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No Meditation Meditation
"The No Meditation Meditation" is has it roots in Ch'an Buddhism a forerunner of Zen Buddhism and other outstanding slacker paths. In order to perform or better yet not perform this style of meditation, the No Meditation Meditator basically sits and effortlessly watches the contents of his/her mind unfold. Thoughts and feelings will come and go within a field of open, relaxed, and non-interfering awareness. There is no effort, no focusing of attention, no breath watching, and no attempt to interfere with whatever comes up on the screen of awareness. The basic intention here is the No Intention Intention. You watch your mind unfold and you allow whatever shows up to be there. You do not try to get rid of it or keep it. You just watch. Complete non-doing. The mind stuff does all the work until it wears down on its own. The process of No Meditation Meditation can be quite relaxing and de-stressing. Eventually the mind blinks out and you experience non-duality. You just watch with relaxed and open attention. Allowing whatever is there to be there. Eventually, through no efforts of your own, you dis-identify with the mental contents and the classic blink out occurs. You do not resist or grasp even the blink out.
*No focus.
*No attempt to think or not to think.
*Nothing to do.
***Warning: Folks with a history of mental illness, severe trauma, or panic are urged not to use this meditation without a counselor or seasoned meditation teacher. If you decide to use this meditation you will agree to to dissolve the webmaster, his server, Steve Mensing, and Emoclear.com for the application or misapplication of this meditation. Within any mental or emotional process is the possibility that someone could experience emotional discomfort. So proceed with this warning.***
(c) Steve Mensing
THE NO MEDITATION MEDITATION
(1) NO INTENTION INTENTION: Install or practice the No Intention Intention: Fully experience whatever shows up in your mind. Allow it to be there without trying to get rid of it or keep it. Just watch what shows up with open and relaxed attention. Let it be there. Let it do what it will without attempting to control it. Just watch it.
(2) HOW LONG WILL YOU SIT: Decide on either 20 minutes or 30 minutes twice a day. You may consider a shorter program until you gain more comfort with your No meditation meditation.
(3) CHOOSE A QUIET PLACE. Choose a quiet room for sitting where you will not be disturbed.
(4) STRAIGHT-BACKED CHAIR: Use a straight back chair with a flat and lightly padded seat. Plant your feet comfortably on the floor. To increase your comfort sit on a thin pad. If you are troubled by back problems, place a pillow between your back and the chair's rest.
(5) FOOT POSITION: Place your feet flat on the floor. Feet better be placed the width of your shoulders. Move your feet either slightly forward or backward until you find the most comfortable and stable position.
(6) STRAIGHT SPINE: Straighten your spine before you align your head. Stretch your back comfortably, then relax. Allow your center of balance to be in your lower abdomen. Abdomen and shoulders are relaxed. Let go of slouching. An upright and straight spine promotes alertness. Keep your shoulders back and your chest open.
(7) HEAD UPRIGHT: Allow your head to remain comfortably upright. Center your nose over your navel. Slightly tuck in your chin.
(8) ALLOW YOUR EYES TO COMFORTABLY CLOSE: Comfortably close your eyes.
(9) CLOSE MOUTH: Comfortably close your mouth. Keep the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth. Swallow any saliva and let go of any air in your mouth to create a partial vacuum.
(10) RUB HANDS BRISKLY TOGETHER FOR 30 SECONDS & THEN REST THEM COMFORTABLY ON YOUR LAP: Place your right hand, palm up and fingers together, on your lap by your abdomen. Allow your left hand to rest on your right, with only your fingers overlapping. Bring the tips of your thumbs together and let them lightly touch so an oval forms.
(11) CENTER YOUR SPINE: Sway from side to side in decreasing arcs until your spine is centered.
(12) TAKE A DEEP BREATH: Take a deep breath and exhale slowly and fully. Take a second deep breath before you allow your breathing to settle into its natural rhythm. There is no need to manipulate the breath.
(13) BRING YOUR RELAXED AND OPEN ATTENTION INWARD AND WATCH WHATEVER COMES AND GOES IN YOUR MIND: You will watch the contents of your mind with open and relaxed attention. Thoughts will come and go within this field of open and relaxed awareness. There is no attempt to get rid of these thoughts or grasp them. You just watch them with the No Intention Intention (which can be installed with the Intention Exercise on the Process page). Through watching with relaxed and open attention, you will begin to dis-identify with the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories that reside there. You make no attempt to do anything other than watch. If you get caught up or identified with what you are watching you will eventually recall that you're watching and spontaneously return to that.
With more and more watching the identifcations become harder to forge. You dis-identify more and more.
Recall there is no focus, no effort, and no struggling with anything. There's nothing to do save for watching. The watching is relaxed and open. You are allowing everything that shows up in your awareness to be there and not trying to get rid of it or keep it. Whatever is there is okay to be there. It will wind down on its own and loose energy. You just watch and do nothing.
TIPS ON NO MEDITATION MEDITATION
*Clear or integrate any stuck emotions that occured during the No Meditation Meditation. Do this after the practice. This stuck emotions & thoughts that come and go during the meditation will wear out on their own. You can move the process along by clearing or integrating them.
*For a sharper and more alert mind you can briskly rub your palms and fingers together for about 40 seconds then bring your hand together so you all your finger tips touch. Holding the finger tips and palms together, insert both thumbs in the notch below your nose and have the next two fingers touch your "third eye" area. Maintain this position for 30 seconds. Then proceed to your No Meditation Mediation.
*Prior to the No Meditation Meditation you can label the mind and its contents "That Mind". Do no labeling at all during the meditation. Just watch the mind and its contents with relaxed and open attention. Let the meditation do the meditation. You are practicing "non-doing" which is no practice at all. Just relaxed and open watching.
*Keep your back and neck comfortably straight, This will make the non-practice easier.
*"Mind Surfing in the Now" has tips on posture that apply to "No Meditation Mediation" sitting.
*Neither good or bad, just relaxed watching. No goal. Like a hobo sitting by a stream watching it flow past. No attempt to interfere. Thoughts, images, sensations, memories, all mental contents flow past. If you fall in the stream--no big deal. Climb out. You have all day to dry off. Your unconscious will spontaniously remind you that you are watching. That's all you require.
*Concern yourself with nothing. Clarity comes and goes. Just watching. No striving. No trying to get rid of. No trying to grasp. Just watching.
*You will forget--that's okay. Watch when you are reminded that you are just watching and allowing whatever comes up to be there with no intention of getting rid of it or keeping it.
*Setting specified times to do the idle watching of "The No Meditation Meditation."
*Trust the what comes also goes. There is nothing to do. Inaction. No effort. No interference.
*The mind flows without effort. Sooner or later it turns off even if no one pulls the switch. It winds down. The spaces between thoughts grow longer. The thoughts, feelings, images, and so forth show their insubstantiality.
*Bare attention. No efforting. Just watching, yet no push to watch.
*No understanding--no thinking--no insight--just relaxed and open watching.
*Hydrate yourself before No Meditation Meditation. This makes relaxed and open watching easier.
*Accept that our minds often behave restlessly. Let go of blaming yourself or your mind if you get caught up in the contents. That's to be expected. No big deal. Just return to your watching as soon as you are reminded.
*The No Intention Intention leads to choiceless awareness. Choiceless awareness does not cling to or push away. No object is preferred to any other. Nothing is subtracted--nothing added.
*No grasping non-conceptual experience when it abruptly appears. Grasping will turn the mind back on. Just watch with relaxed and open attention.
*Your sense of self may blink out. No big deal. Just watch with relaxed and open attention.
*The mental contents wear out. They lose holding energy. No need to name them or recognize them. No cataloging. Just watching and allowing what ever is there to be there. No attempt is made to get rid contents or keep contents.
*Be alert for seeking non-conceptual experience or exalted states. Just let whatever comes your way to come your way. There is nothing special about the non-conceptual once it's experienced for any length of time.
Have fun, Steve