worried about meditation

hey, i'd like to learn to meditate but i'm a little worried that once i lose conscious thought (if i manage it) i'll never get it back.

 

there's nothing to be afraid of

 

Never heard of this happening. I doubt you'll be the first.

 

no worries

 

The mind thinks both conscious and unconscious thoughts all the time. You have no reason to worry that once you start focusing on nothing that your conscious will leave you, your just putting it away for a little while. You can always open your eyes at any time and return in an instant.

 

You have nothing to worry about at all.

 

The goal is NOT to lose conciousness, quite the opposite, its to gain complete and total conciousness. To be aware of everything without labeling it is a way that I like to think about it. Everything just is.

 

I think he means his ego. Dude, that's nothing to mourn if you lose it. It's your prison.

 

lilly,

Why do you want to meditate? What do you think you'll gain?

Want to meditate? - just look at your thoughts. You'll eventually see your mind thinking but are separate from it. You don't need to sit for an hour - just look at it all the time. See yourself typing words on your keyboard. What is your mind thinking? Listening to music? What is your mind thinking? Watching TV? What is your mind thinking? Eating? What is your mind thinking? Taking a bath? What is your mind thinking? Going to sleep? What is your mind thinking? Waking up? What is your first thought? What is it thinking? Waiting for the bus? What are you thinking? Look at what you are looking at. What does the mind see? What thoughts are being produced? Smell that? How did it trigger your thoughts? Tasted something and it reminds you of something, good or bad? Why? What is your mind thinking?

etc.

 

wow white feather... those examples are great!! mindfulness!!!

 

i want to try meditation because i'm learning (slowly) about eastern religion (i know a lot of chinese and thai people who i have been discussing it with), the idea of a consciousness beyond that of which we are all familiar, i.e. a consciousness which transcends our thought, this world, comparative with the sub atomic level but spiritually rather than scientifically... sorry, hard to explain, language is pretty inadequate!

anyway, i kinda imagined that it would be like falling asleep, well not like falling asleep, but that same loss of our familiar consciousness, and i am always scared of falling asleep in case i don't wake up. i mean i know i will but i don't like the idea that i don't have controll over my mind i guess.

its really hard to explain but thanks for all the help.

white feather, sometimes i feel like i think too much, i am constantly thinking about everything i see or hear or smell or do. i am now having real trouble sleeping as i can't seem to switch off. i want to quieten my mind, and to 'feel' rather than think. thats the reason i wanted to learn to meditate, or is that not what meditation is about?

lillyblu x

 

That's a great reason to meditate! The mind is a tool, but most of us are not the master of the tool...the tool is the master of us. This is not good. I mean, if you can't turn off the switch...who's in control? Meditation is a great way to harness the mind. Not abolish it, but to regain your control over it.

Oh, and if anything, the expanded consciousness is more like waking up than it is falling asleep. And yes, you WILL wake up if you *actually* fall asleep while meditating.

 

cheers, i just don't know where to start. i could get a book i guess but they always seem so clinical and cold to me. whats the best way to go about learning?

sorry for all the questions, i'm new to this but just feel it may really help me. x

 

oh, and its good to know i will wake up if i fall asleep! every morning i do actually wake up but every night it still spoons me out to lose consciousness. oh well!