[Maria LMember]

Hi, Vinnie.

Sorry I didn’t reply earlier, but I have been busy and no able to check up the site.

I’m very stable with my practice; at this point I cannot conceive giving it up. But I do recognise some of the emotions & thoughts, in particular the judging. In fact, loving-kindness (recommended in TMI) has helped a lot. Have you tried this yourself?

I thank you for your openness and interest.

Take care.

Maria.

[Maria LMember]

Hi, Alex & Philip.

I tend to agree with Philip: it’s practice.

When I bring my attention to the sensations in the body, I focus on all the pleasurable sensations and the peace of mind that seems to emerge. At one point, my attention just seemed to get ‘glued’ to the breathing sensations. It just happened, out of the blue.

Even if very useful at earlier stages, I actually found labelling getting on the way at this point.

Cheers,
Maria

[Maria LMember]

Hi Alex!

I live in Munich and I’m interested.

Kindest regards,

María

[Maria LMember]

Hi Alex!

I live in Munich and I’m interested.

Kindest regards,

María

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by  Maria L.

[Maria LMember]

Hi Blake,

There are noticeable signs of pacification of the senses going on (mainly on the proprioception & visual side), so it can well be that the process of unification of mind is getting stuck. Even if I cannot think about any issue in particular, I’m sure I can do with some purification of mind; so I’ll do some loving-kindness & take up the Mindful Review.

Many thanks,
Maria.

[Maria LMember]

Thanks, Alex, you are very kind.

Wishing you well too.

Maria.

[Maria LMember]

Hi, Tom,

That’s a good question :))

I went all the way through up to ca. stage 7, following the instructions quite precisely. I could clearly identify specific signs of progress (e.g. not forgetting, overcoming dullness, at one point it started to happen that distractions would altogether disappear for a good part of the meditation and I sort of was left there observing my mind pretty much empty of thoughts, I could also observe the acquired appearance of the breath, then I tried the whole-body jhana, I did undergo some very unusual bodily experiences, and so on). But then I also started exploring other types of meditation, and I believe I got a bit lost.

I’m aware that I have not assimilated / internalised all of it. I can see how I’m too dependant on following instructions and, also, that the conditions of the moment are too determinant of the results. That’s why I’ve recently decided to focus exclusively on TMI and go back to basics, i.e. start all over again.

In this second round I’m somewhere between stage 4 and 6. I do have a problem with distractions occasionally. I have to overcome the temptation of following mundane insights. My target now is to ensure that I can overcome distractions independently of the present moment conditions.

Cheers,
Maria.

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