Hello.

[Absinthe]

Hi,

I came here on Frater Yechidah's recommendation. I recognise a few names from OF and the former MoQ (hi Frater Neshamah). I'm a student of Qabalah, Alchemy and Tarot, but I've decided to take a break from Tarot for a while as it has been my constant companion for nearly 20 years. I want to see what happens if I leave it alone for a while. It's a bit scary. I plan to focus my energies on writing and meditation in the mean time.

Look forward to chatting with you all on the threads. :D

[dev]

Hi, and welcome to AF!

Tell me, what is, according to you, the best way to achieve a deep meditational state?

[Absinthe]

When I find out I'll let you know!!

Meditation has always been a weakness on my magickal path. I pretty much suck at it. I would rather bang my head against the wall. Clean the oven. Go to work. Anything.

[Radiant Star]

Hi Absinthe

I recognize you too, most of us are from the same stable I think.

Welcome

Ricci

[fr.novumorganum]

greetings and salutations

[m1thr0s]

Hey Absinthe. Thanks for the introduction and welcome to AF.

You know...there is a big fat lie with respect to meditation that needs to be more aggressively confronted by people who know anything about it and that is that it's all about slowing down and stopping the mind etc...

I don't know who actually wants or needs to accomplish that but I do know that this is not the sum of what meditation is all about. So a lot of mastering meditation today necessarily involves getting straight on what it actually is to begin with.

Consider Bruce Lee's Jeet Kun Do axiom: "The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness." There are many forms of meditation that work with action instead of inaction, where the goal is to achieve a perfect balance in action itself, and so, like a hurricane, achieve a perfect calm at center...The eye of Shiva and the eye of a hurricane share many things in common.

just a little something to keep an eye on...

m1thr0s

[MythMath]

...bang my head against the wall.
Clean the oven. Go to work. Anything.

Aren't all of these acceptable forms of meditation...? :p

Cheers, Absinthe

[Oblio]

As with many things it can boil down to definition. It's not all that easy to apply the Western term meditation to any single practice or state from the variety of techniques that are blanketed as meditation. Is it Dhyana, Samadhi, Nirvana... indeed, is there much use to giving a prior label to something which you need to visit experientially?

As to the slowing/stilling of mind, you're right, that is given undeserved prominence in popular (and academic) writings; as does the perspective that it's all about reducing stress or learning relaxation. To some extent it is useful, however, to reduce physical/sensory input and the mental reactions to such (which is referred to as pratyahara if I'm not mistaken), as well as the common mental chatter (although, this is not so much a problem for a lot of practicing magicians, as concentration is often developed in their work).

Moving beyond that, though, there is such a variety of techniques of either concentration or insight (or rather, the process of discerning the entanglements of one's own conditioning) that even characterising these two main branches of meditation as striving for mental stillness does somewhat of a disservice to the area. More accurately they deconstruct the typical processes of consciousness, allowing for direct experience of the internal/external landscape (which given some experience will tend to lose it's common distinction).

Moreover, there are many techniques that have different goals entirely, such as raising and controlling energy, astral travel, healing, devotion etc.

[Absinthe]

Aren't all of these acceptable forms of meditation...?
Heh. True.

Thanks for the welcomes!

[Frater SI]

Welcome Absinthe

Glad to see you around again :)

[Kuroyagi]

Hey nice Absinthe I think I still faintly remember you from OF. Would be nice to see you posting here.

Oh yeah there are very many forms of meditation, and of doing all important things, in general. ;)

K.