[deleted]
Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
51–58 of 58 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#52Transcendental Meditation (TM) Maharishi, an advocate of Transcendental Meditation defines the purpose, “The goal of Transcendental Meditation is the state of enlightenment. This means we experience that inner calmness, that quiet state of least excitation, even when we are dynamically busy.” In this Hindu tradition you sit in Lotus, internally chant a mantra, and focus on rising above the negativity. However, to eff…
TM is a pretty terrible organization.
They used to officially believe all sorts of crazy things, like that their meditation could make you fly, or make you invisible, or that if the square root of 1% of a city meditated, then it would dramatically lower violent crime.
They charge huge amounts of money for very little value - a course to learn TM is something like $500, even though the whole technique could be described in 30 seconds.
They claim that you get a unique mantra based on your personality, and that the mantra is a powerful magical vibration energy word (or some such junk). In actuality, the mantra is chosen based on only your age (and sometimes gender).
The TM centers also sell snake oil - they have tons of teas, powders, supplements, etc, for cleansing your toxic energy.
Of course they have studies done by practitioners of TM that claim it is amazing, but there aren't really any unbiased studies about it.
The current leader of the movement, a former physicist, received the Ignobel Prize (like the Nobel prize but for stupidity) for his beliefs in the crazy parts of TM.
All of that being said, as a technique, it's not bad for meditation. It's just run by a shady organization that believes in magic and will charge you tons of money.
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#53I've heard a lot about Transcendental Meditation but it makes my spidey senses tingle because it feels cult-ish. At $500-$1,000 it also seems very expensive https://www.tm.org/
Copy and pasting my earlier comment about TM - TLDR for it is that the org is terrible but the technique is not bad (it's pretty generic: sit comfortably, repeat your given mantra, allow other outside thoughts to rise up and pass through you. Don't fight them, just think them and then go back to your mantra. Repeat for 15-20 minutes twice a day).
TM is a pretty terrible organization.
They used to officially believe all sorts of crazy things, like that their meditation could make you fly, or make you invisible, or that if the square root of 1% of a city meditated, then it would dramatically lower violent crime.
They charge huge amounts of money for very little value - a course to learn TM is something like $500, even though the whole technique could be described in 30 seconds.
They claim that you get a unique mantra based on your personality, and that the mantra is a powerful magical vibration energy word (or some such junk). In actuality, the mantra is chosen based on only your age (and sometimes gender).
The TM centers also sell snake oil - they have tons of teas, powders, supplements, etc, for cleansing your toxic energy.
Of course they have studies done by practitioners of TM that claim it is amazing, but there aren't really any unbiased studies about it.
The current leader of the movement, a former physicist, received the Ignobel Prize (like the Nobel prize but for stupidity) for his beliefs in the crazy parts of TM.
All of that being said, as a technique, it's not bad for meditation. It's just run by a shady organization that believes in magic and will charge you tons of money.
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#54Transcendental meditation
See my above comment - please don't pay them $1000 to learn this technique.
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#55Headspace. Just hit my second 30-day run. Easy, life-changing.
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#56Vipassana, which is a Theravada Buddhist tradition, via a 10-day intensive retreat. It's a remarkable practice for it's minimalism: there is no chanting, mantra, no imagination or visualization, no controlled breathing, etc. You are asked to observe the body and the breath "as it is". In so doing, you will experience various discomforts, which you learn to use to defeat the enemy of aversion, and pleasures, with whic…
In India everything has been commercialized perhaps except Vipassana at Dhamma. They now have centers all across the world. Being born and brought up in India, the land of yoga, meditation etc. , I have seen so much commercialization around that I never rely on the "gurus". Vipassana was a breath of fresh air. I went for a 10 days course. They are not about cult formation, conversion etc. This was perhaps the purest…
Nice to see another Vipassana person around HN. I took my first course in 2002 in North Fork, CA, and have taken roughly one per year every since.
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#57I currently use two apps: Simple Habit and Oak by Kevin Rose. The latter is in public beta and should be generally available in a few weeks. Both apps take different approaches to meditation where Simple Habit is like "Netflix for meditation", Oak is more minimal.
Simple Habit - https://www.simplehabit.com/
Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate and which system do you follow?
#58I have been using the brain.fm app for over a year now. Has medication, focus and nap/sleep modules.