Meditation Techniques Mega Thread

[Leo Gura]

In an effort to make this forum more useful and resource-packed, I want to get some practical "mega threads" going. For this, I need your help!

This thread is specifically for all kinds of meditation techniques. If you have videos, links, or personal experiences with a specific meditation technique, post it here. Discussion is also welcome, but keep it constructive. Try to avoid armchair philosophy, debating, or keyboard-jockeying. Try to speak from your direct experiences with these techniques. There are 100s of techniques out there. Let's get to work analyzing and cataloguing them.

Our aim here is to create a comprehensive resource for people getting started with meditation or people trying to broaden their practice.

Let's keep resources for self-inquiry or direct-pointing-to-enlightenment for another thread. This thread is specifically for meditation and concentration practices.

[Guest username]

I have great stuff for fellow neophytes:

 

Of course, the Actualized.org meditation play list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ6cdIaUZCA

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by username

[Prabhaker]

WHIRLING MEDITATION

 

The meditation is best done on an empty stomach, on bare feet and wearing loose clothing. It lasts one hour and there are two stages, whirling and resting.

Whirling is an ancient Sufi technique. While your whole body is moving you become aware of your very being, the watcher at the center, which is unmoving. You learn to be an unidentified witness at the center of the cyclone.

"Whirling is one of the most ancient techniques, one of the most forceful. It is so deep that even a single experience can make you totally different. Whirl with open eyes, just like small children go on twirling, as if your inner being has become a center and your whole body has become a wheel, moving, a potter’s wheel, moving. You are in the center, but the whole body is moving." 

First Stage: 45 minutes

The whirling is done on one spot in an anti-clockwise direction, with the right arm held high, palm upwards, and the left arm low, palm downwards. You whirl just like small children go on twirling. People who feel discomfort from whirling anti-clockwise can change to clockwise, changing the position of the arms as well. Let your body be soft and keep your eyes open but unfocused, so that images become blurred and flowing. Remain silent.

For the first 15 minutes, turn slowly. Then gradually build up speed until the whirling takes over and you become a whirlpool of energy – the periphery a storm of movement, the witness at the center silent and still.

When you are whirling so fast that you cannot remain upright, your body will fall by itself. Don’t make the fall a decision on your part and do not try to arrange the landing in advance; if your body is soft you will land softly and the earth will absorb your energy. Once you have fallen, stay there, this is when the second part of the meditation starts for you.

Second Stage: 15 minutes

If you have not fallen down by the time the music stops, allow your body to fall to the ground. Immediately roll onto your stomach so that your navel is in contact with the earth. Feel your body blending into the earth, like a small child blends into the mother’s breasts. If anybody feels strong discomfort lying this way, he should lie on his back.

Keep your eyes closed and remain passive and silent.

[Extreme Z7]

Trataka Meditation (also known as Yogic Gazing)

I myself have not tried this kind of meditation yet but I did come across this article a while back that's worth checking out:

http://liveanddare.com/trataka/

[Space]

Beginner's Insight Meditation (Mindfulness) 

Here is a video of Shinzen that really helped me when I first started doing the 'Noting' Mindfulness technique.

Shinzen gives a quick and easy to understand explanation of the technique at 15:15, followed by a guided meditation, and then a demonstration of the labelling at 36:42. 

As simple as it may be, listening to Shinzen actually verbalise his labelling whilst he's meditating is great, even though it's just for a few seconds. I thought this video would be helpful for those of you starting out.  

 

Additional Information

If you want to read up on Shinzen's 'Basic Mindfulness' techniques in detail, here is a link to his free PDF:

 http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf

This is another very interesting and useful PDF from Shinzen:

 http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WhatIsMindfulness_SY_Public_ver1.5.pdf

Edited March 16, 2017 by Space

[Primeval]

 

[MsNobody]

I recently downloaded the app Insight timer, it's amazing, someone recommended here in the forum

You can do guided meditation, or just put a timer, there are also binaural beats, only music, morning affirmations, in the end of the meditations sessions the app shows how many people meditate with you, people who are nearby, like yesterday when I was done 8300 people were meditating too

My meditation sessions were really sloppy before, Ive tried another apps but never had consistency with them, this one, I get milestones if I do it everyday, maybe it's not the right kind of motivation but it's helping me 

it might help you guys too.. 

 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Laisa

[Ludwig]

2-step meditation that'll blow your mind into eternal bliss when practiced consistently

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Ludwig

[Martin123]

@Ludwig I love Bentinho's "freshh young and wild" approach to spirituality. It is like an upgrade on those thousands of years old teachings that allows us to go to the next level in 2k17 <3 haha

[Scholar]

I think I might have some useful advice, coming from my personal expirience. In the past few meditation sittings I have noticed that there are particular skillsets for exploring and adventuring within the mind.

When you want to meditate, or as I would say "explore the mind", you will first need to develope the ability to calm almost all obvious processes that are going on. It starts with thoughts and conceptualization, or what people call the "monkey mind". But it also encompasses the "virtualization of raw input", for example when you look at a chair, you should be able to make the object go away, and only leave the raw colour information that is present on your visual perception. All of this you can do by focusing on the moment, and really trying to let go of everything. This, on a good day, usually takes a few minutes for me. In general one could say that you need to be able free up space or psychic energy, to leave processing power for the tasks ahead. Conceptualization, dimensionalization and interpretation processes need all to be shut down to minimum to continue. 

 

The next skillsets are holding focus and directing focus. You need to be able to change focus on any perceptions at will, and you need to be able to hold your focus where ever you please, for however long you want. This is a difficult skill to develope, you can try yourself by focusing only on a point on a wall. It's not as easy as it sounds, because even the point can represent a multitude of perceptions within you. You might focus on the visual information or the position, even a certain feeling the point evokes in you, which are all very different thing. What the mind tends to do is switch around between these subtle perpections, of the same "object" so to speak, without really noticing that it is shifting focus. Focus tends to be very unsteady in the untrained mind. Learn to control this feature, because it is essential for further exploration purposes.

 

The even harder part, and why I think it takes years for people to become "enlightened", comes next. You might never, ever even come close to enlightenment if you do not have the skill of "finding new ways". It's hard to put into words, but the mind has the ability to find new things to focus on. New perceptions, so to speak. So for example, you might be able to focus greatly on the raw sound that you hear, but you might not be able to focus on the processing of sound that your mind does every single second it is operating. Every single sound you hear is brought in context to previous sounds, creating sensations of harmony or disharmony depending on the sounds. So, as everything is really happening in the moment, you will notice that there is a certain memory to sounds. This process you can become aware of, and you can focus on it. But you can only do that if you find the process. So it's essential to have the skill of becoming aware of processing within your mind, that you previously were not aware of.

It is one of the most important tools of exploration. When talking about consciousness, or the witnesser, you could find a hint of it today if you just found the right way to recognize it. For example, if you focus on visual perception, you can ask yourself "Who or what is seeing?". This question can be completely empty and mean absolutely nothing to someone, or it could trigger someone else's mind to go seek new "processes" that are taking place within their mind. So, the same words can mean nothing to one, but trigger a new way of "seeing" at things in another. This is a very particular skill, and you can notice that it is actually happening. It's like switching your "focus beam" at something you have never had your focus on before. And like this, you can explore your mind. Of course, it's quite hard to learn this skill, especially before you even know what it is.

To that skill I would say comes another difficulty, the difficulty of recognition. Focus can sometimes jump to one new "process" of your mind, be confused, and jump to another without really recognizing what it is. So, it is quite possible that you have already had an expirience of witnessing the witnessing, but you simply didn't recognize it. It's quite strange, but I would say it has to do with how much psychic energy you have free to use? I don't know.

And the last skill would be to be able to remember how to get somewhere. Exploring the mind is far different from exploring dimensionality. You cannot really remember the way, if you know what I mean. For example, an enlightenment expirience might have been trigger this way:

Focusing on visual perception -> focusing on the flatness of visual perception -> focusing on the "canvas" on which visual perception is happening -> focusing on what is actually expiriencing the canvas, or where it canvas is happening

Now, the last step would be the focusing awareness on itself. There are two problems though. If you haven't developed the ability to hold your focus, you might just "expirience" awareness for a split second and then your focus will crumble and fall onto something else once more. The far bigger problem though is remembering how the hell you got there. Sure, you can mark each steps with some conceptualizations, but that will not really help you to get there again. It's hard to explain, but I think people who do consciousness work will know what I mean. Our mind has not really a basic function for remembering the "location" of processes. It's not really a location anyways. The mind is really bad at creating "mind maps", and it's even worse at following the whatever maps it created.

So in the end you really have to do it so many times, until it becomes "muscle memory". I do not know if there is another way but intuition. This means the first enlightenment expirience might be years apart from your next, but the more expiriences you have, and the more often you "went the way", you basicly get better at it. I guess there is a genetical disposition to people who can intuitively do this faster than others. Like some people can simply learn faster to paint, some might learn faster to become enlightened.

 

So basicly, these are all the skills that, as far as I am aware of, need to be trained:

1. Clearing and shutting down mind processes

2. Steering Focus

3. Holding Focus

4. Finding new "mind processes" to focus on

5. Recognizing new "mind processes"

6. Remembering how to move your focus to specific "mind processes"

[The Monk]

Hey Guys, I'm a person that does strong determination meditation, its a technique that Leo has a whole video on so definitely check that out, it's the fast way to get enlightened. From doing this over the last 4/5 months, I've realised a few things about this and want to share those with you today:

• You may feel complete numbness in your body, which will be painful. But persevere, as you will  learn to feel happy by clearing your mind of thoughts and being content with the moment. Which will Greatly increase your happiness.
• You will experience twitching of your body randomly, although your object will be not to move, you must just simply accept this. And, I have learnt that this usually occurs when your mind is clear of thoughts. So, this means that in order to remain conscious, it will undoubtedly do this.
• Also it is likely that you may experience weird or scary thoughts. But don't worry, as this means your thoughts are being rearranged in more conscious manner. Because of this it is likely that your consciousness will rise, and thus your life will improve. But to cope with these meanwhile, just be detached from them. Meaning that you dwell or think about them for too long, and soon because of this they will disappear, and you will be at peace.

 I wish you the best of luck with your meditation!

 

 

[Dodo]

Inspired by Arunachala and Ramana Maharshi  - Walking Meditation.

Wherever you are, you don't need to walk around a mountain, you can have your own version of Arunachala and just walk slowly and mindfully, notice sights, sounds, sensations... Notice how amazing it can feel to just walk about the streets if you are in a city setting.

Go around the block, make your own route and enjoy your walking meditation.

I've tried it many times, and It's so good at clearing the mind and letting me just enjoy being while being active.

Walking meditation special edition - if you want to have an even more interesting experience,  smoke a really tiny dosage of weed just to give you that little extra amplification effect.

[Danielle]

In love with this meditation 

 

[LetTheNewDayBegin]

From: Reginald Ray, Secret of the Vajra World. Shambhala 2001, pages 274-278.

Wangchuk Dorje divides mahamudra meditation into two overarching categories, mahamudra shamatha and mahamudra vipashyana. The practices grouped under mahamudra shamatha aim to bring the mind to a state of stillness. In mahamudra vipashyana, within the state of stillness, one recognizes the nature of mind itself.

Mahamudra Shamatha

Mahamudra shamatha contains instructions on how to sit properly in meditation posture, outlined in the so-called seven points of Vairochana. In one version of these,

(1) one should sit cross-legged, in lotus posture;
(2) place the hands in a comfortable posture, such as held together below the navel;
(3) straighten the spine like an arrow;
(4) adjust the shoulders back and align evenly;
(5) bend the neck slightly forward to press the throat;
(6) place the tongue gently against the roof of the mouth; and
(7) sit with eyes neither wide open nor shut tight, but gazing ahead with a loose focus.

The posture that one takes in meditation is important, particularly in retreat, where awareness opens in such an unprecedented and dramatic way. As retreatants over the centuries have discovered, maintaining good posture in retreat· practice has a direct and immediately perceivable impact on the meditator's state of mind. Good posture enhances the clarity and power of awareness, while poor posture encourages discursiveness and mental confusion.

Wangchuk Dorje next instructs the practitioner to engage the practice of quieting the mind by focusing attention in the shamatha style. This focusing may be on an object-for example, a visual object such as a stick, a pebble, or the flame of a butter lamp. Or one may focus on another sensory object such as a sound, a smell, a taste, or a tactile sensation. The breath is suggested as an especially useful object to take as the focus of shamatha. As we saw in chapter 4, the shamatha practice consists of placing attention on the object that one has chosen and maintaining focus on that object. When discursive thoughts arise and pull one away from the practice, one gently but surely brings the attention back to the object of meditation. Sometimes the discursive distractions are gross thoughts and fantasies, but they may also be extremely subtle, such as the thought that we are meditating or that things are peaceful.

In addition to practicing shamatha by focusing on an object, one may also focus on no object whatsoever. In this kind of shamatha, the eyes are open and one gazes straight ahead into space, directing one's mind to nothing at all. When the mind drifts into discursiveness, one brings the attention back to the emptiness of no object. The mahamudra shamatha teachings also include specific instructions on how to work with a mind that is agitated, overly energized, and inundated with mental contents, or with a mind that is dull, without energy, and sunken. These instructions are ordinarily given by the meditation teacher as the need anses.

Through this process of mahamudra shamatha, one progresses through various stages of settling the mind. A series of three analogies suggests the nature of the journey. At first, one's mind is like a steep mountain waterfall, with thoughts cascading roughly one upon the other in a never-ending torrent. As one progresses in shamatha, one's mind next becomes like a mighty river, wherein thoughts occur but are more even and slow. Finally, through the practice, the mind becon1es like a vast, still ocean in which thoughts appear only as ripples on the surface and then subside of their own accord.

Mahamudra Vipashyana

In his teaching, Wangchuk Dorje gives ten separate contemplations that are to be used to disclose the wisdom mind within: five practices of "looking at" and five of "pointing out" the nature of mind. All of these assume that some stillness has been cultivated through mahamudra shamatha practice. I give here the briefest description of each, to suggest the nature of mahamudra meditation. Those wishing to enter retreat to carry out these practices will find the actual retreat instructions of their meditation teacher quite detailed and extensive. In retreat practice, the following ten contemplations are usually assigned specific time periods. Thus, in a year-long retreat, one might spend one month on each practice. The final two months might be spent reviewing each of the ten, dividing the sixty days into ten sections of six days each.

PRACTICES OF LOOKING AT THE NATURE OF MIND
1. Looking at the settled mind. One looks at the state of stillness over and over. When thoughts arise, one returns again and again to contemplate that stillness. One may ask oneself certain questions to provoke awareness, such as "What is its nature? Is it a thing? Is it perfectly still? Is it completely empty? Is it clear? Is it bright?"
2. Looking at the moving or thinking mind. One looks at the arising, existence, and disappearance of thoughts. One tries to see a thought as it abruptly appears out of the stillness. One may ask questions such as, "How does it arise? Where does it come from? Where does it dwell? Where does it disappear to? What is its nature?"
3. Looking at the mind reflecting appearances. One looks at the way in which external appearances-the phenomena of the sense percepMahamudra tions-occur in experience. A visual object is usually taken as subject, such as a tree, a mountain, a vase, or whatever may be available. One: looks at the object, then looks again, to try to see how it is that appearances arise in the mind. What is their nature? How do they arise, dwell, and then disappear? Do they arise as already interpreted, or is their initial appearance otherwise?
4. Looking at the mind in relation to the body. One inspects the relation of mind and body. What is the mind? What is the body? Is the body just our concept or thought of it? Or is the body our sensations? If the body is sensations, then what relation do these have to our mental image of the body? One investigates these questions.
5. Looking at the settled and moving minds together. One looks at the stillness of settled mind and at the thoughts that arise in the moving mind. When the mind is still, one looks at that; when the mind is in motion, one looks at that. One looks to see whether these two modes of the mind are the same or different. If they are the same, what is that sameness? If they are different, what is their difference?

PRACTICES OF POINTING OUT THE NATURE OF MIND

Having looked in each of these ways, one now looks again at each but this time asks oneself over and over, "What is it? What is it?" One is attempting to recognize and realize the exact nature of settled mind (6), moving or thinking mind (7), mind reflecting appearances (8), the relation of body and mind (9), and settled and thinking mind together (10).

Conclusion

None of the above investigations have an end point. They are practices for looking more and more closely and deeply at our experience, seeking to find within its subtlety what is ultimately and truly there. None of the questions asked in the exercises can receive definitive answers. The point of the questions is not to be answered, but to provoke ·us to actually look at our experience. Even if in one meditation session we have the experience of having "gotten it," of having seen the answer to a question, m the next the memory of this experience will become an obstacle, because we will think that we know. This thinking, of course, covers over and hides the very facticity of what we are seeking. In each meditation session, indeed in each moment, we need to begin the contemplation afresh and ask our questions all over again. Insight is not something that we can obtain and then carry around with us like a possession. It is always fresh, always momentary, and continually needs to be rediscovered. The moment there is the thought of having attained insight, it has been covered by that very thought and we need to look all over again.

Tibetans usually advise against reading books on Essence mahamudra prior to carrying out the actual practice. This is why my own description is brief and no more than suggestive. The danger of reading about the practice is great, particularly for Westerners, who live in a culture where thoughts and concepts are taken as real, where our concepts parade around as reality itself. For anyone, but particularly for Westerners, reading about mahamudra practices can give us the impression that we understand them, that we "know" what they are pointing to. This thought can serve as a further covering over the buddha-nature and make one lazy, bored, and unmotivated. This is why many Tibetan meditation teachers have, at best, mixed feelings about the translation and publication of mahamudra (and dzokchen) meditation manuals.

The formless practices of mahamudra shamatha and vipashyana serve one in meditation from the very beginning of practice to the time of attainment of realization. In the early stages of practice, we may spend most of our time distracted by thoughts, returning to the natural state only infrequently. When we are not sitting on the cushion, the natural state may seem remote indeed. As we progress, we may find ourselves able to contact the wisdom mind in our meditation more frequently, and we may be able to return to it sometimes when we are not sitting. For a highly attained person, distractions are transparent and fleeting, and only serve as springboards back to the basic state, whether he or she is meditating or going about daily life.

[stevegan928]

i have a meditation. 

how far do your concepts go? what is beyond them? 

what is beyond your field of awareness? if you're meditating while looking at a wall you might be imagining what's on the other side subconsciously. try to absorb not only into the wall but into what you believe to be beyond it and everything you believe to be beyond your entire field of awareness. you'll notice a lot of thoughts and concepts come up when you do this, the practice is to feel into them and find out where they end. you likely have an entire universe or even multiverse concept in your mind, we all do, you likely believe these multiverses float in emptiness or awareness. if so, how far does your concept of emptiness, awareness, or infinity expand? don't say to infinity because where dealing with concepts here and these are limited. you're trying to get a grasp of your entire concept of reality and see what's just beyond that and you'll likely reach true emptiness, awareness, or infinity. 

if it's to confusing i understand. it's a meditation i came up with and i don't entirely know how to explain how to do it exactly. i'm sure it exists in other traditions with better ways of explaining it. 

[Prabhaker]

OSHO KUNDALINI MEDITATION

This “sister meditation” to the OSHO Dynamic is best done at sunset or in the late afternoon. Being fully immersed in the shaking and dancing of the first two stages helps to “melt” the rock-like being, wherever the energy flow has been repressed and blocked. Then that energy can flow, dance and be transformed into bliss and joy. The last two stages enable all this energy to flow vertically, to move upwards into silence. It is a highly effective way of unwinding and letting go at the end of the day.

Osho on How to Shake:

"If you are doing the Kundalini Meditation, allow the shaking – don't do it! Stand silently, feel it coming, and when your body starts a little trembling, help it, but don't do it! Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don't will it.

"If you force, it will become an exercise, a bodily physical exercise. Then the shaking will be there, but just on the surface. It will not penetrate you. You will remain solid, stonelike, rocklike within. You will remain the manipulator, the doer, and the body will only be following. The body is not the question, you are the question.

"When I say shake, I mean your solidity, your rocklike being should shake to the very foundations, so it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows. And when the rocklike being becomes liquid your body will follow. Then there is no shaker, only shaking; then nobody is doing it, it is simply happening. Then the doer is not.

"Enjoy it, but don't will it. And remember, whenever you will a thing you cannot enjoy it. They are reverse, opposites; they never meet. If you will a thing you cannot enjoy it, if you enjoy it you cannot will it." Osho

Instructions:

The meditation is one hour long, with four stages.

First Stage: 15 minutes

Be loose and let your whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet. Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed.

Second Stage: 15 minutes

Dance ...  any way you feel, and let the whole body move as it wishes. Again, your eyes can be open or closed.

Third Stage: 15 minutes

Close your eyes and be still, sitting or standing, observing, witnessing, whatever is happening inside and out.

Fourth Stage: 15 minutes

Keeping your eyes closed, lie down and be still.

 

[LifeandDeath]

I find Daniel Ingram's book a great read, covering the Buddhist approach to concentration vs insight meditation. It's available free to download from his website: http://static.squarespace.com/static/5037f52d84ae1e87f694cfda/t/5055915f84aedaeee9181119/1347785055665/

Joseph Goldstien has some good guided meditation on youtube too, again from Buddhist practice

[Shin]

Perhaps one of the most powerful meditation technique is simply to send love vibration to yourself.

The more you do that, the more you'll start to love and see that everything is just a reflection of your own heart.

 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Shin

[123456789]

108 meditation techniques:

http://www.meditationsociety.com/108meds.html

 

[Dragallur]

Sedona Method: http://www.sedona.com/Home.asp