Cloudscape

When you are too distracted by thoughts during meditation while being still, try to meditate more while moving, for instance, in yoga, tai chi, dancing, walking, exercise, work, or another activity. If you are too distracted by thoughts during active meditation, try a more passive meditation, like insight meditation, mantric meditation, prayer or hypnosis.

Since meditation is merely mindful experience, meditation can be both active or passive. There must be a balance between active and passive meditation, and if this balance is not respected, then the meditation may cease to be effective or even become harmful. People have slipped into psychosis from too much passive and too little active meditation. On the other hand, too much active and too little passive meditation will only lead to an obsessive concentration.

In any case, however it is very important that any activity during meditation can be more or less automatized, that is to say, that it can happen without much thought, as it is not concentration, but experience, that matters in meditation. It is impossible to experience if one is forced to concentrate on thought.

People who have too little yang might focus more on active meditation, lest they only lose focus in passive meditation. People who have too little yin might instead focus more on passive meditation.

To be mindful of every experience can uplift one to such state of bliss that, ironically, there is soon the danger that one becomes attached to it, which, once you are no longer in a state of mindfulness, causes negative emotions which prevent us from becoming mindful again. In order not to become attached to the state of being mindful of your experiences of every moment, try to see the transience of every moment, which, after all, lasts only for a moment before it is replaced with the next.

Do not regret when you have allowed an experience to pass you by without you having thankfully enjoyed it, for every experience lasts only an infinitely short time. It does not matter to have lost it, for in doing so, you have lost nearly nothing. In the awareness that every moment fades after an infinitely short time, you may better be able to detach from it.

Whether you were mindful or not at some time in the past does not change your chance of being mindful now, for if at a given moment you wish to be mindful merely for the experience of mindfulness at this moment, and not for its effect on long term, then you certainly will be at that given moment. You may no longer be so the next moment, but that does not matter, for if you do not, it is because you no longer wish to be mindful for that moment, and that, at most, you wish to be mindful merely for the long-term effect of it.

If you try to be mindful but fail, it is because you have forgotten why you want to be mindful. At this point, you no longer truly want to mindful to experience, but merely to be in a state you can call mindful.

Whenever you fail to be fully mindful in whatever you do, stop doing it for a few seconds to become mindful again.

1) Experience (Input)

Be lovingly, curiously, intriguedly aware of your current experiences;

Be thankful for them, knowing that they might as well not be there, that they will not last, and that they are unique for every moment, and beautiful in that unicity;

Perceive all things as being novel and impossibly, paradoxically wonderful in the fact of their existence;

Perceive all things as though they were living beings, and lovingly interact with them, while forgiving them for any disharmony felt with it.

Take a walk, remembering to be fully anchored in one's experiences;

Say to yourself repeatedly "I live" whenever you find yourself slipping into unconsciousness, and set your determination to stay firmly in your experience;

Meditate, focussing on absolutely everything you experience, and let the experiences come to you rather than seeking out the experience;

Repudiate judgmental thoughts.

2) Imagination (Processing)

Perceive the world as being a dream, and as such part of oneself over which one has full control;

Trust that everything that happens has a meaning and reason, and perceive them as being part of a design;

Feel the infinite love of the universe;

Ask for whatever you want, trust you will get it in time, and wait for it, as on a parcel;

Feel a connection with the earth (yang) which keeps you firm, and a connection with the sky (yin) which keeps you open-minded;

Imagine whatever you dream of, or whatever would make you feel happy, as vividly as possible.

Whenever you catch yourself in an unpleasant daydream, mend whatever has happened in the daydream, and make it become as positive as possible.

3) Activity (Output)

Do whatever you feel like doing, without thinking about it whatsoever;

Always keep busy with at least one thing (even if it's just experiencing in some way, as long as you commit yourself to doing so wholeheartedly);

Take a walk or engage in other kinds of exercise, remembering to remain aware of doing so every moment;

Review your past achievements, and compare them as a proof of your progress so as to gain confidence and motivation;

After having accomplished something, spend some time contemplating it, either to figure out what you need to work on, or to reinforce your self-esteem;

Experiment and playfully try new things.

When you have the intention to become conscious, remember thereafter now and then to renew that intention, so that you do not become unconscious again. Do this as often as is needed to remain conscious continuously, at least every minute; to do this, you might use a mantra, such as "I am aware" or "I live" to remember your intention quickly. Repeat your mantra whenever you catch yourself becoming les conscious than you want to be, and resolve at that moment to remain conscious for as long as you are able.

Similarly, oneironauts have made use of the mantra "I am dreaming" to prolong lucidity when finding their dreams to become less vivid. Analogously, one can use the mantra "I am living" to prolong mindfulness when finding one's awareness to become less vivid.

When you focus on our experience, you may sometimes feel anxieties as soon as you do so. If so, note that they are there, accept them as part of your experience, and do not give up.

We slip into unconsciousness not because we are forgetful, but because consciousness tends to hurt at times. If we wish to be conscious, then we must endure it. Discursive thought is a means of dissociation. We must face this shame to recognize that we are afraid of every single moment, lest we never conquer that fear — everything we feel would become overwhelming were it not that we seek to escape from it.