Mindfulness mefitation is great but I have trouble understanding the idea that the mind needs to be still in order to practice… meaning?

Question

I need to be angry/ worried/ sad otherwise I will not respond properly to threats to myself or my family.

I also need to think and keep the issues alive in my mind.

I live at the moment a stressfu phase in myl life with many issues in my family and work.

I don't want to be so quite and in peace with everything. I don't want to be so indiffetent to what's happening at the moment.

When I listen to talks about midfulness from buddhist monks or westeners. It seems to me that we shouldn't be angry or have strong emotions. Or at least to reach some level of equanimity and let go!
Is this possible in this kind of life or mindfulness is only for monastery and high flying neuroscientists.

Any inputs?

Answer 1

I need to be angry/ worried/ sad otherwise I will not respond



~~~ That is all ego!

The ego will not be threatened, so you come up with excuses (more ego) to maintain your egoic sleep/beliefs!

Ego = 'thought/imagination'!.



You want Zen (mindless) meditation!

('Mindful' means awake/aware, not 'thoughtful!)



Zen (thoughtless) meditation is a breeze!

You can do it any and everywhere, any time!

You need no clothes at all, or be dressed to the 9s.

You can be washing the dishes, watching TV, in the bathroom, working... whatever!

I'm not suggesting anything that I don't Know is useful!



Here goes;



Watch your breaths. Watch the air enter, watch it leave, watch it enter, back and forth, in and out...

You will find that you are occasionally 'distracted' by passing thoughts.

Simply pay attention to them, watch them come and go like everything else... but when you remember, continue to watch your breath while being 'mindful', lucidly aware!

Pay Attention!!

Naturally!

No special breathing, no breath control, no 'will-power', just relaxed, watch your breaths and Pay Attention!

We already, naturally, breathe and, to some degree, 'pay attention' to what is 'going on'.

There you go.

When you think that you 'get it', when you think that you 'understand', you don't!

Keep practicing!

Results guaranteed!



See? No BS, no 'work', and no excuses!



tat tvam asi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tat_Tvam_Asi)

Answer 2

-We actually do poorer choices when under anger/worry/ sadness, with a clear mind your able to take things in you otherwise would have miss due to emotions that occupied our minds. Those not mean that you cannot have emotions, just that you cannot let the emotions get the best of you.



-When you hold on to issues, you will keep on reliving them...pain only comes from clinging on to things.



-No you don't live in the moment. When you have stressful times in your life and continue on in your day, you don't go home or go to rest. You go straight back to that stressful scenarios, only looking at the negative parts of you life.



-And you don't have to be so quite and in peace with everything, you are actually more spiritual if you don't...because that's something works for you. Indifference is only for those that don't live, we are here and we need to have preferences, that's part of being human . That doesn't mean we need to go start judging the whole place with negative values.



What you have read or seen is only an aspect of a certain perspective that works for some (Buddhism). You clearly see that this doesn't work for you and that's good. Find happiness in the fact that your closer to see what you actually prefer and follow it. You could have a pleasant life full of joy and passion, but its going to be the way you like it. So instead of following some ones else's road to your goal, why not just follow your own road to your goal...its allot faster.

Answer 3

you need your entire mind cant fill it up with a bunch of meaningless chatter look up the mechanics of mind control no its not about controlling someones mind

Answer 4

"I need to be angry/ worried/ sad otherwise I will not respond properly to threats to myself or my family" -- you can respond to the world much more effectively when you are balanced and calmed (that's what meditation brings in our lives), and not waste your body and mind energies for being worried, sad, or angry.

You create much less bad karma being calm too.

Answer 5

My understanding of mindfulness meditation is a bit different, I guess. I wouldn't say that it's about not having emotions, but about having choice. Even though a lot of meditation advice sounds like it sums up to "think about nothing," that's not what's really going on. It's more about watching what your mind does. Kind of like, going to therapy, and the counselor just sits there quietly and waits, because you'll say something eventually and that will give her insight. Kind of like, left to its own devices what does your brain do?



So, what's the point of that?

Sounds strange, but you discover that you are not always what you are thinking. For example, something bad happens and you think to yourself,"I'm dumb." A lot of times that kind of stuff flits across our minds unnoticed and we believe it. Meditation helps you to notice those thoughts, and decide whether to pay attention or just let the idea float by, so to speak.



Also, when it comes to emotions, we often go down automatic paths that aren't useful. Like someone takes credit for your project at work, and first you're hurt, and then angry, and then you complain about them, worry what your boss will think, worry that makes you a doormat, etc. The goal is to have your emotion and then think of a useful reaction as opposed to letting it spin out.



And of course, as another poster mentioned, it's very useful to be able to pay attention by choice. A lot of times when people are talking to me, I zone out, and forget what they've said. Meditation is a way of building up that "concentration" muscle, so zoning out is more of a choice than an accident.

Answer 6

ever tried to study properly?

when you do math, do you concentrate on the problem or walking around and singing?

when you watch TV, ever seen an sportsperson concentrate - say basketball player to shoot the ball into the basket?

if you don't understand about concentration, attention, focus, and single-mindedness, you can read online. you need to understand how to pay attention when you study.



when you study and observe your body and mind, you need all of these - attention, focus, single-mindedness, etc. so you won't get your mind wandering about what you do before you meditate.

Answer 7

mefitation

Answer 8

mefitation is not a word.



http://www.onelook.com/?w=mefitation&ls=a



mind needs to be still in order to practice meditation



http://www.wildmind.org/background/making-the-mind-go-blank



http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2125



http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858