Common misconceptions about meditation

[AlfrunGrima]

I am dabbling and reading on the old Wizardforum also. With webarchive.org it is still possible to read things, which is nice! I would like to bring some of those discussions to this 'new' WF forum. We have a lot of people in our community that were not on the old forum, including me. And people who were on the old forum had quite some time for some personal growth. So plenty of room for new discussions. I try to tag these posts every time as #old WF to be able to filter those 'new old posts'.

One of the threads I want to bring back is that about misconceptions about meditation, it is worth while to have this topic again on this 'new' WF too. For new seekers, it is quite a topic. For seasoned practitioners is can be nice to reflect on that.......Add your ideas about misconceptions, add your experiences, add misconceptions I didn't mention in this OP.

Misconceptions about meditation:
***Meditation requires spiritual or religious beliefs.
***I don’t have enough time to meditate.
***It takes years of practice to receive any benefits from meditation.
*** a meditation is only successful when I reached the empty-mind-stage

 

[Morell]

So the name of thread was supposed to be about meditation, not magic...

 

[mag1caljeet]

So the name of thread was supposed to be about meditation, not magic...

they are highly related though...

but I see what you mean.

The only one I can think of is this one:
- Magic is evil/Satanic

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Of course the biggest misconception about magic is that it doesn't exist.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

@Morell Yes I meant meditation, but typed in one or another way magic. I still don't have a clue how it happened because I did read the title several times, like I always do. Sorry for this clumsy action

 

[FireBorn]

Meditation isnt about 'getting' something. If you go into it to get, you will frustrate your own efforts. Only when you let go of all of it, do you 'get' anything. Paradox.

 

[Angelkesfarl]

To clarify the reality of spiritual practice beyond the surface-level misconceptions:

1. The Mechanics of Schools: In the system of Franz Bardon, focus is directed toward the "Accumulation of Elements." In the Golden Dawn, it is the "Invocation of Symbols and Names." However, the Truth is that both are merely tools. The engine is the Divine Breath (Nafas). Without the Spirit (Ruh), these practices remain mere "mental gymnastics."

2. The Act of Creation vs. Composition: Magic is not "Creation from Nothing"—that is a Divine prerogative. Magic is Innovation through Composition. Meditation requires you to see with the "Eye of the Soul" what the physical eyes cannot perceive. While many seek solitude, the Eastern school teaches that true meditation is Khalwa (seclusion) even amidst a crowd. My focus remains on the methods of Polishing the Mirror of the Soul.

3. The Anatomy of Resonance: Chakras are activated through internal contemplations. There is an ancient, authentic Indian school that mandates names like "HUM" as a manifesting spirit and "OM" as a soul in manifestation. This path divides the internal imaginative mind into Seven Celestial Palaces, where your reality manifests within each. There are also forgotten schools that speak of the Seven Spirits of Pentagrammic Letters; they utilize a specific discipline during the Vernal Equinox for their manifestation, claiming mastery over the process.

4. The Sufi Microcosm (The Universal Man): The Sufi schools approach meditation by looking with the eye of truth at who you are. If you truly know yourself, you will understand how to govern the elements and the planets. You will realize that everything said about stars, orbits, and zodiacs exists within you:

Your Bones are the Mountains.

Your Blood is the Rivers.

Your Flesh is the Earth, and your Skin is the Sky.

Your Hair is the Trees, and your Nails are the Rocks.

Your Essence (Fluid) is the Elixir.

Your right nostril is linked to the Sun, the left to the Moon.

Each limb and sensory organ has a celestial correspondence. Whoever manifests through their physical faculties via the traditional path gains control over the Etheric Fluid surrounding the planet in its manifestation, thus allowing them to strike or repel with precision.

Thank you all.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

Meditation isnt about 'getting' something. If you go into it to get, you will frustrate your own efforts. Only when you let go of all of it, do you 'get' anything. Paradox.

Yes, it true... It almost like the astral travel. The harder a person tries, the more difficult it becomes, just because of the trying. Meditation is in a way like a travel, but without a goal. The road itself is the goal.

 

[sahgwa]

My favourite meditation lately is just simple chakra bija mantras
LAM
VAM
RAM
YAM
HAM
OM
AUM/silent

i am trying to find the perfect frequency to make each one vibrate the most, but that is a fun challenge......

Also basic inner qi gong, focus on one part of body, move the energy from outside you, into the part, and travel it around your body.

 

[deci belle]

Dismissing cloistered approaches to methods of comfort exercised in private, one accepts one's function, takes the forward step and shares oneself freely with the world. Mistaking formal modes of abstracted non-doing for purposes of seeking the real is a huge misconception regarding the so-called practice of generalized concentration exercises, either by "silent illumination", or else by dualistic subject/object machinations.

Seeing through phenomena without denying their characteristics, is the science of life, being the secret of the Golden Flower teaching which points directly to the mode of subtle spiritual adaption; a fancy name for seeing reality and having the fluidity to acquiesce immediately in its potential without relying on one's own power. Just this is the means of passing through endless transformations.

Activating the mind without dwelling on its contents is the science of essence. As such, this line is said to exhaust the entire buddhist canon.

Get this and surpass all modes of visualization, concentration and resultant accumulations of meritorious effort relying on one's own power.

Meditation, per se, should only be considered a temporary mode of practice practice. Why? It has no power, being entirely yin, without yang.

The full brunt of karmic momentum must be met on its own terms in the midst of everyday ordinary situations. This is the tiger's lair, the dragon's cave, where one's life hangs in the balance. How could one hope to depend on self-reflective bias and inclination to meet the likes of Creation?

Presumptions of clarity in private are no match for times when all hell breaks loose. It is best to practice relative concentration in public, unbeknownst to anyone, by a 360˚ diffused "focus", simply as a device to overload the psychological apparatus in a "controlled" environment without succumbing to distraction, lethargy, or following thoughts unawares~ no different than when applying the basic tenets of formal meditation "practice."

The most conspicuous misconception of so-called "meditative" regimens is mistaking a temporary quiescence of psychological awareness, or else such dubiously sought for trance-states, and taking these as purloined evidence of the shining mind.

 

[dcwilson]

I am dabbling and reading on the old Wizardforum also. With webarchive.org it is still possible to read things, which is nice! I would like to bring some of those discussions to this 'new' WF forum. We have a lot of people in our community that were not on the old forum, including me. And people who were on the old forum had quite some time for some personal growth. So plenty of room for new discussions. I try to tag these posts every time as #old WF to be able to filter those 'new old posts'.

One of the threads I want to bring back is that about misconceptions about meditation, it is worth while to have this topic again on this 'new' WF too. For new seekers, it is quite a topic. For seasoned practitioners is can be nice to reflect on that.......Add your ideas about misconceptions, add your experiences, add misconceptions I didn't mention in this OP.

Misconceptions about meditation:
***Meditation requires spiritual or religious beliefs.
***I don’t have enough time to meditate.
***It takes years of practice to receive any benefits from meditation.
*** a meditation is only successful when I reached the empty-mind-stage

Meditation needs no mantra; it doesn't need faith, a defined spiritual "path", or any belief at all. The proof is in the pudding - it either works or it doesn't! It's only good to you if you feel you're getting some benefits by doing it. I've chosen to do it. Meditation is simple and it takes as little as 15 minutes a day. There is no set form, no need for a guru or master, no degrees, no initiation, and no requirement to babble-on with gibberish, special phrases, or what amounts to nonsense words. It doesn't take years of practice - you can do it right now and it'll work for you, as there is no measurement of "progress". There are no requirements

You could stop trying to change things and just listen to your thoughts dispassionately and not actively trying to change them, by just watching what you're thinking about, without any guilt or "shame". This meditation is similar to self-hypnosis and magick, but it's neither! It's simple enough and it avoids killing off the Ego like Eastern Thought wants you to do by starving it to death by filling your mind with just one thought like "OM", so, there is no Mantra here. There's no special techniques or formula to memorize, you watch, just watch.

You can relax your body first: Sit in a comfortable chair. Bring your attention to your feet and tense them and relax, then tense your legs, let them relax, then move that tension/relaxation wave upwards toward your head, relaxing your whole body completely.

Close your eyes and bring your attention to your whole body. You should feel it tingle. This is your neural body sense. Bring your attention only to your right hand, it will also tingle. As thoughts arise, just watch them dispassionately. When you drift away or get lost, gently bring your attention back to your hand. Don't make judgments, react to anything, or judge anything, especially yourself, or try to change anything. Just observe your thoughts. As you watch them, things will slowly be resolved - it takes some time. When you get lost in your thoughts, gently bring your attention back to your right hand again. If something is persistent, like music (you've memorized a lot more than you know), then bring you attention to what you're "seeing" with your eyes closed because it isn't completely dark ~ there are "lights" there so bring your attention to them and watch, and then bring your attention back to your hand. Occasionally, bring your attention to your forehead and "see" your hand (in your mind's eye) moving to your forehead, and maybe it will go there in time.

Source: This is my version of Roy Master's old "Foundation of Human Understanding" meditation from what seem like ages ago.

 

[Morell]

In my opinion 15 minutes is good start. Good effectivity starts at 30 to 45 minutes in one go. At least that is based on my experience.

 

[Jadugar]

I was one of those hot-blooded adepts who resisted meditation. An early chaote all about results, results, results. I understood meditation as merely being a state of not-thinking, come to find out I was labouring under a misconception.

The meditation styles are plentiful, and to anyone like myself, I recommend contemplation over meditation now. One exercises all the same muscles of controlling attention, but by fixing it on a single question isn't of nothing at all.

Being able to come out of meditation/contemplation with some proof of my efforts—e.g., a new way of thinking about a problem—helps make progress more visible, and has saved many of my operations by giving space to ponder them deeper.