Anyone Here Meditate?

I just signed up (well filled out a form to get a free class) this morning for a KungFu & Tai Chi school - for similar reasons.

I actually took 2 semester of Tai Chi in college almost 20 years ago, then got out of it. Now I'm looking to get back into it Tai Chi and/or Yoga (which I've done before as well) for focus and for the physical benefits.

Then this afternoon I got a little FREAKED OUT doing some research online finding stuff about how Tai Chi, Yoga, etc.. is Anti Christian, opening yourself up for bad things (opening your your soul up for evil things, etc..), etc.. It Freaked Me Out!

I just want it (meditation,yoga,tai chi, whatever) for the focus, clearing the mind, for flexibility etc.., not all the religious stuff.

Thanks for starting this thread - Today (Perfect Timing)!
 


davidb said:
Then this afternoon I got a little FREAKED OUT doing some research online finding stuff about how Tai Chi, Yoga, etc.. is Anti Christian, opening yourself up for bad things (opening your your soul up for evil things, etc..), etc.. It Freaked Me Out!
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Yoga is similiar to Yoda

Yoda is mystical like Santa

Santa is an antagram for Satan

Satan is evil therefore Mediatation is EVIL!!!!!!1111!!
 
amanda11 said:
Last video ... I can't tell if it's informative or mockery.
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Welcome to Zen! hope you enjoy your stay.



davidb said:
I just signed up (well filled out a form to get a free class) this morning for a KungFu & Tai Chi school - for similar reasons.

I actually took 2 semester of Tai Chi in college almost 20 years ago, then got out of it. Now I'm looking to get back into it Tai Chi and/or Yoga (which I've done before as well) for focus and for the physical benefits.

Then this afternoon I got a little FREAKED OUT doing some research online finding stuff about how Tai Chi, Yoga, etc.. is Anti Christian, opening yourself up for bad things (opening your your soul up for evil things, etc..), etc.. It Freaked Me Out!

I just want it (meditation,yoga,tai chi, whatever) for the focus, clearing the mind, for flexibility etc.., not all the religious stuff.

Thanks for starting this thread - Today (Perfect Timing)!
Click to expand...

you may want to try this link then
Satanic Meditation
 
Oh Grasshopper..........................

amanda11 said:
Last video ... I can't tell if it's informative or mockery.
Click to expand...

It's both actually.

The sound of one hand clapping is a koan that does not immediately give insight. It can be used/interpreted in a number of ways. There is no one correct insight/meaning to be gleaned from it. It is used to expand the mind's ability to take abstract data and extrapolate understanding of that which may not be understandable. Understand?! LOL

The slapping of the disciple up side his head is a correction for asking such a question with the expectation of an answer. It also gives a plausible extrapolation of such an act as one hand clapping. So, like stated, it is both mockery and informative.

The other koan which is of this nature is, "Does a tree falling in the Forrest make a sound if there is no one there to hear it falling?"

Believe it or not, meditation on such things can train your mind to think in ways that others do not, which can help a marketer to "Think outside of the Box". (Just food for thought, other than raw fish.)

P.S. I just might have to go dig out my old signature by Chuang tzu.
 
I saw some 3+ hour videos featuring John Hagelin. PHD in Theoretical Physics from Harvard; Dartmouth undergrad; Choat Rosemary Hall. All this is to say he's not some tree hugging hippy on weed talking about how "great" meditation is - btw has an IQ of 165.....
The guy talked about how meditation is really like brain exercise that can do all sorts of stuff for not only your peace of mind but your bank account as well. I couldn't find his other lectures but here's some stuff from the Univ. of Oregon if you get bored one day and really want to learn more from a quantitative perspective regarding the benefits of meditation

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgtkuKs8HQ"]YouTube - David Lynch: Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain[/ame]
 
aim high said:
I want to start. Any recommended readings?
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"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

excerpts:
The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle: Excerpts


turbolapp said:
I would love to be able to meditate I think it would help with my insomnia but I just haven't had the patience for it so far. My mind always wanders and to keep it on track I find extremely tedious. Am I just not the right type for meditation or are most people like me when they start?
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That's normal for most people. Just like learning to ride a bike or whatever, your thoughts will wander less over time.
 
davidb said:
I just want it (meditation,yoga,tai chi, whatever) for the focus, clearing the mind, for flexibility etc.., not all the religious stuff.
Click to expand...

A very simple, yet effective one to start with: find quiet, comfortable place to relax, close eyes and focus on your breathing. Do this for at least 5 minutes. If/when your mind starts wandering, focus (for ex) on the tip of your nose. That helped me in drawing my focus more.

That worked great for me, and nothing religious or spiritual about it at all.
 
Like many have said, check out some buddhist books or/and groups. You have to find what is the best tradition for you ie. zen, tibetan buddhism, etc... Buddhist practices are the best ones that I have found in few years of searching. And it's not exactly religious (I hate that word). It's more like filosophy with real practices.

Beware of some new age groups and search for their backgrounds if you join them. They are basically ripping people's money in many cases.

turbolapp said:
I would love to be able to meditate I think it would help with my insomnia but I just haven't had the patience for it so far. My mind always wanders and to keep it on track I find extremely tedious. Am I just not the right type for meditation or are most people like me when they start?
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Most people are like that when they start. But I'm still thinking that you are working too much and your brain is thinking your work stuff while you try to sleep. Meditation could help you. You should try it out...
 
I heard something once. I'm probably misquoting, but it was something like 1 hour of meditation would make up for like 4 hours of sleep. doesn't really make sense, cause then you could just meditate a couple hours and not sleep.
 
been following the 8 minute meditation book, my mind feels sharper, cleaner, and crisper. Placebo? Not sure, but i like it.
 
davidb said:
I just signed up (well filled out a form to get a free class) this morning for a KungFu & Tai Chi school - for similar reasons.

I actually took 2 semester of Tai Chi in college almost 20 years ago, then got out of it. Now I'm looking to get back into it Tai Chi and/or Yoga (which I've done before as well) for focus and for the physical benefits.

Then this afternoon I got a little FREAKED OUT doing some research online finding stuff about how Tai Chi, Yoga, etc.. is Anti Christian, opening yourself up for bad things (opening your your soul up for evil things, etc..), etc.. It Freaked Me Out!

I just want it (meditation,yoga,tai chi, whatever) for the focus, clearing the mind, for flexibility etc.., not all the religious stuff.

Thanks for starting this thread - Today (Perfect Timing)!
Click to expand...

If your priest or pastor or whatever is adamant that doing exercises such as yoga is actually a method the devil uses to get into your soul then you might want to consider working through a rosary instead. Say each prayer very slowly and try to focus %100 on each word you say. Alternativlely take them a sentence at a time and focus on saying nothing but that sentence repeatedly to yourself.

btw what to do you think Jesus might have been doing when he went out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights? Thats a lot of time for meditative contemplation.
 
ye, i freak christians out everytime i claim to be god. they dont really like it. no idea why.



those philosophies are considered anti christian because they dont believe in a god as a third person. they dont make distinctions between nature, god and you. it's all the same spiritual being. actually zen describes a state where there is no believe left at all. cause you understand how every believe and every word is only an illusion (: ...


i personally believe that jesus spread a very similar message to zen. he just gave fancy names like god. and then stuff in the old testament makes sense, where god kills freakin a lot of people - well, of course he did. if WE are god, then we freakin DID kill a lot of people.




oh btw, this is a biggie. what does the old testament say why adam and eve were banned from paradise? they started dividing into good and bad. they started judging things, believing things were "good or bad" in essence. so not only zen says duality is an illusion. even the bible says it right at the beginning (; ... the conclusion is to realize duality as an illusion and be back in paradise. welcome to zen.



as you can see, there are ridiculously big paralells between all those spiritual writings. it's weird what people made out of it.
 
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