, rather than be used by it  (Zen quote I think) I feel very blessed and thankful to be cursed to a solitary lifestyle. (I literally get sick when I'm around people who apply perfumes, deodorants, shampoos, yada yada) It's sped up my consciousness work tremendously to suffer from the emotional and physical issues life has dealt me (Albeit I definitely have it WAY better than 75% of the population still. All this consciousness work has made life very manageable and at times extremely rewarding!) Alright well, I think I've covered that enough for now. I know I could go into a lot more detail (How did I get sick, what have doctors said, and this that and the other..I'll save that for when I feel like writing about it)

  A few words to talk about the epicness of a lot of meditation on my psyche. Although I'm only 4 days into my journey of 5+ hours of meditation a day, there are some major differences I've noticed. I must say, I've meditated off and on for 30 mins, or so once a week for 3 years using count the breath meditation. In the last 5 months I've maintained a daily practice of at least 1+ hour of meditation a day in the morning. The benefits of meditation daily are tremendous and emotional intelligence is one of those tremendous benefits. Anyways, to speak more about my brief journey of the last 4 days. Everything is just BRIGHT, and beautiful. Everything just has the mystery about it, and I'm more fascinated by the mundane.(less boredom) When i'm around angry or irritated people, their emotions don't seem to trigger a reaction out of me. I'll still feel their emotion, but I don't argue with them or try to change their emotional state in any way. (That's huge for me, as I am the only meditator in my family and I used to walk around feeling like I need to help people get back to a relaxed state. Now I'll do that by remaining calm, rather than telling them to relax :P) My meditations have been a lot deeper. I seem to get to a state of profound presence at least once a day (randomly) and holy shit are these positive states. They make me feel like nothing in the world needs to change, everything is in fine order and I needn't strive for anything anymore. (My family is already fine with me not striving for stuff, as I'll be the one to tend for my parents when they get older and I've already failed hundreds of times at the striving game. I don't think it's in my cards. We'll see how things are after I'm enlightened.)  Alright, well.. There are more benefits but I feel like I've written a lot already today. I'll stop here. 

Edited April 11, 2016 by WhoisJon

[Jonathan]

Finished up all the formal sitting for the day. The first 4 hours weren't very enjoyable. Though I know from experience that I'll usually experience extreme bouts of bliss and tranquility after unbearable sits. The 5th hour of sitting was quite enlightening. A few thoughts such as "How lucky I am to be on this path." and "It gets better than this?" would cross my mind. Accompanied with a strong celebrative joyous feeling in my chest. Sometimes the few hits of contentment, peace of mind and exuberance are all I need to stay vigilant during those grueling sits. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

[Jonathan]

I'm on my 6th day of this practice. I'm realizing slowly that continued meditation helps to SEE and FEEL nonduality, but being aware of the presence I am isn't always necessary. It definitely helps me to see more clearly the awareness that I am.(Or to see everything I'm not and pretending to be, or the things I am and pretending I'm not. Or rather I'm not any particular thing, I'm not this, or this, or this, I'm all of them.) I'll continue to meditate for 5+ hours a day but I sense that I won't need to do this for very long. I am creation or presence whether I'm feeling blissful or high on meditation or not. I want to practice integrating truth realization with everyday life. Whether I integrate it or not, whether I forget it, or feel it, I am and have always been pure presence. Like I said, I'll continue to feel this felt oneness with the universe but I don't feel it's necessary anymore. I know I'm not enlightened though. I don't need to make this any bigger than it really is. Anyways, I enjoy meditating so I'll continue. I'll probably look back at this post and realize how I was deceiving myself once I've peaked further (even though no one is home to do the peaking) With that said, I've clearly got unfinished business. On wards to more realization!

Edited April 13, 2016 by The Village Idiot
Slight clarifications.

[Grant6]

@The Village Idiot This is quite the commitment you're taking on! Sometimes I can barely meditate for 20 min, let alone 5+ hours, that's very impressive. It's good that you're staying aware of your thoughts, that you could be deceiving yourself, that's an important thing to notice. Stay vigilant  and I'm curious to see what things you discover through your journey. 

[Jonathan]

   I'm dreaming.. I always have been dreaming! I've had glimpses of lucidity in this dream. I realize the all pervading presence is lying in bed right now dreaming the dream of all of creation.

   Another thing I've realized is that mystical states of consciousness and waking up aren't the same thing. In the dream I can have all sorts of larger than life experiences but still not realize I'm dreaming. I can become convinced that I've awoken from the dream because I'm flying through the air, (metaphorically) walking through objects, and feeling and seeing things I'd never thought imaginable; I'll miss the fact that I'm still in the dream doing all these magical stunts.

   I am awareness. I'll never die, I'll never be born. I make up everything, everything exists inside and on top of me. I am locationless and dimensionless. When you look for me, you'll find nothing and everything. All of that being said; I'm still not awake. I fall back asleep but not as fully as before, this knowing sticks with me. Only time will show if I'm deluding myself. Regardless I have the utmost assurance that upon the death of the mind and body, we'll see through it all. All in all, the dream of life seems to have lost a lot of its power to scare me.

   BTW! I only meditated 3 and a half hours yesterday and I broke my commitment to do 5+ hours of meditation a day. I feel no regret or guilt. I'm going to do my best to shoot for 5+ hours daily though as its really fun anyways. 

Edited April 16, 2016 by The Village Idiot

[Jonathan]

    Alright alright, I was a little high on insight in my last post. Things are pretty normal now. I guess to give a more practical, less air fairy description of my experience so far with ALMOST 5+ hours of meditation a day. I'm able to access peaceful states of meditation more quickly. Emotions are stronger but I'm able to handle them without feeling overwhelmed.                Physical pain doesn't really evoke as strong of a ouch response in my mind. Cold showers are a little easier to hop into. (rather than spending some time getting over the anticipation.) But yeah, normal benefits I think.. Anyways I'm tired, off to bed for me.

Edited April 16, 2016 by The Village Idiot

[appleaurorae]

TBH, I sometimes also want to meditate for such long. But for me 30 minutes is often too much (my legs go numb in half-lotus and still it's my favourite position to meditate). However, I started from 5 minutes, then when after several months, I set timer for 12 minutes it wasn't even half of what I wanted. But I plan to try longer, outside or with incense during vaca.

[Jonathan]

@appleaurorae I can't sit cross legged let alone in half lotus for longer than an hour, it causes some flair ups with some damage I did to my spine in my weight lifting days. I want to make it clear, I don't do much crossed legged sitting. Every other day or so i'll do some but it usually isn't optimal because of my back. Most of my 5 hours (3-4 hours) is done in a chair, than the rest is walking meditation. I've gotten profound benefits from this, that being said.. Non of this would be possible if I had limited myself to only crossed legged meditation. You'll still want to claw your eyes out (that feeling doesn't appear as much once you sit through it enough times), feel strong emotions, get aches and pains, and still feel an emptiness that needs to be filled with awareness. Anyways, I'd encourage you to spontaneously just sit longer than you would. Just see what happens. Sit with it, and remember that nothing is permanent, and give yourself completely. This will bring about emotional maturity and the release of past trauma. Good luck Apple! 

[Zane]

@The Village Idiot I love how dedicated you are with your five hour daily meditations and i love how you're experimenting with meditation techniques and how you feel the deep bliss and the benefits of meditation. I'm also glad that you enjoy meditation which is a great motivator to continue your meditation.  

[Grant6]

@The Village Idiot One time I was meditating for 20 min., then suddenly I wanted to go longer, and so I did. I stopped after 5 min. because I had to be somewhere, but at that moment there was an eagerness in me to sit for as long as I possibly could... kinda weird, I had never got that before. That happened after one month of 20 min. everyday. 

Do you meditate at the same time every day, and do you think it matters at all? Would meditating at the same time everyday have any advantages? 

[Jonathan]

   That might be a good sign. It might be time (if you have the time to do so) to increase your time spent meditating. Anyways it's really a beautiful thing to be able to sit there.. do nothing and actually enjoy it. Plus It's free!! (Except the time put in, but the rewards are out of this world.)

   To be frank, I've no idea if it matters. That being said, I think it's good to meditate in the morning everyday. (Whatever time you happen to wake up)       It'll help you get some traction with your practice. You'll notice it takes less time for you to get into a state of being that promotes relaxation, reflection and emotional growth. If you're able to (spare time during the day, if you've got any) just being mindful of what the senses are sensing can be helpful. Anyways, I'm really not qualified to give any advice..Leo is the dude for that.

[Jonathan]

@Zane Thanks man! Although I don't want to hide from the fact that I've not been meditating as much lately. I did 5-7 hours of meditation a day for the week that I started this. Now i'm doing anywhere from 2-4 hours a day. If I could, i'd change the title of this journal. Nonetheless your comment is appreciated, and after I work out a few things.. I'll get back to lengthier sits.

[step1]

On 18/04/2016 at 5:58 PM, The Village Idiot said:

@appleaurorae I can't sit cross legged let alone in half lotus for longer than an hour, it causes some flair ups with some damage I did to my spine in my weight lifting days. I want to make it clear, I don't do much crossed legged sitting. Every other day or so i'll do some but it usually isn't optimal because of my back. Most of my 5 hours (3-4 hours) is done in a chair, than the rest is walking meditation. I've gotten profound benefits from this, that being said.. Non of this would be possible if I had limited myself to only crossed legged meditation. You'll still want to claw your eyes out (that feeling doesn't appear as much once you sit through it enough times), feel strong emotions, get aches and pains, and still feel an emptiness that needs to be filled with awareness. Anyways, I'd encourage you to spontaneously just sit longer than you would. Just see what happens. Sit with it, and remember that nothing is permanent, and give yourself completely. This will bring about emotional maturity and the release of past trauma. Good luck Apple! 

Hey it looks like you are heading for this with full force.  Nice work.  You mention sitting for longer will bring out past traumas...  This is something I really need to experience as I have things from my past that I still haven't goit over..  How long would you advise sitting for to achieve this?  Currently I am doing 1 hour strong determination sits, have been doing then everyday this week, but not really feeling any benefit yet...  Oh and they feel like hell every time lol

[Jonathan]

@step1 Thanks! Yes that is a possibility. First off I can only recommend a course of action, that being said.. my advice isn't to be taken too seriously. Listen to Leos or Shinzen Youngs content, they've got a lot of it. Alright.. On to the advice. Keep doing the 1 hour sits. Something will come up from the surface eventually. If you want quicker results (these sits don't have to be Strong Determ sitting) do another 30m-1h meditation a day. If you know Shinzen Youngs 5 meditation techniques + self inquiry.. you'll have a lot to work with. Take your pick at what tool to use. Also, if you really want to make some quick progress be sure to do some sort of mindfulness or do nothing technique when you're in the midst of a crisis. (not always practical, I'm aware) But if you're able to bring awareness to painful experiences it'll make those experiences easier (as well as advancing your practice.) A simple trick (not so simple at first, but the anticipation is worse than the actual experience) for experiencing negative sensations while remaining mindful is to start with cold water when you take a shower. Get under the shower head, turn the water on, spend 20-30-40-50 seconds remaining conscious and aware of all the sensations arising whilst under the cold water.If you do try this, be sure not to spend too long with your head in the cold water. It'll give you a headache and is supposedly unhealthy for the brain. If your water is FREEZING than 2-3 seconds of it on each body part is sufficient. If it's just pretty cold, you would do 4-7 seconds on each body part. (spending less time with water on the head, also you can mostly focus on the upper body) Anyways, than you can switch to warm or hot water and take a normal shower. I hope you don't need any tips for that ;P Alrighty I could go into more detail but this might be enough. Good luck Step1!

[Jonathan]

 A quick post about my meditations lately. 

  Utilizing Leo's video "Radical Openmindedness - How To Break Free Of Dogma & Beliefs" I've been inquiring into the nature of my assumptions. Lately it seems that this of utmost importance. One assumptions I question, is the idea that there is an experiencer experiencing reality. I assume that "I'm" meditating or that "I'm" here. Who is this "I"? He seems to appear for a few moments than vanishes, only to reappear moments later. The continuity of this "I" is what usually gives it so much power and seeming truth. As "I" meditate and inquire more and more it becomes easier to see that this "I" isn't completely me. Where does "I" arise from? Where does it go to? My awareness isn't sufficient to see this yet. Still too many thoughts claiming authority over experience. This muddies the inquiry. Anyways this seems a good place to be; a lot of aspects of life are losing their intensity and where that tension once was contentment and joy now reside. On to more inquiry!

[Empty]

I think I need at least 3 to 4 hours meditation a day in order to get over my negative thinking and emotional problems. 

[Natura Sonoris]

@The Village Idiot  Hello 

I want to ask you some question since i want to increase my meditation time to 1 hour and 30 mins each day (i do 1 hour now). 

-Do you keep your eyes open or closed ? If they are open, it is natural that they get tired. If you want to keep them open on same level, you need to relax your body and not tense it. If you are tensed you can not do meditation properly. 

-How you deal with keeping your back straight ? I sit in the chair but i kinda feel that my body gets lose over the time and thus making my back move a bit.

-Also what you do with salaiva gathering in your mouth over time ?

[Jonathan]

@Natura Sonoris I meditate with eyes open and closed. 75% of the time I'll keep them closed.

Just keep bringing it back to a straight position, one day it'll stay there with ease.

I swallow the saliva but this doesn't seem to be much an issue for me.

Thanks for the questions