How do i become more present and what is time?

[Zanoni]

Mindfulness seem to become a valuable practice during this time of turbulence. Have tried using mindfulness techniques that Leo explained in his vid.

The thing is, when i start to focus i get this burst of presence and after a while i get into unconscious thinking intensely. Like a harmonic oscillator i go toward one end and get pulled back. It seems i cannot get a consistent daily practice out of this as the ego backlash varies in intensity every time i practice mindfulness. This seem not to be the case for regular meditation that i do 30-45 min per day focusing on nothing. Only when i start to focus on something.

Any tip on how to hold a good mindfulness practice and reduce the intensity of a backlash?

 

And lets go metaphysical. Why am i not in the now all the time and need to practice it? Is there a reason for this function of ignorance? What is time? etc. 

Any info is appreciated!

 

“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”

― Eckhart Tolle,

 

"The present is the child of the past; the future, the begotten of the present. And yet, o present moment! Knowest thou not that thou hast no parent, nor canst thou have a child; that thou art ever begetting but thyself? Before thou hast even begun to say "I am the progeny of the departed moment, the child of the past", thou hast become that past itself. Before thou utterest the last syllable, behold! Thou art no more the present but verily that future. Thus, are the past, the present, and the future, the ever-living trinity in one—the Mahamaya of the absolute IS.

- The words of a Sage, known only to a few Occultists, The secret doctrine

 

And some fun time with George:

 

[Pacific Sage]

34 minutes ago, Zanoni said:

 

The thing is, when i start to focus i get this burst of presence and after a while i get into unconscious thinking intensely. Like a harmonic oscillator i go toward one end and get pulled back. It seems i cannot get a consistent daily practice out of this as the ego backlash varies in intensity every time i practice mindfulness. This seem not to be the case for regular meditation that i do 30-45 min per day focusing on nothing. Only when i start to focus on something.

Any tip on how to hold a good mindfulness practice and reduce the intensity of a backlash?

Lowering heart rate will do wonder for the body and mind as lowering heart rate relaxes the body and reduces the intensity of thought. 

Lowering of heart rate can be achieved by a longer exhale compared to the inhale, 5 mins of this prior to your meditation sit might change the outcome.

34 minutes ago, Zanoni said:

 

And lets go metaphysical. Why am i not in the now all the time and need to practice it? Is there a reason for this function of ignorance? What is time? etc. 

 

Time is a system created to bring in order and understanding to human mind but in reality doesn't exist as all we have at any given point of time is the present moment.

This is how the game is designed.

We are not in the present moment all the time as we are conditioned by birth to relate ourselves to the voice in our body. Once the identification with the voice becomes less, the more we ll be able to ground ourselves in being.

[Forestluv]

41 minutes ago, Zanoni said:

when i start to focus i get this burst of presence and after a while i get into unconscious thinking intensely. Like a harmonic oscillator i go toward one end and get pulled back.

It seems like you may have created a dualistic construct of perception. Your mind perception is either presence or intense thinking. Such dualistic constructs can create value judgements (presence is good, thinking is bad) as well as desire (I want to experience presence, I don’t want to experience thinking). This in turn can lead to an internal conflict.

There are many realms to explore within presence and within thinking.  As well as the dissolution of dualistic boundaries. For example, the presence of thinking. One can change their relationship to presence / thinking and expand their exploration and awareness. 

In practical terms of quieting an over-active monkey mind, a few things I’ve learned:

—The thinking mind wants to control the narrative, create thought stories to be grounded and decide what is true. 

—Loss of narrative control can feel uncomfortable and the mind may try to reclaim control

—Thinking is like a drug and deprivation of thinking can feel like drug withdrawl

A few things that have helped to reduce thought activity

—A key has been becoming aware of attachment/identification to thoughts, rather than the thoughts themselves

—To realize all thought constructs are sandcastles, not concrete. This realization makes it much easier to let go of thoughts.

—Letting go of the desire and grasping to have a 100% thought-free presence.

—Allowing thoughts to be background noise, like background traffic. They are just stray thoughts passing by. 

—To get curious about exploring non-thought realms

—The awareness of “Divine Cognition”. These are “thoughts” that appear that are not generic self-centered thoughts. In a way, they aren’t really “thoughts” since distinctions break down. Intuition, empathy, feelings, beingness, thoughts are are integrated. 

[Zanoni]

15 hours ago, Pacific Sage said:

Lowering of heart rate can be achieved by a longer exhale compared to the inhale, 5 mins of this prior to your meditation sit might change the outcome.

Makes sense why some guided meditations begin with "use your own technique to bring you into relaxed state of cousciousness". Have to try it out. 

15 hours ago, Serotoninluv said:

It seems like you may have created a dualistic construct of perception. Your mind perception is either presence or intense thinking. Such dualistic constructs can create value judgements (presence is good, thinking is bad) as well as desire (I want to experience presence, I don’t want to experience thinking). This in turn can lead to an internal conflict.

Seems like this dualistic construct was invisible to my perception. It dissapears out of sight when i put awareness into it, like a mirage, it is there but isnt. Have to observe it more often. 

 

Thank you both for the replies!