Bring4th

(Q) Why is it difficult for me to remember? (A) It isn't difficult! It's rather trained in self to forget! See the differentiation between forgetting and remembering, is--memory is the exercising of the inner self as related to thought. To acknowledge that the memory is poor, is to say you don't think much! The forgetting is to say that the thought becomes self-centered, for memory is thought--even as thought is memory, brought to the forefront by the association of ideas.

My emphasis.

So from a spiritual point of view, would being forgetful actually be a good thing?
Because all those meditation practices are about getting out of the mind and the constant chatter of thoughts...
I have rather good memory actually. And I am bad at meditating

I am bad at meditating too.

I have bad memory because I told myself repeatedly I do. The hardware is fine, the software is corrupted.

I have a "bad memory" but can remember flawlesly details from when I was a child, and can recite lines from TV shows I've seen and can remember the total shape of the planetary surface including almost all nations, borders, fenotypes, biological organism. Etc. I have a pretty Akashic sense of the planet in terms of memory and I still say I have "Bad memory".

*sighs* The things we cant stop talking s*** about to ourselves.

@Meerie@GW: In what way are you "bad" at meditating specifically?

Remembrance is an art unto itself.

I got this in my email from Association for Research and Enlightenment too. They have a subscription that will send you a quote from Edgar Cayce everyday. Very helpful!

(04-30-2013, 04:59 PM)xise Wrote: [ -> ]@Meerie: In what way are you "bad" at meditating specifically?

Well I am undisciplined and cannot seem to keep up the routine required for meditation but I try to be aware as possible during the day

(05-01-2013, 01:05 AM)Meerie Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-30-2013, 04:59 PM)xise Wrote: [ -> ]@Meerie: In what way are you "bad" at meditating specifically?

Well I am undisciplined and cannot seem to keep up the routine required for meditation but I try to be aware as possible during the day

I'm pretty undisciplined too. I tell myself 45 minutes, but I'd say I average 20-25 mins/day with mins/day varying significantly (15, 0, 10, 55, 20, 65, etc). I'm definitely trying to get better at it!

But I think being aware during the day is just as, if not more, important.

I like that quote on Krishnamurti on meditation, it implies that it is not necessarily about sitting down for 20 mins a day or so, but rather try to keep that awareness up in your daily life as much as possible:

"Meditation is a process of understanding. Understanding is not a result and it is not something you gain. It is a process of self-discovery. That means meditation is an awareness of your whole process of living. Meditation is a process of understanding, the process of your whole being, not only a part of it, and that means that you have to be aware of everything that you are doing. it is not concentration. You take a picture and you focus your attention on that.

All this is implied in meditation - to be aware, to be conscious of your environment, to be aware how you talk, how you walk, how you eat, what you eat; to be aware how you speak to another, how you treat another, as you are sitting there, to be aware of your neighbour, the colour of the coat, the way he looks. Without criticism just be aware. That gives you great sensitivity, empathy, so that your body is subtle, sensitive, aware of everything that is going on around you. To be aware without any choice, see where you are, looking at the speaker, looking all around you without a single choice, just look - to be aware.

When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy - if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is part of meditation. So meditation can take place when you are sitting in a bus or walking in the woods full of light and shadows, or listening to the singing of birds or looking at the face of your wife or child."

And it is quite simple actually. You don't need a meditation cushion or a certain posture or a certain room or environment, you just use the present moment as it is

I guess some people might be inclined to call that practice "mindful awareness" or contemplation.. semantics?
Because meditation in the traditional sense of the word seems to imply, sitting down closing your eyes, during a certain time during the day...

I think I looked at a book once and it said meditating just during a walk through the park was a legitimate meditation.

To me, this quote means that if you have self- centered actions you won't remember so easily. Because the thoughts themselves are self centered.

It has given me a few insights. For instance, some of the times I can remember vividly were times where I was very STO. (These can be with people or in relation to something else).

However, my memory then darkens and disappears periods where that wasn't so much the case. For instance, there was a period I was drinking a lot and finding it difficult to do the things I wanted to do because of I suppose emotional reasons which I can't remember. But other periods drinking where I have an excessively vivid memory.

But that might not be the correct interpretation of the quote.