51–60 of 181 posts
It's difficult enough to spend 1000's of hours on honing my craft. How can I possibly justify that sort of investment in meditation?
If you tell me it helps those with sleep issues, mental blocks, psychological issues, or addiction, your point is well taken and understood. But for those of us blessed to be in relatively sound mind, how will we benefit from meditation?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Um, a 10 day retreat where you are cut off from the outside world is definitely not a good way to begin meditation. I mean you're basically advising a beginner hiker to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It's grossly irresponsible advice.
I've had multiple friends who were first-timers who have taken this course and all of them have given me positive reviews. Unlike the mount analogy, you can leave the meditation camp at any point of time. It's completely free, so you pay nothing and they only accept donations ( completely optional) from people who finish the full 10 day course.
I have hardcore practiced meditation for 20 years and some of my colleagues who were doing the same were in a pretty bad state - unmarried, with a low level job and not owning their house. They weren't on average happier than normal people.
I attribute their failure to the philosophy of detachment and switching from normal life goals to 'spiritual goals'. It was all a bust. They were exploited by the school under which we practiced. I had the good sense to keep my life separate from the practice so I wasn't affected as much.
Maybe it's a problem of the school I followed, but the same idea of detachment is part of all schools. In the end what matters is survival, and in today society, it means building your career and family, not just sitting still.
To the down-voters: can you contradict me after 7000+ hours of meditation, where you actually achieve the experiences mentioned in the ancient texts? Meditation worked very well for me, it was the general direction that was bad. We're supposed to maximise our rewards, including having children, not replacing this with an artificial abstract goal. Our rewards are selected and chiseled by evolution, they are what made us survive and thrive.
I just don't get it. It's difficult enough to spend 1000's of hours on honing my craft. How can I possibly justify that sort of investment in meditation? If you tell me it helps those with sleep issues, mental blocks, psychological issues, or addiction, your point is well taken and understood. But for those of us blessed to be in relatively sound mind, how will we benefit from meditation?
I just don't get it. It's difficult enough to spend 1000's of hours on honing my craft. How can I possibly justify that sort of investment in meditation? If you tell me it helps those with sleep issues, mental blocks, psychological issues, or addiction, your point is well taken and understood. But for those of us blessed to be in relatively sound mind, how will we benefit from meditation?
I believe that's you you achieve 7 years worth of meditation
I just don't get it. It's difficult enough to spend 1000's of hours on honing my craft. How can I possibly justify that sort of investment in meditation? If you tell me it helps those with sleep issues, mental blocks, psychological issues, or addiction, your point is well taken and understood. But for those of us blessed to be in relatively sound mind, how will we benefit from meditation?
I find the real benefits of meditation are evident when it is done consistently. Sadly, it is easy to stay consistent with checking phone several times a day than meditating few minutes a day. Any tips on how to make it a habit?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had multiple friends who were first-timers who have taken this course and all of them have given me positive reviews. Unlike the mount analogy, you can leave the meditation camp at any point of time. It's completely free, so you pay nothing and they only accept donations ( completely optional) from people who finish the full 10 day course.
Still . Your friends are not a representative audience, when speaking on a global internet forum. Even though "you can leave at any point", Vipassana, for all its benefits, is absolutely not recommended for first timers! Please refrain from generalising irresponsibly.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In practical terms, how do you feel meditation has changed you? Curious to learn more
Not the OP, but have a similar story. According to my goal-tracking apps, I meditate about 65% of days, and I average about 10 minutes a day. (So, not a ton, but pretty consistent.) The most common way that meditation changes me is to help me identify that I'm in a rumination cycle and to break out of it, and to be more present in certain moments. For me, it's not that I have noticed a baseline change, but rather tha…
Interesting, a few friends and I attempted to launch a startup a few years back looking to improve meditation and focus using neurofeedback: http://synaptitude.me/ Even went so far as to launch a Kickstarter [1]. We had quite a bit of interest, but we didn't feel we had enough sign ups or people interested to take a risk (all of us having been offered jobs and having student debt). The trouble, is most of these studi…
Can you please spell out your technical critique of the equipment? You are saying that they don't reliably measure gamma waves?
Now this does not include noise OR sensor sensitivity, which for reference you'll see from things like electrical (ranging from 50 - 60 hz), which incidentally is the same as gamma waves. You'll also have movement, heart beats, static, equipment interference, electrical signals from looking at things, etc. Etc.
This is why you need more sampling the higher you go, because the sensors have errors due to sensitivity already, plus you add a bunch of interference, at a lower sample rate, than say beta waves (which are 12 - 30 hz).
Essentially, the more potential for errors the higher N number you need. I never used gamma waves in experiments due to the lack of statical relevance.