Holy crap, mantra meditation

[Blessed2]

When I woke up this morning and took my phone & started scrolling like I usually do each morning, on my browser a webpage was open which I don't recall opening. It was an introduction on transcendental meditation and it sounded good, so I googled what the technique is (transcendental meditation is usually sold as a 1-1 course, and it would cost a few hundres bucks) and found it for free.

 

It's basically just basic silent mantra meditation. You repeat silently a mantra with no meaning, like random syllables. It's recommended 20 minutes twice a day.

 

I just gave it a try for 12 minutes and holy crap, there was a significant shift. How I felt the body and space, changed. This seems to be a quite powerful technique. I liked that it was very easy / "low effort" to focus / repeat that mantra rather than focus on breath of relaxing the body. Though there was also some unpleasant feeling, especially around the head. Like the experience of space / head area changed. Hard to explain. I actually feel a bit trippy / disorientated right now.

 

Has anyone else here tried such techniques? Have you found it to be useful? What's the difference between focus on breath or focus on a mantra?

[Blessed2]

 

[Mandy]

That's awesome! I think that we attract whatever we're looking for. Rather than figuring out which technique or focus object is best and making an effort to do that and feeling or wondering if we've chosen the "best" thing, we're already drawn to what's right at the right time. 

[Phil]

Awesome. 👊🏼 

 

On 10/11/2023 at 6:51 AM, Blessed2 said:

What's the difference between focus on breath or focus on a mantra?

Albeit subtle, the breath isn’t an activity of thinking. 

[Blessed2]

20 hours ago, Mandy said:

That's awesome! I think that we attract whatever we're looking for. Rather than figuring out which technique or focus object is best and making an effort to do that and feeling or wondering if we've chosen the "best" thing, we're already drawn to what's right at the right time. 

 

Yeah it's crazy, I have no idea how that webpage got to my phone. 😂🙏

 

I'm happy that it did. For whatever reason / beliefs held make the basic breathing meditation seem like a chore. But this mantra meditation is actually fun, there isn't such resistance to it. Like a shoe that just fits. I'm actually thinking of doing the 20 minutes twice a day. That actually does feel entirely possible, even fun.

 

What really caught my eye in that webpage was this:

 

"All 8 billion people on this planet are different, but we all have one thing in common: we want to be happy.  Happiness is like gravity to the mind;  the mind spontaneously gravitates towards any pleasurable experience.  The state of being yourself - coming home - is the most enjoyable state for the mind that exists, and the mind seeks this experience more than anything else.

 

All we have to do is set the mind in the right direction and then let this natural event take its course (meaning we don't try to control the mind or focus)."

 

That resonates a lot.

[Blessed2]

I meditated 10 minutes twice yesterday and I could almost make the case that it's already "working". As in beliefs about happiness and enlightenment are being stripped down.

[Living Water]

@Blessed2 consistent, regular practice is key. The experiences get better and better. I've done this meditation technique for 6 years. It's been a game changer. Glad you found it!

[Blessed2]

On 10/12/2023 at 4:06 PM, Living Water said:

@Blessed2 consistent, regular practice is key. The experiences get better and better. I've done this meditation technique for 6 years. It's been a game changer. Glad you found it!

 

What have been the positive results you have experienced with this meditation?

[Blessed2]

@Phil What would happen, what changes / positive experiences would there be if I meditated like this 20 minutes twice every day?

 

[Phil]

@Blessed2

I could tell you that a chocolate glazed donut is like chocolate cake with icing but round with a hole in the middle. 

I could tell you that playing bass is like playing guitar just with less strings.

I could share thoughts that arise about your behaviors & actions. 

But I can’t tell you anything at all about you. 

[Links]

On 10/11/2023 at 11:51 AM, Blessed2 said:

Has anyone else here tried such techniques? Have you found it to be useful? What's the difference between focus on breath or focus on a mantra?

 

Hi, yes I learned the TM technique, it was a long time ago when I was a beginner and well before you could look it up in the internet for free! But yes, it's a mantra technique essentially the same as other mantra techniques imo. A bit later I became a Buddhist (for a while) and one of the many techniques I learned there was the mantra "buddho" which had a stronger resonance because of its religious connection.  But mantras  don't "work" so well for me, I think because mantras being words, activate a part of my mind associated with language, thought, conceptualisation etc. So I incline towards non-verbal methods now which allow my thinking to switch off more easily. Breath works well when I need an anchor, ie when my mind is a bit restless  like at the start of a sit. But I can often let go of that too and simply rest in awareness. 

 

But that's just me, imo this is all very personal and subjective so don't rely on what I say but try them out for yourself, that's where the differences actually exist. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Links

[Blessed2]

On 10/26/2023 at 2:07 AM, Links said:

But mantras  don't "work" so well for me, I think because mantras being words, activate a part of my mind associated with language, thought, conceptualisation etc.

 

Interesting. My experience seems to be a bit different. It's like repeating the mantra is an allowing for the thoughts to appear as they do. And sort of that allowing / the repetition is the anchor, or light of awareness.