Pure Stillness. How To Carry It On During The Day?

[Garuda]

Anyone reached stillness during mediation? It is not just the calming of the mind/thoughtlessness but a pure subtle stillness. It is extremely subtle. Its hard to describe. 

I can get this 'feeling' (I say feeling, but essentially its just nothingness) during mediation and I try to hold onto it during the day but its no where near as intense. It fades away as I carry on with my day and completely vanishes as I work. Sometimes I regain the feeling randomly during the day, and I just sit there looking like I'm daydreaming but I'm completely still.

Any ideas on how to make this 'feeling' last outside of mediation?

[Prabhaker]

1 hour ago, Garuda said:

how to make this 'feeling' last outside of mediation?

Go on doing meditation. Do not seek results, they will come by themselves when the time is ripe. And the time is ripe. but you still are not. Let meditation ripen you.

[Barna]

Try 2-5 seconds of mini-meditations in every half an hour. 

[MsNobody]

I have those glimpses during the day too, but the more I want to control and make them longer they fade away, mindfulness is helping me a lot, it might help you too

 

[Azrael]

5 hours ago, Garuda said:

Any ideas on how to make this 'feeling' last outside of mediation?

This stillness - which is actually complete infinity if you go into it - is ever-present in any situation. So it doesn't matter if you sit in a still meditation or whether you are in a loud train, going to work. If you are in a loud train notice that every sound is coming out of something and goes into something. Also notice that when you or your environment moves, the sight comes out of the same thing and goes to the same thing. You (what you call you) come out of that and go into that. It is the ever-changing still present moment that there is.

So start noticing it when you go through your day with sound. That's actually quite a give-away. When you got that, try sight, feelings etc. Any perception and thought that you can make out will do.

[Bob84]

@Garuda bring your mind to your body, away from your head space. Ex focus on how your feet feel when you walk in the morning, and make a routine out of it.

[askdfjnak]

9 hours ago, Garuda said:

Anyone reached stillness during mediation? It is not just the calming of the mind/thoughtlessness but a pure subtle stillness. It is extremely subtle. Its hard to describe. 

I can get this 'feeling' (I say feeling, but essentially its just nothingness) during mediation and I try to hold onto it during the day but its no where near as intense. It fades away as I carry on with my day and completely vanishes as I work. Sometimes I regain the feeling randomly during the day, and I just sit there looking like I'm daydreaming but I'm completely still.

Any ideas on how to make this 'feeling' last outside of mediation?

 

You never carry stillness.

It carries you.

All you have to do is nothing.

[Arman]

It takes long-term practice and persistence to establish that state firmly into your experience as a constant. 

but if you want to just activate it and consciously enter it that experience... just do it. Focus on an object and release into the moment. Or defocus your attention entirely and release into the moment. 

[jjer94]

Paradoxically, trying to make the feeling 'last' is what brings you out of the feeling.

You can't hold onto any thing. Meditation helps you realize this.

The less you hold on or "maintain", the more you realize the effortless stillness that's always there. It's the default.

[Garuda]

17 hours ago, Prabhaker said:

@PrabhakerGo on doing meditation. Do not seek results, they will come by themselves when the time is ripe. And the time is ripe. but you still are not. Let meditation ripen you.

If don't seek anything I feel like I will just get stuck in the mud.

 

15 hours ago, Barna said:

@BarnaTry 2-5 seconds of mini-meditations in every half an hour. 

Might try mini-mediation but usually  I need 10 mins to get into a groove to meditate. 

 

15 hours ago, Laisa said:

@LaisaI have those glimpses during the day too, but the more I want to control and make them longer they fade away, mindfulness is helping me a lot, it might help you too

 

mindfulness? Any more details on how to do this?

 

13 hours ago, Azrael said:

@AzraelThis stillness - which is actually complete infinity if you go into it - is ever-present in any situation. So it doesn't matter if you sit in a still meditation or whether you are in a loud train, going to work. If you are in a loud train notice that every sound is coming out of something and goes into something. Also notice that when you or your environment moves, the sight comes out of the same thing and goes to the same thing. You (what you call you) come out of that and go into that. It is the ever-changing still present moment that there is.

So start noticing it when you go through your day with sound. That's actually quite a give-away. When you got that, try sight, feelings etc. Any perception and thought that you can make out will do.

 

13 hours ago, Bob84 said:

@Bob84bring your mind to your body, away from your head space. Ex focus on how your feet feel when you walk in the morning, and make a routine out of it.

l feel like this would probably just make me analyse everything like crazy and drive me in the opposite direction. Will give it a shot.

 

9 hours ago, Marc Schinkel said:

@Marc Schinkel

You never carry stillness.

It carries you.

All you have to do is nothing.

But I wont progress 'spiritually' if I do nothing. I wouldn't have come to this forum if I hadn't done and 'spirtiual' practices

 

 

6 hours ago, Arman said:

@ArmanIt takes long-term practice and persistence to establish that state firmly into your experience as a constant. 

but if you want to just activate it and consciously enter it that experience... just do it. Focus on an object and release into the moment. Or defocus your attention entirely and release into the moment. 

I can kind of activate it. But sometimes I can go through the whole day without even thinking of it, getting caught up with work or whatever. By the time I leave the house the intensity has dropped to 10% of what it was in my mediation. Guess I need to make it more of a priority.

 

2 hours ago, jjer94 said:

@jjer94Paradoxically, trying to make the feeling 'last' is what brings you out of the feeling.

You can't hold onto any thing. Meditation helps you realize this.

The less you hold on or "maintain", the more you realize the effortless stillness that's always there. It's the default.

It would 'last' forever If I sat with my eyes closed mediating. Its only when I move it slowly fades away, Right now it feels like two completely different states even-though the stillness is in the background of my working state.

[askdfjnak]

11 hours ago, Garuda said:

But I wont progress 'spiritually' if I do nothing

Then keep working until it's the only thing left to do.

[Bob84]

@Garuda if that doesnt work try sleep yoga (yoga nidra).

[Garuda]

12 hours ago, Bob84 said:

@Garuda if that doesnt work try sleep yoga (yoga nidra).

Isn't Yoga nidra a bad thing? 

[MsNobody]

@Garuda Mindfulness

1.

the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

"their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition"

2.

a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Summing up: Just be in the moment, here, now

Besides meditation; things that help me connecting to myself:

• Observing my thoughts and emotions
• Taking shower in the dark, feel the water falling in my head, being aware in the moment, for me its heaven, like meditation
• Drawing
• Concentration (whenever I'm reading or watching something I try to stay still, do not move, the awareness comes naturally)
• Gratitude for everything and everyone
• Conscious eating (being aware of what I put in my body and mindfull)
• Being around passionate people (connect deeply with people on general)
• Posture (always watching my chest, that might be open, ready to receive and give things, not fearing anything)

For every person might be different, but I hope you could grasp the deep meaning of what I'm trying to say.

Good luck

Edited March 8, 2017 by Laisa

[Bob84]

10 hours ago, Garuda said:

Isn't Yoga nidra a bad thing? 

No. Just a meditation with a other label. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_nidra

Helps with getting out of your head space.

[Garuda]

14 hours ago, Bob84 said:

No. Just a meditation with a other label. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_nidra

Helps with getting out of your head space.

Interesting, I might try this out. I saw another definition/use of yoga nidra which didn't allow progression.

[Nahm]

Have you heard the story of the disciple and carrying the spoon of oil?

Mindfulness. Keep mindful of the silent backdrop, the underlying no sound. That all is illusion. 

[Garuda]

43 minutes ago, Nahm said:

Have you heard the story of the disciple and carrying the spoon of oil?

Negative, please tell.

[Bodhi123]

@Garuda I recommend the book Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh.

[Nahm]

@Garuda 

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world.

The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world.

The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man’s attention. The wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t time just then to explain the secret of happiness.

He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours. “Meanwhile I want to ask you do do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. ‘As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was. “Well,” asked the wise man, “did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“Then go back and observe the marvels of my world,” said the wise man.

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the tasted with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you.” said the wisest of wise men. “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon”

– The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho