Is it possible to completely change your life with hardcore meditation?

[Leo Gura]

3 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

If I do a strong determination sitting and a do nothing technique than I just need to show up everyday and sit there motionless, right? As long as I have enough discipline to show up and sit there for 3 hours, it should be effective, no?

1) You're not going to have the discipline, trust me. You have no idea how hard that is. Even I don't have the discipline for that.

2) It won't necessarily be that effective. Because your mind will being crazy with drama. You will have massive backlash.

You are just getting ahead of your skiis. Start with baby steps and work on consistency.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Something Funny]

@Leo Gura well, as long as I am not hearing any better alternatives I guess I am going to try.

Better trying and failing or finding out that it doesn't work then wasting another 3 months of my life doing nothing.

Right now I want to do just classic 90 days of it.

4 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

You're not going to have the discipline, trust me. You have no idea how hard that is. Even I don't have the discipline for that.

I am kind of desperate if you couldn't tell, lol. I think you could do that if you felt your life depends on it.

Edit: I am going to start a journal here, just watch me

Edited March 12, 2023 by Something Funny

[StarStruck]

You can't force a kid to play the piano by beating it over the head. In the same way you can't force yourself to change.

Self knowledge is most precious thing there is so I advice you to aim for that. If you truly understood yourself you would cut through your problems like a hot knife through butter.

[Salvijus]

@Something Funny you're planning to jump from zero meditation to 3h a day? ? 

[The Mystical Man]

3 hours ago, Nilsi said:

I honestly don't see benefits that are great enough to justify it.

Masturbation makes me weak -- I can feel it in the gym. It even makes me suicidal. So, NoFap is highly justified for me.

3 hours ago, Nilsi said:

meditation and no-fap are gimmicks you can throw on top

To call meditation a gimmick is unwise. Many problems are caused by lack of mindfulness. But mindfulness training doesn't become valuable until your brain chemistry is healthy. Lack of exercise, masturbation, and heavy metals can ruin your brain chemistry, and then there is no point in meditation at all. Fix your brain chemistry before attempting to meditate, because meditation itself won't fix your brain chemistry. Meditation works on the level of the mind, but you have to deal with the matters of matter, too.

Edited March 12, 2023 by The Mystical Man

[Leo Gura]

14 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

I am kind of desperate if you couldn't tell, lol.

I can clearly tell. Which is why I'm saying it's not gonna work. You need to learn patience and consistency. It's hard to be successful from a place of desperation. Flailing your arms around is not how you do this work.

Meditation is a very serious affair and should be approached with the seriousness it deserves.

I cannot stress enough how much quality trumps quantity in this work. You must first be able to execute 20 minutes of quality meditation before you move on to 1hr, 2hr, 3hr. It is pointless to do 3 hours of low-quality meditation. You can do that for years and get nowhere!

Meditation is the antithesis of a quick fix. You are definitely not going to bull your way through into mastery of your mind. If that were possible all my work would be meaningless.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Leo Gura

[CARDOZZO]

1 minute ago, The Mystical Man said:

Masturbation makes me weak -- I can feel it in the gym. It even makes me suicidal. So, NoFap is highly justified for me.

I relate to that.

It’s like your soul go out of your body and you live in a strange/lethargic way.

[Something Funny]

@Leo Gura sorry if I am being stuborn. But from the way I see it 20 minutes won't be of a much higher quality for me than 3 hours. If anything I will treat it much more flippantly if I do it as a little 20 minute side thing compared to if I make it my sole focus for the next 3 months.

And it's not like I have never meditated before. I did, using exactly this strategy of meditating 5, 10, 20 minutes per day along with a dozen other self-help practices and goals. And I believe this is a big reason why it has never stuck with me or brought any lasting changes.

What I expect to happen is that yeah, it will be really hard and I will sit there dying for 3 hours a day. But if I make it through it will change my life.

[Something Funny]

28 minutes ago, Salvijus said:

@Something Funny you're planning to jump from zero meditation to 3h a day? ? 

Yeah ?

[Nilsi]

3 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

@Leo Gura sorry if I am being stuborn. But from the way I see it 20 minutes won't be of a much higher quality for me than 3 hours. If anything I will treat it much more flippantly if I do it as a little 20 minute side thing compared to if I make it my sole focus for the next 3 months.

And it's not like I have never meditated before. I did, using exactly this strategy of meditating 5, 10, 20 minutes per day along with a dozen other self-help practices and goals. And I believe this is a big reason why it has never stuck with me or brought any lasting changes.

What I expect to happen is that yeah, it will be really hard and I will sit there dying for 3 hours a day. But if I make it through it will change my life.

Have you meditated for 3h even once?

[Ulax]

@Something Funny Perhaps you would find value in reading the books, 'Mastery' by George Leonard, and 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear.

Maybe integrating the lessons from those books could help make your more intense meditation goals more likely.

[Something Funny]

@Nilsi I did 2 hours at some point before. I plan to do 3 hour session right now so let's see how it goes.

31 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Something Funny Perhaps you would find value in reading the books, 'Mastery' by George Leonard, and 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear.

Maybe integrating the lessons from those books could help make your more intense meditation goals more likely.

Thanks, I will check them out.

[Nilsi]

7 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

@Nilsi I did 2 hours at some point before. I plan to do 3 hour session right now so let's see how it goes.

I was just about to suggest that - this session will quickly rob you of your illusions

Have fun though!

[WelcometoReality]

@Something Funny Try it and see what results you get. I'm sure you'll be amazed with the results. ?

Also I can recommend doing a mindfulness practice when you're off the cushion.

[Something Funny]

I just did the first 3 hour session

It was hard and painful, but not as hellish as I expected it to be.

I wasn't able to sit completely still though. First, I had to get up and change my position after the first 30 minutes because i sat really uncomfortably and it was really painful. But after that I didn't get up from the chair, just did some minor movements with my back, neck, legs, toes, etc. I've tried to minimize them as much as possible but wasn't always able to. I hope I will do better in future sessions.

Time actually went by quicker that how I felt it. I was expecting to sit for about 30 minutes longer when the time started ringing.

[Something Funny]

@WelcometoReality thank you )

You mean the one @Carl-Richard was talking about? Trying to be mindful 24/7?

[Michal__]

8 hours ago, Something Funny said:

I just did the first 3 hour session

It was hard and painful, but not as hellish as I expected it to be.

I wasn't able to sit completely still though. First, I had to get up and change my position after the first 30 minutes because i sat really uncomfortably and it was really painful. But after that I didn't get up from the chair, just did some minor movements with my back, neck, legs, toes, etc. I've tried to minimize them as much as possible but wasn't always able to. I hope I will do better in future sessions.

Time actually went by quicker that how I felt it. I was expecting to sit for about 30 minutes longer when the time started ringing.

8 hours ago, Something Funny said:

 

You should switch to walking meditation everytime you begin to lose wakefulness etc. And slowly increase the ratio of sitting:walking.

Walking is not less effective when done properly!

Take wakefulness as a metric of whether you are doing it right.

And ofc the walking meditation counts towards the total daily goal time.

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That way you still build solid technique without wasting a year by doing only 30 minutes a day.

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The part where you talk about time going faster/there being less resistance is where you began to do it right  ? .

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Extending the gym metaphor by Leo: yeah, it'd be dumb to try to bench 500 lbs the first time you go to the gym but should not be used as an excuse not to try to bench 225 lbs during the first year, which is perfectly doable with the right regimen.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Michal__

[Something Funny]

@Michal__ I feel like this is against the point of what I am trying to achieve. I am not loosing wakefulness that much because I sit with my back straight and eyes open (and because it's painful as fuck). Being completely still for longer periods of time definitely puts you into a special state of mind. I will aim to be able to sit perfectly still for 3 hours by the end of those 90 days and right now I will try to move as little as possible. I want to do a session without getting up even once today.

[Michal__]

1 minute ago, Something Funny said:

@Michal__ I feel like this is against the point of what I am trying to achieve. I am not loosing wakefulness that much because I sit with my back straight and eyes open (and because it's painful as fuck). Being completely still for longer periods of time definitely puts you into a special state of mind. I will aim to be able to sit perfectly still for 3 hours by the end of those 90 days and right now I will try to move as little as possible. I want to do a session without getting up even once today.

You do you.

Keep in mind you should be GAINING wakefulness. Not just maintaining.

After the first hour you should feel like you're on modafinil.

[WelcometoReality]

55 minutes ago, Something Funny said:

@WelcometoReality thank you )

You mean the one @Carl-Richard was talking about? Trying to be mindful 24/7?

Yes like Carl-Richard said.  How high you want to set the bar is up to you of course. ?