how does the buddist monks spend months in meditation without food and water?
91973
No, and if he can demosntrate it under some fairly simple conditions to gaurentee he doesn't cheat he can collect a million bucks from JREF and about the same form several other skeptic organistaions.\n\nI know Bhuddist monks eschew welath, but they also have a duty to accept charitable contributions, which Randi is offering.\n\nThis is a fraud. 8 months in meditation without food? Possible though incredibly dangerous. Wihout water? Sheer nonsense.
207524
Eat less.\n\nEven relatively thinner people eat too much.\n\nIt also helps to be in the body so as to know what is\n\ngood for the body. Meditation can help in this respect.\n\nYou must treat your relationship with food as an addiction.\n\nAnd like with most addictions, there is a lot of pain\n\nunderneath the addiction. Food is a way of escaping this\n\nmoment.
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Boredom is a natural reaction to meditation.  It can be difficult to sit still for about an hour.  It's not something that can be mastered very quickly though.  I have meditated for a couple of years now.  I believe that I have gotten more laid back as a person.  If you meditate on a long term basis you are supposed to feel more at peace with everything and be more euphoric.  Things that bothered you in the past are more trivial.  You can meditate by sitting somewhere comfortable and begin by closing your eyes.  Then you focus on something.  It can be anything.  It can be a mantra said aloud or in your mind.  It can be an image of something.  The easiest thing to focus on is your breath.  When you breath in notice how it feels all over your body while focusing on your breath at the same time.  Do the same thing when you exhale.  It is important to breath nice and evenly and take deep breaths.  There are also tapes and CDs available that will take you into a meditative state for you.  Check out www.centerpointe.com
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If you ask a Protestant, a Catholic, and a Hindu Yogi, "what is meditation?", you would get 3 different answers. What Christian's call meditation, is thinking about something. That does not sound to be what you are interested in.\n\nThere is a Christian type of prayer, called Centering Prayer, that would accomplish what you want to do. The best author on this is Thomas Keating.\n\nThe simplest way to accomplish what you want, is to sit in a firm chair in a relaxed but erect posture. Take 5 minutes to place your attention on your breathing. When your mind wanders off, gently bring it back.\n\nThen, choose a word. It can be any word that does not bring up emotions. Gently repeat this word over and over for 20 minutes. When other thoughts come into your mind, ignore them and gently keep your attention on mentally repeating the word. If your mind completely wanders off of what you are doing,and it will, just gently bring your attention back to gently repeating the word.\n\nYou may have noticed that I said, "gently", a lot. There should be no forcing of anything during this time. You can use any word for this but if the word you use either helps you to relax or calms your fears, the process will be easier. \n\nYou must use the same word during the 20 minutes you do this for. If you do this 20 min. twice a day, you will progress at the best rate for you. There is no time table as every one is different.\nWhile you are repeating the word, you are not to think of the meaning of the word. The idea is to not think at all.\n\nSome people will call what I have described "meditation", some will not, but the exercise I have given you will accomplish your goals. This method has no connection to any religion.\n\nYou ask what the effects of this will be. Over time you will have trained your mind to not wander all over the place as it does when it is left to do whatever it wants to. You will realise that your mind is not you; that it is like your arm or leg but has a different perpose. Like an arm it can be trained to do what you want it to. \n\nYou will be more peaceful during the day because over time, you will realize that it is you thoughts that produce your emotions and that left on it's own, your mind will come up with all kinds of thoughts that are stressful but have nothing to do with your life.\n\nYou will also have a method that you can use when you are worried about something, to help you stop worrying and regain your peace.
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It depends what you mean by starving, and for how long.\n\nMany religions practice limited starving, or fasting, for the purpose of trying to increase ones mental or spiritual will.\n\nBut long term would be murder. lol
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• eating two or three meals a day\n• avoiding food for at least three hours before bedtime\n• taking short baths or showers as needed, with warm or cool water\n• spending as much time as possible in natural outdoor settings and walking at least 30 minutes daily\n• doing such aerobic or stretching exercises as yoga, dance, or martial arts on a regular basis
865239
For two or thee consecutive days each month eat only fruit and veg (as much as you like but exclude peas, beans, corn, potatoes and bananas).  Drink only water, unsweetened tea/juice or herbal tea and avoid alcohol.  Make a pot of vegetable soup and include cabbage and celery in the ingredients.  You will lose 2lbs each day and will also be detoxing your body.  Eat a good multi-vitamin while you are doing this though because you may feel a little weak.  Don't do it for any more than 2/3 days though before returning to a normal healthy diet.\n\nhttp://www.freewebs.com/spiritualhealing
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1st stage:\nthere are many many kinds of meditation. i'm doing pure concentration meditation, designed to quieten and clear the mind so that i can use it to look deeply, to see what's going on in my mind, and develop mindfulness & insight. its a difficult form of meditation @ the beginning, but it's well worth becoming competent in. it forms an ideal foundation for further practice in the future, and it's also very conducive to a happy, stable life in the present.\nchoose a suitable place in your home where you can practice meditation uninterrupted. it needs to be quiet, not too bright, and out of sight of other people.\nonce you found the spot, find a good firm cushion, so that you can sit cross-legged, having something to cushion your ankle.\nto start, sit down on your cushion, sitting towards the front of it so that your body is sloped very slightly forward. experience will show you the optimum position. fold your legs so that your knees & ankles are touching the floor. the important thing is to have a good straight back & reasonably comfortable legs, so that your pgysicaly energy isn't blocked. place your 2 hands in your lap, palms up, one on top of the other.\nonce sitting there, wriggle a little bit to find an effortlessly comfortable position for your back & arms. you don't want to feel tension anywhere. then you can begin.\ntake a breath, hold it for a moment, then let it out gently. pause for a moment, then take the next breath. again hold it for a moment, and let it out again. do this for 10 breaths. once you've got the rhythmn, start to count your breaths. a breath is a complete cycle-- in, hold, out, hold- and most meditators find it better to count towards the end of a cycle rather than @ the beginning. in other words, you are counting complete breaths. simply count 1 to 10 in this way. when you've reached 10, start again. if your mind wanders and you lost the count, start again from one.\ndo this for 10mins @ a time for a week or so. when you are ready, increase your sitting time to 20mins. you can do it anytime, but most people do it regularly @ the beginning of the day & @ the end of the day.\nthis is all there is to it, and @ first you'll wonder why on earth you are doing it. your mind will wander, you'll probably feel twitchy, and you'll be bored. but persevere. ther's absolutely nothing better than this for calming the mins & opening mental doors that you never knew were there.\nwhat comes after this? once you've got to a stage where you can follow your breaths effortlessly, so that you can say, 10-20mins, and not lose count even once, you'll be ready for the next stage. in this, you start to observe the contents of your mind. you'll still be using the method of following your breaths, but now, beacause of the concentration you've already developed, you'll be able to add in a new activity. it's not possible to do this until you've gained control of your mind. \n2nd stage:\nIt's a practice where you develop mindfulness of your own mind. This is the most popular form of meditation among Westerners because it's very practical and really, really helpful. The main way in which it helps you is to show you what's arising in your mind almost before it arises. That way you become master of mental states like anger and attachment and so on instead of them becoming master of you, because you never saw them creeping up until they were right there, completely occupying your mind. Mental states can occupying your mind in the same way an occupying army of soldiers becomes firmly entrenched in the country they've been sent to occupy. By the time the local people realize what's happened they can't do anything about the occupying force -- they just have to live with the misery. When a meditator becomes adept at Vipassana meditation, mental states can't occupy their minds in that way.\n\nTo do this kind of meditation you sta
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During meditation mind becomes concentrated /focussed and calm.Body activity comes down.Breath rate ,pulse,heart beat becomes slower.Nerves system becomes free from stress and strain.In higher levels of meditation ,Samadhi or supreme happiness(cannot be explained)/bliss happens.This you cannot study from books .You have to do it under an expert teacher(Guru).Yoga(meditation) is not a simple exercise as under stood by western society,it is much more than ,that separate existence of mind is  experianced.Mind beyond matter!
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Meditation... Towards a Stress Free Life \n \n\nMeditation: What it is !!!  \nAn ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so. Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. "Watching your breath" is meditation; listening to the birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.\n\nMeditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'to join together or to yoke' . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one.\n\nA Tibetan Lama was being monitored on a brain scan machine by a scientist wishing to test physiological functions during deep meditation. The scientist said - "Very good Sir. The machine shows that you are able to go very deep in brain relaxation, and that validates your meditation". "No", said the Lama, "This (pointing to his brain) validates the machine!".\n\nThese days it is commonly understood to mean some form of spiritual practice where one sits down with eyes closed and empties the mind to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some people use the term as "my gardening is my meditation" or for jogging or art or music, hence creating confusion or misunderstanding.\n\nThe word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari(to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal). Its Sanskrit derivation 'medha' means wisdom.\n\nMany years ago meditation was considered something just not meant for modern people, but now it has become very popular with all types of people. Published scientific and medical evidence has proved its benefits, but it still needs to be much understood.\n\nTraditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is simultaneous application of a little of all stages together.\n\nCommonly today, people can mean any one of these stages when they refer to the term meditation. Some schools only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. Some call it meditation without giving credence to yoga for fear of being branded 'eastern'. But yoga is not something eastern or western as it is universal in its approach and application.\n\nWith regular practice of a balanced series of techniques, the energy of the body and mind can be liberated and the quality of consciousness can be expanded. This is not a subjective claim but is now being investigated by the scientists and being shown by an empirical fact.
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The answer to that is to learn not to desire anything. The minute you desire to stop suffering, you bring suffering upon yourself with these thoughts. Buddhists dont desire to stop desiring. They just stop desiring, full stop. To clear the mind is to empty all thoughts of good or bad, and just experience life for the wonderful thing it is. This is how one learns to appreciate life fully and enjoy every moment.
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with water, a person can last about three weeks without food.  women might last a little onger than men
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well, the main focus is on attaining enlightenment. it involves finding the "clear mind" state. the ultimate goal is to attain buddah status and freeing yourself from the cycle of dying and being reborn. karma plays a role, and any action has either positive or negative karma. karma decides what you will come back as and how good of a life you will have. the more good you do the closer to enlightenment you will come. rituals include meditation.\n\ni just read a really good book on buddhism that i would reccommend and it is called "how to practice" by the Dalai Lama. excellent read and very informative.
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Buddhism, mindfulness/meditation.
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In meditation, we try to develop wisdom, learn to observe our own mind, decrease negative mind states and develop positive mind states. To develop wisdom and insight, we need a calm, clear and concentrated mind. To observe our own mind, we need to develop a kind of inner "spy" - a part of our attention that checks our state of mind. To decrease negative mind states we need to understand where they come from and transform them into positive energy with the wisdom developed from observing our own mind. To develop positive mind states, we need to focus away from selfishness and again develop wisdom by observing our own mind.\nAs you may realise from the above, we should actually become our own psychologist, or like the title of a booklet by Lama Yeshe: "Becoming Your Own Therapist".\n\nIn order to find the right state of mind for meditation, we need concentration instead of being scattered, and clarity of mind instead of dullness. We need to observe our own thoughts and mind states instead of getting lost in emotions or becoming prejudiced. We need to be honest towards ourselves instead of fooling ourselves and walk away from unpleasant problems. Furthermore, we need to be patient (one does not become a meditation master over night), generate self-acceptance, confidence and enthusiasm to make the mind peaceful.\nAll these factors need to be in balance: we need to be somewhat relaxed as well as concentrated, we need to avoid both sleepiness and excitement. \n\nIn Buddhism, the continuum of the mind has no beginning or end but changes moment by moment.\n\nthat said, meditation alone don't bring enlightenment.
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They store water in their hump and their body utilizes that store when they go so long without anywhere to drink.
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I generally try to do exercises/running/jogging and followed by aromatic lavender bath.\nI agree meditaion is good..but after constant practice only u can go deep into meditation and gain relaxation. \nSo if time is constraint i always go to my first option.jogging etc. To be honest these solution varies to person to person.\nIf person is into meditation - it is easy and fast for them to sit into meditation and relax body and soul and mind.\nBut person who never tried meditation - have to practice this method.\nSo beginners and people with time constraint - I personally think Jogging/exercise after that refreshing bath.\nEnd of the day if I still feel more tension trying and tested all the methods.  I generally try to do self analysis is that particular issue is worth to feel that much tension about it. Because nothing is more vital than our wellbeing. So i try to make note of list what making me tension and what causing it. How to get soultion for that. because for every problem there sure must be solution.\nEnd of the day you are creator and master of your life. :)\nI just ease myself with all these approaches... \nthank u\nregards\nrekha