“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” - John Cage
Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
91–97 of 97 posts
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might say that, but after several months of a form of Tibetan buddhist meditation, I extended my attention span to well over five hours. I found I could retrain my mind to be silent and do what I wanted. The form of meditation is detailed in the book "Turning the Mind into an Ally" by Sakyong Mipham and Pema Chodron.
Are you happier than you were when you started? Are you more productive? As someone who was recently diagnosed with ADD in my mid-30s, I am weary of medicating and would really like to find a natural approach to achieving focus and through that, happiness.
If you start looking, you'll find a pretty unanimous agreement of the benefits of meditation both from a research and an anecdotal perspective.
However it's not a practice that, at least initially, benefits much from doing extensive research or setting goals. Just let your curiosity guide you. Here's something that you can read in 5 minutes to get you started: http://zenhabits.net/meditate/
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you happier than you were when you started? Are you more productive? As someone who was recently diagnosed with ADD in my mid-30s, I am weary of medicating and would really like to find a natural approach to achieving focus and through that, happiness.
If you start looking, you'll find a pretty unanimous agreement of the benefits of meditation both from a research and an anecdotal perspective. However it's not a practice that, at least initially, benefits much from doing extensive research or setting goals. Just let your curiosity guide you. Here's something that you can read in 5 minutes to get you started: http://zenhabits.net/meditate/
Thanks for the starting point. The 5 minute read is most important for someone who has a limited attention span. :)
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Zazen encourages us to meditate on our breath and to observe our thoughts so that they hopefully melt away. It asks us to think less, not more; to shut down our internal monologue which is the biggest agent of human misery. I know this wasn't the thrust of your comment but having spent a lot of time studying meditation it's important to note that meditation isn't about "thinking less". Rather it's about developing t…
> it's important to note that meditation isn't about "thinking less". You are likely more educated and informed about meditation and its purposes, but for myself, I use meditation specifically for the purpose of "thinking less". At least, that's how I'd describe it. Thoughts still come, but I let them go almost immediately, which stymies the flow or deluge that would normally follow. I focus on ambient sound, or brea…
It's important to not describe meditation in terms of "thinking less" because then novices try to reject or block their thoughts and strain their minds.
Better phrasing is something like "not following after arising thoughts".
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#95Boredom isn't the act of having nothing to do. That's idleness. Boredom is a problem of a lack of satisfaction. There's various reasons for that but I believe having too much to do, and too much stress is what leads to boredom. People have an amount of attention they can pay to any topic before they need to rest. You can only listen to a song for so long before it stops being pleasant and starts being annoying. You c…
I don't know that it's good or bad, I think it's simply a signal, like hunger or tiredness that allows us to make an informed choice about what we can do to meet the needs of our body and mind.
I completely agree with this. Boredom is an indicator. Just that. If the light turns on it indicates you have to do something about it. the question is...is it good or bad when it turns on? That depends on everyone I mean, there's not a standard for that
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#96Boredom isn't the act of having nothing to do. That's idleness. Boredom is a problem of a lack of satisfaction. There's various reasons for that but I believe having too much to do, and too much stress is what leads to boredom. People have an amount of attention they can pay to any topic before they need to rest. You can only listen to a song for so long before it stops being pleasant and starts being annoying. You c…
I don't know that it's good or bad, I think it's simply a signal, like hunger or tiredness that allows us to make an informed choice about what we can do to meet the needs of our body and mind.
[deleted]
Re: Boredom is not a problem to be solved, it's the privilege of a free mind
#97A similar argument is advanced in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".
Boredom is when your person wants to speak to you but the you is not conscious to notice it. In others, you just can't hear yourself for you don't know what it is speaking to you. In the same way, you don't know what to do next as a machine that works on motivation.
That's when you should reach out to Alan Watts, George Carlin,e.t.c. if they could help you.