Beginner: Should I switch to a less advanced samatha practice?
This sounds really caught up in all kinds of cravings for spiritual attainments. If this 'craving' is dropped, the path the Buddha taught, which is the abandonment of craving (rather than mental gymnastics &amp; magical formulas) might be learned. Samatha &amp; vipassana are natural fruits of the properly established or collected mind - aka samadhi. The Buddha taught:


  What is the faculty of concentration (samadhi)? There is the case
  where a noble disciple, making 'letting go' his meditation object,
  attains concentration, attains singleness of mind.
   SN 48.10


As for the practises mentioned in the original post, they are not 'advanced'. The more complicated &amp; willful they sound, the less advanced they are. The most 'advanced' practises are the most simple. That is why the statement: "Do nothing" often frightens people. Simply 'let go'.