THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | MYSTICISM | MEDITATION

Meditation, Psychoactives, and Fasting

To: alt.magick.tyagi
From: i@no.self (!)
Subject: Re: Meditation, Psychoactives, and Fasting (was Questions on fasting, ...)
Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 04:55:31 GMT

Johnny :
| Has anyone ever tried fasting with meditation? ....

yes. especially for those such as you describe yourself (a "food addict"),
 zazen (sitting meditation) could become more interesting, difficult, and
 powerful. all would depend on when you decided to time your meditation
 in the cycle of bodily responses to curtailing ingestion and how familiar
 you are with the subjective effects of self-observation or focus. initially 
 you may discover a great distraction in the pangs of hunger from stomach and
 tongue expecting the cycles of consumption to continue; thoughts of food,
 imaginary tastes, all manner of perceptions might cloud your consciousness
 and make your meditation full and challenging!

later, as you have waited out these initial hunger pangs, you may experience
 a rush of excess energy, abandoning your grounding and becoming light-headed.
 sitting during this period is likely to be more difficult unless you are
 quite used to distractions (such as sitting quietly in a busy downtown
 intersection -- don't laugh, it is quite excellent practice!); it is very
 possible that sitting with this type of powerful internal distraction will
 serve you later for the willpower that it may develop, or you may find that
 you keep fidgeting and adjusting the zafu, unable to relax and watch quietly

with the consumption of juice or water and a bit longer wait, my experience
 is that sitting can become interestingly easy, perhaps your body wants to shut
 down and conserve calories due to nutrient reduction; it may be that with such 
 a lack of grounding all sitting may become easy but fruitless (I'd wait and 
 watch as usual to determine the actual effects, either taking on a teacher or
 journalling your experience in general surrounding meditation)

| ...I've been able to say "fuck off" to my compulsions (not always but 
| I'm getting there).

the area of bodily need (food, sleep, sex, elimination, etc.) is the most 
 contentious and controversial for those intending awakening. saying
 "fuck off", while valiantly expressing the Word of the Aeon (FUCK),
 especially to processes and activities which are absolute requirements
 for bodily living, is probably necessary for some of those who feel the
 need to reject that to which they are otherwise attached. this type of
 intimate rejection sets the stage for realistic relations to the eating
 of food and taking of naps. ultimately, however, this extreme position
 will be left behind for a more moderate familiarity with the trials and
 successes of life's mastery if you perservere in focussed attention to
 your own (perfect) processes
 
| Now I'm curious on how far I can safely take this whole will power 
| concept, because it's so new to me.  

'safely' incorporates not only issues of health but of integrity. have 
 a care to coordinate with your physician if there may be any health
 concerns, and consider consultation with someone at a zendo, ashram,
 temple, or meditation center near you as regards their recommendations 
 for fasting and meditation

| I was thinking about fasting for 3 days, no food, just water.

consider working "up" to this kind of fasting, such as minimizing
 or reducing food intake, focussing on fruits and vegetables, and
 those foods which leave one less stuffed but provide nourishment.
 the extremes of yogic self-denial are not suited for everyone,
 and we are much more likely to dream of what we will never achieve
 and do nothing than to apply our energies to more reasonable and 
 achievable goals

| ...Can anyone give me advice on fasting?

consider inquiring of a yogic or new age newsgroup such as alt.yoga
 or talk.religion.newage, or better yet, some newsgroup actually
 related to the subject, such as alt.health.fasting (to which this
 has been cross-posted)

| I'm looking for a spiritual journey, but for a little fun too.  
| It's my understanding that mind altering substances like cannibis 
| and psychedelic mushrooms can be greatly enhanced by fasting.  
| Has anyone ever tried this?

yes, I have, and I agree regarding the intensification of the effects
 of such substances upon consciousness, though I suggest to you that
 the (mind)SET and (environmental)SETTING will also have a great deal
 to do with the subjective effects, as will body weight, DOSAGE, etc.
 having a firm grounding in meditation *without* the added variable of
 psychoactives is likely to yield a more pleasant result 

Andrew Weil's "The Natural Mind" is a decent introduction to such
 adventures, but I wouldn't say this is necessarily the most efficient
 gateway to meditation (because it enhances the power of imagination,
 which serves as a *distraction* as much as it does a focus of attention)

my experiences with psychedelics has been that fasting at least 6 if not
 10 hours in advance, perhaps with just water or at most fruit juice
 before-hand and at most water after Tasting of the Flesh of the Gods;
 and spending time in an uninterrupted, subjectively *safe* environment
 (if a first experience of this type perhaps guided by someone who knows
 what you're doing and respects the spirituality and suggestability of
 your state of consciousness); can enable a broadening and deepening your 
 spiritual character

| Is there a technique to meditation that anyone would recommend or should 
| I just sit there and try to clear my mind? 

mostly it depends on the type of person you are and what experience you
 have had with focussed attention on any particular thing (inclusive of
 focussed study, reading, etc.)

the term 'meditation' means many things to many people, and within certain
 religious and mystical traditions it takes a particular shape and form,
 though the overarching commonality that all meditative techniques share
 is a focus of attention, whether upon one's overall subjective experience
 (inclusive of one's thoughts and feelings, not trying to change any of
 it), or upon an object (like a mandala or candle flame), or upon an act
 like recitation of some word or set of words, or upon one's intentional
 process (such as trying to restrict thoughts, as you suggest above, or
 one's contemplation of a specific subject or topic) 

'clearing the mind' is often quite difficult for anyone to attempt,
 especially those of us conditioned to expressive activity in our personal
 lifestyle as student, because the part of our consciousness which performs,
 imagines, generates thoughts, visions, etc., has little to no discipline.
 for this reason many meditation instructors will *not* suggest this,
 especially as some kind of starting point. more often, the best starting
 point is merely the assumption of a condition of reposed observation, with
 an attempt to remain conscious of the abstraction of observation itself --
 instead of getting lost in thoughts and feelings such that we next find
 ourselves rising to attend to some forgotten task or project, remaining
 seated, focussing on breath in its natural relaxed rhythm, and returning
 to the present conscious moment, returning once more to the meditation
 at hand

other initial activities valuable for meditation include repetition of a
 specific thought or verbally reciting some particular syllable or word,
 regardless of (and perhaps even *avoiding*) any meaning that syllable
 might have. focussing on a static (drawing, diagram, mandala) picture
 or limited but mobile (flame, star, breathing, thoughts) object reduces
 the attention to a specified norm, and allows a kindo f 'target' to
 which consciousness may return when trailing off on imaginative journeys

it may be of benefit to read through FAQs on meditation, such as the one
 at http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.zazen--.9410  (Buddhist) or at
 http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/medref  (More general), or those
 which might be located through a search engine. some styles require a
 particular bodily posture, attendant diet, or focal point. the sincere 
 student of waking will give the most enticing meditative techniques a 
 routinized attempt (once or twice daily perhaps 5-15 minutes) during a 
 period of perhaps 1-2 weeks, and reflect on what, if any, effects might 
 be attributable to it

more often I have experienced the kind of broadening and deepening effects
 on consciousness I consider valuable as an apparent *after-effect* of the
 meditation period (per day, and over a period of weeks or months), and
 have rarely, outside the ingestion of psychoactives intended to have such
 an effect, experienced anything usual or extraordinary such as are at times
 described in apparent accounts of fantastic breakthroughs by mystics whose
 writings have been circulated through popular media (books, tv, internet,
 etc.). with this in mind, you should be prepared to undertake the very
 fascinating (if at times quite difficult!) activity of meditation. in metta,

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races