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The Impact of Meditating Every Day

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Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#81

Post by garyrob »

I just want to share that I'm finding the practice of Zen meditation in the context of its overall philosophy to be profoundly helpful. I've read a substantial number of books on the subject. Books are only useful as pointers for how to practice; knowledge alone is useless in Zen. You have to practice, period. But the best books are useful as pointers for how to practice. And if anyone here is interested in exploring Zen, the single book that I feel does the best job of giving you what you need to really practice is "Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice" by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi[1]. "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" [2] is also a wonderful book, and it's where I started. Its poetic manner of expression made me feel there was something there that I needed to explore. But the Uchiyama book just takes the cake for being very clear and down-to-earth, without watering down either the practice or the philosophy. After that it's helpful to read commentaries on writings by Dogen. And, ideally, sitting regularly with other folks in a Zen center is extremely helpful. Avoid overly simplistic beginner's Zen books. I can't recommend them because they seem to distort the essence in an attempt to make it seem as approachable as possible.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Hand-Thought-Foundations-Budd...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-Meditatio...

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#82

Post by duprees_diamon »

thomk wrote: post #76
cols wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mentioned quitting cannabis. If you don't mind elaborating, I'm curious what benefits you have experienced and why you ended up quitting. Thanks!

Ex cannabis user here, so I thought I'd give you my empirical perspective & and opinion. I will tell you what I would tell my own child: Cannabis, like any recreational drug, steals the most precious resource we have: our time. I've been on benders in my life that I simply can not remember what I did during that period, sure, but that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is the time any person needs…

So which drugs are recreational? Alchohol? MDMA? Caffeine? Just the ones you choose not to use?

>Recreational drugs are antithetical to emotional growth.

https://maps.org/research/mdma

> tl/dr: Recreational drugs make you immature which will prevent you from going very far in life.

When I was just a little young boy,

Papa said "Son, you'll never get far,

I'll tell you the reason if you want to know,

'Cause child of mine, there isn't really very far to go"

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#83

Post by wool_gather »

slothtrop wrote: post #71

This reminds me of an article shared here on the value of doing nothing. How does walking around with a clear head compared to meditation practically speaking?

Meditation as I understand it involves specifically directing your mental focus to something. Sometimes breath, sometimes a visualization, sometimes an examination of a particular thought or situation.

You can do a walking meditation, where you will likewise be focused on something: one possibility being the physical sensations of walking (arms swinging, feet hitting ground), or the experience of the surroundings (light, breeze, sounds, and so on).

The difference to just walking around, or just sitting calmly, is that you are putting some effort into maintaining that particular focus, whatever it is. You will always get distracted by something else, but when you notice, you switch back. And keep on doing that for the length of the exercise.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#84

Post by cmroanirgo »

vmurthy wrote: post #44
namanyayg wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For beginners, I would recommend two things: ambient noise (with headphones/noise-cancelling works best for me), and a soft alarm for the timer. I used to DIY it, but I find the InsightTimer app is a free & customizable solution filling both these needs.

I use the Chimes tone on my iPhone at a low enough volume. Quite gentle to wake up to after a session of meditation.

I've used apps and various bell tones, but now I generally choose Moonlight Sonata: it's quiet and gentle and beautiful and very gradually drags you out of the place you were.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#85

Post by cmroanirgo »

vcoelho wrote: post #48
nabla9 wrote: post #18

I have been meditating 20 years now (zazen). I do 2-4 hours a day. Several 7 day retreats per year. My starting motivation was philosophical and academic interest. I was curious how it affects the mind. Then I did it because it seemed so hard to do, mind seemed like a buggy device I had no control over. I also had self improvement goals at some point. And feeling balanced is a good feeling. But there is no way I can…

> I do 2-4 hours a day. Just reading this gave me anxiety.

Start small then, just 10, minutes or even 5. Anything is infinitely better than nothing.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#86

Post by hombre_fatal »

adolph wrote: post #45
c1sc0 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To get started. Absolutely. Headspace has been instrumental in dealing with a very hard time in my life. For a secular, scientific look at mindfulness meditation read the book “Why Buddhism is true.”

Here is a podcast with the author: https://samharris.org/podcasts/is-buddhism-true/

Of course, Sam Harris himself has a meditation app (Waking Up). I think might be the best option for the HN crowd.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#87

Post by wool_gather »

EamonnMR wrote: post #50

I've tried in the past, but I wonder: how do you know if you've successfully meditated or not?

I agree with the other responses you've got, but to make this point explicit: each meditation session is an exercise. Any definition of "success" has to be in the long term. If you're having a rough day, sitting calmly and breathing is going to help in the moment, of course. But the ongoing practice and its spillover into awareness in daily life is the goal. And, like learning any new skill, you can't necessarily see that development day-to-day, just in retrospect over months.

I also posted this the other day, about "failing" at the exercise: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20675811

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#88

Post by cmroanirgo »

virtualwhys wrote: post #53
nabla9 wrote: post #18

I have been meditating 20 years now (zazen). I do 2-4 hours a day. Several 7 day retreats per year. My starting motivation was philosophical and academic interest. I was curious how it affects the mind. Then I did it because it seemed so hard to do, mind seemed like a buggy device I had no control over. I also had self improvement goals at some point. And feeling balanced is a good feeling. But there is no way I can…

> I do 2-4 hours a day. Several 7 day retreats per year. I did the same in my 20s, but then slowly, my interest in sitting for hours a day, long retreats, faded. Not sure why, the experience itself is obviously deep, but it became a kind of attachment like coffee, and gradually I returned to the world. > If I worship something, it's this moment Wonderfully put. May I ask, if you didn't sit, would this moment cease? P…

You can learn to make your whole day a meditation, so that sitting becomes a way of strengthening your practice.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#89

Post by cryptozeus »

spectaclepiece wrote: post #54

I began meditating every day after I wake up four years ago and it has been the most beneficial change I ever introduced into my life, quitting cannabis securing a stable second place. I began with five min and worked my way up to 15. Now I have an iOS shortcut “hey Siri, start meditation” which sets a timer randomly between 15 and 20 min to counteract the body clock expectation of a fixed duration.

I bat you don’t need the timer now. I have been doing this for more than a year now and these days I open my eyes right around 20 mins mark. It’s freaky, try it.
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