Formlessness's Forum Posts

"Religious" is a difficult word. I would say that meditation has given me insight into the nature of reality, because it has given me insight into the mind which I use to experience and live in reality. All our experiences are interpreted by our mind conceptually. We make connections and distinctions using conceptual structures, which are conditioned by language, behaviour patterns, brain wiring etc. So we see a car, rather than a collection of shapes and colours. Even shapes and colours are concepts; we never see "red" but shades which more or less approximate red. With different conceptual structures, we would experience the world differently. With no conceptual structures, we would experience nothing at all. Through meditation, you can change or even shut off your conceptual mind temporarily. Without a conceptual grounding, reality is "empty", which doesn't mean that reality doesn't exist. It means that no conceptual interpretation is what reality is, though some interpretations are more useful than others.

"What does it feel like to you when the background of awareness jumps out at you?"
It's difficult to put into words, because while a thought can be like something, the awareness is just the "isness" of things. It's just grasping things as they are.

It captures some of the spirit of meditation. Most of our unhealthy, wandering thoughts are about regretting the past or fearing the future.
But it's pretty vague. I'm here now already. I guess it means focus on the present. That's one type of meditation, but others are more specific: focus on breathing, focus on a mantra, etc. But whatever it is that you are aware of, there is always the awareness itself, underlying all thoughts. All thoughts have that awareness in common. Observe thoughts as they come and go, and the background of awareness will start to jump out at you.

A chore has a goal or a purpose in mind. Meditation, however, is its own goal. It should be done not for the sake of something else, but for its own sake. In this sense, meditation is more like dancing, or hugging a friend.
People meditate for all sorts of reasons, to become less stressed, or attain spiritual enlightenment. But these goals, when the mind clings to them, distract from the meditation. Meditate anyway, regardless of what goals you have, and it won't be a chore but a joy. If all things in life were done for their own sake, your whole life would be one continuous meditation.

The mind is like the wind. It goes this way and that. Wind is just the movement of air, but the air is everywhere. Your awareness is present in every thought and experience. Become aware of the awareness behind the thought, and the winds will calm.

A few things come to mind. How to sit properly without hurting yourself. What the goal of meditation is. And that meditation is more worthwhile than almost anything you can use as an excuse to procrastinate.