In my head

Discussion of meditation in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
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timmy113
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Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:32 pm

In my head

Post by timmy113 »

I am very new to meditation and buddhism. I have been trying to allow myself a set time to sit down and truly meditate. Today while I was meditating I pictured myself sitting on a lake and with every breath ripples would come from my body and flow out. It was very calming. My question is "Should I be allowing this to happen"? From what I've read, I should be clearing all thoughts from my head. ON the other hand this was a very pleasing experience.
Yudron
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Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:55 pm

Re: In my head

Post by Yudron »

timmy113 wrote:I am very new to meditation and buddhism. I have been trying to allow myself a set time to sit down and truly meditate. Today while I was meditating I pictured myself sitting on a lake and with every breath ripples would come from my body and flow out. It was very calming. My question is "Should I be allowing this to happen"? From what I've read, I should be clearing all thoughts from my head. ON the other hand this was a very pleasing experience.
It does sound nice. No problem. You are learning how to relax. That is important for any spiritual path.

Clearing all thoughts from your head is not part of Buddhism. What are you reading? What are you interested in?

I think the kind folks here will have some good books to recommend for you.
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justsit
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Location: Delaware

Re: In my head

Post by justsit »

There are many types of meditation; sounds like the one you did is a relaxation-type meditation.
In Buddhist practice, meditation is often focused more on learning about and taming one's mind.

Here is a good explanation and some basic meditation instruction.

Enjoy!
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PadmaVonSamba
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Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: In my head

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

don't hold onto it and don't force it away. let it come and go on its own, and just go back to watching your breath.
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EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
BuddhaSoup
Posts: 165
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:06 pm

Re: In my head

Post by BuddhaSoup »

The meditation that you developed is a very nice visualization; these visualizations can be very useful in meditation practice. One suggestion might be, however, to do as the other posters suggested, and develop a meditation practice with the help of of a teacher and sangha. Books and sutras can be a guide. Some experienced meditators have said that they started with a book or a guide, established a foundational practice, and then over time developed practices (breath centered, shi-kan, body scan, samatha-vipassna, zazen, tonglen, Metta, etc, etc. ) that worked for them individually.
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