Meditations

[talamh_sidhe]

In my practice today, I was contemplating the exact line between thought and consciousness. I've been working on a quick, work-friendly meditation, and came up with a simple breathing one: during each outward breath, imagine it carrying a few cluttered thoughts away with it, until the mind is clear. Easy to do and doesn't make you look silly (or

Comments

[darlingfreak]

With love and respect, I think you might be over-thinking this. :-)

The entire point of automatic functions (breathing, heartbeat etc.) is that they are... automatic. People who are functionally brain dead still breath and have a heartbeat.

Don't worry about it.

mind-clearing

[missraederle]

i know someone who has trouble falling asleep most of the time. he told me once how he did something similar, focusing on deep breathing to quiet the mind. just thinking 'in.... out....' along with the breaths. i might have to ask him to tell me the story again, but if i recall he said he got to a point of mental quiet and relaxation that he didnt even have to think the words anymore. but then some part of his consciousness (figuratively) piped up and said hey, are you still breathing? and he realized that he hadnt been but he didnt kow for how long, sort of live he woke up and thought he was dead. of course he was still alive, but i think he said the experience scared him so bad he couldnt sleep for days. anyway i have 2 points. first, i think it might be possible to loose all sense of self if you 'get too good' at meditation. but second and more importantly i think as long as youre pretty firmly grounded to your existence, it probably wont happen. unless youre like... trying to 'ascend' to the next plane of reality or something, but

[talamh_sidhe]

I can totally relate to this guy... i've gotten to a place a couple times where I can see just over the edge to another place, and it feels so beautiful, and yet i'm scared that if i cross the "line" i may never get back. I'm afraid I'll just keel over in my chair at work and everyone would be like - what the hell was that! On one hand, kinda cool cause I'd be across that barrier, but on the other hand, sucky cause I'd be dead! I think I need to go talk to the people at my temple about that...

[nemorth]

I never really worried about forgetting to breathe. Never crossed my mind actually. With the way my mind is always running it is nice to have no thoughts every once in a while. When I am going 90 miles an hour and my thoughts are giving me a headache, the absence of thought gives my brain a rest. The problem is I don't seem to realize I need it until I have a headache.
I think you might be analizing it too much. The subconcious knows what needs to be done and should not let go of something as basic as breathing.
Even people who "go out" during meditation leave their bodies fully functioning. ^_^

I think you are clinging to much to your own "self".