Guided meditation vs. Non-guided meditation

[JonW]

Good thread this.
One thing I'd like to add at this point...
It's worth remembering that the aim of mindfulness meditation is not to have a blissful time on the cushion/chair/bench. When we're meditating, we're simply learning to be with what is - good, bad or indifferent.
In the truest sense, the time on the cushion is the practice, the rest of the day is the meditation.
Glad I'm not going to IKEA. Yikes!
Cheers,
Jon

[Peter]

I totally agree, Jon!

[Maureen]

This is very interesting and I think I've gained in reading these posts. Thanks to everyone for their in put.

[Gareth]

Excellent thread guys!

Nothing to add other than I'm glad that I'm not going to IKEA too.

[Xenon62]

There are times where I welcome the guided meditation as it helps me focus. Other times, I find the guiding voice a distraction. I guess it depends on my mood and what else is going on inside my head.

[Happyogababe]

There's some really helpful information within these posts. Glad I read it as some instruction can be confusing

[Peter]

Thanks for your feedback, Happy!
Peter

[omegahelix]

It seems to me there is a goal in the sense that there is a purpose to mindfulness practice: to become more mindful, less stressed, more caring, etc. Perhaps there is no goal in the sense that there is no point you reach whereby you are "done" practicing.

Also, there may not be a "wrong" way to practice but surely there are some best practices for making progress in an efficient manner.

I know what would be a terrible shame to me would be to spend so much time on the cushion and find out I haven't been making much progress because I've been going about it in a poor manner.

[Peter]

It seems to me there is a goal in the sense that there is a purpose to mindfulness practice: to become more mindful, less stressed, more caring, etc. Perhaps there is no goal in the sense that there is no point you reach whereby you are "done" practicing.

I like what Gareth said about that a while back. He said the goal isn't the problem, the attachment to it, is. I agree with that. If one gets disappointed by not achieving ones goals, like getting less stressed, becoming more mindful, then it becomes a problem.

Also, there may not be a "wrong" way to practice but surely there are some best practices for making progress in an efficient manner.

We can only offer advice from our experience, and from what we've heard from others. They, are of course, generalizations.

I know what would be a terrible shame to me would be to spend so much time on the cushion and find out I haven't been making much progress because I've been going about it in a poor manner.

This isn't my experience at all. Sometimes it's like this, sometimes it's like that. It is what it is. If I invest the time, and I try my best in a relaxed fashion (effortless effort; like Adyashanti likes to call it), I call it a success. And those conditions are pretty much always met. What do you mean by 'progress' and a 'poor manner'?

Peter

[JonW]

Hi omegahelix,
Welcome to the forum.
You raise some excellent points there and I particularly like what you say about goals in respect of practice never being 'done'.
I feel there's a long-term and short-term way of looking at this.
Over a period of time it's perfectly natural for us to attemp to gauge how mindfulness practice has changed us.
In the short-term, however, we need to be careful not to compare one meditation with another and draw conclusions from that, as this can lead to meditation becoming another form of striving.
Jon