The goal-less goal of meditation is to reach mental stillness. The process occurs not so much by ‘will’ or effort, but through patience and practice. There are no short cuts to stillness, but there are a few fundamental things you can do to help yourself.
The Ego is always looking for excuses to move the mind/body to keep the mental waters swirling. Notice your shoulders, are they tense or relaxed? The shoulders seem to creep into a tense position often, restricting flow and causing stress. Do you have pins and needles? If so, you’re probably cutting the circulation off to that area, something that makes it really hard to sit with focus.
When you get externally still, your mind becomes still too. How you sit, therefore, becomes some what important. You want to sit in a way that allows you to have good posture as well as good flow. The traditional methods such as Burmese, Half-Lotus, and Full-Lotus are over 2,600 years old, and seem to be the optimal methods for external stillness.
Below is a great video covering the fundamentals on how to sit if you’re looking at developing your stillness.
(Via Renegade Buddha, photo)
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wonderful video. I am going to try the staring at the wall idea.
“this is the gift of meditation, you learn you are not your thoughts.”
i love it.
where can i find younger like-minded people like me… such as this man in this video. i want to begin to grow with others, and my friends that i have now are not into this type of stuff. how can i begin to do this!? i almost feel trapped. thankyou!
Hi Yoaj,
Thanks for commenting, great to have you around.
Great to hear this video clicked for you, welcome
That’s a great quote, good spotting for it too.
Your question of like minded people is a good one. From my own experience, market/stalls where the ‘hippy’ crowd hang out are into various forms of conscious development, and make a good extended support community.
For like mindeds who practice how you practice, Zen Centers/Monasteries are fantastic places that I highly recommend. They’re full of down to earth, friendly people, with good attitudes, and are very helpful and supportive, as soon as you walk through their door.
In the mean time, you’re welcome to hang around here, and and help develop our online Sangha. Hope to see you around.
Peace,
Wade