Am I meditating if I am focusing on something else than breath?

[Ibn Sina]

Example, 

let's say I am reading with deep focus, where I bring my attention back to my object of focus again and again, just like when meditating with breath.

Or when drawing?

Or walking?

Or singing?

Or cooking?

Edited September 28, 2019 by Ibn Sina

[abrakamowse]

I went to a Zen place and we used to practice walking meditation. You can meditate the whole day if you can. There's not a position or anything that you have to be to meditate. 

There's some people who meditate using an object as a point of attention, like a candle for example.

If you train your mind to meditate the whole day, you will be able to do it while doing anything. But that requires hard work and mastery.

I'm actually trying to meditate the whole time, but I forgot. When I forgot I draw my attention again to anything I am doing and that's meditation. I do it while at work, while walking any time... it's hard, but it's possible to do. IMO.

Edited September 28, 2019 by abrakamowse

[Ibn Sina]

1 minute ago, abrakamowse said:

 I draw my attention again to anything again I am doing and that's meditation. 

So according to you, it is.

[abrakamowse]

2 minutes ago, Ibn Sina said:

So according to you, it is.

Ok, according to me you have to put your attention on any object. What I do when I am working for example, that there's a lot of objects that I have to handle is I try to be the more aware I can of what I am doing, like being completely mindful on my task and trying to not be distracted from other things, like going to a website, or internet, or trying to do several things at one time... 

I am not sure if that is meditation, but I think it is... let's see what others have to say about this topic. I wanna learn too.

[Ibn Sina]

9 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

Ok, according to me

 

9 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

I am not sure

 

9 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

I wanna learn too.

9 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

let's see what others have to say

Signs of High intelligence and  Small Ego.

Edited September 28, 2019 by Ibn Sina

[abrakamowse]

@Ibn Sina  Thanks. You made my day.

 

It's weird that "society" catalogues all those treats as bad, right? But that's for another post. I don't want to change the topic on this one.

Thanks again for posting your question, really interesting topic. I think we must be in a similar "wave" because I am also looking to meditate while doing other things. I will search on the internet and I will share more info here, for others that could be interested too.

[Adam M]

Meditation is the practice of steadying your attention on the present moment. Of course, one can be mindful while cooking, walking, driving, etc. 

However, it is extremely important for beginners to understand that being mindful throughout the day is NOT an adequate replacement for traditional sitting meditation practice.

A very good way which I have learned to integrate mindfulness into my every day affairs is by going on Vipassana retreats. There, I do walking and sitting meditation. When I am not meditating (eating or using the bathroom) I am maintaining the practice of mindful labeling.

 

So, as a beginner. It is important that you do formal meditation practice daily. Do not confuse focusing while you're reading or cooking as being an adequate replacement.

I have a video called "How Meditation Works" with much more details and examples if you are interested.

[abrakamowse]

@Adam M Thank you!

[abrakamowse]

41 minutes ago, Adam M said:

I have a video called "How Meditation Works"

Where do you have it?

[Truth Addict]

You are meditating even while sleeping. You can't not meditate, but you can suffer/make others suffer or not. That's the only difference.

Edited September 28, 2019 by Truth Addict

[FredFred]

@Truth Addict What are you even talking about?

[Truth Addict]

7 hours ago, FredFred said:

@Truth Addict What are you even talking about?

To assume that meditation is a separate process for achieving some future goals is the obstacle for doing actual meditation. Yet, there's no difference between actual meditation and fake meditation except the suffering that comes along as a result faking it, even unknowingly.

Meditation is literally being in the present moment. Can you not be in the present moment?

Edited September 29, 2019 by Truth Addict

[Adam M]

@abrakamowse

 

[Nahm]

5 hours ago, Ibn Sina said:

Example, 

let's say I am reading with deep focus, where I bring my attention back to my object of focus again and again, just like when meditating with breath.

Or when drawing?

Or walking?

Or singing?

Or cooking?

Yes. The breath is just a bit ideal, because if you are experiencing, you are breathing. So no matter what occurs, there is the breath. 

But yes, all meditation (imo) - as they are other-than-sucked-into-thought-stories- presence / mindfulness. Meditative walking, only-eye-and-ears is great as well. 

[How to be wise]

5 hours ago, Ibn Sina said:

Example, 

let's say I am reading with deep focus, where I bring my attention back to my object of focus again and again, just like when meditating with breath.

Or when drawing?

Or walking?

Or singing?

Or cooking?

As a beginner you should only focus on sitting with your eyes closed. When your mind gets a hang of the practice, it will do it on its own, despite what you’re doing. Until then, I advice that you stick with a normal meditation practice.

[Bill W]

25 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

As a beginner you should only focus on sitting with your eyes closed. When your mind gets a hang of the practice, it will do it on its own, despite what you’re doing. Until then, I advice that you stick with a normal meditation practice.

I swear you and Truth Addict are not human beings and just bots that came with the software package Leo purchased for this forum. 

Come on man. Who said he was a beginner and what the hell is a normal meditation practice? 

[Truth Addict]

3 hours ago, Bill W said:

I swear you and Truth Addict are not human beings and just bots that came with the software package Leo purchased for this forum. 

Come on man. Who said he was a beginner and what the hell is a normal meditation practice? 

I'm hurt. Oh wait, I'm just a bot ???

Edited September 29, 2019 by Truth Addict

[Ibn Sina]

@How to be wise @Adam MLOL so many people saying I am a beginner because I asked a simple basic question which only shows their judgemental nature and their desire to go one step above so that they can feel better , I have been practicing spirituality since I was 14 and now I am 21,  I know the answer to the question as given by other enlightened people like Osho and Krishnamurti, I am also familiar with Gyana yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma yoga,Samkhya yoga, Walking meditation, Mindfulness, Pranayam, Asanas, Mudras, Mantra meditatation, Trataka (candle light meditation), Vipassana, Anapanasati, Soham meditation, Do nothing meditation, Leo's enlightenment exercising , neti neti method , Dynamic meditation and other Osho's meditations whose name I have forgotten but have came across in the past. I have read Osho's book 'Yoga the alpha and the omega' 5 years ago and I still remember he saying-  Even if you are completely focused on your toe, that can become meditation. I have read over a dozen of  Osho books, but nowdays due to my busy schedule I don't. In addition I have deeply studied - The Geeta, The Dhammapada, Read bits of Tripitaka, Read many articles on Hinduism and Buddhism wikipedia and non-wikipedia, Read a book on Christian mysticism, Read Kierkegaard's fear and trembling, Read Hegel's science of logic, Read Metaphysics of Heraclitus , Parmenidies, Descartes and Spinoza,  Watched 100s of videos from Leo, Osho, Krishnamurti, Sadhguru, Have also studied  the art of living by William Hart as taught by SN Goenka and this is not my complete  resume.

I just wanted to ask what people have got to say about this, and stimulate a discussion and collect different perspectives (as described by Leo in his vid the 65 rules of a good life). Also I believe in going back to the basics no matter how many years you have been practicing your disicpline, whether it is spirituality or medicine, or art. Great masters always focus on basic, you should notice that in any training session on martial arts. We should cut out this habit of judging someone as a 'beginner' or a lesser then you just because now you can feel better. This only shows a sign that you are egoic and less developed spiritually and have not learned anything. Earlier I said to a user that you have small ego, this means that I am not biased but I collect the signs that the users display and put them in the category that they belong and then look at the corressponding category. Just like when I see that you are having fever, with chills and rigor, with nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, lack of appetite and your ag-ab titre is more or your blood culture shows positive then I can suspect typhoid, or if you have fever and swelling the parotid gland area and you feel difficulty chewing and swallowing and your age is 5-10 then I can suspect you have Mumps which is caused by Paromyxovirus.

This means that I should make my post such that I don't let people judge me in an inferior manner and I have to start with , "don't get me wrong I am not a beginner because  ____", but my impression was that people are already developed enough to not make 'false inferior judgments' and feel better, but apparently I am wrong. 

Edited September 29, 2019 by Ibn Sina

[abrakamowse]

@Adam M Thank you! I will take a look at your video. You have a nice youtube channel. Thanks again!

[Raptorsin7]

@abrakamowse Don't have much to contribute, i just really like the way you go about interacting with people. You seem like a really good person haha (: