I saw a post about Self-Healing by Nico Cost on a forum. I have no idea of how to track him down. “When you use willpower differently, your world is going to change.”
I had these thoughts after several encounters with this experiment. WHAT IS MEDITATION THEN? These are just my definitions out of rationality, not from any claim of a "spiritual transmission”.
1. many people think contemplation is meditation. Like every translator of Marcus Aurelius titled his book “Meditations”. It is not! It is Contemplations. (I like that book, one of my favorites.) But not our subject here.
2. Many people think visualization is meditation. Nico Cost used it, visualizing a starry sky, and the thrilling feeling of that vastness against my smallness. He suggested to label it as the love of the universe, showering down on me. Yes, maybe that would be a doorway into a great feeling, (but is that meditation or spirituality?)
3. The only one word in English or any other human language that approaches meditation is “SILENCE”. It is a NO-THING. It has no qualities. No concepts, no languages nor communications. (We could claim a feeling of resonance.) There is no movement, nor any space/time continuum. So, no location, non-temporal, no light no dark. Nothing from the material realm about it, no limits from the speed of light.
I propose that Silence IS what some people call “the spiritual realm”. MEDITATION makes the claim that you can apprehend that. BUT HOW?
AND WHY? One way to simplify why, it is to say, why – because it is happening. I am doing it right now. Maybe that is enough.
HOW is the instruction: Try to keep your mind as empty as possible. Don’t resist thoughts, but also let them fly by as you focus on your breathing. But we have to look at how thoughts can “fly-by”?
WHAT FLOWS THROUGH YOUR MIND? And why is it different than what flows through my mind? We can conclude that there is a built-in preference mechanism in each of us, that focuses our individual thoughts. But we (I) said, silence has no qualities. I am going to propose that we cannot have silence as a preference, because without qualities, there is nothing to visualize, no handles to grab hold of it, and no way to set it up as our priority. So, the only way to get to silence is to NOT PREFER everything else.
A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. The process is a negation, the skill is how to not to pick-up a thought. Or since they come pretty fast, how to “set-down” a thought. It is not a very direct route toward Silence.
Anyhow, without any expectations, it shouldn’t be too upsetting.
I should really stop here. But I’ll add one supposition. Maybe there could come a point where you can step in and out of silence at will? Like going through a doorway. For instance, I claim I can step in and out of emotional reaction at will. No more difficult than going through an open door. It is so easy, that I have no fear of letting emotions play; and my life is richer for it, not constrained. Reactions are weightless for me; they have no impact on my being and they don’t automatically create actions, (that I later regret). (Other people’s repeated reactions can be annoying).
I sometimes post on why-not-think, so I see the new posts as they are created.
Right now I am in the middle of a large project to upload a detailed Russian (Asian) history. The particular chapters in these weeks are about the Mongolian empire. So when I saw "Mongolian Music - Boerte Gobi" I had to check it out. The video is stylized with vast scenes of Mongolia and the desert, and a cast of Mongolian looking characters, with costumes.
Who knows how the look of it and the music relates to the 700 or 800 years ago that we are studying, but it is fascinating. So I participated in the meditation experiment, which isn't about Mongolia.
Without considering any expectations that might be built into the word "meditation", I would say that sitting here reveals something about the programmed me. I can see that I gravitate toward my Librarian-Project, and consider what I would like to present next. How would I write about it? I can "sort-of" let it go, but not really. It comes back in many variations, and it is not a pest. These are what I presently value. If I continue with this experiment (of looking), will I see how I formulated those values, and how perhaps I could alter them? Would I find a direction toward which I want to alter them?
I think that I am content to work as Librarian for now. I am thinking that any alteration will make itself known clearly enough. If nothing changes, I will stay with my present contentment. I have no yearning or feeling of incompleteness.
1. I can stay with my breathing, but the starry sky comes and goes. I see thoughts parading through, and I don't attach to them (too much). I see that I have plans, and even now I continue repeating them in my mind, for the next hours, next days and next weeks. I am patient about completing them, a flexible time-line, but they are there, and finally get done.
I will add to this reply, as I repeat this experiment.
2. Just after waking, not groggy, but not feeling like engaging with much, is a good time to sit. The music is not magic nor esoteric vibration, but just a timer, and blocking other noise. Nico Cost does set up an expectation by saying "receive the love of the universe," from the canopy of stars. That's OK, but be ready to let that one go.
Watching the parade of thoughts but not attaching to any of them does have a knack. I call it learning to set down a thought. More or less, I can do it. He says in the disclaimer, "it is harmless". I agree.
My breathing which I have no trouble staying with, is a 1-2-3 rhythm. It gravitates to in-out-pause, about equal. The pause is not a hold, it is just happening by itself. He says some interesting things:
“When you use willpower differently, your world is going to change.”
"You can only escape from the illusion by consciously stepping out of it."
"Busy-busy-busy exists only in the mental field and it is all illusion."
"You don’t necessarily need meditating if you can already live like this"
I have a long history of investigating these matters. I have picked-up on his last thought, as part of my reasoning for not meditating. (I may just be saying that as an excuse? Someone might tell me that I am not meditative?)
Right now, you have xx years of live training in becoming what you are. This is both your power and your burden. Changing all these years with ten minutes of music, no way. But it’s a good start to notice that “something different”.
A certain momentum is needed to be able to recognize this “different” spontaneously. Once this knack kicks in, new layers of this very world will show up. That will be fun. And self-reflection: “For so many years, I’ve been walking in all this all the time and I haven’t seen this? How come?” Then, the difference.
I would say that I have a long (enough) experience with these matters. "Enough" means that what I have determined consistently "works" in the laboratory of my life.
I am quite sure that, with myself and others, (and it may be anecdotal), that feeling changes the MOMENT you change your definition. Tracts are not welded into your brain by xx years, but by refusing to change that definition (that belief).
Why do people meditate, or seek spirituality? The answer is invariable that their life is defined as deficient. Meditation's origin is your negative self-definition and judgment. Some will even say that "source" (God) sends adversity so that humanity can grow by contemplating it. WHAT BUNK, but comforting to many people. So many spiritual teachings swear that life is suffering, including the base tenant of Buddhism.
If you could learn to work with your definitions, (or someone would teach it), all contradictions and so-called stress would dissolve. As quoted above "Busy-Busy, or stress is only in the mental field, and it is an illusion." Mental field is not a mystical thing, it is only your verbal model of reality. It is in our societal agreements. So as an individual, if you stop creating "stress", even as society keeps reinforcing contradiction, there will be no need to resolve anything.
"Noticing something different requires a Momentum". I wouldn't call it a momentum, but just a success story in changing definitions and noticing life smooths out. It happens a little at a time as each day you consider another belief. (Where did that come from? Is it obsolete?)
You have nicely summarised the essence of seeking change. The word “consistently” indicates that you have been “doing” this quite a time, therefore, by definition, there must be changes in your mindfield plus you have the trained acuteness of observation to notice these changes. If that’s the case, you (probably) wouldn’t need anything else except time - or rather the continuation of these observations over future time.
This sounds obvious for those who have been self-reflecting for some time. For newbies, it would provoke a question, “Why so much effort? I want it now.” This is why 11 D was released, I guess. Because methods are the same, events on the path are the same, pitfalls are the same, and the only thing that makes the difference is how the experiencing person handles all this.
“Stop creating stress” - I love this prescription for happiness.
Sorry, I don't have time for this. There is a great disturbance in the force and I, as a human, am obligated to help address it. When you get done meditating you might want to help since you believe in the "good".
Hi George, are you doing any good to help address this disturbance. If you have any hints, please share them. What works to ameliorate them?
Many people collect links, they aggregate a social media consensus. I don't see that awareness as any help. I know it already, although not every ongoing fine detail. It does make you feel hurried and gloomy. What can you do from that standpoint?
In one sense I tend to agree with what you say. Many people use meditation to avoid the frustrations of life. It is their personal little "safety island". Avoidance doesn't resolve anything.
I had these thoughts after several encounters with this experiment. WHAT IS MEDITATION THEN? These are just my definitions out of rationality, not from any claim of a "spiritual transmission”.
1. many people think contemplation is meditation. Like every translator of Marcus Aurelius titled his book “Meditations”. It is not! It is Contemplations. (I like that book, one of my favorites.) But not our subject here.
2. Many people think visualization is meditation. Nico Cost used it, visualizing a starry sky, and the thrilling feeling of that vastness against my smallness. He suggested to label it as the love of the universe, showering down on me. Yes, maybe that would be a doorway into a great feeling, (but is that meditation or spirituality?)
3. The only one word in English or any other human language that approaches meditation is “SILENCE”. It is a NO-THING. It has no qualities. No concepts, no languages nor communications. (We could claim a feeling of resonance.) There is no movement, nor any space/time continuum. So, no location, non-temporal, no light no dark. Nothing from the material realm about it, no limits from the speed of light.
I propose that Silence IS what some people call “the spiritual realm”. MEDITATION makes the claim that you can apprehend that. BUT HOW?
AND WHY? One way to simplify why, it is to say, why – because it is happening. I am doing it right now. Maybe that is enough.
HOW is the instruction: Try to keep your mind as empty as possible. Don’t resist thoughts, but also let them fly by as you focus on your breathing. But we have to look at how thoughts can “fly-by”?
WHAT FLOWS THROUGH YOUR MIND? And why is it different than what flows through my mind? We can conclude that there is a built-in preference mechanism in each of us, that focuses our individual thoughts. But we (I) said, silence has no qualities. I am going to propose that we cannot have silence as a preference, because without qualities, there is nothing to visualize, no handles to grab hold of it, and no way to set it up as our priority. So, the only way to get to silence is to NOT PREFER everything else.
A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. A thought comes up – I don’t prefer that. The process is a negation, the skill is how to not to pick-up a thought. Or since they come pretty fast, how to “set-down” a thought. It is not a very direct route toward Silence.
Anyhow, without any expectations, it shouldn’t be too upsetting.
I should really stop here. But I’ll add one supposition. Maybe there could come a point where you can step in and out of silence at will? Like going through a doorway. For instance, I claim I can step in and out of emotional reaction at will. No more difficult than going through an open door. It is so easy, that I have no fear of letting emotions play; and my life is richer for it, not constrained. Reactions are weightless for me; they have no impact on my being and they don’t automatically create actions, (that I later regret). (Other people’s repeated reactions can be annoying).
.
I sometimes post on why-not-think, so I see the new posts as they are created.
Right now I am in the middle of a large project to upload a detailed Russian (Asian) history. The particular chapters in these weeks are about the Mongolian empire. So when I saw "Mongolian Music - Boerte Gobi" I had to check it out. The video is stylized with vast scenes of Mongolia and the desert, and a cast of Mongolian looking characters, with costumes.
Who knows how the look of it and the music relates to the 700 or 800 years ago that we are studying, but it is fascinating. So I participated in the meditation experiment, which isn't about Mongolia.
Without considering any expectations that might be built into the word "meditation", I would say that sitting here reveals something about the programmed me. I can see that I gravitate toward my Librarian-Project, and consider what I would like to present next. How would I write about it? I can "sort-of" let it go, but not really. It comes back in many variations, and it is not a pest. These are what I presently value. If I continue with this experiment (of looking), will I see how I formulated those values, and how perhaps I could alter them? Would I find a direction toward which I want to alter them?
I think that I am content to work as Librarian for now. I am thinking that any alteration will make itself known clearly enough. If nothing changes, I will stay with my present contentment. I have no yearning or feeling of incompleteness.
.
1. I can stay with my breathing, but the starry sky comes and goes. I see thoughts parading through, and I don't attach to them (too much). I see that I have plans, and even now I continue repeating them in my mind, for the next hours, next days and next weeks. I am patient about completing them, a flexible time-line, but they are there, and finally get done.
I will add to this reply, as I repeat this experiment.
2. Just after waking, not groggy, but not feeling like engaging with much, is a good time to sit. The music is not magic nor esoteric vibration, but just a timer, and blocking other noise. Nico Cost does set up an expectation by saying "receive the love of the universe," from the canopy of stars. That's OK, but be ready to let that one go.
Watching the parade of thoughts but not attaching to any of them does have a knack. I call it learning to set down a thought. More or less, I can do it. He says in the disclaimer, "it is harmless". I agree.
My breathing which I have no trouble staying with, is a 1-2-3 rhythm. It gravitates to in-out-pause, about equal. The pause is not a hold, it is just happening by itself. He says some interesting things:
“When you use willpower differently, your world is going to change.”
"You can only escape from the illusion by consciously stepping out of it."
"Busy-busy-busy exists only in the mental field and it is all illusion."
"You don’t necessarily need meditating if you can already live like this"
I have a long history of investigating these matters. I have picked-up on his last thought, as part of my reasoning for not meditating. (I may just be saying that as an excuse? Someone might tell me that I am not meditative?)
.
Right now, you have xx years of live training in becoming what you are. This is both your power and your burden. Changing all these years with ten minutes of music, no way. But it’s a good start to notice that “something different”.
A certain momentum is needed to be able to recognize this “different” spontaneously. Once this knack kicks in, new layers of this very world will show up. That will be fun. And self-reflection: “For so many years, I’ve been walking in all this all the time and I haven’t seen this? How come?” Then, the difference.
I would say that I have a long (enough) experience with these matters. "Enough" means that what I have determined consistently "works" in the laboratory of my life.
I am quite sure that, with myself and others, (and it may be anecdotal), that feeling changes the MOMENT you change your definition. Tracts are not welded into your brain by xx years, but by refusing to change that definition (that belief).
Why do people meditate, or seek spirituality? The answer is invariable that their life is defined as deficient. Meditation's origin is your negative self-definition and judgment. Some will even say that "source" (God) sends adversity so that humanity can grow by contemplating it. WHAT BUNK, but comforting to many people. So many spiritual teachings swear that life is suffering, including the base tenant of Buddhism.
If you could learn to work with your definitions, (or someone would teach it), all contradictions and so-called stress would dissolve. As quoted above "Busy-Busy, or stress is only in the mental field, and it is an illusion." Mental field is not a mystical thing, it is only your verbal model of reality. It is in our societal agreements. So as an individual, if you stop creating "stress", even as society keeps reinforcing contradiction, there will be no need to resolve anything.
"Noticing something different requires a Momentum". I wouldn't call it a momentum, but just a success story in changing definitions and noticing life smooths out. It happens a little at a time as each day you consider another belief. (Where did that come from? Is it obsolete?)
Thanks for post 11 D. it is a beauty.
.
You have nicely summarised the essence of seeking change. The word “consistently” indicates that you have been “doing” this quite a time, therefore, by definition, there must be changes in your mindfield plus you have the trained acuteness of observation to notice these changes. If that’s the case, you (probably) wouldn’t need anything else except time - or rather the continuation of these observations over future time.
This sounds obvious for those who have been self-reflecting for some time. For newbies, it would provoke a question, “Why so much effort? I want it now.” This is why 11 D was released, I guess. Because methods are the same, events on the path are the same, pitfalls are the same, and the only thing that makes the difference is how the experiencing person handles all this.
“Stop creating stress” - I love this prescription for happiness.
Sorry, I don't have time for this. There is a great disturbance in the force and I, as a human, am obligated to help address it. When you get done meditating you might want to help since you believe in the "good".
Hi George, are you doing any good to help address this disturbance. If you have any hints, please share them. What works to ameliorate them?
Many people collect links, they aggregate a social media consensus. I don't see that awareness as any help. I know it already, although not every ongoing fine detail. It does make you feel hurried and gloomy. What can you do from that standpoint?
In one sense I tend to agree with what you say. Many people use meditation to avoid the frustrations of life. It is their personal little "safety island". Avoidance doesn't resolve anything.
Thanks for your comment.
Not ignoring you, just very busy right now and you deserve more than a quick response. I'll get baqck to you.