Is Meditation "Doing Nothing"?

[@DougsDharma]

🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂 📙 You can find my new book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook

[@hitomukawakami7124]

Doug, I just want to thank you for the incredible videos you provide for us for free. You’ve been my main gateway into Buddhism and I’ve been immersing myself in the Yogacara school. I’m well on my way to sobriety and I nearly owe it all to your videos. I tried everything to put drugs down but nothing worked permanently. Buddhism changed everything for me. Your videos and the deep knowledge you imbue them with have been an indispensable resource for me. I hope your channel continues to grow and get more views.

[@DougsDharma]

Wonderful to hear, Hitomi. All the best to you on your journey! 🙏😊

[@davidmichelson671]

I appreciate the analogy you chose and your conclusion. When I was first introduced to meditation I was told to just "not think about anything" without any other instruction, and when my mind continued to have thoughts I got frustrated and the experience turned me away from meditation for many years! When I asked for guidance or clarification the response was always just that my mind should be blank. I ended up feeling like it was all a scam. I believe that if I had instead been instructed on skillful ways to concentrate my mind, such as through the 4 foundations of mindfulness or the 16 steps in the full awareness of breathing, I would have enjoyed and benefited from meditation right away. The teaching on "doing nothing" was premature and incomplete given where I was on the path.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes I think it can be a really confusing teaching for many. I have another video from awhile back on whether you're supposed to have a "blank mind" in meditation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nImUYqB6nt2Cj80

[@cymatiste]

that blue light in the background is so pretty

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks! 🔵

[@Nalber3]

Revisiting this video 4 months later I have a complete different understanding of shikantaza. I'll have to come back to this video again and again because it's soooo good. Thanks a lot Doug!

[@archiekennedy4741]

Very nice treatment of this question Doug. I've heard a teacher (Trungpa Rinpoche I believe) compare meditation with learning to play a musical instrument - first you pay attention to technique, eventually you discover you are making music.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes that's a good analogy!

[@luizmiguelsantos6282]

This week I was thinking about that, because while doing practice my mind was restless and I couldn't concentrate. The point is, I was actually thinking about the hindrances, and so afraid to fall in it that I just couldn't keep really calm and concentrate. So the video came in the right moment, I need more training. Than you!

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, Luiz. Glad it was helpful to you! 🙏

[@Nalber3]

This was super helpful, it got right on time! I started to practice zazen several months ago with focusing on the breath. Then the more I learned about zazen the more confused I got. I'm also following a lecture club with a Buddhist nun where we learn the noble eithfold path and it definitely clarified my practice since by knowing the objects of meditation I can have a "map" to navigate around the different states of the body/sensations, mind and not cling to a particular object.

[@DougsDharma]

Right! Glad it was helpful to you, Nalber3. 🙏

[@SteveHorne]

Good advice here Doug- avoiding “efforting” can be a challenge.

[@DougsDharma]

Very true!

[@kgrandchamp]

Hello Doug! Thanks for the video. I find the subject of "preparing the mind" in Buddhism very interesting. It is not only for meditation sake but ultimately, as meditation is also, to reach awakening. Wikipedia says: In Buddhism, the bodhipakkhiyā dhammā are qualities (dhammā) conducive or related to (pakkhiya) awakening/understanding (bodhi), i.e. the factors and wholesome qualities which are developed when the mind is trained (bhavana). In the Pali Canon's Bhāvanānuyutta sutta ("Mental Development Discourse"), the Buddha is recorded as saying: 'Monks, although a monk who does not apply himself to the meditative development of his mind may wish, "Oh, that my mind might be free from the taints by non-clinging!", yet his mind will not be freed. For what reason? "Because he has not developed his mind," one has to say. Not developed it in what? In the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right kinds of striving, the four bases of success, the five spiritual faculties, the five spiritual powers, the seven factors of enlightenment and the Noble Eightfold Path.' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhipakkhiyādhammā Thanks for your great video and maybe one could elaborate more on this subject? Ken

[@chriskaplan6109]

A skillful and useful interpretation of this instruction. Thank you Doug, well done!

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, Chris. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙏

[@teresalatiolais8477]

Love your channel, I am soo new to Buddhaism , I use it as a help with my military connected ptsd but, I really don’t have any thing to help with prayer I’ve got a bracelet but and a book but nothing else I need help in what I need

[@merlinx8703]

Which bracelet and which book?

[@DougsDharma]

Take a look around the channel for other ideas, I have a lot of playlists that might be useful to you. Also you might want to look up "Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction" (MBSR) courses in your area. 🙏

[@piti-sukkah]

The baseball analogy was great

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@rudolffischer3849]

Ty for your video Doug! I think the Topic 'solitude and buddhism' would be very interesting for a lot of us. Keep up the great work!

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, I'll be making one about solitude and loneliness soon, I remember you asked about that!

[@SunsetHoney615]

I think this is the first time I have heard you reference Bhante Akaliko. Great to see. He is our Spiritual Director at Central West Buddhists here in regional Australia. ❤❤❤

[@DougsDharma]

Nice! 😊

[@prashantlakhera6156]

Whatever peace of mind I have attained through meditation, I assure that none of that was attained by doing nothing, it was attained by the herculean effort of fighting the mental states of anger, and hatred.

[@dhanikaponnamperuma9145]

In Buddhist meditation, I don't think you're supposed to fight those mental states. Fighting and resisting them only makes it harder. Thoughts manifest and cease on their own without our interference. But we either grab onto pleasing thoughts or resist unpleasant ones, when by not dealing with them in any way, they come and go on their own. We're just fighting the current when all we need to do is get out of the river.

[@MrCmon113]

I befrieded hatred and anger and now when anger comes I am happy and greet my friend, who always protects me and looks out for me and I ask him where our common friend hate is and how he is doing.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes there are different approaches to practice. There is a more "herculean" approach of making great effort, and there is the more relaxed approach of befriending and letting pass.

[@prashantlakhera6156]

@@DougsDharma Letting thoughts pass is only possible for those with good karma in past lives, their good karma can easily lessen affects of bad karma that arises in meditation but those with bad karma, have only to experience bad karma that arises with extreme discomfort of bodily sensations. Moreover the karma that remain in the end are those which are very severe and can only be overcome by forcibly annihilating them.

[@robr2303]

Very good video. I often base my meditation practice on what was taught in the satipatthana sutta. So whenever i do formal meditation i often focus on the breath.However, I rarely do formal meditation. Most of my meditation involves thinking or being mindful about one of those 4 foundations of mindfulness. For some reason I particularly like to focus on the foundation of "feeling".

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, mindfulness of feelings is a great practice. So much of what we do comes from our pleasures and pains.

[@BrandonB...]

This perspective was super helpful and seemed to address many of Zen's traits and teachings, in contrast to Early Buddhism. Zen appears to often frame itself as a positive innovation in Buddhist practice. It would be interesting to hear more specifically your take on the pros and cons of Zen meditation practice compared to what was practiced in Early Buddhism. For example, it could be similar to your video on the differences between Theraveda and Early Buddhism.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, I'll put it on the list. I'll first need to find some representative teaching of Zen practice though to nail it down. 😊

[@Genpinan]

Thanks for the video, gave me - as always - something to think about.

[@DougsDharma]

Great, that's what I'm trying to do. 😄

[@Genpinan]

@@DougsDharma In That regard, you are certainly succeeding. Thanks again, am already looking forward to your next upload.

[@Daniel-Strain]

Thank you so much for this Doug. I think your statement that 'just do nothing' is actually an advanced teaching is very insightful and would agree. But perhaps there is another kind of 'just do nothing' that is for the very earliest possible beginner. That is, one who has no real experience with any mindfulness or meditation practice and is 'coming in hot' from the world of multitasking, stress, constant action, and disbursed and chaotic attention. So engrossed in the 'normal world' as it is, that they can hardly recognize there is another way to be. In that case, just getting them to set down and be still is a way of resetting their attention span and patience. This may be necessary before any of the even beginner level teachings can be employed. In hitting a baseball it is the same. You first need to get the newcomer acclimated to using their body, feeling what it is like to TRY to hit the ball, etc. Allow a little unskillful playing in the new basic environment. Then you can begin with particular lessons. You don't get into detailed lessons without them having even held the bat. But also like baseball, there will come another time where the lessons need to then become more natural and less intellectual, and we once again return to 'just hit the ball'.

[@DougsDharma]

Good point, DT. I agree! 🙏

[@Erime]

Thanks Doug. It seems mindfulness meditation disciplines - Buddhist or secular, often emphasise the lifestyle scheduling aspect - the discipline - of meditation over the details of 'what to do' during meditation. It follows the yoga adage of the most difficult move being that step onto your mat every day, for example. From my own experience, this 'spirit of repetition' has been the profound difference between feeling that I need to 'do something' during meditation, or else 'just sit' within the daily discipline - the flow of the process, and allow myself to settle down into that flow naturally. The daily-ness of the practice and how that subtly filters into one's life I think allows for 'letting go' with more confidence - and so, as you say, the idea of "doing nothing" is perhaps not for a beginner dabbling and exploring the basics without a solid daily practice/ lifestyle habit.

[@DougsDharma]

Right. I like that idea that the most difficult move is to step onto the mat, or to sit on the cushion! 😄

[@mr.solitude3352]

Occassionally I am asked how someone can (versus should) begin their practice. I generally like to offer them two suggested procedures. Firstly, place your attention, as much as you can, on your breathing (anapana). Don't try to control or handle it in any way. Just become aware of each inhalation and exhalation, just as it is. Without judgement or comment. And if a judgement or comment appears, just notice that too. One must have and use an anchor when setting out to sea and a thought-storm arrives. Secondly, and as you are doing this, place your attenttion on whatever thought-clouds appear and disappear. Like clouds which appear and dis-appear against the clear blue sky, thoughts (and feelings) will also appear and dis-appear. Just notice their appearance and dis-appearance. And if you feel a certain attachment to a particular thought or two, just notice that as well. You may find yourself resting on the clear blue sky in between each series of thought-clouds. Some call this place home. Whatever thoughts about meditation you may have had will also appear and dis-appear. It is the nature of ALL thoughts to do so. Including thoughts you may have originally treated as unwanted or of “negative” or “ill” quality.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, good instructions Mr. Solitude! 🙏

[@SWTM92]

Very insightful and helpful, thank you.

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, Michael. 🙏

[@bookerbooker6317]

Speaking as someone that has practiced zazen for several years now: I agree with your point that zazen could be seen as an advanced practice, since you aren't trying to act on the hindrances, and you can be taken away by them as a beginner. I think particualrly in the rinzai school, you do koan practice, and then shikantaza is used as an integration practice once you have had kensho. However, modern Soto teachers e.g. Daido Loori and Joko Beck, if you read their books, say that a preliminary stage IS to 'polish the mirror' so to speak, but eventually over time you realise there is no mirror to polish. And the ancients such as Keizan instruct that if you have a very clouded mind, focus your consciousness on your feet, and if sleepy, focus on the forehead, for example. So zazen is not as passive as it seems. Moreover, doing nothing is not quite the same as just sitting. You are always focusing on your posture as a beginner, that's so important. So there is always this pattern of clarity, lost in thoughts/bad posture, awareness, correction of posture, clarity, etc. Anyway thanks for the video, good as always.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@yhseow]

In one sutta, Sariputra says that even an Arahant needs to regard 5 clinging aggregates as a disease, cancer, boil, impermanence, dukkha, non self etc. So it might be doing anything but to assume the 5 clinging aggregates as me, mine or Self.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@maddiewadsworth4027]

Really appreciate this video as this very topic really tripped me up in my early years of Buddhism. I was always told to just sit and do nothing and yet I wondered why if that's all there was to it how come the stack of sutas was so thick, and conversely why people in vegetative states didn't become enlightened.

[@DougsDharma]

Right, that instruction can be very confusing!

[@ryanmilliken5950]

@@DougsDharma Some people get confused because think it literally means just sit and do nothing or zone out. The emphasis is really on the "just" part which requires awareness and effort to "turn the light around" at least initially. I sat at a Korean Zen center before COVID hit and the instruction was to sit with the question "what am I?" or "what is this?" but looking directly rather rationally thinking about it.

[@CosmoPhiloPharmaco]

My question to Doug is this: do you believe there is a self? That is, do you believe there is a conscious subject inside your head that can control some thoughts and to which experiences happen? I've watched your videos on what Buddha probably thought, but I'm interested in *your* philosophy.

[@DougsDharma]

I think the idea of a locus of control and experience is an illusion, but a persistent one.

[@CosmoPhiloPharmaco]

@@DougsDharma Really? I'm surprised.

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

Well explained! True Shikantaza is actually very active and engaged - though very new students may need to begin with a more scaffolded approach (like counting breaths), Zen Masters like Dogen didn’t position it as “advanced” to my knowledge. It’s what has felt most natural to me, and I began it within 2-3 months of formally starting Zen practice.

[@soldatnerd]

Same for me, I've read and heard from other people that you need to build your concentration first and going to doing nothing is more advanced but I started with do nothing because I thought it was most "natural" to just rest as awareness and keeping on my attention on something seemed counter intuitive when the problem was my over active mind that was constantly doing things.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, for some people it's the perfect instruction. I love the Sōtō approach to meditation.

[@TheLouisamite]

Thank you so much for sharing this with the world, ,I Learn alot from you,

[@DougsDharma]

Glad to help! 🙏😊

[@miketheman6243]

I was taught to be aware of the breath, let intrusive thoughts come and go, and keep from ruminating, on good OR bad thoughts.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, that's a good technique.

[@hashi856]

Can you do a video on Dzogchen

[@DougsDharma]

I might do one eventually, though most of my focus is on the early material and that is a much later teaching.

[@sacrificejuni6139]

Adi-Buddha is a term for the omnipotent God in Buddhism. This title came from the Aisvarika tradition of Mahayana in Nepal, which is spread through Bengal, and became also known in Java. Aisvarika is the term for the disciples of theist view in Buddhism.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting, thanks!

[@yesterday1396]

Great video!

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks! 😄

[@namanbhalla6129]

Namo buddhaya sir How many buddhist scriptures are there and From where one should start reading those scriptures?

[@DougsDharma]

There are thousands of Buddhist scriptures. If you want to start, take a look at my video on the Pāli canon: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3rGn3anhKZ_htU

[@nickolrodriguezserrano839]

Do you have a podcast?

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, it's called "Diggin' the Dharma". There's a link to it in the show notes. I also make audio-only versions of my videos available on my Patreon page.

[@oldstudent2587]

At least as early as the 9th c. C.E., Zen incorporated the metaphor of dry wood and dead ashes for meditation, which originates in Zhuangzi. It is related to the Daojia practice of wei wuwei (literally to do not doing). That one has also been erroneously translated as doing nothing. As Zen evolved, especially in Japan, the "householder" clientele were soldiers and samurai, many of whom were not literate, and for whom "just sitting" would be a very active state (described to them once as "sit as if facing the enemy"), not unlike a comprehensive mindfulness. For those lay people, not for modern lay people, just sitting might be a beginner's meditation since it was related to how they guarded, and would have already incorporated not becoming distracted or dulled.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting, thanks!

[@TheTarutau]

I agree do nothing is not meant for beginners. Those that have an easy time with it probably already have the needed amount of concentration power sensorial clarity and equanimity. Probably picked up in daily life there is more then one way to skin a cat. On that note I also think meditation itself requires some preparation but that's me. With self inquiry before meditation one can deal with the reactive self more fully and by dealing with this aspect of mental activity one can utilize meditation better. This is because pointing to self is easier to do when a person is just living their life then it would be when they are just sitting. Someone cuts you off in traffic anger arises when identification with the event has passed a minimum threshold. That is self reacting to event. When your waiting in line frustration or boredom arises when identification with the event reaches a certain threshold that is self reacting to event. But if they are sitting usually what arises and passes becomes less obvious and how the self identifies with an event is also less obvious. Its why i dealt with daily life first. I would say its what allowed me to meditate for only 3 months before entering cessation but im not certain how big a part my lucid dreaming practice had on meditation and also since i did my meditation in horse stance that also could have had an effect. To make matters worse I was at getting a taste of samadhi during self inquiry and went full blown samadhi after dreaming. So at that point meditation was a breeze for me. Mental activities rarely arose anyway. Never actually just sat myself. I usually tell people when meditating to observe mental arisings and mental passing. Usually one can find out alot about oneself in meditation when mental arisings are not suppressed and mental passing are not clung to. When a person observes themselves and accepts what arises and passes what is arising and passing begins to weaken over time. There are only so many times I can remind myself of something before I no longer have to remind myself of it and it's just accepted as is once it's accepted it can be released and change can occur. But that's just meditation. Meditation is like exercise for the brain. It cultivates concentration sensorial clarity and equanimity. The brunt of the work is still left up to the practitioner to integrate what occurs on the couch with what occurs in daily life. This act of observation helps to create distance or space from the self identifying through events as they arise and pass. So an example i like is when someone steps on someone else's shoe. The mental arisings and passing that then occur can vary greatly. From anger to ill will to an act of violence or the shying away from confrontation. On the couch we learn to create distance. When someone steps on our shoes we get the opportunity to train more effectively by observing the system and then if we untangle these arisings and passings into what is sight what is sound what is touch what is mental image what is mental talk what is emotional body sensation what is reactive what is proactive what is interactive and what is inactive among the above mentioned we can distance ourselves further from identification with the event itself. This creation of distance makes it so we can adjust our objective behaviour on the fly while bopping around in daily life. This is the area where the most growth occurs. And meditation is just exercise so that one can effectively change objective behaviour reduce one's suffering elevate ones fulfillment learn new skills gain sensorial clarity and as one becomes more effective at these things a desire to help others arises. Probably because life is pretty interdependent and when one suffers we all share a little in that suffering. So to elevate fulfillment further one tries to improve the fulfillment available to others and by doing so ones is able to access even more fulfillment. Think I no longer have to worry about if insert name will be OK or I no longer have to be constantly mugged when walking said route. So we help the high and the low. It just works out better for all of us that way. And we see this. We were all children once. I remember bits and pieces of what was occuring before I turned 7. So I think all kids are born to cessation. As time passes and they learn about their world a self and a world view begin to form. This self and this world view pile on top of what was naturally there to begin with. Meditation is a letting go of self and world and an uncluttered of mind itself. This naturally manifests as cessation. And cessation is marked by periods of just happenings and spontaneous activities. In my opinion two things are working together. What is known as don't know mind or the suspension of belief or the need to have answers or the drive towards meaning. And open mindedness. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKKkaGeIpa2tsNE

[@kevinrummelhart]

My take is to actively abandon thoughts of past or future from the mind…

[@DougsDharma]

That can be hard to do, but I think minimizing them can be helpful.

[@vyderka]

I kind of understand it that way: when I sit in meditation I for example observe the movement of the breath, then extend my attention to the body, next to emotions/feelings and finally to the mind (thought, images and so on appearing in the mind) - just letting them appear and dissolve seems to be the practice so it sounds like doing nothing is the way to achieve it. Alas it leads to my grasping different bodily and mental phenomena and fuelling them further. Making an effort to perceive all that appears through the lens of no-I understanding, leads to deeper understanding: it's not me, it's not mine, it's not not-mine, it's not not-me, and finally brings up the understanding that I can only express in a question: what the hell is this "I" anyway :D - by putting on a no-I hat, I seem through that subtle effort to move closer to achieving "do nothing" by not fuelling appearing and existing internal phenomena.

[@DougsDharma]

Right, it's a kind of "doing nothing", but also as you describe it, you are moving your attention around, and making focused efforts. 😊

[@jaydenclowers2616]

Great video, How do we enjoy something without hinderance

[@DougsDharma]

How do you mean?

[@middlewayers]

Dear doug, have you understood the fetter of views? If yes, then explain to us too. I think the fetter of views is the most important topic that modern generation needs to know.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, I discuss the problem of views in this early video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6quqoiCfdKKepo, and also in this video on the parable of the raft: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apmnnnl8jbmSqck

[@billybrian550]

Hi Doug. What would you say to someone who can't meditate without anxiety, depression and/or anger arising afterwards. This is something I suffer from and it has prevented me from getting deeper into a mediation practice. The deeper my meditation is the stronger these feelings are afterwards. After researching online i found the term 'meditation sickness' which seems to describe what happens to me and I've found others on message boards who experience the same phenomenon. I find this issue very frustrating as I find Buddhism very interesting and would love to be able to experience the benefits of a regular meditation practice. Thanks

[@DougsDharma]

It's hard to say without knowing much more about you, Billy. But I'd certainly consider talking with an experienced meditation teacher, or a psychologist with experience in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). They might be able to help figure out a way through. 🙏

[@youniverse_astrotarot]

I get depressed when I meditate.. going through a lot so that's like meditation exaggerating it?

[@middlewayers]

You need time and patience

[@youniverse_astrotarot]

@@middlewayers 👍yeah

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, patience. If you are going through a lot, meditation can make you more aware of it all. Be well! 🙏

[@youniverse_astrotarot]

@@DougsDharma ok ❤️👍

[@namanbhalla6129]

I want to learn buddhism from where i should start?

[@DougsDharma]

Take a look at some of my playlists, I have a number of them that might be useful. 🙏

[@namanbhalla6129]

@@DougsDharma okay sir thank you Nammo buddhaya 🙏

[@christophergan71]

Meditation is part of the 7th and 8th Noble Path. Before that is Right Effort which precedes meditation. So it's not as if meditation requires one to sit like a statue without cultivating the mind.

[@DougsDharma]

Right, it's involved with Right Effort.

[@poppywindstockings4930]

🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@默-c1r]

🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@SPOCK22]

Does taking a nap count?

[@vecktar]

No

[@SPOCK22]

@@vecktar i'd argue that its the greatest form of mediation

[@QuyNguyen-lm1gq]

And taking a rest ?

[@chocochipmint1858]

A nap is just a temporary pleasure tho, but yeah a nap is great to calm down :DD

[@xiaomaozen]

😊❤️🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😄

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

Hmmm...I wish there was a meditation that made me want to do more .Doing nothing is something i do naturally 😉

[@DougsDharma]

😆😆

[@namanbhalla6129]

Sir please make a video on pure buddhist wedding process 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Early Buddhism tended to leave secular events such as weddings to laypeople. So the notion of a Buddhist wedding is a later development.

[@namanbhalla6129]

@@DougsDharma sir what did buddha said on the hindu gods like brahma, vishnu, Shankar and krishna

[@namanbhalla6129]

@@DougsDharma what i found is buddha didn't mentioned anything about them so i think they were synthesized by brahmins after the Buddha demise 🙏

[@prashantlakhera6156]

Mahayana Buddhism has history of elevating everyone to Buddha or Bodhisattva status and they did the same thing to meditation, by teaching attaining formless state of nothingness to lay people who barely can keep their mind peaceful.

[@mathieuavisse4623]

it's about wisdom , not about taking a nap

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@freeseekeriam8277]

In the end all this discussion wouldn't exist if meditators and their teachers would simply refer to suttas rather than the Visuddhimagga for their practice.

[@DougsDharma]

Where is this in the Visuddhimagga?

[@middlewayers]

Mindfulness can be practiced... But Meditation or Jhanas can't be done rather they are encountered..

[@DougsDharma]

True, though there are things we can do to make them more likely.

[@kalas2320]

Doing nothing or can do nothing only stay fully mindful IMO is the "result" of meditation when you are attaining the 4th jhana state and totally detach from the five aggregates. We basically cannot force our mind to have such a state directly but need techniques or tactics that's why there are 40 (and more) meditation techniques in Theravada. For the Thai forrest tradition (since venerable ajan Mun), I think there are a variety of practicing styles depending on a school (now there are over a hundred forrest dhamma shools). The teaching to do nothing might exist but that's gonna work for laymen or even some monks. I've just come across your channel, so, I don't watch all the videos. In buddhism, there are two types of meditation, samadhi and vipassana meditations. The goal of samadhi meditation is to temporarily detach from the 5 aggregrats, for example, when you achieve fully detaching from the 5 aggregates, it is the state of 4th jhana. This will strengthen your mind. On the other hand, the goal of vippasana meditation is to permanently detach from the five aggregates. Only a powerful mind can do vipassana. The state of nivana is the state of being fully mindful, totally detaching from the 5 aggregates, totally free from ignorance, or totally removing kilesa (desires). Those are equivalent but from different views or indicators. For the later type of meditation, people including most Buddhists seem to misunderstand the practice. One who can practice vipassana should have automatic midfulness or mahasati, so, the sutta name is "mahasatipatthana sutta" not "satipatthana sutta" like I've seen in youtube videos. One who attains vipassana nana (perception) will have automatic midfulness. An example for the sight of reaching such a state is you can sense your thoughts and there are two separate things inside us, one as an observer and another as a doer (there should be better words I think). Those who have mahasati or vipassana-nana and practice mahasatipatthana teachings continually will at least attain anagami (non-returner) within 7 years. Just wanna share my view.

[@heinmolenaar6750]

Meditation can never be a method. The method is the big mistake. It leads to all kinds of conflict and stronger conditioning. And conditioning is the whole problem.

[@kalas2320]

@@heinmolenaar6750 Trying to avoid conditioning is another type of conditioning. The trap for meditation is all types of desire whether desire to be or not to be as its consequence is attaching to the 5 aggregrats while the taget of meditation or enlightenment is to completely detach from them. The only harmless desire for beginners is the desire to be mindful. The true teaching is never to avoid any problem because there is no problem but merely the five aggregrates working together. Once, you wholeheartedly see, understand and accept that this world is nothing but the 5 aggregrates working, you will detach from them. The term meditation techniques I used previously is actually kammatthana which is part of the Buddha teachinhgs. A samadhi meditation practitioner basically has to focus at some point like breath or thinking bud-dho continually in order to gradually detach from the 5 aggregrates. The kammtthana does matter as, for example in the Buddha time, Chulapantaka bhikkhu needed a specific word to think of (bhavana) in order to become arhant. In reality, the samadhi and vipassana are not separated though. They are chicken and egg, work together, and enhance each other.

[@heinmolenaar6750]

@@kalas2320 i didn't say : try to avoid conditioning. That's what you are doing when you practice a method. You need to know what attention is. Not how can i be attentive. If you use a method to be attentive, the practice itself is conditioning. And leads to all kinds of illusions, and you will never be free of conditioning, because you are bound to the method, which is conditioning. You are attached and bound to the method, the practice, which is bondage to conditioning. When you practice, you do something. There is you, who practice. There must be no you, practicing attention. This is only possible whithout a method. Really, the method is the big mistake.

[@kalas2320]

@@heinmolenaar6750 Ok, I don't have a problem with that.

[@heinmolenaar6750]

@@kalas2320 you don't see what your problem is.

[@Tom-vr2op]

Information overload Meditation is a simple thing, often over-complicated.

[@saralamuni]

Don't do, just be.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@yongjiean9980]

You meditate to let go so is meditation doing nothing?

[@MassiveLib]

Doing nothing is still doing....

[@DougsDharma]

🤔

[@MassiveLib]

@@DougsDharma "I am" doing no thing.

[@madameblatvatsky]

The mind is a real pain in the arse 🤣

[@DougsDharma]

😆