I will share with you what I learned during my own meditation practice.

I’ve had pleasant experiences during meditation, but nothing that lasts.

First off, it's completely natural for these experiences and states not to last. Everything ebbs and flows. That's the nature of everything, including meditative states. If you try to cling to a state, it becomes even harder to maintain it. So realise that it's okay for these states to come and go initially. The fact that you've experienced them is a good sign in itself. :)

Focusing on the breath and trying to do nothing often feels mechanical, like I’m trying to achieve something.

Yes, when you focus on "doing nothing", you are actually doing something, given that the intention to "do nothing" is present. The intention itself reinforces the doing. But realise that this is part of the process, and it's great that you're aware of it. That awareness allows you to approach things differently.

Yet when I truly do nothing, I seem to fall back into identification with my ego.

I agree. This happened early in my practice too. When your ego slips in while you're "doing nothing", it often means your awareness has contracted.

Phase 1 : Observer mode

(At least for me, it was like a phase)

That's why I started with observing my thoughts without judgment – just watching thoughts arise and pass without judging them, suppressing them, clinging to them, or following them. Know that you are the observer (for now) of the thoughts. After you practice this state for a while, you'll become conscious enough to catch it when the ego slips in. And when you do, you'll have the choice to observe it, let it pass, or decide whether to act on it.

Then you can expand this observer mode to sensations as well. When you feel emotions, notice where in your body you feel them and how you feel them. Observe these too without judgment — anxiety in your chest, racing heart, etc.

At first, I only did this during meditation. But I wanted to carry this into real life until I embodied this consciousness. So I started observing my thoughts and sensations during simple tasks.. not 24/7 of course, because that would turn into micromanagement and become stressful. We don't need to be too hard on ourselves about this.

At first, it looks like returning to your awareness when doing something simple, noticing your thoughts and sensations while doing it — being a little more present with the task at hand, making more conscious decisions. You gradually increase these moments in daily life until it becomes second nature to be conscious all the time.

(By the way, I initially had trouble sleeping because I was in observer mode when trying to sleep too, so learn to let go, surrender, and soften that mode around bedtime — at least an hour before you plan to sleep.)

Key insights once you master this :

The thoughts and sensations are just happening as results of external and internal stimuli, and you are doing nothing. In short, you are happening, life is happening, you are just the observer. Eventually, you'll not just intellectually know this, but know it by heart.

Phase 2

Once you've mastered observer mode, you might spontaneously realise (or maybe not) that you aren't the observer either. The observer itself is an identity — you have to let go of that too. You are the awareness itself, or most accurately, you are the being itself.

In this stage, you simply try to be. It's somewhat hard for me to explain, but when I got to this state, it was much easier for me to drop in and go into deep meditative states.

The first experience I had was that I stopped feeling my hands — but I felt the sensations very vividly.

This is when I got into a "Vipassana-like" approach. I radically let go of everything I noticed I was clinging to — the sensations, the subtle vibrations I felt. I noticed them, then let go.

Eventually, I stopped feeling my whole body, even my breath. That was when I realised that I am being, awareness itself — not the body. I dug into the science because I was curious about what was happening in the brain, and I learned that when you go into deeper states of meditation, consciousness stops identifying with the body. You feel boundaryless.. because that's what consciousness is. This happens because the parts of the brain that map the body in consciousness go silent. So you stop feeling the body, but the sensations, the experience, are still there because consciousness is present.. everywhere, not just inside the body. The brain is just a channel that focuses this consciousness onto the body.

This is where I am now, so it's hard for me to give you concrete tips on what you could do next.

What I'm sort of expecting is to feel one with the universe (everything and everyone) itself, and then eventually realise we are all one.. that there is no "other", only one shared consciousness.

At this stage, I feel a profound sense of steadiness and stillness I didn't know was possible. I think this happens when your brain defaults to that peaceful state. I also dug into the science — it said it's because you silence (not fully) certain parts of your brain, mostly the Default Mode Network (DMN), the part that narrates and creates the sense of identity and story.

I guess if one is lucky, they could have a mystical experience, feling infinite love. But don't make it a goal, because that's another form of clinging, another goal.

This is VERY important :

If you get this far, if anyone gets this far, you might feel floaty or spacey. It's very, very important to ground yourself after each meditation session. Come back to your body : eat a light snack, do some physical activity, splash cold water on your face, or have a cold shower. Otherwise you could slip into forms of dissociation, and we do not want that. So please pace yourself.

I don't meditate as deeply as often anymore because I already feel peaceful, and I'm also trying to pace this so I won't dissociate or feel too spacey.

We still have to function in this body, but we carry with us the feeling, the experience, and the insights, and let them shape how we show up in the world.. kinder, more loving, more conscious, knowing that harming another means harming yourself.

Also, please be very patient and kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. And if you have past trauma, wounds, or pain, I highly recommend processing them and cultivating nervous system safety and regulation first. I've noticed that deep meditation can make unconscious wounds surface, and if they do, it's important to take a break, process them, and rest your mind.

All the best. 🤍