How do I experience the fruit of the contemplative life?

[Jhanananda]

I am glad you are having results, Marcus. Your post encourages me to resume my practice. I was doing long sits as well recently, but to no avail. I confess I get quite discouraged. I often read the posts on here about people's ecstasies and I think to myself, "why do these experiences not happen to me?" Then I sit there for hours motionless, in the same state of consciousness as the waking state, and end up feeling like a fool. "Nothing is happening," I think, "there is no bliss or joy or energy..." I think I have to rededicate myself - expect nothing to happen - but just do it straight through for a full 30 days.

We often have people arrive here who seem to have trouble experiencing the fruit of the contemplative life, so your inquiry here, Alexander, is very relevant, but we will avoid hijacking someone's blog to discuss our collective methodology.

1) First premise, a fruitful contemplative life is a lifestyle, not a technique.
2) The Noble Eightfold Path is a reasonably good (working) description of a fruitful contemplative life.
3) The fruit of a fruitful contemplative life is described by the 8th fold of the Noble Eightfold Path.
4) The Noble Eightfold Path has been described here and elsewhere ad infinitum, so we are not going to belabor it here.
5) However, there are subtle details which will be discussed here.

1) A fruitful contemplative life necessitates discipline.
2) The discipline required of a fruitful contemplative life will often place us in conflict between commonly held beliefs and lifestyle choices, and the lifestyle choices that lead to a fruitful contemplative life.  This explains why most mystics did not accumulate name, fame, power or wealth.
3) When we make the lifestyle choices that lead to a fruitful contemplative life we find a calm and peaceful mental state, which we find to be more precious than name, fame, power or wealth.
4)  The level of discipline that leads to a fruitful contemplative life is moment-to-moment, and every moment dedication.
5) Yes, a dedicated and disciplined contemplative starts and ends every day with a meditation session that leads to depth; as well as being mindfully self-aware in every moment, so that every thought, word and deed is informed, and disciplined, and dedicated to leading a fruitful contemplative life.
6) A successful meditation session leads to a deeply relaxed body, and a still mind.
7) A still mind is the doorway to the charisms.  Therefore, stilling the mind should be a contemplative's prime objective.

[Jhanananda]

Contemplatives within the three Abrahamic religions will all be inspired by Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God

As contemplatives within the three Abrahamic religions, we will practice meditation to still our mind to "know" God directly through direct communion, and the fruit of the contemplative life is a measure of that direct communion with God.

[Alexander]

Thank you, Jeff; as I have said I have been following your tenets for 13 years and unfortunately I do not experience any profound phenomena beyond the ringing in the ears, heat in the chest, vibrations in the hands, and intuition (revealed knowledge).

I am not sure why this is. Yesterday I made 5 meditation attempts. One resulted in my falling asleep for 40 minutes. The other were dry, fruitless, barren - frankly, a waste of time. I have experimented with every method: relaxing deeply, stilling the mind, doing nothing, remaining stock-still, waking up in the middle of the night, trying to catch myself in the first moments of awakening, energy work, practicing 24/7 mindfulness and self-inquiry... but they have all borne no fruit.

I have begun to think there is a kind of predetermination in it. As I am certainly one of the world's specialists on knowledge of these topics, and certainly am not lacking in discipline or motivation. I recalled your story of how you had OOBEs from a young age, and in OOB writings there are people who practice for years to no avail, so I assume I am one of the unlucky ones. The supernatural phenomena does not come easily to me.

Perhaps it is the gods that will this on me; or it will come at its proper time. I do admit I get quite discouraged. Then, finally, my nature wins over again and I get back to trying again; then, find no results, get frustrated again, and repeat.

I do have to disagree on the afterlife fate of non-contemplatives however. As after all this I would consider myself a "nonreturner." At the same time it feels my fate is complete liberation in this human life, so the spiritual standstill remains deeply frustrating.

[Jhanananda]

Thank you, Jeff; as I have said I have been following your tenets for 13 years and unfortunately I do not experience any profound phenomena beyond the ringing in the ears, heat in the chest, vibrations in the hands, and intuition (revealed knowledge).

But these charisms that you are experiencing are profound when you consider that most people do not experience any of these. And, I found that it is important to value the experience of the charisms, and not feel as if you lack attainment, just because your charisms are not at the level of the major mystics. I found by so doing we enhance the experience. 

Additionally, I find when I use the charisms as my meditation object when they arise, then the charisms are enriched.  What I mean by using the charisms as your meditation object is to stop whatever cognitive mental exercise you might be engaging in as a meditation technique, such as following the breath, and use that arising charisms as your mental focus.

I am not sure why this is. Yesterday I made 5 meditation attempts. One resulted in my falling asleep for 40 minutes. The other were dry, fruitless, barren - frankly, a waste of time. I have experimented with every method: relaxing deeply, stilling the mind, doing nothing, remaining stock-still, waking up in the middle of the night, trying to catch myself in the first moments of awakening, energy work, practicing 24/7 mindfulness and self-inquiry... but they have all borne no fruit.

Part of finding fruitful meditation experiences is just to show up regularly.  I mean by that is to sit in meditation at regular intervals, such as first thing in the morning, middle of the day, after work, and last thing at night.  And, use a clock that does not make noise, such as ticking, and have it placed so that if you find you think you are done with meditation, then pop your eyes open and without moving your head you can see the clock face, and if an hour has not gone by, then close your eyes, and sit until that hour is over.

Also, I found that an hour might go by and I get nothing more than the basic sensations as you listed plus a still mind, then maybe I will sit a little longer, and it was that extra time I gave it turned into a massive kundalini rise, that went on for 2 to 3 more hours.

I have begun to think there is a kind of predetermination in it. As I am certainly one of the world's specialists on knowledge of these topics, and certainly am not lacking in discipline or motivation. I recalled your story of how you had OOBEs from a young age, and in OOB writings there are people who practice for years to no avail, so I assume I am one of the unlucky ones. The supernatural phenomena does not come easily to me.

Perhaps it is the gods that will this on me; or it will come at its proper time. I do admit I get quite discouraged. Then, finally, my nature wins over again and I get back to trying again; then, find no results, get frustrated again, and repeat.

I will agree that in my recollection of previous lifetimes I was a mystic in most of my previous lifetimes going back 10s of thousands of years. So, I think most mystics were returning masters who spent their entire lifetime dedicated to deep meditation and mysticism.

But, it is not "god's will" that you have less attainment than you wish for, but part of it is where you are coming from from previous lifetimes of contemplative effort.  But, more importantly, from your above description you are having significant successful deep meditations beyond most contemplatives, who never get any of what you described.

I do have to disagree on the afterlife fate of non-contemplatives however. As after all this I would consider myself a "nonreturner." At the same time it feels my fate is complete liberation in this human life, so the spiritual standstill remains deeply frustrating.

But, there is great joy in following a master back to the planet to sew the seeds of a genuine path to enlightenment.  This is how I explain how enlightened masters, such as Siddhartha Gautama and Yeshua ben David come to successfully reawaken the path to enlightenment and have such impressive disciples who carry on their work for generations until a pretentious and hypocritical priesthood arises once again to corrupt that path of enlightenment.

[Alexander]

Very great response, Jeff, as usual.

Om Namah Shivaya