billyb

That (can be) the point. I recently went away on holiday for 3 weeks. No ipad, no laptop, no camera, only took 2 books I'd read before anyway. I wanted to get bored because I wanted to see what's behind boredom.

Normally we go from one stimulus to the next, and when the hit of the previous one falls off we "get bored". But what if you take that away? What if you ignore that little voice that tells you "I'm bored"? There's still consciousness there. And this is what it can lead to.

What am I? Am I the little voice in my head that I have to placate, the one hooked on getting the little hits of dopamine, adrenaline or whatever other chemicals the body can produce? Or am I the consciousness that experiences everything and to whom the little voice is speaking? In that case, you can watch the little voice, and begin to take greater notice of the "watching".

I was in the tropics in the rainy season. So I'd sit in a hammock and watch the rain fall, or I'd go and sit on the beach if the sun came out. I'd just sit and listen and feel how the sounds played upon my consciousness. It is truly wonderful to be able to ignore this little voice, or more correctly, to re-evaluate its relationship to yourself.

Apparently. There are Taoist practices and a yogic one called Yoga Nidra. I never had much luck with them though.

I should add that what I really like about this method is that chi kung (awareness of energy) really supercharges the practice. If you can learn to feel, use and channel your energy you can enter different states much more easily - such as the state of having a very quiet mind.

A quiet mind - or the state Zen practictioners call 'no-mind' - can be experienced by energising an area in the centre of the head. Many different techniques will do this as a by-product, but cutting out the middle man and charging it directly (along with several other places) can lead to a much more consistent and beneficial practice.

There are many different methods and techniques regarding meditation, but a lot of them are secret and not taught openly. These techniques are however found even in the major religions, and once you know what you're looking for you see parallels everywhere. The major failing of the main religions to my mind is that I believe they know practices that could help ordinary people experience transcendental states, but they keep them hidden and only share them with high ranking clergy, etc.

I find this despicable, maintaining and enhancing the wedge we feel between ourselves and the "something greater" we can experience.

That's a great way to bring a racist, closed minded attitude into something that you apparently know nothing about. Way to go.

Yes, daily for 1-2 hours. I feel happier, more energetic and enjoy life more.

Search for "Kundalini awakening process" if you want to learn something amazing (I'm not related to them, I just took their KAP1 and loved it).