Valley2Mountain

It would be great if I could maintain a consistent morning meditation routine, because otherwise it gets pushed further down the day which eventually leads to skipping days. Can you share please your tips on what makes you feel energized and focused during the morning session rather than sleepy? (assuming I sleep enough). I found that meditating after a morning workout is great, but usually in the morning I don't have time for both.

Thank you 🙂

@Phil How do you actually do it?

@Phil Isn't in this case: The knower = We The thing = Chocolate Why wouldn't you be able to know that you just ate a chocolate?

riddle-@Phil e, what do you mean by asking "is there any true knowing something just happened"? Why wouldn't you be able to know if something just happened? From your point of view, everything that happens in this world is a thought and there are no facts? They seem like leading questions, but ultimately what principle do you try to point to?

So If I understood you correctly, direct experience is what actually happening, not the interpretations of it that happen afterwards in the form of feelings and thoughts. Right?

@fopylo My two cents about the topic: The sentence "my life starts only once I finish my military service" is so common in the everyday language in Israel, until it actually feels this way. In reality though, every thing you experience is part of your life. You are not in a race against other people in the globe and nobody really is ahead of you in life just because you have a military service and others not. Look, you can't change the fact you are obliged to be recruited to the army so you better accept it and try to make the best out of it (as much as possible). However, whether you choose to extend your service or not, it's only up to you. Thirdly, comparing yourself to the lives of people living in other Western countries is useless. You are not living their lives, accept it. And if you are comparing yourself to them, be fair enough to compare yourself to the lives of those who live in third world countries as well. Regarding the whole age thing. If you were born in a cave and didn't have connection to the outside world then your age would have a zero significance to you. The number is meaningless. Social codes give it meaning. Now, I do agree that because you wouldn't like to live in isolation then age does matter in some topics, like marriage and kids. Nevertheless, if 9 million Israelis can get married and have kids then I think you'll be able to do so as well😉. Just so you can have another perspective - I am 26 years old from Israel, I also was in the army. Lately, I quit my academic studies 'cause I didn't feel like it's the direction I'd like to pursue. Now I feel lost and don't know yet what my next steps are. I'm confident though that I'll find it. Don't worry, your life questions will be answered gradually. Al tidag ahi, yihe beseder🤙

@Aware Wolf Didn't understand the distinction you drew. What is the difference between an and the second term you said - "Sensual experience" (which I think doesn't have to be necessarily positive) ? @Loop For the sake of grasping what is Direct Experience, 'cause I probably don't really understand what that is, can you describe please what goes inside the head of a person who is truly operating from Direct Experience? Let's say in the example of doing drugs? Or Navigating through life (deciding what one wants to do in life)?

Thank you.

Let's say someone acts in a way that at that particular moment his direct experience of the situation is positive. Counting only on his direct experience, he countinues doing the same thing over and over again as it bring positive feelings for him. However, the person didn't realize that the negative consequences of that action will come only later in his life. Can't you say that in this case, Direct Experience deceived the person while prior knowledge would have saved him from doing that action in the first place? Examples: Doing drugs Hedonism over strategizing for a better future.

@Phil I see you mention these terms a lot - 'discord' and 'discordant thoughts'. What do you mean by them?

@PhilI am sorry if it came sarcastic or offensive. It was never my intention. It wasn't meant to discourage you from helping people on the forum. Instead, it would be great If you could consider please adjusting the level of your explanation to the person's level of understanding of things (as much as you can).

Touché. Well, it just sounded like a doctor explaining the patient his situation using advanced medical terminology (and the patient is not a doctor himself). Now imagine what's going in the patient's head at that moment haha. Thank you very much for the link, I will start exploring that as well 🤙

Thank you guys for the informative answers! I have more than enough material to explore now 😁 @PhilI will admit that I didn't grasp much of your second reply, felt a bit riddlesome and beyond my level of understanding of reality 😅 I did like though the captions you put below each meditation group, some of them were pretty amusing to read.

Thank you guys for the warm welcoming and your answers😘 @Tarak Along your journey, did you experiment with different techniques or stayed with one for a long time? @bardh Not sure I understood your example with the reaction to the color. In any case, isn't it inevitable that a certain time will pass until you press the button? If you are not reacting from successfully identifying the color, what are you reacting from? @Loop What do you think about Shinzen Young's mindfulness practice? Should I prefer mindfulness meditation to other meditation techniques? or essentially it comes down to personal preference? @Aware Wolf Satipatthana is a Mindfulness practice? If so, then my question to @Loop relevant to you as well. Is the book recommendation that you gave me connects to the other recommendations you gave me afterwards, or are those two different directions to explore? @Phil So your recommendation is that I should explore the different meditation practices you put on the website, until something resonates with me?

I've been practicing meditation on and off for couple of years now and I am not satisfied with the results. At this stage, I feel I don't even know what goals I should even aim for or which technique to use. I'd like to bump up my meditation practice. To progress towards something. Is there a map, a guide or some kind of a progression ladder for meditation that I can follow? Paradoxically, I heard that you shouldn't expect any results from doing meditation and just do it for it's own sake. But honestly it's hard to keep a habit without having a clear aim or results.