When should I take meditation to the next level?

[Adodd]

I have been meditating for 6 months now. I started at 10 mins and am at 15. Should I focus on increasing my time or should I start focusing on slightly more advanced techniques? Would I be overloading myself by advancing to early? I am considering doing both by adding a second meditation session for the day.

Thoughts? Wisdom? Experience?

[Inliytened1]

@Adodd what type of meditation are you doing?  Remember, self inquiry is a type of meditation.  So is the do nothing, no thought.  So is contemplation.  So is concentration - which in a way merges with do nothing, but here you are focusing in on one thing in your direct experience.  

If you are only doing one particular type, then i suggest to switch it up. Work your way  to at least 30 min as well.

[Austin Actualizing]

Check out the book The Mind Illuminated by John Yates. It provides a systematic approach to reaching advanced levels of meditation quickly. There are 10 stages listed in the book. If the book isn't of interest then I would just recommend increasing the duration of the session so you can go deeper into the session. Whenever you feel like you can maintain mindfulness a far greater amount of time than monkey mind increase the duration of the session. Simple techniques can get you very far. 

[Ero]

@Adodd Experiment with other spiritual practices. If you are to stick with just meditation, you'll need to up your time significantly and do long retreats. It'll take helluva lot more. 

I'm currently at an hour a day for a year and a half now and utilise other practices as well and still need to up the intensity. 

Don't get discouraged, juts don't have unrealistic expectations. 

[allislove]

It won't hurt to increase a duration to 20-30 minutes. I find consistency and quality much more important than quantity in meditation. Also, I suggest to try to meditate the whole day long when you have time, just to have taste of it. Don't afraid to experiment in this work. 

[silene]

I would suggest upping the time first, and/or sitting twice per day, because you probably haven't sucked all the juice from your current technique on 15 mins per day. It can sometimes take me that long just to settle down lol. 

By all means try another technique, it's a good idea to have several techniques available for you. But I wouldn't get too hung up on how 'advanced' they are. It's more about what works best for you at the moment. Eg I use two methods, for concentration and insight. 

Also read a variety of books from different traditions (or online research if that's your thing) to get a good grounding in the breadth of this big subject. That should help you in deciding what general direction you want to take. 

[Forestluv]

@Adodd For me it’s not a thinking thing. It’s more feeling and intuition. Are you being invited to go deeper? If so, let go and relax into it. 

[Girzo]

Learn to meditate for an hour. One hour is very good for beginner, you should be able to do it by now.

If you went to Vipassana course, they would tell you to meditate for 2 hours, but you don't need to do that much for now. Start with just one hour in one session.

If sitting for one hour by yourself in silence is too much for you to bear, then I recommend listening to Rupert Spira's Yoga Meditations on YouTube. They give you a structure and motivation to finish this one hour session.

Rupert Spira, Yoga Meditations, really recommended. It's hard to find a better teacher than Rupert, he has depth and uses easy-to-understand language.

[Nak Khid]

6 hours ago, Adodd said:

I have been meditating for 6 months now. I started at 10 mins and am at 15. Should I focus on increasing my time or should I start focusing on slightly more advanced techniques? Would I be overloading myself by advancing to early? I am considering doing both by adding a second meditation session for the day.

Thoughts? Wisdom? Experience?

twice a day 20 minutes each is a good goal for you to reach.     Then in the middle of the day if you are stressed and want to relax or want to focus on a goal do 5 minutes or whatever you can based on  as needed

what is your current technique?

Edited December 20, 2019 by Nak Khid

[Adodd]

I plan to respond to all of you individually later tonight.  I didn't expect so many responses, thank you all for your time and your words.

[TheAvatarState]

@Adodd you already know what's best for you, just listen. 

[Tanz]

Add in breathwork for 10-30 min and meditate after that for 30-60 min.  It will do wonders in your life in a short amount of time.  

[Recursoinominado]

5 minutes ago, Tanz said:

Add in breathwork for 10-30 min and meditate after that for 30-60 min.  It will do wonders in your life in a short amount of time.  

What kind of breathwork?

[Adodd]

@Nak Khid

I do mindfulness meditation. I Also try to make sure I am being mindful throughout the day.  I also deleted my Facebook app and replaced social media time with researching spirituality, philosophy and different meditation topics throughout the day. 

[Adodd]

@Ero

What do you mean by "spiritual practices" I research and read about spirituality and meditation and nonduality daily throughout my days as well. 

[Adodd]

@Girzo I have added ten of his videos to my watch later list. I will probably go through them in 3 or 4 days. Thank you for the wise words.

[Adodd]

@silene I am constantly reading and researching these things it seems like. What two methods are you using?

[Adodd]

@Ero Thanks for the input. What other methods do you find most helpful throughout the day?

[Aaron p]

Aim for an hour a day, self enquiry, kryia yoga, do nothing. Psychedelics ????

It depends it you want to actually make progress. Feel the voice deep within yourself and listen to it earnestly. It's alright people being gentle and telling you to do whatever you feel you can, really that's ok. But your not gonna get enlightened doing what you feel you can. Push yourself homes. And see when you push yourself and commit, the lord gives you the extra strength to swallow the extra piece you bite off. Only by progressing can you obtain the power to progress

[Aaron p]

2 hours ago, Adodd said:

@Ero

What do you mean by "spiritual practices" I research and read about spirituality and meditation and nonduality daily throughout my days as well. 

Be careful. The mind wants to quantasize and measure. Only loosely use your mind concerning concepts about meditation and nonduality and god. Be much better to smoke some high quality DMT. 

I realised something very cool one time...truth is like a very strong detergent, and your mind is like clothing. You will wash the strong detergent In and out of your clothes to clean them. You wont let the detergent stay in your clothes or it will eventually dissolve the fabric. Truth should wash into and out of your mind. As truth comes into your mind passively and back out...what is the most pure will remain. Creating concepts about truth will eventually dissolve your progress.