Discursive Meditation: Useful Tips
Oct. 6th, 2019 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
The method of discursive meditation covered in last week's post on the subject is the framework for everything you do with this kind of meditation: settle your physical body, let go of unhelpful tensions, use rhythmic breathing to settle your subtle body, and then think, slowly, patiently, with as much mental focus as you can manage, about the theme of your choice. That's the method; know that much, and practice it daily, and you'll find your way step by step through the complexities of the process and achieve the states of increased clarity, perception, and wisdom that meditation brings. Yes, it really is that simple. Are there difficulties? Of course. I've already mentioned that meditation is the most boring activity you will ever experience, and I mean that quite literally. At some points it's maddeningly dull. That's true of every kind of meditation, by the way, and it's essential to its effectiveness. Boredom is always a sign that you're not paying enough attention. Meditation works by teaching you to notice what you don't usually notice, to pay attention to the things you usually slide right by. Thus there are two rules for dealing with boredom in meditation. The first is to keep going; the second is to slow down and pay more attention. That's not easy, but it'll get you through the boredom and help you notice what you've been missing.
You'll almost certainly go through the stage at which your body itches, aches, and throws every other possible annoying and distracting physical sensation at you. All those are sensations that you've been having all along anyway, without noticing them. Now that you're quieting the constant babble of sensory and mental chatter, you're going to notice them. Remain motionless and keep on with the meditation; you can scratch or whatever once your meditation session is over. This is a passing phase and your body will quiet back down after a while.
Many people also go through a stage when, as soon as they start meditation, they get really sleepy. That's another body issue; sometimes it's a way for your body to tell you that you aren't getting enough sleep, sometimes your body simply isn't used to being quiet except when you're going to sleep, and so it treats the meditation session as the lead-in to a nap. Fairly often this is just another passing phase. If it's not, you can add a bit of physical discomfort into the mix. I had a hard time with this early on in my practice, and solved it by meditating stark naked on a metal folding chair -- oh, and did I mention that it was winter? ;-) It was too cold for me to feel drowsy, and that broke my body out of the habit of treating meditation as naptime.
Some other points may be worth mentioning. Most people find that it helps to practice meditation at the same time every day, so that it becomes a habit. Most people find that it's a good idea to wait at least an hour after eating a meal or having sex before practicing meditation -- in both cases, your body has most of its energies directed somewhere other than the thinking centers in the head, and needs time to redirect those. Traditional lore has it that it's a bad idea to meditate while drunk or under the influence of drugs, though a mild dose of caffeine seems to be exempt from that -- Zen monks in Japan drink plenty of tea before meditating, and so do I, with good results.
Finally, there's a habit you may want to try introducing into your practice once you've gotten some experience with discursive meditation. When you're meditating and realize that your mind has gone rabbiting off away after something other than the theme of your meditation, don't just pop it right back onto the theme. Instead, notice what it's thinking about, and then work your way back through the chain of associations that got it to where it was. If you suddenly notice that you're thinking about your grandmother, let's say, stop there and go back. Why were you thinking about your grandmother? Because you were remembering a Thanksgiving dinner at her house when you were a child. Why did that memory come to mind? Because you were thinking about nuts, and she always had bowls of mixed nuts out on Thanksgiving day. Why were you thinking about nuts? Because you thought about squirrels, and the association came to mind. Why were you thinking about squirrels? Because one ran across the roof of your house, and the skittering noise broke into your train of thought and distracted you from your theme.
Do this repeatedly and you'll find that it trains your mind to run back to the theme just as readily as it ran away from it. You'll also become more aware of your habitual thought patterns, which is a serious plus, as this will teach you over time to work with them consciously rather than having them control you unconsciously. Give it a try and see where it takes you.
Adding it up step by step
Date: 2019-10-06 06:45 pm (UTC)Thank you for this.
I am encouraged by this more spaced-out version of the steps. In The Druidry Handbook the instruction is to do the lost-theme-re-tracing right from the start, which on top of breathing issues I simply found too hard. I'm one of those unfortunates who out of enthusiasm often feels they must follow instructions exactly rather than finding easier ways...
By the by, I am back up to stable daily practice with my elements-only Sphere of Protection; I get the sense that after another month I could well manage the whole thing. Time will tell. But I think I'll definitely add some discursive meditation before too long.
Regards,
Morfran.
Re: Adding it up step by step
Date: 2019-10-06 09:07 pm (UTC)Glad to hear that the SoP is going well -- and of course the same rule applies: go onward only when you feel ready to do so. Discursive meditation, though, is the heart and soul of occult practice, the place where the rubber really meets the road; if you take it up the same way, stage by stage, going onward only when you're comfortable with where you've gotten, you'll do fine.
Re: Adding it up step by step
Date: 2019-10-06 09:40 pm (UTC)Cheers,
Morfran.
Re: Adding it up step by step
Date: 2019-10-06 10:36 pm (UTC)While I rarely get the feeling of doing color breathing even remotely well and it's usually very hard for me to keep my attention on everything I have to be aware of, I have to say that the "ordinary" fourfold breath has improved significantly by the rather unsatisfying practice of color breathing. Reminds me of marathon training with weights fixes to your body... Of course the change from morning to evening might also have an effect on the practice, I'll experiment with that.
Nachtgurke
Re: Adding it up step by step
Date: 2019-10-06 11:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-06 08:37 pm (UTC)Your answer had a lot in common with your general instructions on how to study magic, except that it seemed like you recommended meditating for longer periods of time, moving to thirty minutes and then an hour fairly early on.
Is that generally applicable? If someone is working on one of your systems, can increasing the length of meditation sessions whenever they feel capable of doing so result in greater gains?
(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-06 09:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-06 09:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-07 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-07 11:16 am (UTC)On a more common side, there are issues relating to activation of energies and insight into the structure of your mind. Working through them can be extremely rough. Avoiding practices specifically intended to create those lessens the risk, but they can happen spontaneously, especially if your daily sits are longer (hour or so). Now, this is highly rewarding territory, so don't let me scare you off, but going in alone and uninformed is a bad idea. You can't unsee things just because you find them terrifying.
Most common though? It's not that bad, but people can get stuck in meditative honeytraps. For example, once you can instinctively bring back your attention right after it starts to wander, overcome the mind's tendency to sink towards drowsiness, and get over all the thousand little discomforts, you find yourself in a very pleasant place. You're relaxed, focused, and rather (though not anywhere near fully) alert. But, for all the stress-dissolving tranquility of this state, it doesn't lead you anywhere. I also suspect that overtly indulging in it can make its carefree and blissful nature bleed into your everyday life. Better that than taking Xanax, but you can get attached to the feeling and go into denial about things that would break it, because they certainly aren't fine just the way they are.
Earth based meditation
Date: 2019-10-06 10:21 pm (UTC)Thanks again for this, I’m really picking up my practice again since having a baby.
I’ve done the meditations in Ovate grade of CGD (not that anyone could ever truly be done with them) and I’m wondering about the place of just meditating on the earth, the ground beneath our feet. Before I found this route, many mediations I came across had a “grounding” component that includes something like imagining a rooted connection to the earth. I’m interested that this isn’t a direct part of the mediations so far, and I am missing it. Although I am getting loads from it, is there a reason why we reach up to space but not down into the earth in CGD?
And is there a suitable way I can incorporate this imagery that aligns with CGD?
Now I’ve already done it in a way by imagining I’m like a tree with branches and leaves reaching into the vast space and intelligence around and with my roots penetrating deep in the earth. Is this ok?
The Steiner meditations you linked to are also good food for thought, thank you! Are there enough hours in the day? How do you do it?
Many thanks
Edward
Perception
Date: 2019-10-06 10:59 pm (UTC)During the last few meditation sessions I experienced a kind of feeling of space and boundaries. It's hard to describe, because the perception is not visual - although it has some quality of it - and not tactile - although it has some quality of it. In one session, I sensed an expanded space around me with a boundary in roughly 12 inch distance (etheric body?). In two other sessions I experienced kind of a lower and (less distinct) upper boundary, although not in a physical sense. It was more that my thoughts were "moving" in the space between those boundaries.
Do you have any thoughts on this and any advice how to sensibly approach these perceptions?
Thanks a lot! And also thanks a lot for the series on meditation which offered a lot of good advice for my mediation practice! The possible future book on basic occult practice you mentioned in the post above is certainly something that can be very valuable for a lot of people...
Nachtgurke
(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-06 11:25 pm (UTC)The practice of calling the thoughts back along the train in which they diverged has been very difficult, but the most productive part that really kicked the practice in gear for me.
When I was first learning how to do discursive meditation, I was also pleasure-reading "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald, which detailed one woman's experiences with falconry and described the process.
I imagined my diverging thought as a hawk, and trained it to return to my fist. I send it out hunting, and with training it eventually returns with what I sent it for. That has been a very useful imagining that helped keep me from the habit of skipping right back to the theme. I do it less and less now, but when I have trouble with flurries of wandering thoughts, I imagine the hawk again.
Is this an acceptable practice, or something not helpful in the long run?
Many thanks!
Bonnie
(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-07 03:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-07 04:56 pm (UTC)I've also learned very quickly that some topics are just too big for one meditation. The theme "why do humans stack rocks?" led me through a torrent of really wonderful and engaging information. For about 40 minutes! I figured I was "in there" for maybe 15...and I had to spend 2+ hours writing in my journal to get it all down. I can't afford that much time every day though.
OTOH, the theme "what's the significance of the (tarot 0) Fool's clothes?" didn't exactly keep my brain hopping, even for 10 minutes...
Another tactic Ive found useful is to ask the tarot cards what else I missed about, say, the significance of the Sun on the Fool card, after meditating on the subject. That always sparks an "oh yeah, totally!" sort of moment.
Thanks a lot for all this. It's really adding a lot to my daily practice.
Tripp
Mixing business with pleasure
Date: 2019-10-07 06:07 pm (UTC)Tripp