We have 2 techniques. The Buddhists call them samatha and vipassana. They go by other names, in other traditions, too.
We start with samatha, because it’s easy. Just takes diligent effort.
In samatha you hold your attention upon a thing (called your “object”) as perfectly as you can for a time.
You can use pretty much anything as your object. But some work better than others and some work differently for different people.
So experimentation is called for there.
Popular objects are mantras (a repeated word), visualizations, sights (like a candle flame), sounds (the wind in the trees), the feeling of breath in the tip of your nose. Lots of room for experimentation there. I like that last one especially.
Here’s a nice overview : http://fleen.org/fluffy_cloud (he calls the techniques “shrink” and “grow”).
A couple nice books on the subject are “Journey of Awakening” by Ram Dass and “Meditation, the First and Last Freedom”, by Osho.
Ultimately you will need to do your own research, perform your own experiments and become your own expert.
Every time I’ve tried, I just end up sitting there.
That’s kind of what it is. Just try to think of nothing. I just think about the air going into and out of my lungs.
I do that every day though :/
Experiment with different techniques. There’s a method there that you can get a handle on.
What are the options?
We have 2 techniques. The Buddhists call them samatha and vipassana. They go by other names, in other traditions, too.
We start with samatha, because it’s easy. Just takes diligent effort.
In samatha you hold your attention upon a thing (called your “object”) as perfectly as you can for a time.
You can use pretty much anything as your object. But some work better than others and some work differently for different people.
So experimentation is called for there.
Popular objects are mantras (a repeated word), visualizations, sights (like a candle flame), sounds (the wind in the trees), the feeling of breath in the tip of your nose. Lots of room for experimentation there. I like that last one especially.
Here’s a nice overview : http://fleen.org/fluffy_cloud (he calls the techniques “shrink” and “grow”). A couple nice books on the subject are “Journey of Awakening” by Ram Dass and “Meditation, the First and Last Freedom”, by Osho.
Ultimately you will need to do your own research, perform your own experiments and become your own expert.
Is there a variation for people who have aphantasia (assuming it’s talking about visualization)?
In that first technique you hold your attention on a thing as perfectly as you can for a time.
That thing can be a visualization or it can be any of a hundred other things.
My favorite is the feeling of breath in the tip of my nose. It’s a popular one. No visualization required there.