meditating quetion

[passionintheair]

Im kinda new to meditating and such...so i wonder am i suppose to close my eyes under meditating or should i keep them open?

please...someone?


christoffer

[Wolf Heart]

There is no absolute "right" way to meditate. It all depends on the person. I have done it with my eyes shut, and open. I personally prefer to have them closed, especially when I'm trying to contact my Guardian.
Again, there is no "right" way to do it, only what your comfortable doing.

Blessed Be,
Wolf Heart

[Sobek]

for interests sake, it may be worth your trying it in the dark with your eyes open.

[Syrus Magistus]

Hey, I'm curious here. I'm pretty savvy when it comes to most forms of meditation and I'm capable of drawing this potent energy from my seven primary chakras and most of the lesser ones as well. I can control and focus it to the point where it concentrates in certain areas of my body, like my hands, feet or even fingertips in endless combinations of natural elements like fire and ice. I was wondering though: what can I really do with this energy? I have this massive aura of multicolored energy surrounding me and it seems to affect certain electrical devices sometimes, but I think there's something big I can and feel as if I'm meant to do with it. I feel like I have a tremendous amount of raw potential, but all I can do it circulate is endlessly. I really want to know what I can do with all of this power I feel.

I'm still a Thelma Neophyte, although I am by no means a newcomer to the Magickal world. I've been able to draw upon this power for a long time, but I do not know transmute it into anything. I want to know if there is anything I can use this power for. Would I be able to, for example, obtain a kind of limited omniscience by focusing it all into my third eye or maybe use it to take away pain? I've removed people's headaches before with this energy, but I would like to further this resource of mine. It could prove to be a useful asset when I become a graduated Gray Magician as I plan to do. Anybody?

[jcrowfoot]

Well, I tend to go in for astral landscapes, but I'm a world builder by nature and a writer IRL, so you can see where that goes. Have you built your astral temple yet? It actually takes a lot of energy, but when you are dealing with astral places it's actually easier to channel than if you are, say, in a meat body. I have also known people who tend to plants to help them heal and grow, send positive vibes to others who need them, and so on. Also, charming jewelry or objects for various purposes, even charging various rooms to particular tasks. (like charging your kitchen for yummy creative food!) I've even used it to calm animals and steady my car while driving on ice. Which doesn't mean I don't drive carefully (can you say, Volvo?) but it can help with those kinds of situations.

Hey, I even know sword fighters who ground and center and use what they cal kai (chi) to assist in combat... not only to achieve feats of balance and agility, but also to distract the opponent! Ok, combat with boffer swords, in respect to those in the armed forces, but the teacher was in the military and claimed to have used similar tactics while on the job.

I have also used energy to boost myself when I was working a soul-sucking job cold-calling customers. I was able to stay cheerful and happy far beyond my usual tolerance for idiots while there, largely because I programmed myself with "perky-fu".

[Revolpathon]

i can associate with allot of the things you mentioned in the first and second paragraph juniper.


syrus magistus: (cool nick) you can use this power in allot of different way's. what you explained here is something that most people can actually learn to do. i learned it 5 or 6 years ago and it was called chi (still is )

i use this energy in combat to maintain balance increase co-ordination to deal more damage by inflicting internal damage rather than external damage, and keeping a calm and focused mind.

i use it to meditate or put my body to sleep (helped me a great deal with astral projection) i use it to heal my body, and a whole range of other applications.

topicstarter: (to lazy to scroll down to find the username) there are allot of good meditation technique's posted here in this part of the forum, look around and a treasure chest will literary open up

[Syrus Magistus]

I'm a world builder by nature and a writer IRL

Me too. Mine is called "Tu Aldruom" and it is quite vast. The construction took years though.

Have you built your astral temple yet?

As in my dream house? No, I don't know quite where to begin. I'm still kinda young, too young to live on my own for sure. Magick is kind of a pain because the people I know who are good at it are either bound by oath not to tell me anything or simply tell me to figure it out on my own. Progress it rather slow as a result.

I have also known people who tend to plants to help them heal and grow, send positive vibes to others who need them, and so on.

That sounds like something I could rather easily do. I've been told by others that I have very good Chi.

charming jewelry or objects for various purposes

Again, I know ABOUT doing things like that and I have a basic idea about it, as well as a few tidbits (i.e. Gold can hold any charge; burning Sage takes away the charge or "charm" as you referred to it.) but again, no one is willing to tell me. I've seen it done, but I have no instruction. They don't tell you much as a Neophyte.

I've even used it to calm animals and steady my car while driving on ice.

The latter seems a bit beyond my abilities, although the former seems within my current range. My problem is that many of these exercises require that the energy be altered or focused in a certain way, or so it seems. What I generally do it send out all different kinds of energy and hope I hit the right one. I can shift my Chi to certain places of my anatomy, but I cannot do much else besides compress it or radiate it. It's good for meditation and I've had a few interesting "flukes" but that's the extent of my skill. I've read up on a few High Magick Rituals and I've completed a few, but Hebrew is a pain to memorize. Malkuth gave me tidbits of cocktail party-style wisdom, like how women are the true rulers of the Kingdom of Earth, etc. I didn't occur to me to ask my guardian angel about channeling my Chi while we were having a pleasant little stroll though the woods.

Hey, I even know sword fighters who ground and center and use what they cal kai (chi) to assist in combat... not only to achieve feats of balance and agility, but also to distract the opponent! Ok, combat with boffer swords, in respect to those in the armed forces, but the teacher was in the military and claimed to have used similar tactics while on the job.

That's beyond what I can do with my current knowledge. Keep in mind that I have no teacher at the moment. I'm mostly self-taught. I assume that it's not possible to turn this power into a physical energy attack and blow things up, right?

I have also used energy to boost myself when I was working a soul-sucking job cold-calling customers. I was able to stay cheerful and happy far beyond my usual tolerance for idiots while there, largely because I programmed myself with "perky-fu".

My sympathies, friend.

syrus magistus: (cool nick)

Thanks. It's the name I gave to my guardian angel before I met him (if you can call a collection of energy by a gender-specific pronoun)

i learned it 5 or 6 years ago

I believe that means I have seniority over you then, even though you are doubtlessly world better at it than me.

i use this energy in combat to maintain balance increase co-ordination to deal more damage by inflicting internal damage rather than external damage, and keeping a calm and focused mind.

Okay, I'd REALLY like to be taught how to do that, if only for self-defense. My mentors keep dying on me so I'm kinda SOL. Lil' help, fellas?

i use it to meditate or put my body to sleep (helped me a great deal with astral projection)

That, I understand fully. Although I've yet to have any OBE's, I have gotten these really cryptic dreams that involve wisdom that clearly doesn't come from my own mind. I've met both angels and God itself in these dreams, although the circumstances are always strange, like when the big dude gave me a few second's head start in escaping a meteor and save my OOC parents as well before the house collapsed into the growing crater/sinkhole.[/quote]

[jcrowfoot]

Okay, I'd REALLY like to be taught how to do that, if only for self-defense. My mentors keep dying on me so I'm kinda SOL. Lil' help, fellas?

I'm sorry, I some how dropped this thread. It was not out of lack of interest, but carelessness on my part. I hope you are still checking the board...

I feel for you. I went through a period like that when I was in college, and it culminated with the death of a close family member. Somehow, I managed to shake it off... though I think for you it may have something to do with the gulf war, rather than happenstance? For me it was a combination of a. most of the people who chose to help me were old, b. accidents happen, and c. cancer sucks.

Truthfully, martial artists do that whole chi/kai thing all the time, and it's a part of what makes them effective. The problem is, it tends to get classified as "advanced technique" so it gets left off until at least brown belt. I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that the energy thing is one of the main differences in some systems between brown belt and black belt.

I was very very lucky in that I was with a group of folks who didn't always stick to their own rules when it came to teaching order. They were still refining what worked for them, and since I obviously had talent in kai they couldn't really stop me. And for what it's worth, they didn't really tell me much anyway, but basically told us how to recognize it, how to ground, (it's a different procedure than what you learn in a metaphysical class) and the very basics of shielding. But... most people didn't even practice.
So, I can tell you what it looks like, and what grounding in a combat situation is like.

You use that light footed, ball of the feet stance with your knees slightly bent and relaxed, and your center of gravity a bit further forward than you are used to. It's where your belly and hips slightly further forward until you feel more balanced in the balls of the feet position. It's actually more comfortable than the normal stance... that's the best way I can think of to describe it.

Then, you let your weight settle into your feet. IF you are doing it correctly, you can sink into sand almost without thinking about it. That means that you are getting your full strength from your hips and ground directly into your upper body, so you can deliver more punch with your swing.

Also, another way in which soldiers have been known to use kai (chi) is by marking objects on the battle field with an energy marker so they can re-orient themselves maximally quick after the fog of war drifts away temporarily between bouts.

I've also seen it used to confuse or misdirect an opponent while actually fighting. The fighter howls maniacly and lunges, but feints. The shout makes it seem more real, and often the fighter will launch chi right in the opponent's face, which stuns them for a minute. Sort of like flashing a bright light in their eyes, only you have about three seconds, rather than seven.

I've also seen it use to lock joints, or make them think that someone is attacking from behind (one of MY favorites) this even works when you are fighting in a controlled setting. It's really hard to ignore that sense of "OMG there's someone behind me!" when you are operating that fast.

Another way that chi knowledge can help you is to see a person's blind spots. Here's a hint... people's auras have holes in it. If you see one, then you know that's somewhere where a person doesn't often look, so if you attack from that angle they won't block you, because it's a blind spot for them both literally and metaphysically.

I'm even told that in Vietnam special forces and other soldiers were taught how to find amo dumps and the like using dowsing. Though now they have radar and other technoligies for this sort of thing.

Also, if you want some real-life tips about self defense, joe peacock did a great story on his blog called "how to survive a fist fight."

Here's the link. Enjoy, it has some great stuff in it. Not really about chi, but very useful for self-defense none-the-less. See emphasis on morale about winning... it's good for chi too, and they work together.

Well, like I said, this is the tip of the iceburg. I'm a mere novice in this art myself. I hope it helps.

[amunptah777]

The best place for your eyelids to be is halfway...in a point of calmness.

If you close them (and believe me, I do this all the time) you risk "sleeping on the job" and if they're all the way open, the mind can't relax.

Do you have a foci? A candle, Mandala...etc...you're using?


Thet

[jcrowfoot]

I use different rocks for different mental states, and I also use runes.

[Syrus Magistus]

I am just a newbie at this, so I wouldn't know about which candles or rocks behave under any set of conditions or what insurance rates they'll save me on a day-to-day basis. I still think I need a teacher for those things.

[Revolpathon]

a rock is a rock in my opinion

juniper: couldn't have explained it better.

though for the internal injury thing, it is a punching technique. normally you swing through after you hit the target but in this instance you stop upon hitting him, while you are preparing to make that punch or during it you concentrate the chi in or infront of your fist or hand (depending where and how you are planning to punch) and let the chi (kai, energy whatever) do it's job.

i don't think there is seniority involved in this practise, to be honest i hardly practise it anymore unless i see a need to use it, so in effect i don't train and maintain my level anymore, i just use it when i feel the need to. typing this i realise i have been severely slacking off on my meditation too.

there's knowledge, and there's application of that knowledge. while i know allot about it (i think i do anyways) doesn't mean i am able to do all of it.

[Shaman of Bliss]

So about the whole eyes open eyes closed thing...

I don't think it really matters and just a question to Mr. very green icon. lol, no offense.
How old are you, to young to live on your own but very well versed in everything that seems to come into the topic, how impressive. Perhaps you could tell me more of your exploits, I'm so very new too and I wish to learn.

[Revolpathon]

the whole eyes open or closed thing

it's personal preference.

try meditating when staring at a candle with very calm music on the background
or try meditating while sitting/lying comfortable with very calm music on the background

those are 2 way's that definately work for me.