my zen training - 100 days of meditation

[Jazzz]

"It's 100 days of meditation for you jazzz" said a zen master to me recently, in the nicest possible way.

I'd emailed him to say I wanted to study koans and he met me the next day. That was Tuesday January 12th.

So the upshot of my zen training is that I have to meditate for at least 20 mins a day, and crucially, there is no skipping a day. Otherwise I start again from the beginning.

I'm on day 15.

Help keep me motivated!

 

[Jazzz]

no replies?

day 17. managed to count exhalations without messing up for the first time. And in a quarter-lotus pose rather than crossed-leg. About 25 minutes, progress!

 

[editor]

What benefits are you supposed to gain from all this?

 

[quimcunx]

I know someone who went on a retreat for 10 days. during this 10 days, despite there being other people at the 'haven', he did not utter a word to another human being. I can't imagine such a thing.

Good luck. Hope you don't have to start again.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

What benefits are you supposed to gain from all this?

I'm guessing you only find that out at the end!

Meditation is valuable – stick at it.

 

[Dillinger4]

Zen is fascinating. Good luck Jazz.

 

[editor]

Are you paying for this Jazzz?

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I can't see any harm in Jazzz meditating. Lots of cultures use meditation to settle the mind and help with relaxation. Provided he is not paying money to his 'master' then there is no harm in it. Twenty minutes a day of meditating is probably a good thing. You don't need to sign up with any group in order to be given a 'mantra'. You can just make one up.

 

[Dillinger4]

Twenty minutes a day of meditation is definitely a good thing.

 

[HobgoblinMan]

Why not start smoking weed??? Cos then you'll meditate for half the day without even trying.

 

[HobgoblinMan]

"It's 100 days of meditation for you jazzz" said a zen master to me recently, in the nicest possible way.

I'd emailed him to say I wanted to study koans and he met me the next day. That was Tuesday January 12th.

So the upshot of my zen training is that I have to meditate for at least 20 mins a day, and crucially, there is no skipping a day. Otherwise I start again from the beginning.

I'm on day 15.

Help keep me motivated!

I can't believe Zen Masters have e-mail.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Why not start smoking weed??? Cos then you'll meditate for half the day without even trying.

Was that really worth posting?

 

[HobgoblinMan]

Was that really worth posting?

Yes.

 

[Trufflepig]

I know someone who went on a retreat for 10 days. during this 10 days, despite there being other people at the 'haven', he did not utter a word to another human being. I can't imagine such a thing.

Good luck. Hope you don't have to start again.

I did that, vipassana courses, which it sounds like are the equivalent to a boy scout badge you pick up if you are im India long enough

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

So the upshot of my zen training is that I have to meditate for at least 20 mins a day, and crucially, there is no skipping a day. Otherwise I start again from the beginning.
E]

He's selling you a bill of goods.

 

[Strumpet]

Meditation is sooooooo nice.

Gluck Jazz!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Are you paying for this Jazzz?

He can only answer 'no'. Whatever the truth is, he can only answer 'no'.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Why not start smoking weed??? Cos then you'll meditate for half the day without even trying.

Being asleep is not the same thing as meditating.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Instead of spending all that money on meditation, just get one of these:

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The thing about meditating is, you need to remember Kung Fu. When Caine went into the monastery, he was this big.

When he left, he was this big.

[the one in back]

 

[cesare]

Ooo you fibber. 20 mins a day blates isn't the same as "100 days of meditation".

Oh oh, where do I slot that 20 minutes into ??? *angst*

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Ooo you fibber. 20 mins a day blates isn't the same as "100 days of meditation".

Oh oh, where do I slot that 20 minutes into ??? *angst*

Twenty minutes could be a long shit.

 

[selamlar]

What benefits are you supposed to gain from all this?

Stiflers mum?

 

[xes]

Good luck jazzz, remember you're doing this for your self, and not because it's a chore. When you make something a daily thing, it can get like that.

Is it any type of meditation, of just silence in the mind sort of meditation?

 

[fela fan]

no replies?

day 17. managed to count exhalations without messing up for the first time. And in a quarter-lotus pose rather than crossed-leg. About 25 minutes, progress!

Change your attitude and approach man! Don't think of how many days you have to do, just think to yourself that you'll do this forevermore. No limit, just keep on doing it. If you miss a day, then so what, mustn't be serious about anything, remember!

Incidentally, whatever sitting arrangement you choose, it must be easy on the body, comfortable. There's counting breaths, and just watching them. The sound of running water is a real help, and if it's a waterfall or a stream, so much the better! You know you strayed when you suddenly notice the sound of the water again...

I don't think 'meditation' is for fixing something. I think it's for developing a sense of being, a greater self-awareness, for all time, not just a fixed period of time. It's a means towards seeing everything in the world through a different angle, an unconditioned angle.

When do you do it? It's different for each person, but early morning before breakfast is a great time.

Don't see a finishing line jazzz, you've barely made the starting line - another 40 years of it?!

 

[fela fan]

What benefits are you supposed to gain from all this?

Why not try it for yourself and find out from personal experience?! Just sit down somewhere nice and comfortable, alone, and stop thinking. Well, the thoughts will keep on coming, so they are observed and not identified with. Just watch them without making any judgments, bad or good. Jazzz is doing it for 20 minutes. Effectively it's a bit like watching a movie, except the film is your thoughts, while you are the cinema-goer just watching the screen of thoughts.

Certainly, after this period of great relaxation, one benefit that most get is a more relaxed, easy-going approach to the day. A surplus of positive energy to carry you through the day.

I think, through the added self-awareness that one develops, that one gains a better appreciation for the trials and tribulations that come with living life. And that practice such as jazzz is doing helps us to overcome the negative energy that comes towards us, by just watching it rather than identifying with it on an emotional level that then exhausts our energy levels. Not always easy to do, but there you go.

 

[fela fan]

I can't believe Zen Masters have e-mail.

Why not? If it's there it's there. Email is email...

 

[kyser_soze]

I meditate when I'm on the bus. I just stare out of the window and find my brain slips out of gear after about 2 or 3 minutes. no regularity, it just happens when it happens.

It does mean I miss my stop sometimes tho.

 

[Idaho]

If you are taking a zen attitude you are not doing 100 days of meditation. You are just doing one day of meditation one hundred times

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

To me, some guy yelling at you to do 100 days of mediation, is like some guy in a wood box telling you to do 100 hail marys.