Jethro Tull

Yes. I spent a lot of time using methods such as samatha and vipassana meditation that I learned from a local Zen Center and a Buddhism class I took. I found them to be effective in noticing the mind, but I have always had the intuition to become my senses, and so my mind would just disappear, because life filled the void and left no room for the mind. I still practice yoga on a daily basis, but I always follow it up with the spiritual exercise that I learned from that book. It is so effective for me. [url="http://www.thetruthcontest.com/"]

"Meditation is the emptying of the mind of the known. It cannot be done by thought or by the hidden prompting of thought, nor by desire in the form of prayer, nor through the self-effacing hypnotism of words, images, hopes, and vanities. All these have to come to an end, easily, without effort and choice, in the flame of awareness.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti The mind is the gatekeeper of life, because it focuses on what is perceives as important. We know that life is coming from all directions, because we can sense it. We can feel it, smell it, and hear it. You feel the ground beneath your feet, the wind on your back. You hear sounds behind you, beside you, all around you. Life is not just coming to you from where your field of vision can perceive; it is coming to you from above, below, behind, and all around. Life is coming to you from all directions in the Present. You are the center of the infinite universe. If it is not the life coming to you right now in the present, it is not your life, so do not think about it or hold onto it. You are like a void, and you can either be filled with the mind, or filled with life. Life is always new in the present, so you have to be completely open to let all of the life in. If your mind is present with you, it is blocking the new life that is coming to you. You cannot turn your mind off by thinking, "nor by desire in the form of prayer, nor through the self-effacing hypnotism of words, images, hopes, and vanities" as Krishnamurti said. You have to let life in a reflect it back out without holding onto anything. You have to be filled with life, so that there is no room for the mind. It is the opposite of Eastern style meditation. You do not sit still in a dark room and try to block out all of the outside stimuli. That does not work to turn off your mind, but it does show you how powerful your mind really is. It is a good way to see your mind running around you, but to be present without the mind, you have to do the opposite, and let all of life in, leave no room for the mind. I just lie down, outside or inside, it doesn't matter. I get focused on breathing through my nose for a few breaths, and then I start opening my senses one by one. I become my senses. I start with the weakest ones, the ones that have been neglected by the mind, such as taste, and then smell. I focus on them completely until they are completely open, and then I move to the sense of sensation. I go up and down my body from my toes to the top of my head, just focusing on the sensations without touching myself, until I can feel my whole body at once. Then I move to the sense of hearing, listening to everything without focusing on anything, until it is completely open. Then slowly, I open my eyes, and all the senses melt together, and there is no room for the mind. I experience all the senses together, completely open. It seems like it would be overwhelming, but it is the clearest experience possible, complete fulfillment, beyond any mortal high. It is bliss, the experience of true life, merging with infinity in the eternal now, and all you have to do is accept what is coming to you, open your Present. After a bit of practice, this method is very effective. The key is letting it all in and reflecting it back out, being open to the new life that is always coming directly to you. After a while, everything becomes meditation. Eating, walking, exercising, talking... life is always new. Just let it in and let it out. You begin to realize that you always have what you need; you always have life, love, and it is coming directly to you in the Present. You start to realize that there is no reason to not enjoy every single moment of your life, no matter what is happening. It's all life; take what is coming to you, and make love all day long. The love you take is equal to the love you make. I learned many of my spiritual exercises from this book: The Present (with religion) It really helped me to see things more clearly, and what it says is very profound. I highly recommend checking it out if you are interested in trying what I discussed. There is a great drawing on page 6 that represents what I am trying to describe. It is a free, online book, so I thought I'd share it with you. Namaste

This site is really interesting. It has some great goals that resonate with me, and all of the entries are really good reads. They are all free and online too. Check it out: http://www.thetruthcontest.com

haha!