Hi Everyone,
I have been "hitting a wall" lately in meditation. So far, every time a powerful nimitta comes up in my meditation I start to get excited and think something along the lines of "Here comes 1st jhana!" - which of course leads me to bounce right back from the nimitta. I know what the problem is - my excitement and anticipation, and I know the reason the nimittas arise in the first place is because of letting go of desire and craving at least temporarily.
The meditation seems to go something like this - settling into present moment, settling into silence, watching the breath, getting calmer, more mindful of the breath, calmer, more mindful, very calm, nimitta, WOOHOO!, agitation, loss of mindfulness, reminding myself to be calm, mindfulness of the breath returns, etc.
So how can I lessen the excitement, will it just be a matter of time and practice until the same habitual reactions get boring and they cease? Or is there something more to it?
Thanks,
Guy
Hitting a wall
Hitting a wall
Four types of letting go:
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
Re: Hitting a wall
Yes this what you will have to do. You're beginning to see various forms of the truth of how the untrained mind is wandering and agitated. Relax and continue to observe.Guy wrote:Hi Everyone,
...will it just be a matter of time and practice until the same habitual reactions get boring and they cease? Or is there something more to it?
Thanks,
Guy
That is all that there ever is to do. Watch and learn.
metta & upekkha
But whoever walking, standing, sitting, or lying down overcomes thought, delighting in the stilling of thought: he's capable, a monk like this, of touching superlative self-awakening. § 110. {Iti 4.11; Iti 115}
Re: Hitting a wall
Hi Nathan,
With Metta,
Guy
Thanks, that is very good advice. I guess I was just looking for some reassurance that I was on the right track.nathan wrote:That is all that there ever is to do. Watch and learn.
With Metta,
Guy
Four types of letting go:
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
Re: Hitting a wall
If you just keep simply relaxing, watching and learningGuy wrote:Hi Nathan,
Thanks, that is very good advice. I guess I was just looking for some reassurance that I was on the right track.nathan wrote:That is all that there ever is to do. Watch and learn.
With Metta,
Guy
then you can know that you are on the right track.
The mind will show you the whole universe before you can get it to just stop for a second. It really needs to relax and calm down so just try to do that and be observant. The rest looks after itself.
But whoever walking, standing, sitting, or lying down overcomes thought, delighting in the stilling of thought: he's capable, a monk like this, of touching superlative self-awakening. § 110. {Iti 4.11; Iti 115}
Re: Hitting a wall
Whether excitement or despair, I don't know any other approach: Keep on practicing.
Not that it's any consolation, but everyone goes through this stuff. It will make you stronger in the long run. Just keep on practicing.
Not that it's any consolation, but everyone goes through this stuff. It will make you stronger in the long run. Just keep on practicing.
- Spiny O'Norman
- Posts: 851
- Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 8:46 am
- Location: Suffolk, England
Re: Hitting a wall
Guy[/quote] Watch and learn.
[/quote]
That's really good advice!
Rick
[/quote]
That's really good advice!
Rick
Re: Hitting a wall
Thank you all very much for your encouragement.
Four types of letting go:
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
Re: Hitting a wall
Hi Guy,
Metta
That's great! The wall is there for a reason. The wall is anicca, anatta, dukkha. Don't ignore the wall. Sometimes people get walls and they don't know what to do with them. So consider yourself lucky.Guy wrote:I have been "hitting a wall" lately in meditation.
Metta
Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.