Questions on Bardon (Meditation)

[Greatoutdoors]

I am hoping there are some Bardon experts here who can help with some questions.

Observe the train of your thoughts for five minutes, trying to retain it ... to allow the train of thoughts to be pursued and controlled without the slightest digression for a time of 10 minutes at least after a week's training.

This is a beginning level exercise in Bardon's“Initiation Into Hermetics" and it's a bit confusing.

Is he saying to just watch as your thoughts come and go, making no effort to control them? Do I just let thoughts come as they please and just try and keep a running commentary on what I'm thinking? Example:“Okay I just thought about going to the grocery tomorrow; now I'm thinking about not planting tomatoes in the same spot next year - my toe itches , etc I've practiced doing this and sometimes lose my concentration. I wind up thinking, “How did I get on this line of thought ? last I recall I was thinking about my toe!"

Or is he saying to control and limit the thoughts that rush in?

At the beginning, thoughts rush on to him, how rapidly they pass before him so that he will have difficulty to recollect the lot of manifold thoughts. But from one exercise to the next, he will see that thoughts come up less chaotic, moderating little by little, until at last only a few thoughts emerge in his consciousness, arriving, as it were, from a far distance.

I have spent more time working in this direction - just gently“swatting away' thoughts that come in and trying to keep my mind clear. The problem here is there is a strong tendency to go to sleep. He's right when he warns about that. However, when I succeed and stay awake is when I have my most productive meditations.

Any help in figuring out what I'm doing here is appreciated.

[Xap]

Hi Greatoutdoors,

Yeah, I've been working out of Initition into Hermetics for a while. Still on the first exercise LOL I figured, why rush things?

I try to observe my thoughts, and the process by which thoughts turn into other thoughts, with a certain degree of detachment. I try not to lose myself in my thoughts (day dream), but I also don't want to push them away since, in my experience they will come back if not given a chance to be heard and contemplated. In my experience, unheard thoughts and feelings form a kind of pressure in the mind that needs to be properly balanced, before one can attempt other focusing, or mind-clearing exercises.

Xap

[Wandering_Hermit]

My understanding is that your supposed to observe but not participate. You should be aware of every thought that enters your mind but you shouldnt add comentary or try and stop any thoughts from arising. Eventually your thoughts will start to slow down and you'll notice fewer thoughts entering your mind. The second part of this exercise is when you start to limit your thoughts to just one subject. Such as grocery shopping.

[violetsky]

Dear Greatoutdoors,

There are three meditations to do.

Okay, for one of these meditations - and this can be done while you are walking around doing chores - is to monitor all your thoughts.

By monitoring thoughts we will start noticing some interesting things:
1) We will notice how willy nilly our thoughts are - unfocussed, scattered at times. The day to day task completion thoughts are necessary and just fine. What we are looking for are thoughts which waste energy. Imagine how much more productive we could be if we did not have little nagging worries or indecisions distracting us or draining us of energy.

2) We often repeat the same thoughts over and over. It is almost as if we are reinforcing self image. It might be that one thinks they are not good at doing a particular task. This can lock us into a belief that does not have to be true. We want to stop these background negative affirmations.

3) We start noticing reaction or defense programs that we have. Someone might say something negative to us. If we grow quiet and almost tune the person out (great way to avoid an argument) and tune our thoughts in we may start hearing our internal dialogue which is running in the background. You might be surprised at what you hear. Some of this internal dialogue can go way back to beliefs ingrained in childhood.

4) We start noticing how judgemental we can be over silly things. We may not even know a person and yet judge them based on a past exerience we had that likely is not even applicable.

This exercise helps us realize that our thoughts are controlling us by:
1) Distracting us from the present situation making it more difficult to act and appreciate the present moment.
2) Reinforcing our beliefs about self and others
3) Reinforcing old reactionary programs towards others.
If we wish to gain control we need to stop these particular thoughts and either replace them with positive ones or simply act in a positive manner.

These are some of the main ones. You will notice others and can add to this list. Hope this is helpful. I gone for a week starting tomorrow. I will say hi to Robert for you.

Hugs,
violetsky

[Greatoutdoors]

Thanks folks! There's some good information here. Thanks especially for the meditation I can do during the day. That may help in learning what makes me tick.