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Becoming Kerouac  

kzoopair 72M/71F
8365 posts
9/6/2016 8:00 pm
Becoming Kerouac


Recently a friend asked me about my experiences with meditation. She has a friend who is quite intelligent, with a head full of facts, and he was not understanding what she meant by reaching peace through meditation. I made one attempt, and described that moment of satori, enlightenment. Apparently it didn’t do the job, so I tried remembering the practice. It was a good exercise, and a reminder to me of what a valuable part of my life it had once been. I put off writing the description for a good week. By the time I was done I was grateful she had asked the question. I haven’t practiced in years, except briefly now and then. I hesitated to write this, to attempt to describe it. It has been all those years ago that I practiced this discipline. It is very much a discipline. It was too easy for me to drift away from it. Work and family pressures get in the way, and a day missed can lead to two days and then a week.

To succeed, you have to empty your head of all those precious facts that you have so painstakingly gathered. They won’t help you, and will positively hinder you. You have to let go. This is my attempt to describe it.

I stumbled over Buddhism and meditation in reading the Beat writers, particularly Kerouac. They were quite a literate crowd, sometimes pretentiously so, I think, and a bit full of themselves, maybe a LOT full of themselves, but Kerouac never struck me that way. There were all those references to other writers- Verlaine and Rimbaud, Spengler and Spinoza. Alfred Korzybski. I never skimmed or read so much philosophy in my life....and I never want to again! OK- the French Symbolists were pretty entertaining and engaging.

But the same thing happened with the references to Buddhism. I read what I could find in the local libraries and my sister gave me a book by Thich Nhat Hanh on Theravada Buddhism. As I recall there was a description of how to meditate. From that and other sources I developed my own bastard style. Being ignorant of the proper way to do anything and not having an instructor is said to be a disadvantage when studying this, but since I was so unschooled I didn't know any better than to just put together a technique and try it.

I would turn out the lights and light a candle to keep the room dimly lit but not dark. I put the candle in my line of sight, but I didn't want to focus on the candle flame or be distracted by it. I had a small, hard pillow that I used to elevate my buttocks. That made it easier to maintain the lotus position. My knees give me a lot of trouble now and I'm sure I'll never achieve the lotus again. I can stretch for months and never get all the stiffness out of my knees or eliminate the pain of trying to sit in full lotus or even half lotus. But in those days I was young and limber, and it was pretty easy. I could maintain it pretty handily for a half hour or even an hour.

I'd sit in the lotus, spine straight but relaxed, not tense. Shoulders back but again, rather loosely- not forced. I tried to imagine pushing the top of my skull upward, as if it were raising toward the ceiling, which helped in keeping my spine straight and not sagging. My hands I held relaxed in my lap, folded not interlocked, one atop the other, thumb tips touching and I imagined an energy there, at the tips of my thumbs. I could feel that energy. Again, not forced but relaxed. Eyes half lidded, not closed. I tried not to focus my gaze on anything but to stare vacantly forward, like you'll do when lost in reverie, staring but not seeing. I concentrated on my breath and the rising and falling of my abdomen, counting breaths. My mind would wander and I would gently bring it back to my breath. With practice it got easier to do this, and I moved on to concentrating on the feel of the cool air entering my nostrils and the warm air emptying from my lungs, carrying waste and toxins with it. When taking a breath I imagined taking it very deeply, filling my abdomen first and then my chest and even my head. There was a sense of being my breath and my corporeal body receded.

My mind wandered. Thoughts will intrude when you're trying to empty your mind, and I had to gently bring my concentration back to my breath. Emptying the mind is the goal here. It's essential. All the detritus of daily life, all the worries and anxieties must disappear to become quiet enough to see. I didn't quite get it yet, but I was learning to lose my self. I had read it, but I didn't know what it meant.

As I got more and more comfortable doing this I found myself concentrating on my nostrils and even staring at the tip of my nose! It took an effort to stop that habit, and return my gaze to the vague distance before me. When practicing, naturally I would get an itch somewhere and the urge to scratch would be overpowering. A couple of times I did ruin my session by scratching, and I'd laugh at myself for that. There's no point to feeling a failure. You end the session and try again tomorrow. But gradually I learned to concentrate on the itch, to immerse myself in it...and it would disappear. I became a bit prideful about that for a while, that I had learned how to make such a thing simply vanish, and I found that I could apply that to aches and pains and even to a mild headache. If I became the pain, I could banish it! I'm certain that I could not have managed this with major pain or a serious injury, but I have found in later life that the technique does help in dealing with pain. I may not be able to rid myself of severe pain but I can deal with it better.

Of course my pride in that accomplishment was not the way to go- it was a setback to fixate on how powerful I was becoming! That was funny to me then and still is now. I was going through a process and that was part of it- learning that I had a long way to go, that I didn't know anything yet.

I can't recall exactly how many weeks and months I practiced this. I had begun in the autumn of the year and kept at it over the fall and into winter. But sometime in very late winter or early spring something remarkable happened. I lost myself in my breath and ceased to be. There was an explosion of light and I was struck between the eyes by...something, but it didn't hurt. It was quite a powerful blow...but I didn't recoil. It occurred to me that the blow I had felt was that explosion of light. It felt as if the brilliant white light was coming both from inside my head and from all around me at one and the same time. And my own spine was stretching upward, although that's not quite right...it was as if the top of my head was being drawn upward...that feeling of weightlessness. Not exactly attached to the world, but part of it. And I did feel that I had understanding- no fear. It was as if I was not in my body.

I was washed over with a feeling of peace and tranquility that, as it faded, I wanted to hold on to. And of course it seemed that as I tried to hold it it slipped away laughing. But then I realized that it was me, not exactly laughing but I had a dopey smile on my face. That feeling of peace stayed for a while. It did become less pronounced as the evening wore on, but it lasted through the night and my head felt light and empty as soon as that explosion struck. That also faded over the evening.

Upon reflection it dawned on me that it was a lot like other experiences I had read about and I wondered if it was real, but of course that was absurd. I had really had those feelings and that peace. It made perfect sense that it resembled other people's descriptions.

There was certainly no sense of loss, no pain of separation or anxiety. On the contrary it was enlightenment, and a release. I had that satori, enlightenment, understanding. I understood oneness in that moment. This was the Buddha's discovery, when he became one with the universe, and I finally knew what it meant to become Buddha. It wasn't so much that I merged with all life, but that I now knew, intuitively, that it had always been thus. I had simply not been aware before. This is difficult to describe, and that's what's so maddening for many westerners to understand, I think. It's called knowing, and they demand to know, "What? You know what?" You simply know, suddenly. This is called awareness meditation, Samadhi meditation.

The perspective in that moment of enlightenment stays with you for a long time. I know that if you practice every day you could reach that sweet spot with ease, and that it heals. My wife Pam learned a slightly different way, taught by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, but the goal is the same- as Pam says, to get you out of your head. Emptying the mind will get you there even without the rather dramatic moment of satori that I described.




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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 8:02 pm

Uno commento

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 8:11 pm

    Quoting  :

I think in some ways it did for me too. I was a bit of a mess when I took it up.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 8:12 pm

    Quoting  :

I'm encouraging you to do it. I've been lazy, and a procrastinator, but it was a life changing experience for me all that same.

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ranchomongo 70M

9/6/2016 8:15 pm

i was the TM route..
i even got news letters and practice lessons..
all that aside.. i did get the out of body experience..
and it was truly a remarkable one at that. i still remember it..
but alas , i don t feel it.
and yes, how easy it is to loose it all with the hub bub of life
and yes you have to set a time and allow yourself your moment with Zen..

very good blog my friend..


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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 8:20 pm

    Quoting ranchomongo:
    i was the TM route..
    i even got news letters and practice lessons..
    all that aside.. i did get the out of body experience..
    and it was truly a remarkable one at that. i still remember it..
    but alas , i don t feel it.
    and yes, how easy it is to loose it all with the hub bub of life
    and yes you have to set a time and allow yourself your moment with Zen..

    very good blog my friend..
Thanks, Rancho.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 8:23 pm

    Quoting  :

Even though I stopped the daily discipline that I had followed so faithfully that winter, the things I learned from it have stayed with me and remain fresh.

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ProfPlayful 53M
3861 posts
9/6/2016 8:30 pm

Thank you for writing these excellent descriptions, Kzoo. Surely these are the writings of a master of mindfulness.

Have you ever had your brain waves scanned before, during, or after meditation?

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Furbal1972 51M
18571 posts
9/6/2016 8:55 pm

Kerouac? I'm not sure what to make of him. .. I just skimmed his bio. Such a short and kinda sad life he had. .. Maybe I'm missing something. I know he was influential.

I have experimented with different forms of mediation. Each for different reasons. The results were similar. .. I had the least success with the Hare Krishna mantras. Too noisy.

For a while (and about the same time) I was trying to attain an out of body experience. .. I thought I almost got there once, but alas; I am stuck in my body.

Later on, I did learn some useful techniques in rehab. All (of course) involved breathing. .. The best one started by relaxing and focusing on the extremities and then bringing the focus inward. I could clear my mind that way, but I never saw an explosive flash of light.

I should try meditation again. .. Nirvana is a pretty nice state of mind.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:04 pm

    Quoting ProfPlayful:
    Thank you for writing these excellent descriptions, Kzoo. Surely these are the writings of a master of mindfulness.

    Have you ever had your brain waves scanned before, during, or after meditation?
The scanner flatlined, Prof. But empathy and compassion emanate from the heart, not the head. A Buddhist monk knows this very well.

I was never even a novice, let alone a master. But I tried.

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KItkat1415 61F  
20051 posts
9/6/2016 9:14 pm

I was trained in Transcendental Meditation at 16 by my high school boyfriend's older sister, who had met with and trained under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I had only been meditating for about a few weeks, when I was called in for another session with her. She asked me if I had had any unusual sensations. I said, well, not really. But what do you call it when you are inside your body but it feels like the inside you, can pull away from the physical you? That the outside you doesn't seem to really be in control of the inside you any more.

She was dumb founded. She contacted the Iowa compound where the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was. She explained to whoever it was that dealt with her, that her student was achieving this state and what was she to do? They told her to tell me to come to the compound. Which I politely refused to do. Why should I? I was happy with my meditation practice. I didn't need a bunch of excited adults making a big deal out of it.

I go months without meditating and then suddenly realize that I need to start again. I achieve that state within a few days of starting back up again. I used to do yoga every day. I need to get back to that, too.

I love it that you tried to explain how your "moment" felt. To anyone who has not meditated or come close to that feeling, it would sound odd indeed.
Kk

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:15 pm

    Quoting Furbal1972:
    Kerouac? I'm not sure what to make of him. .. I just skimmed his bio. Such a short and kinda sad life he had. .. Maybe I'm missing something. I know he was influential.

    I have experimented with different forms of mediation. Each for different reasons. The results were similar. .. I had the least success with the Hare Krishna mantras. Too noisy.

    For a while (and about the same time) I was trying to attain an out of body experience. .. I thought I almost got there once, but alas; I am stuck in my body.

    Later on, I did learn some useful techniques in rehab. All (of course) involved breathing. .. The best one started by relaxing and focusing on the extremities and then bringing the focus inward. I could clear my mind that way, but I never saw an explosive flash of light.

    I should try meditation again. .. Nirvana is a pretty nice state of mind.
Nirvana is heaven.

I chose Becoming Kerouac instead of becoming Buddha on purpose. He did a similar thing to my own approach. Jack Kerouac "got" Christianity in a way most people don't, and that isn't at all what most of us think when we think of the Catholic church. In the language of his times, he dug Jesus. Jack grafted Buddhism onto his Catholicism and saw us all as saints. I didn't share his personal sentiments, but my own method was a lot like his- I learned and saw how it fit. Kerouac was deeply flawed and not at all serene, but he had his moments of understanding and serenity. I can relate to that.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:17 pm

    Quoting  :

Touché, Buné.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:24 pm

    Quoting KItkat1415:
    I was trained in Transcendental Meditation at 16 by my high school boyfriend's older sister, who had met with and trained under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I had only been meditating for about a few weeks, when I was called in for another session with her. She asked me if I had had any unusual sensations. I said, well, not really. But what do you call it when you are inside your body but it feels like the inside you, can pull away from the physical you? That the outside you doesn't seem to really be in control of the inside you any more.

    She was dumb founded. She contacted the Iowa compound where the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was. She explained to whoever it was that dealt with her, that her student was achieving this state and what was she to do? They told her to tell me to come to the compound. Which I politely refused to do. Why should I? I was happy with my meditation practice. I didn't need a bunch of excited adults making a big deal out of it.

    I go months without meditating and then suddenly realize that I need to start again. I achieve that state within a few days of starting back up again. I used to do yoga every day. I need to get back to that, too.

    I love it that you tried to explain how your "moment" felt. To anyone who has not meditated or come close to that feeling, it would sound odd indeed.
    Kk
I think you can try to approximate it in words, but of course that will always fail. It isn't at all about intellect, it's the opposite of it. And that simply is not intuitive for so many of us, especially westerners, but certainly not only us. For most of us, the idea of losing ourselves is quite frightening, especially those who have a head full of eagerly sought and hard won facts.. This isn't a condemnation of fact. But fact does not lead to happiness or spiritual understanding.

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dayzeeme 55F
7024 posts
9/6/2016 9:27 pm

I have tried, very briefly, to do this, but just the idea of thinking of my breathing is enough to send me into a panic attack over my breathing. Any time I am aware of how I am breathing, or not breathing, I will freak out. I am pretty sure meditation is not for me. Even reading about this has me half freaked out.


japaneseass 56F  
50231 posts
9/6/2016 9:48 pm

    Quoting  :

patience, young grasshopper...

perhaps, all you need is little "Morgan Freeman" in you...


kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:50 pm

    Quoting dayzeeme:
    I have tried, very briefly, to do this, but just the idea of thinking of my breathing is enough to send me into a panic attack over my breathing. Any time I am aware of how I am breathing, or not breathing, I will freak out. I am pretty sure meditation is not for me. Even reading about this has me half freaked out.
In that case you could choose a different focus. Contemplate your navel. This that I described was the method I used, and it was an amalgam. And yet it worked!
Dayzee, this is about being able to let go. There is nothing to fear, we are all one. You have to let go, and trust.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 9:52 pm

    Quoting japaneseass:
    patience, young grasshopper...

    perhaps, all you need is little "Morgan Freeman" in you...
I keep asking you, JA...where have you been all my life? We have so much lost time to make up for!

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japaneseass 56F  
50231 posts
9/6/2016 9:57 pm

i went to a junior college which was established by Soto zen, in japan...so we had a the mandatory meditation course...

and yes, with a real zen monk, with zen stick...and i tell yah...i was never able to achieve satori...

i guess i had way too much phuck in me....haha...


kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/6/2016 10:23 pm

    Quoting japaneseass:
    i went to a junior college which was established by Soto zen, in japan...so we had a the mandatory meditation course...

    and yes, with a real zen monk, with zen stick...and i tell yah...i was never able to achieve satori...

    i guess i had way too much phuck in me....haha...
Zen, and any eastern philosophy, were far outside the ken of the little midwestern town where I lived. I had the feeling then, and I do now, that western philosophy and religion have come to the end of their usefulness for us. Naturally there's a backlash and a resistance to that idea, but it looks outward. Knowledge and fact are useful but we're no happier and no more serene for having them. Peace and serenity are inside of us.

I'm resisting the urge to volunteer to help you release that phuck. And I failed. That's another path to enlightenment, you know.

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Annie_34 65T
5945 posts
9/6/2016 11:35 pm

Bonjour Kzoopair
Je suis un béotien en yoga , peut-être d'une culture trop cartésienne , mais dans ma jeunesse je m'asseyais les jambes croisés sur la plage à regarder la mer .
♥ Bisou ♥ Poton ♥ Annie ♥


Hello Kzoopair
I am a boeotian in yoga, maybe excessive Cartesian culture, but in my youth I sat the cross legged on the beach watching the sea.
♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥


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smartasswoman 66F  
35813 posts
9/6/2016 11:36 pm

Very cool description. I've tried a few times, but have never been able to make the practice stick. Probably time to try again...


lindoboy100 61M
23969 posts
9/7/2016 2:52 am

I tried meditation when I was younger, and then about 8 years ago, then to try to manage some anxieties which were threatening to consume. Unfortunately it never worked for me, perhaps because I don't have the patience for it. Not that I'm impatient by nature, I just couldn't settle, and probably allowed skepticism to intrude. I really admire people who have the discipline to meditate, I'm kinda envious of the skill.

Excellent post McPairs!!


tickles4us 62M
7262 posts
9/7/2016 2:59 am

Nice post... a lot of people could use a little emptiness.

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Not_here2meet 55F
3843 posts
9/7/2016 4:47 am

Great description! I've been working on meditating and mindfulness, both, these last few months. They've really helped me overcome some issues, but I've just begun and can't manage more than a few minutes of meditating without breaking out into giggles.

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pocogato12 71F  
37235 posts
9/7/2016 5:07 am

The closest I came to this was the night before my lung surgery. What ever I achieved kept me from being afraid. Thank you for an exceptional post

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goodatpoetry2 74M
16552 posts
9/7/2016 6:01 am

" To succeed, you have to empty your head "

There's a bunch of people posting lately that seem just perfect for this...


sweet_VM 65F
81699 posts
9/7/2016 7:35 am

Meditation is on the up rise again KZ. It has saved many people. You have describe it to T hugsssssss V ty loved reading it.

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wickedeasy 74F
32404 posts
9/7/2016 8:39 am

that was beyond excellent. so clear and so true.

I will send it along. I think it will make sense to him now - I don't know how to do better.

Namaste

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sexysixties2 106F
39750 posts
9/7/2016 8:59 am

You brought back a memory I would rather forget.....my days of studying French Philosophers for my exams and attempting to answers the questions in French!!!

It's a long time since I have been able to get into the lotus position....but I do try to empty my mind every night before I sleep. It wouldn't be total meditation but it helps a lot.


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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 9:43 am

    Quoting Annie_34:
    Bonjour Kzoopair
    Je suis un béotien en yoga , peut-être d'une culture trop cartésienne , mais dans ma jeunesse je m'asseyais les jambes croisés sur la plage à regarder la mer .
    ♥ Bisou ♥ Poton ♥ Annie ♥


    Hello Kzoopair
    I am a boeotian in yoga, maybe excessive Cartesian culture, but in my youth I sat the cross legged on the beach watching the sea.
    ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥

I don't practice yoga anymore either. In fact, I only began yoga as a result of my meditation. After a while hatha yoga became my primary focus.

Je ne pratique pas le yoga plus non plus. En fait, j'ai seulement commencé le yoga en raison de ma méditation. Après hatha de moment un yoga est devenu mon foyer primaire.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 9:49 am

    Quoting ProfPlayful:
    Thank you for writing these excellent descriptions, Kzoo. Surely these are the writings of a master of mindfulness.

    Have you ever had your brain waves scanned before, during, or after meditation?
My first response was flippant- I apologize. I zeroed right in on the opportunity to assert that I was brain dead and never gave a serious answer.
I've never had a brain scan, but I have read about them. I'm very interested in what meditative states will tell us about human consciousness.

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NaughtyInSO 113F
9755 posts
9/7/2016 9:49 am

Your vivid description made me envy you. I never achieved satori.... but still enjoy great benefits of meditation. It helps to clear my mind, and although I don't feel empty or overly peaceful, I'm able to focus on important things and forget the rest.

Great post, my friend!

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 9:53 am

    Quoting smartasswoman:
    Very cool description. I've tried a few times, but have never been able to make the practice stick. Probably time to try again...
As I began writing I started remembering, and important details would occur as I read it back. Every time I read it again, I think of other ways to describe it. One word I left out is senseless, as in being knocked senseless. That's very much how satori occurred to me.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:01 am

    Quoting lindoboy100:
    I tried meditation when I was younger, and then about 8 years ago, then to try to manage some anxieties which were threatening to consume. Unfortunately it never worked for me, perhaps because I don't have the patience for it. Not that I'm impatient by nature, I just couldn't settle, and probably allowed skepticism to intrude. I really admire people who have the discipline to meditate, I'm kinda envious of the skill.

    Excellent post McPairs!!
I had a friend who said that she simply went to sleep when she tried to meditate. When I began the practice, I had nothing to lose and no real anxiety about the experiment- I had no real expectation of either success or failure at it. I'm pretty sure I didn't expect to continue through the winter- I was just trying it out. It DOES take some determination to keep at it. Our minds have a way of resisting being emptied. For me, the effect of slowing down, of even partial success, was very rewarding, enough so that I kept it up.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:04 am

    Quoting tickles4us:
    Nice post... a lot of people could use a little emptiness.
It can save your sanity to clear out the clutter and slow down. Those racing thoughts create a lot of noise and hububb.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:06 am

    Quoting Not_here2meet:
    Great description! I've been working on meditating and mindfulness, both, these last few months. They've really helped me overcome some issues, but I've just begun and can't manage more than a few minutes of meditating without breaking out into giggles.
I meditated every day at least once, and I made the sessions fairly long- no three minute sessions for me. Some days were better than others, but I kept at it. I'm glad I did.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:09 am

    Quoting pocogato12:
    The closest I came to this was the night before my lung surgery. What ever I achieved kept me from being afraid. Thank you for an exceptional post
Thank you Poco. The serenity I felt as a result of satori is nearly indescribable, and joyous.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:12 am

    Quoting  :

It's worth every bit of effort that you put into the practice. When it finally happened for me, I could scarcely believe it, and a part of me even doubted it, but there was no denying what had taken place.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:13 am

    Quoting goodatpoetry2:
    " To succeed, you have to empty your head "

    There's a bunch of people posting lately that seem just perfect for this...
I think you're quite right. It could do them a world of good!

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:28 am

    Quoting sweet_VM:
    Meditation is on the up rise again KZ. It has saved many people. You have describe it to T hugsssssss V ty loved reading it.
Thank you, sweet Vm, my friend. I think it was never more true than it is today that we need to slow down for our health and sanity, and to get out of our heads. We fill them up with all manner of crap that tortures and bedevils us. Let that shit go! We don't need it.

Huggggggggs B

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:36 am

    Quoting wickedeasy:
    that was beyond excellent. so clear and so true.

    I will send it along. I think it will make sense to him now - I don't know how to do better.

    Namaste

    we
Thank you, wicked. And I don't only mean thank you for the compliment. Thank you for reminding me of this with your question. Like I said in the post, I've drifted away from something that was once essential and life changing for me. I relived it in remembering it. There are so many gifts in life- love and sex and good food, the company of friends. Awareness is one of them. All things in moderation.

Namasté

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:43 am

    Quoting sexysixties2:
    You brought back a memory I would rather forget.....my days of studying French Philosophers for my exams and attempting to answers the questions in French!!!

    It's a long time since I have been able to get into the lotus position....but I do try to empty my mind every night before I sleep. It wouldn't be total meditation but it helps a lot.

Hell, I read that stuff voluntarily! Nobody made me do it! And still I suffered.

I do the same thing, emptying my head from time to time without the ritual of meditation. It's a natural response now, and done almost thoughtlessly. I think the ritual and the purposefulness is important too, though. It's good to set aside a time for just that.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 10:49 am

    Quoting NaughtyInSO:
    Your vivid description made me envy you. I never achieved satori.... but still enjoy great benefits of meditation. It helps to clear my mind, and although I don't feel empty or overly peaceful, I'm able to focus on important things and forget the rest.

    Great post, my friend!
Thank you Pet. Stunned is the word for it. Literally and figuratively I was stunned. Knocked senseless! I chased that moment for a long while afterward, which is of course not the correct approach. You let it happen, you can't chase it. Now, I think I want to do it again.



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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 11:06 am

    Quoting  :

Yes! Mindfulness. I'm fascinated by Julian Jaynes' theories of consciousness and awareness. Now science has turned its attention to meditation and meditative states in an effort to understand it. Science is unable to even define it or agree on where consciousness resides, but it has been understood through meditation for centuries.

I love this shit too. It's also great fun, and endlessly engaging. But my wife is the real expert. I'm a rank beginner.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 2:23 pm

    Quoting rockkickass69v2:
    Whenever I try to meditate I think about sex.
    So much for relaxing but at least one part of me is standing up straight. LOL!

Well, there's always yabyum. Have you tried that?

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 2:31 pm

    Quoting  :

Spunky, you are the best of friends. Thank you.

I agree with you about Buddhism. I came to it in a similar way to most of us in the west, searching as an adult. I didn't grow up with it. For me, Buddhism offers practical advice on how to live. It teaches a way to deal with the suffering in life that comes from unrealized expectations, something that happens to every one of us.

And it does not belittle orgasms. Orgasm is simply an alternative method.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 2:35 pm

    Quoting  :

I wouldn't discount the spacier experiences. I've had a few and those can be pretty entertaining!

I've had a couple of scary sessions too. They weren't enlightening but they were instructive.

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kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/7/2016 3:40 pm

    Quoting  :

Thank you, Pandora.
I've done walking meditations too. And like you, I find comfort in certain activities. But this very traditional method paid off for me in the most rewarding way.

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Golly06 71M
1932 posts
9/24/2016 10:04 am

Interesting; so many ways to meditate and so many different results. I have never had your experience, but am happy with the peace and perspective I get. People think you have to be perfectly still to meditate, but it is only your mind that needs to be still. "Still" might not be the right word, "aware" might be more accurate (but, so many philosophies on this). I might take just a few seconds to meditate several times a day. In Universal terms, hours and minutes are not so different (I keep trying to explain that when I have sex; funny... women don't seem to think in Universal terms).


kzoopair 72M/71F
25831 posts
9/24/2016 3:30 pm

    Quoting Golly06:
    Interesting; so many ways to meditate and so many different results. I have never had your experience, but am happy with the peace and perspective I get. People think you have to be perfectly still to meditate, but it is only your mind that needs to be still. "Still" might not be the right word, "aware" might be more accurate (but, so many philosophies on this). I might take just a few seconds to meditate several times a day. In Universal terms, hours and minutes are not so different (I keep trying to explain that when I have sex; funny... women don't seem to think in Universal terms).
There are as you say a lot of ways to meditate. I've done it regularly in all kinds of situations. Quieting your mind is a great benefit. It helps bring focus.

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