I found that when I didn’t challenge myself in meditation that my mind wandered more because it was simply bored, but take on a more challenging practice and…[Read more]

The advice to pay attention to the aha moment of recollecting the object of meditation occurs at all stages that one is losing the object not just during the 4-step transition to the breath at the nose. When you do have an “aha” moment then make a mental note of that to reinforce this in the subconscious, then make an intention to…[Read more]

There are some known conditions in some traditions that are caused by wind imbalances of the subtle body that can lead to these sensations. I had this occur many times during my retreats appearing as a deep pressure/pain in between my ears, and though I don’t have a single solution to help in all cases here are some options. First of…[Read more]

True, this is not discussed enough along with the other meditations at the end of the TMI book (walking, loving-kindness).

I think analytical meditation is important for the insight phases of our practice, along with unifying the mind, this type of meditation engages the subconscious to reframe it’s perspectives and accelerates our…[Read more]

I’ve never heard anything quite like that, but it doesn’t surprise me that it would be said. I’m not sure that the goal in life is to create more time for practice after all you can do that by going on Retreat and then you would have 24 hours a day.

Sometimes all we really need is better quality practice time not more of it.

I…[Read more]

In addition to what has already been posted, a “soft” skill that you can use to move through times when you feel stuck or when you just can’t past something is to reaffirm your intentions a lot more. I sometimes write down my intentions on a sheet of paper in front of me to remind me during the sit, in a very overt way.

This has the…[Read more]

In addition to the previously stated advices keep in mind that if you are new to meditating or at least new to a daily meditation practice as suggested in TMI that you may well be experiencing some low energy states that can also manifest as low moods.

If the body/mind are not used to meditation it may find it quite dull and lead to…[Read more]

There has been a similar thread about dullness that you may also be reading, but a key reading for you would be on page 157 Non-Perceiving Mind Moments which talks about the pleasant sensation and the parts of the conscious mind, which I think will answer your questions clearly. In short yes, they are all real mental…[Read more]

See details at this link:

Private Consultations

Michael
DT Teacher in training

In response to your latest query, on top of all that has been said in this thread, I would suggest that if your mind/body system are out of balance, then you should work with off-the-cushion solutions to bring about balance and ease once again. Meditation can be a window into the dis-ease but may not be the cure.

Please explore a…[Read more]

Yes, I have also found that doing the meditation practices while in bed can actually keep me awake, which is a good thing I guess, because then I won’t be falling asleep on the cushion either! In fact, these practices are designed to remove the progressive dullness that can lead to sleepiness, in part by overcoming the habit of…[Read more]

TMI is prefereable but its hard to find alot of 10 day free meditation retreats in which you can do TMI.

The systematic approach of TMI lends itself really well to self-practice and though I do advocate retreats when one can do them, TMI is much easier to practice alone and ensure progress through following instructions in the…[Read more]

The previous comments by Blake and Ivan cover a lot of great material which will be very beneficial to you so I will add something new that may be of help to you.

During retreat times, when I increase my practice level a lot over my daily schedule, I can quite often get some anxiety. Numerous reasons have been stated above, all…[Read more]

May I ask – in what stage do you think you are practicing at the moment?

In general, it is perfectly fine to explore the practices ahead as you may actually find yourself in those stages. So if you were considering yourself working in Stage 4 then a Stage 5 practice may be nice to explore, but if you are at Stage 2 then I…[Read more]

It becomes clear that as we create causes/karmic potentials constantly through our actions of body, speech, and mind there is a vast amount of ‘data’ being generated (I’ve heard varying figures from 50 – 80 per second). These causes create results/our world just as fast – but what is the order to all of this? I may be generous in one…[Read more]

I also have a very strong tendency to identify myself with my body and thus when my body dies, then I also die. However, if you’ll forgive me for summarizing some of the great and important dharma teachings in a hurry, we can see another way to look at this.

A consideration of the “I” to start. Who am I? What am I? What if I take…[Read more]

Here are links to 2 online meditation groups that I am aware of:

Nick Grabovac:

Mindfulness and Meditation Courses

Tucker Peck:

Online Classes

Hope this helps,

Michael Dunn, teacher in training

Social interactions are unique to each person, and I can see in my life how they have changed over time and where I live and who I am with- there has been no constant. I wouldn’t dare try to tell you how to interact socially. I gather you can figure out the wholesome bit of just doing good and being happy about it.

My suggestion…[Read more]

I’m glad to hear how meditation is bringing you joy and that you have found your practice again.

Yes, fear can be considered a purification, and not all purifications happen on the cushion so that you could be having this as you get up and contrast to a non-meditating worldview. How do you come out of your meditation? If you use an…[Read more]

I hear what you are saying about the generalization on the stages though I think the hierarchical structure works well for communicating this technique through a book.

Most people don’t need to ask what stage their meditation is in as long as they know what they need to work on in their mind at any time. For example, we all know…[Read more]

Thanks for raising this issue in the forums, I am glad that you felt to do so freely, which is a sign of the community here.

You may rightly feel that the cost for a service is higher than it should be, but to conclude that there is a cult because of this just doesn’t follow. I’m missing the connection between the price of a…[Read more]

I was thinking about this thread this morning, and really liked Colleen’s input.

In response to your latest question, as part of the 6 step preliminary process, the last is to settle the body in the meditation posture, and at this time it is great to simply impart a smile on the face. Yes, it may seem contrived, so don’t make it a huge…[Read more]

Well, a few thoughts and questions for you.

Firstly, what is your motivation for all of the hard work you have already put into your meditation practice over the course of 4 full years – what has driven you so far along this path, to begin with? Whatever this is, can you use this as a daily motivator to be on the cushion?

Secondly, and…[Read more]

According to the moments of consciousness model yes, moments of breath are interspersed with moments of awareness, so discrete and so fast that they are imperceptible to most of us, but will be so in the later stages of meditation.

The term “continuous” means that there are more moments of awareness interspersed with attention,…[Read more]

– Great to have a schedule and try to keep it, but also to be gentle on oneself. Know that a schedule written on paper is easy and ideal, but as you know, life…[Read more]

Some of these functions of the mind happen in lower / deeper areas and cannot be measured by eeg. Even if some could you would have to meditate hooked up to an eeg machine and hat, which may affect your meditation.

If a device could measure all those aspects of your meditation that you list, you would really only be collecting data,…[Read more]

I’m glad to hear you moving through the book’s instructions and having it invigorate your practice again. Regarding your questions:

1) I think what Culadasa is saying here is that sensations are not visual, so don’t create a visual image of them. Sensations are physical, so bring your attention to these areas of the body, and not to…[Read more]

One time I…[Read more]

Now when I’m trying to overcome dullness this is something that I think of a lot because I don’t know if I’m in any way neglecting or hindering my peripheral awareness when focusing on being aware of the present moment while keeping attention on the breath.”

Further to what Blake mentioned above, I would say that you are actua…[Read more]

Further to what Blake mentioned above, I would say that you are actually alternating your attention to the present moment, away from the breath sensations, while trying to keep your peripheral awareness. This is fine in the early stages and encouraged as a way to develop your awareness and as such you should use to help again…

[Read more]

I see the Loving Kindness (LK) practice as a beautiful practice to complement to the more traditional shamatha practices, and would recommend a balance of both.

As you quote the book, if you are interested in achieving effortless stable attention, then the breath is recommended. Yes, in theory, one could develop shamatha solely…[Read more]

Question: Do you need as much sleep as you used to or does the higher energy level in the mind during the day…[Read more]

I have always thought that these instructions were given, in part, to engage the intelligent mind so that you don’t lose the meditation object. Of course they are also introduced to develop a sustained attention that will deter the cycle of distraction, forgetting and mind-wandering.

So, in that regard, this can certainly be done…[Read more]

Sure, this is a very good thing to do. The gradual process of bringing attention to the sensations of the breath, over 4 steps (not stages), is a very effective way to start the meditation.

And vice-versa, reversing it is a great way to come out of meditation, back to the room etc. And it may help the meditator with the distinctions…[Read more]

In addition to what Ivan said so well, I will add a personal experience.

I am a typical over-active attention person, and until I read Culadasa’s book, I didn’t even know that I could divide conscious awareness into the 2 of attention and awareness, and then extraspective vs. introspective awareness etc.

I also struggled early on to…[Read more]

There are a few reasons why I like to focus my attention on tactile sensations vs auditory sensations.

For one, the scope of tactile senstations is the whole body, both outside and inside, which is much greater than the auditory scope which is just the ear drum really. We will use this larger area in many practices as we progress…[Read more]

Following up on your questions…

Increasing the scope of attention to include the whole room is still inherently different than peripheral awareness. They are different functions of the mind at this stage of the training. In your example, attention would be focused on taking in everything in the room at the same time, with equal…[Read more]

I am glad to hear that the material in the Mind Illuminated is creating breakthroughs for you, I will try to shed some light on your questions here:

1) Is the difference between attention and peripheral awareness just a matter of the scope (narrow vs wide) or is there a more qualitative fundamental difference?

Yes, there is a more…[Read more]

I didn’t realize that you didn’t have Culadasa’s book, so my references to sections of it couldn’t be followed. So here is a more long-winded reply to your initial questions re: stage 6 practices.

First, to be clear, let’s not confuse 2 practices. There is the practice of “body scanning” which is introduced to increase the…[Read more]

Thanks for asking these questions, Stage 6 is an important stage for many reasons; achieving exclusive attention on the meditation object, developing of metacognitive introspective awareness, and from these achievements you will develop the factors for entering the jhanas – directed and sustained attention, unification of the…[Read more]

Another bit of input on your query re: checking in. Your language suggests that you want to use checking-in as a method to catch gross-distractions. That is in some ways a secondary result of checking-in. Remember that what you are training the mind to do with the checking-in practice is to develop awareness which will then be…[Read more]