Originally Posted by withered_Orchid
I live in a nery noisy environment and unless I stay up until 3 in the morning, it is impposible for me to get total silence. Is it ok if I do meditation in less than ideal situations... such as in a libaray, where it is a quieter.
And my other question is concerns how bad is it for me to break out in the middle of meditation. I find it very hard to keep my eyes closed and remain seated for the full period of time. It is not discomfort that I feel but rather a overwhelming desire to move.
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Hello, Orchid, and welcome to the community. I read in one of your other posts where you referred to yourself as a "professional daydreamer". If in fact you do quite a lot of actual daydreaming, that state of consciousness you enter into when you're lost in a daydream is grounded largely in Alpha brainwaves much as the initial stages of meditation tend to be. In other words, the stage is already set. All that need be done by you is to change the the content from free-form mind wandering to quiet meditation. Half your battle has already been won.
Let me ask you, when you're "daydreaming", are you not in the same noisy environment that you are when practicing meditation? I'm guessing that at least some of the time, perhaps even most of the time, you are. And yet the environment probably does not feel like such an obstacle towards daydreaming as it does towards your meditative practice. The reason it does not impact so adversely upon your daydream time is because you have inwardly accepted the noisy environment as a part of the field in which your daydreams occur. There is no opposition to the environment when daydreaming. It simply "is", and very likely you don't give it much more thought.
So it should be with your meditation practice as well. When first learning the practice of meditation it is often suggested that a quiet environment is conducive to the process. While this is generally true for most people it is certainly not an absolute requirement. For some folks it's not even an option. In that case you'll need to find a way to stop looking at the noisy environment as a factor to be overcome and conquered and find a way to use it as a part of the process of entering into meditation. When noise becomes an ally rather than an opponent it serves to improve our practice.
Part of the solution may come as a result of the technique for meditation you choose to employ. Some are naturally more antagonistic towards outside distractions while others tend to incorporate and use the distractions for their own purposes. In this, you'll need to take a page from the Japanese book of Aikido. Learn to turn whatever comes against you aside in a way that transmutes its nature from that of opposition to that of augmentation.
Buddhist techniques such as Vipassana and similar Mindfulness techniques are especially helpful in this area. Mantra, if that is what you are using currently, is a great technique, but at least in the beginning it may not be the most effective when it comes to handling outside distractions.
Another factor to consider is whether or not you have made a true commitment to the practice of meditation. By that I mean, is it a genuine priority in your life. I also noted in another of your posts that you attributed some of the issues you face in your life to "lifestyle" which you "can't yet build up the courage to change". Without knowing the specifics of what you're referring to, it can be said generally that some aspects of our lifestyle can be such that they are in opposition to both the practice of meditation and to the benefits towards which that practice leads us.
For example, if I am a practicing alcoholic who never sees a moment of sobriety, or a heroin addict with a $500 a day habit, or if I have some other type of habit that dominates my time while eroding away at my body and mind in catastrophic ways, and I have determined I am not in a position to change these behaviors at the moment, my practice of meditation is not likely to see substantial results. It is akin to that old joke Groucho Marx used to tell about the man who goes to his doctor and says, "Doctor, when I move my arm like this it hurts," to which the doctor replied, "Well then, stop moving your arm like that!" This is what Einstein referred to when he said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same old thing in the same old way and somehow expecting it to produce a different result."
If certain lifestyle behaviors are severe enough that they inhibit the state of meditation it is probably not reasonable to expect we can continue on in these habits and suddenly the meditation practice is going to become effective. What it comes down to is what you really want for yourself, how much you want it, and what you're willing to commit to 100%.
There's a story about a young Taoist monk who approaches his master with a question. "Master," he begins, "I seek the enlightenment you have attained but cannot find it in my practice. What must I do?" The master motioned the young monk over to a small pool of water and instructed him to look deeply into the pool where he would find the answer to his question. So the monk looked into the pool but saw nothing but the algae growing on rocks at the bottom, the reflection of his own face and the sky above him, and a few carp swimming slowing beneath the surface.
"I see no solution," he said to the master. "Look deeper into the pool," the master replied. So the monk bent down lower and peered more urgently into the water. Suddenly the master grasped the back of the monk's head and pushed it under the water. At first the monk thought this to be some sort of test, so he simply waited for the master to raise his head up out of the water again. After a minute the monk began running out of air. He began struggling to raise his own head but the master held his grip firm and would not allow the monk a breath of air. With each passing moment the need for fresh air grew greater and greater. The monk struggled wildly now but the grip of the master was powerful and unyielding. With his lungs now burning from lack of oxygen the monk began to lose consciousness, certain the master intended on drowning him. At that very moment the master pulled the monk's head up out of the water where he gasped for air in huge gulps. The master waited until the monk had recovered a bit, then said,
"When your need for enlightenment becomes as intense as was your need for air a moment ago, only then will you find it."
Often we tell ourselves we "want" the benefits that meditation can bring, but we never elevate that "want" to the level of a true "need". It remains something of a wish or a whim. "Wants" and "wishes" seldom attain the power to produce changes that a real "need" or genuine "conviction" produces. If lifestyle factors block your progress in meditation then accept that this is what's happening and accept that it is unlikely to change until your own priorities change; until you determine that the practice of meditation is something you "need" and not just something that "would be nice".
A great place to begin to make these sorts of internal changes is with the teachings of Srikumar S. Rao. He is a college professor of Marketing at Long Island University. He developed and taught a class that was at first aimed at business life but when applied to personal life has equally transformational effects. It has become one of the most popular classes at the university and is often referred to as "Raoism". This class is available in CD format in a program called, "Personal Mastery" and I highly recommend it. His methods deal with producing internal shifts in a natural way without the need to attempt to force or coerce ourselves. If you're looking to realign your priorities and goals, this course would be an excellent place to begin.
Regarding your other question, about coming out of meditation prematurely, don't be overly concerned with it. The practice of meditation should be a relaxing, calming process. If you need to shift your physical position or move, then do so gently and return to your practice. This will produce much better results than being in abject misery and attempting to ignore that fact. Your mind will fixate upon the discomfort which will assure you are anything but calm and peaceful. Perhaps one way to do this is to tell yourself up front that for each 10 minutes you sit you are going to give yourself a few moments to stretch and shift positions. If your mind knows that such regular pauses have been scheduled that will take away one of its excuses for attempting to intrude on your practice time.
.... mainly about the compromises I can make
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