Would like to hear what people here think about subconsciousness and autosuggestion
Is using autosuggestion to make myself do sitting meditation a good idea ? If so how to do it ?
Because I have a very bad procrastination problem and I tried many solutions to it without success but heard of autosuggestion and wondered if it can help me doing the meditation sessions daily.
Autosuggestion engages the subconscious mind, and or a hypnotic state where one can induce self-oriented behaviors. This is not in keeping with calm abiding meditation, or insight meditation. One needs to stay awake and mindful in order to direct the meditation. In calm abiding the goal is to empty the mind of conceptual thoughts or at least push them aside so as not to dwell on them. One can use a focal point such as a picture of a deity, or the breath. However, when using an aid do not allow yourself to become hypnotized...keep mindful. This clear mind meditation will eventually lead to insight meditation, where one can meditate solely on matters related to dharma, without being interrupted by what needs to go on your grocery list!! Your success will come with practice. Your procrastination is an obstacle to be overcome, and that too is a beneficial practice.
Yes. This is good to do before and after meditation (as opposed to DURING meditation) for the beginner and advanced student alike. (This is traditionally included in the form of loving kindness meditation e.g. "May I/all beings be free from suffering" etc.)
DURING meditation however, whether it is samatha or vipassana, it is generally important to focus on practicing the technique: calmness abiding or naked awareness. On the other hand, one can use affirmations to summon specific qualities. I would recommend only using the same words as found in Buddhist manuals.
For example, the Five Faculties are important to have in balance. One can make up affirmations relative for each characteristic. For example for mindfulness: "my mindfulness faculty is balanced and strong"
Your question though was aimed at the preliminary aspect of just setting up meditation habit which is absolutely crucial and I would recommend the following affirmations:
Be intelligent in your affirmation design and do not make them unrealistic.
Conclusively, understanding Buddhism in relation to purpose and life's priorities is the best fix-all though (i.e. motivation) and I would recommend the free book "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha" to get a good modern understanding of this.
Presumption is that subconcious mind is not allowing you to sit in meditation. That is true to some extent. All repressions due to cultivated civilized behavior enters subconcious mind. But auto suggestion will not take it out. It is trick to fool the mind. I suggest you go for oriental detox first. there is a threshold below which you just cant meditate. You should hit the threshold first. you will feel calm and composed after detox. Thoughts and negative emotions will subside. That is a good start point.
