[Michael DunnMember]

I’d like to propose another option, and that is to move ahead and to try Stage 4 practices and to see if this additional work and new territory engages your mind enough to be less wandering.

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 all of a sudden your attention has more to do and to work with and you can start to train the sub minds that this is an important activity to engage in and to stay attentive.

If needed, try a Stage 5 practice for a bit, it won’t hurt anything.

As a student you should always be familiar not only with the stages you are in but also the next stage so that you can move forward in your practice and not be static.

You’re doing great, keep up the practice and all will follow!

Michael

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Roger

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 return to where your meditation was before, which can be anywhere from Stage 1 – Stage 4 really. You are developing the skill to have your mind do this automatically in the later stages at an even more subtle level.

I recommend that you do the 4-step transition for a set period of time and then move on to the breath at the nose as the object because you seem to have this mastered quite well.

Regards
Michael

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Peter

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 all, I would really need to know more about what you are experiencing so let’s start with a few questions.

– I’m wondering if your head pressure leads to headaches too or if it stays at the level of pain-free sensation?

– Off the cushion after your practice what happens to this pressure? Do you have any lingering issues post-meditation in your daily life (loss of sleep, higher anxiety)?

– Is the condition stable or is it increasing with each time you practice?

– Have you tried standard remedies such as an OTC pain reliever/anti-inflammatory and do you get relief from this? Have you tried other remedies such as homeopathy?

In the short term, you can focus on a meditation object lower down in the body, say observing sensations of the breath at the abdomen, and use this as your object, not at the nose. This will lower your winds for your practice session away from the head.

Walking meditations are great if you have wind disorders in the head, have you tried this – see the Appendix of the TMI book for details.

Regards,

Michael

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello,

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 progress of insight rather than waiting for it to happen by itself over time.

– I’ve been doing analytical meditations on topics for a long time, most recently working from the non-dual traditions and inquiries such as “Who/where am I? etc.” type inquiries as meditation topics that explore my egoistic relationship to my world and sense of self/identity.

– My analytical sits are not as long as my shamatha sits, 30-45 minutes before I find my mind simply tracing old patterns of thought instead of developing new ones. However, Culadasa recommends you do analytical meditation for the same duration as your other sits.

– If you are looking for topics, start with anything that you want to know more deeply through realization. It can start with the classic 5 insights (impermanence, emptiness, nature of suffering, causal interdependence, no self) or any topic from a teaching or a thought that you want to realize more deeply.

– I move through the 4 progressions of analytical meditation quite fluidly, sometimes without much distinction, especially once it becomes natural to do. I have to fight the urge to move on before I do much of the verification and review stage, so I am attentive to that. As I said before, my mind tends to rework similar patterns so when that happens I go back to the incubation and analysis phase and let the unconscious mind find new analyses.

No practice exists in isolation. For example, your analytical meditation will rely heavily upon your shamatha practice to keep the mind on the object, and the success of the unconscious to rewire its patterns based on the analytical realizations is dependent upon the extent that you have a unified mind, so consider all of these practices working together towards a greater whole.

Regards,
Michael DT T in T

[Michael DunnMember]

hello Samuel,

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 would caution against any change to health and diet and exercise If it creates an imbalance in your body mind system. Witch is unique to you so you have to actually experiment with this yourself. And not take it as advice just because it work for somebody else as it may not work for you.

Michael

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello,

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 benefit of training the mind on an unconscious level to do the practices as instructed and then I am confident the results will follow.

Regards,
Michael
Dharma Treasure TinT

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Jem

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 low energy. To still the body and mind, with eyes closed, often leaves a beginning meditator with feelings of dullness to drowsiness and that means low energy. Until the mind can engage the meditation object with some clarity and intensity then the mind may well be manifesting a low mood in the low energy state. Once you can readily engage the object in stages 3, 4 then your mind begins to be energized with the practice and the work to be done, and then you may feel your mood doesn’t drop after sitting.

If the low moods tend towards depressive states of mind then you should pull back some and not let that develop too far. Always rejoice in your practice at the end of your meditation, mentally, pat yourself on the back for your efforts.

Michael
DT Teacher in training

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Alexander

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 events.

Also, to be clear, I don’t believe the book says that dullness is a state of unconsciousness unless it was an example of the extreme of sleep. The stages of progressive or subtle dullness that we work with in meditation all do occur in consciousness, see page 164.

Thanks,
Michael
Teacher-in-training

[Michael DunnMember]

Well, I would have to bump you up to the top and suggest you engage in a dialogue with Culadasa directly, as he has graciously offered this service. (And he meets all of the qualifications of being experienced in this technique…!)

See details at this link:
https://dharmatreasure.org/private-consultations/

Michael
DT Teacher in training

[Michael DunnMember]

ST1000

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 comprehensive approach to restoring balance to your overall system. You are your own best guide in times like this as your condition may well be unique to you. You though have all the tools to understand your system and bring it back to balance. Keep exploring, trying things out. Keep what heals and stop that which makes it worse.

Through this exploration, you will learn a lot about your subtle body and mind and what is required for balance that will serve you the rest of your life and meditation practice.

Yes, it can stop, yes you can find balance again, but there may not be a single simple solution and I propose that you may be the best person to know the prescription.

Regards,

Michael
DT Teacher in training

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, KJa

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 sleepiness when we simply close our eyes which happens every night at bedtime and in part because we increase the overall energy of the mind doing the TMI practices.

If you want to do a practice to help you sleep I would suggest looking at the yoga nidra practices which focus on the body and can reduce the anxiety of the mind which can affect one’s sleep. I have also played with working on my peripheral awareness when my mind is overactive and attention is wound up and preventing sleep and this has had some effectiveness. I have also tried doing the Mindful Review while lying in bed, and the only problem here is that sometimes I fall asleep before finishing 😉

Regards,

Michael
DT Teacher in training

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Allen

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 book.

Michael Dunn
DT teacher-in-training

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by  Michael Dunn.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by  Michael Dunn.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by  Michael Dunn.

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Ollie

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 true, and I have found 2 good antidotes.

1) Relax, relax, relax. Relax everything about the body and mind during meditation, relax your hold on the meditation object, don’t try so hard to concentrate, sit back. As Culadasa says a lot – find joy in your body and mind during meditation, place a smile on your lips, relax your heart and mind while still following the instructions to hold the meditation object in attention and having peripheral awareness. Do all the same with a joyful, relaxed heart and mind. When I do this I find I have greater clarity on the meditation object and less stress in my efforts to hold the object.

2) Add walking meditation to your schedule. This has helped me to reduce my anxiety that comes in meditation a lot. If you sit 60 minutes per day, perhaps try a 50/50 split between sitting and walking variants of meditation.

Hope this helps,

Michael
Dharma Treasure Teacher-in-Training

[Michael DunnMember]

Hello, Starflower

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 would suggest a bit more work in the fundamental training of mindfulness. The overall power of the mind increases through all of the stages.

I have also had positive experiences with Goenka’s technique during retreats. Please note that the objectives of the 2 techniques do differ, and I won’t say that one is better or lesser, just that they have different goals. The 2 versions of the body scan, for example, are not identical and have different purposes leading to different results.

Regards,

Michael
Dharma Treasure teacher in training

[Michael DunnMember]

Hi, Blake

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 second but a thief steals from me the second. Did my generosity cause me to lose something the next moment? Did the causes for my loss come from a different action? When did I create the cause for the loss and where was it all this time? Can one actually control which results will happen/karma to ripen at a certain time?

If the results don’t happen simultaneous to the cause then it must be stored somewhere. This ‘where’ could well be the mindstream of the individual (as distinct from the physical being which rots at death). These ideas come from the Yogacara school, which assert that the fundamental store-house consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), stores the impressions (vasanas) of previous experiences, which form the seeds (bija) of future karma in this life and in the next after rebirth. (Wikipedia)

This definition clearly refers to this life, not just in future lives. I would say that at any moment along the apparent continuum of time these ideas are relevant and possible.

Re Jimi’s post: The important thing is that every moment in this life we can create the causes for the reduction of suffering, and at death, these efforts/causes are not lost. In this model of consciousness and causality, we now take personal responsibility for our own and others happiness (reduction of suffering) not only in this life but in future lives too. So what we do now is important. In fact, we have the chance for awakening in every moment in every life we take (some forms are more conducive to this than others). We are not done when we are 6 feet under, as he says, the “we” that is our mindstream with the alaya-vijnana continues to our own future lives.

The “other being” that Jimi refers to inheriting his life’s karma is, in fact, himself, in a very different physical form! 🙂

Thanks
Michael

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