Quote:
Originally Posted by DoroMona
I've started meditating a bit and I think I understand it a little. It's not that you should be in the present moment as in focusing on your current state and all the details of your current state. It's a state that's divorced from all the details of your life right now. You forget your sex (i.e. gender), your name, your race, age, etc., and your life situation, and you sort of just experience being. Try just sitting in a chair staring at a wall and just experience your breath and the feeling that at this moment you're a consciousness that exists, nothing more. Sometimes to ground myself, I remind myself that everything is passing, and that this is just a very small part of existence, and that not only will my feelings eventually pass, but one day I'll be gone too. In that moment of feeling very small and insignificant, I have some glimmer of a bigger picture, and the things that are causing me pain are also diminished.
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Thanks for the reply. I have never seen such a good detailed description of this!
I still don't understand how viewing myself as a "consciousness" is grounding. Or feeling this "big universe"/"bigger picture" thing. All that to me just seems overly detached and deeply mentally tuned out of the physical surroundings. It just would have me remain unable to get up and go out in the world and face challenges and do things. To get up and go and push through the hard stuff of life, the exact opposite attitude is required IMO. An attitude that's toughened up for the actual world and that isn't really mentally focused actually unlike this "bigger picture/consciousness" thing.
As for the rest with being divorced from all the details of my life right now, that just seems like the type of distraction that I am already too good at. That is how I'm able to keep putting off resolution of issues/problems. Failing to move forward and missing out on living life fully. It's not good for me.
I mean, it for sure is an unemotional and calm state, it's absolutely good for not having to experience stress, because it disconnects all emotional reactions for the blocked out part of life/world, but it takes me nowhere. Because unfortunately it also disconnects all involvement in life, too. (The big part of life/world anyway that I block out in this fashion.) And yeah, again, it sure avoids the negative emotions, but that comes at too high a price.
Especially if one (like me) defaults to this state too easily. To this "compartmentalizing". I do default to it too easily and then it's hard to get motivated and moving again to get certain things I want if I block out a big part of the world/my life.
P.S. I never practiced meditation, this compartmentalizing was always natural to me. Especially after I experienced a big part of the world (well, people mainly, really) as impossible to exist in. My goal is to not have to rely on this distraction so much anymore, and ability to tolerate all the pain instead. (But god, it's a LOT of pain and I don't see the solution. The thread title is actually pretty relevant to me too...)