Thread: Struggling with Meditation

So it's been a really long time since I began attempting to have successful meditations and I've still yet to feel as though what I'm doing is correct. I hope someone here can assist me with this issue.

I've tried many techniques to quiet the mind and maintain a state of thoughtlessness over the years to perform meditation to its utmost affect. However, no matter what I try, I seem to be held back significantly as I continue to have thoughts. The furthest state I can reach is the state of relaxation where my body is so relaxed and motionless that my awareness loses the ability to "feel" limbs and the rest of the body.

It is the process of meditation or the result of what meditation is supposed to bring that I suspect I must have a problem with. I understand meditation to be a way to open yourself up beyond the physical realm and allow your body to heal itself and to bring other beneficial aspects with it, gradually and with time and practice of course.

I am not insanely adamant about meditation simply due to the fact that I hate wasting time and I've failed on so many occasions that I guess I can say I'm just more aware that each of my future meditation attempts will be just as time consuming and pointless.

I've read much material on meditation and yet still have no real idea of the process my mind and my awareness is meant to take and if my strategies are implemented and carried out properly to attain aforementioned aspects. I was wondering if the people here on OF can help me out. My question requires a lot more detailed answers than what a normal response would be simply because I've been through it all and am still uncertain.

Please understand my frustration

Though I myself have never been able to meditate (mostly due to the demanding hours of my job stopping me from making any real attempts) the site I was reading from on how-to was a Gnostic site.

One thing I notice you doing differently than the site is trying to quiet your mind.

The site said that you shouldn't try to force your mind to be quiet. You just let the thoughts come, and you examine them as they pass.

Introduction to Gnostic Meditation

That's the site if you're interested. Also, I think you might have to beat that feeling of premature defeat. Good luck, man

Meditation is a hard one to master, espesially if your mind/ego is in charge and has been for a along time. It takes time and practise. It's like a muscle, the more you train the muscle, the better/stronger it will get. The issue I beleive in this case, is that it actually is your Will that is being trained .

As it is not physically visable it can be hard to understand, but going through the process and seeing the benefits in ones everyday life with your mind getting more focused and Will getting stronger, is a process that only the individual will mostly notice, as the changes are internal.

You might need to look at the process in a non pressured way, as in doing it everyday twice, but only a few minutes at the time.
Lets say 5min per session. Try this for a few days or a week. Then increase into 7min or 8min, then 10min, etc...until 20 min. twice a day. This might be enough for you, if you find you're limited with your time....

As far as thoughts popping up, yes they do pop up initially , but try not to get irratated at them, as then you spend energy on this and get futher distracted, just stop the thought, and get back to the meditative work or state.
With time it decreses and you will have less thoughts popping up and the meditation will get deeper. Again this comes with practise daily, not through every now and then. Like doing a marathon, you can't expect to run one, if you have not trained for it, and the training would start with small sessions rather than big ones, espesially if you're not used to physical training.

So baby steps and with focus on these steps, one at the time you will get there.

I agree with what everyone has posted here already, and I'd like to offer another suggestion. As Light said, this can be tough to master, and even when you've mastered it, you may not feel as if you have. One potential stumbling block that I have found people have time after time is approaching meditation from the standpoint of "meditation", if that makes any sense. In other words, the word "meditation" brings with it all sorts of connotations and expectations, conscious and otherwise. Quieting the "monkey mind" can be difficult, so sometimes a varied approach is needed.

Scientifically speaking, a meditative state is identical to a hypnotic state. I discovered this a few years ago while trying to find ways to shorten the meditative processes I had learned using more traditional methods. So, it may be beneficial to think more in terms of self-hypnosis rather than meditation, as I find that term to be a lot less "charged" with metaphysical, spiritual, etc. associations, and therefore has fewer expectations attached to it. That is just my feeling and the feelings of other people I know, but the term seems to be a bit more "bland" and clinical, so some of the other thought processes don't seem to interfere as much. As Light pointed out, approaching the process in a non pressured way and with a little bit at a time is crucial. But the end result can be the same for both. Anytime that you are deeply absorbed in a book, movie, speech, or whatever (anytime that your conscious mind is distracted) you are essentially in a light trance state. This is one reason why what volvic07 recommended can be successful, because by occupying your conscious mind with other things, the unconscious gradually becomes more dominant in that situation. This sort of sensory overwhelm is basically the same idea found in most shamanic systems, where the meditative state is reached by turning the dial up rather than down, so to speak, through the use of drumming, rattles, repetitive movement, etc. A friend of mine achieves this while running, for example, so potentially any method can work.

It may be helpful to set triggers for yourself by anchoring while in the desired state so that you can fire the triggers later, thereby bringing back the same feelings and sensations. Different products using brainwave entrainment, breathing techniques, staying more aware while falling asleep and waking can facilitate this. The process is simple in theory, but can take some work initially during setup. I find that by anchoring in a desired state by repetition of a word, phrase, physical movement, visualization, sound, memory, etc., that I can now begin to enter the sate associated with that particular anchor without even intending to just by bringing to mind the trigger with intent. If you're using that method, it's a good idea to use something that isn't part of your everyday experience as a trigger, otherwise, you might find yourself trancing out at inappropriate times. But, that's an indicator that it's working, I guess. You can also deepen the state each time you reach it, which has the effect of increasing the ease at which you get there and strengthening the meditation itself.