Meditation and Dreams: Share your experience

[sesame]

What is regret anyway? Its a realisation of a mistake.
And admitting ones folly. Its a symptom that the Good part of our mind, the fresh green innocent core is still there hidden deep down somewhere.

"Repent, and you will be saved" The most common idea in Christianity is regret and repentance. The Christian mystics went to great extents in their penance. Consider the self inflicted punishments of Opus Dei (The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei).

Repentance = soul is alive. But I dont like to linger on the feeling of remorse and waste away the rest of my days. Thats a folly in itself. So if you feel bad about your mistakes, its a good sign. But if you are obsessed with guilt, its bad to the extent of being stupid.

Doing something disgusting and not feeling any remorse for it is not an act worthy of much praise. That signifies an insensitive mind that has hardened (and deadened).

GRH says:

Originally Posted by GRH

I have known many addicts over my years, and many of them claim to regret nothing. In my estimation, the drug steals their desire, knowledge, and will for anything better than chasing that high. Without the desire, knowledge, or will for a better life, it's easy to not regret a sometimes miserable existence.

Description of Images:

1. Prayer
2. OMG Ouch Opus dei self-punishment!
3. Drunk Girl happy
4. Same Drunk Girl sad
5. Drug controls the addict

[GRH]

In regards to my dreams, my wife brought a very interesting interpretation to the table. One, being that the fish cooking/chainsaw dream represents spirituality, and that my grandmother has tried to get me to cook fish (be a "good Christian") but it is something I'm not particularly good at, and I always have problems with it (the flames). Thus I lash out and try to blaze my own path, but my family is there to try to stop me. Interesting if nothing else...

My own thoughts are...

My grandfather is not in the best of health and he's in his mid eighties. I have never dreamed about my grandmother before, until now. I wonder if the souls of the dead sometimes come back to help beckon the soon-to-be-dead towards the light. Perhaps while hanging around, my grandmother has visited me in a few dreams and tried to bring a message or two.

[GRH]

Alright Sesame, you'd be proud of me...

Tonight I read some Upanishads, including the Katha Upanishad. Then I turned out the lights, lit a candle, and attempted to meditate for awhile. Towards the end, I engaged in some stretching...I don't know if it's "formal" yoga, but it's body work type of stuff that I used to do with my friend Michael, at least as best I could remember. All the while, I still tried to keep my breath focused and my mind on a simple mantra. I then concluded with some more seated meditation.

All of that said, "How do you meditate, Sesame?" And I don't mean that as in how YOU personally do it, but how does a beginner...Well, begin? I've read books and scripture on it, but even with knowledge, I feel awkward in a way, it's difficult to know exactly how to start.

[sesame]

Originally Posted by GRH

How do you meditate, Sesame?" And I don't mean that as in how YOU personally do it, but how does a beginner...Well, begin?

I'm always proud of you, my friend. I like the way you think and express yourself. About your choice of Upanishad, I have something to say. My personal favourite is the Swetashwetara Upanishad. Its full of Yogic thoughts and hints. Next is Mandukya Upanishad. Its the smallest Upanishad and yet the subtlest one. It describes the four states of mind in great detail. There is a very good video in Youtube that explains it with Simple Diagrams. Then there is Mundaka Upanishad which tries to describe the Soul as perceived in meditation. There is a book called "Ten Upanishads" by Sri Aurobindo, its the best. Also read the "Abhyasa Yoga/ Dhyana Yoga" chapter if you can lay your hands on a Gita. In fact, if you can find a Gita, which appears to be a war manual , Read Sankhya Yoga, (ie, chapter 2) it describes the immortality of the Soul in great detail. That said, I will move on to meditation.

Meditation is nothing but concentration. The one-pointedness of the mind. The mind is constantly being bombarded by stimuli coming from the sense organs. So, if you imagine the attention of the mind as a beam of light, it is scattered into a 1000 parts by the multiple stimuli. We can stop this mind tossing by choosing only one stimulus or internal thought and focus the whole mind on that only. This may sound difficult in the beginning, but it is possible.

First prevent the mind from getting distracted by the senses (this is called Pratyahara= withdrawal in Patanjali's Yoga sutras).

Next you stick to one feeling or thought only. (Dharana= retention) As stray thoughts arise in the mind due to habit, focus again and again on the single thought.

Next the thoughts become rarified and only one thought remains. (Dhyana = meditation) It is comparable to the flame of a Lamp that does not flicker, but burns brightly and remains absolutely still.

Next is the final state called samadhi = Trance. The ego merges with the subject and perceives It as "Myself". There is no more any Observer and Observed, but Consciousness or Knowledge or Direct realisation.

Note that in real life there is only indirect knowledge. You (the observer) and the subject that you observe are separate. In samadhi, you become the subject and directly assimilate all its secrets.

This is meditation.

[GRH]

Originally Posted by sesame

My personal favourite is the Swetashwetara Upanishad. Its full of Yogic thoughts and hints. Next is Mandukya Upanishad. Its the smallest Upanishad and yet the subtlest one. It describes the four states of mind in great detail. There is a very good video in Youtube that explains it with Simple Diagrams. Then there is Mundaka Upanishad which tries to describe the Soul as perceived in meditation. There is a book called "Ten Upanishads" by Sri Aurobindo, its the best. Also read the "Abhyasa Yoga/ Dhyana Yoga" chapter if you can lay your hands on a Gita. In fact, if you can find a Gita, which appears to be a war manual , Read Sankhya Yoga, (ie, chapter 2) it describes the immortality of the Soul in great detail. That said, I will move on to meditation.

I read Mandukya tonight and I read Mundaka last night. As to the Gita, who could NOT own a copy? And who could be dense enough to think it a book about war? There is some really beautiful imagery in it, particularly when Krishna reveals his ultimate Being to Arjuna. I have copies of Ramayana and Mahabharata, but they are condensed retellings of the original epics (written by Buck I believe, he studied the original texts pretty thoroughly). Out of curiosity, have you studied the original texts of either of these epics? Given that Mahabharata comes in around the 5,000 page mark, I'm glad to have the condensed retelling.

Thank you for your wonderful description of meditation.

[sesame]

Gita as you know it, is not a separate book but part of Mahabharata. Its the advice that Krishna gave to his Disciple and friend Arjuna, to motivate him to fight ( against the immoral.) When Arjuna saw the endless lines of great warriors he will have to face, he was a bit shaken. Among his enemy lines stood members of his own family, whom he loved and considered dying or living like a pauper, rather than killing them in battle. Arjuna let go of his weapon and sat down inside his chariot, mentally losing the very urge to battle. Krishna, on seeing such cowardly mood enveloping Arjuna, lead the chariot to the middle of the battle field, between the warrior lines gathered to kill each other. And then He adviced Arjuna about the nature of the soul, Karma, the path to wisdom, Vedanta, Yoga, Devotion and God ... and showed him the situation from the standpoint of Eternity. That is the gist of Gita.

[sesame]

The original verses of Mahabharata is fast disappearing from the face of the society. It has become a rare thing to come by. People dont have time for Philosophy anymore, life is so fast! The Zip zap zoom world of consumerism only considers mammon, worthy of attention!

Yes, I used to take notes from Giant, heavy books, each a separate chapter of Mahabharata! A whole Shelf was dedicated in the National Library to Mahabharata. But unfortunately, the last time I needed to consult the original books, I couldnt find any! The whole shelf has mysteriously disappeared after the Library was renovated!

I saw very old prints of two chapters in the second hand market, but the price was too high. Officially, the complete volumes translated by Haridas Siddhantabagish is out of print.