Couple of questions regarding my meditation practice

[ejr23116]

I started meditating maybe 2 weeks ago. I really enjoy it. It seems to left up my general mood and self awareness. I am doing a very basic meditation. I do the following:

1. Light a candle (not sure why, I just do).
2. Sit with my legs crossed, up on a pillow so that my hips are higher than my knees.
3. left hand ender right, in my lap, thumbs touching
4. Eyes sometimes closed, sometimes half open, not sharply focused
5. I merely focus on my breath. Inhale and exhale through the nose.
6. When a thought pops into my head, I let it pass, then come back to my breath.
7. Sometimes I will use my awareness to scan from the top down of the left side of my body, then from the bottom up on the right side.

My questions are:

1. The candle starts flickering generally once I get focused on my breath. Any significance?
2. One time and one time only, I saw a crisp, clear, small red dot when I closed my eyes. Any significance?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[LuXFluX]

Well there are like a gazillion different forms of meditation depending on who you ask. If you grew up in the occident (Europe, USA, and throw Japan and a few other "westernized" countries too) then I would suggest a different approach. That is a passive, and more eastern approach. I hope I'm clear when I say that this is only a suggestion because always, always go with what works. But the way a westerner grows up makes them naturally more active minded than someone who grew up in a really small village or in the country. Silent breath focusing may elicit a lot of negative images that waft up from your subconscious and that might not be something you want, even though there is nothing to fear. And then again, you may have a proclivity for deep meditation or be a lot more advanced then I know about. But just in case maybe keep these things in mind.

A few suggestions:

Define what meditation is for you. Do you want an empty mind? Just to relax? To concentrate? To visualize very sharply? People call all of these meditation. Most spiritual traditions hold that meditation in its highest form is the empty mind, and there are many ways to get there. Most, if not all, require relaxation and concentration. Perhaps experiment. For instance, I use Tarot, Hemisync, mantra, and just breath depending on how I feel, and that changes from day to day and year to year. I've also tried Osho's dynamic meditations. I'm not sure I personally like Osho's whole philosophy, but there is probably something of merit in those techniques. Meditation is not limited to just "sitting".

If you are a westerner, it may benefit you to look into a more active approach to meditation. There are lots of different sources, I'd be happy to send you some links to texts in a private message. Or post them on here, I'm not sure of the rules with linking.

As far as the flame flickering, I have no idea. Certainly could be meaningful. The red dot is probably one of three things as far as I've heard/experienced, either it is an afterimage from the candle flame, or it is a kind of "astral noise". When beginning to try to empty the mind it is sometimes common to see dots of all kinds of colors move through the "dark screen" of your eyelids. They resemble blobs sort of lol. Also could be your retina firing a nerve impulse, it does that from time to time when your eyes are closed.

[ejr23116]

My goals for meditation is:

1. Quiet/calm the mind
2. Self discovery
3. Eliminate desires, purify the spirit
4. Increase my abilities as a healer
5. Develop right judgment

Of course, I don't focus on any of these things. The above, in my opinion, are products of meditation. When I meditate, I merely follow the breath. I am a Westerner, but I tend to like the methods of the East. I usually prefer Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chi Management over Western Medicine. I recently started practicing Chi Kung. I also like to keep things simple. The simplest solution that gets the job done is always the most desirable to me.

Thank you so much for your response, be well

[Korpo]

5. Develop right judgment

Hello, ejr23116, what is the above supposed to mean - can you explain?

Oliver

[ejr23116]

By "right judgment" I mean good decision making skills, wisdom, and understanding.

[Korpo]

Okay, got you.

Sounded like "judging someone", as in "being judgemental", which should not be the result of meditation.

But I see what you mean.

Oliver

[ButterflyWoman]

By "right judgment" I mean good decision making skills, wisdom, and understanding.

The word I would use to describe that goal would be "discernment". You want to develop discernment.

Worthy goal, by the way.

[ejr23116]

Yes, I would agree. Discernment is exactly the word I was looking for.

Thank you!

[ejr23116]

Okay, got you.

Sounded like "judging someone", as in "being judgemental", which should not be the result of meditation.

But I see what you mean.

Oliver

I can see why you asked for clarification. Meditation has helped me to NOT be judgmental which is another one of my goals. I do not wish to nor am I qualfied to judge anyone.