Forgetfulness meditation

[crouchtig]

The previous thread on "creative flash meditation" has inspired me to begin playing around with different types of meditation. Today I came up with the following:

Instead of having one thing to focus on and everything else considered an unwanted distraction, why not have one thing to avoid focusing on and everything else as the object of meditation. E.g. You ask yourself repeatedly what your name is whilst trying not to let any part of your mind say/hear/see the answer. The aim is to remain distracted from the chosen perception/information for the duration of the session. In other words you're training your mind to ignore/blockout/inhibit unwanted thoughts and sensations.

This might be particularly useful while tripping as a way of avoiding bad trips. Instead of "Oh there's a spider. Definately shouldn't think about that too much. So why am I still thinking about it? Definately the worst thing to imagine right now would be..." etc. It becomes "Oh, there's a spider. Block the memory of ever seeing it. Done. Now block the knowledge that a memory has been blocked... I'm hungry."

It would be quite an odd form of mental control, but potentially very useful.

 

[IJesusChrist]

this was enjoyable to read - I like this. you have a good brain.

 

[Crimzen]

thats an interesting idea
distraction is a powerful thing and can be both good and bad but controlled distraction for the sake of evading bad trips of unwanted thoughts would be a very useful tool indeed

it would take work of course because its like when someone says "dont think about that pink elephant on a tightwire" your next thought is that image
with patience and practice this could be a really useful mental exercise

i like

 

[Light]

Right.

I don't think this is a good idea. You might train your mind, but you will not become a better person because of it and neither will your life get any better.

The reason is simple and elegant. When you block a thought or feeling, your mind is still reacting like it always does, by reacting to this sensation with aversion. If you really want to progress, you need to stop reacting. Just let the sensation "be" and observe it. Know that it will pass.

'Blocking' a sensation might work on the conscious level, but on the unconscious level this sensation will still remain and you are creating an illusion for yourself instead of peaking behind maya's veils, a divide between what is in your conscious awareness and what is happening right here, right now.

 

[ophiuchus]

this is a mental exercise, it is not meditation... (it is the opposite of it, in fact)

 

[BrainEater]

maybe it could be seen as a meditation about a mental excercise too.. i heard also ignorance is bliss..
i suppose ignorance can be used as a weapon, especially because wars are fought about information also, particularly nowadays when there is so much information everywhere etc etc..
but yeah i also think it even may be vital, depending where you live or so, because there is also so much shit because of the amount of information, so therefore it could be beneficial to be able to block out shit information..
we perceive thru the senses and the mind controls the senses, so it's like the operating system or what holds it inside of it..
something like that.. naturally we seem to have filters of perception anyway.. maybe we just aren't aware so much of that, which would make sense as the filters would be there in the first place to block information out from the conscious awareness of the operator of the brain. mmh think about what would be happening when you forget something and then you forget that you had forgotten. i hope any of that makes some sense. :idea: :arrow: 8)

peace

 

[jaywabz]

you are a psychonaut . I think the ultimate goal any psychonaut, shaman ectera. should be the ability to achieve altered or mystical states without reliance on an external substance's (entheogens). Anyway, keep the ideas coming, id be interested to hear more.

 

[infinidev]

Actually I was doing this a while ago, but it backfired. From my experience trying to block out something makes it an even more intense distraction or even if you are succesful, the very act of blocking out becomes the distraction. When I first started (attepted) meditation, I decided to block out all thoughts, when I realized the difficulty in this i kinda tightened my eyes shut which did block all other thoughts, but brought the my tense eyelids into the lime light, and before I knew it, new thoughts had sprung up which blocked again as part of a retarded repitition leading to nothing but sheer dissapointment. Have you tried the 'block out the spider' before and has it helped you?

 

[ophiuchus]

:wink:

 

[IJesusChrist]

Actually I was doing this a while ago, but it backfired. From my experience trying to block out something makes it an even more intense distraction or even if you are succesful, the very act of blocking out becomes the distraction. When I first started (attepted) meditation, I decided to block out all thoughts, when I realized the difficulty in this i kinda tightened my eyes shut which did block all other thoughts, but brought the my tense eyelids into the lime light, and before I knew it, new thoughts had sprung up which blocked again as part of a retarded repitition leading to nothing but sheer dissapointment. Have you tried the 'block out the spider' before and has it helped you?

thats the process of meditation. things come, but you just give them no weight, no meaning. "I have a report tomorrow" then its gone, who cares, you don't. "I want to eat" then its gone, who cares, you don't. "I can't stop thinking" Who cares? you don't. You care about NOTHING when meditating.

 

[ophiuchus]

i personally wouldn't say that one "cares about nothing" whilst meditating. but rather when the thought comes, one simply lets it, as it is inevitable. it is impossible to clear ones mind totally. so the thought comes, one feels the thought, and then one must simply let it go just as it came. the idea is to not dwell and obsess, not to not care. i do not recognize meditation as being done with a lack of compassion or empathy.

 

[tripofthebrain]

I've done this mental excersise and it works! Especially when doing daily chores which are mundane - as washing the dishes or hoovering!

I get to the point where I don't even know I am washing the dishes! And I don't make a mess either!