Ppl with mental disorders shouldn't meditate more than 20 min/day
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The new science of meditation
211–220 of 396 posts
Re: The new science of meditation
#212In Hinduism, meditation is not just a calming practice, but an actual movement toward God. And in the tradition I follow, it is also not for beginners. Basic discipline — the following of the Yamas (restraints of non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, etc.) — is recommended first.
Exactly. How many Westerners are trying to meditate without a conscious belief in a Higher Power, an Infinite Creator, God, or such? I wonder if there may be negative spiritual effects by employing meditation without seeking closeness with divinity.
Atheism isn't a solely Western thing.
Not all meditative traditions require belief in a God.
See Hindu atheism for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_atheism
Re: The new science of meditation
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe since Maharshi was a practitioner of hinduism for him "the self" (what they call Atman) was to be seen in all things, and the same everywhere. So anything transient cannot be the self, hence is an illusion, or false. But yes i also believe it's quite wrong ^^
He practiced Advaita vedanta. When exploring the non-duality of self vs world, there are fundamentally 2 approaches. Advaita Vedanta denies the existence of the world, only the (true) self is real. Buddhism denies the existence of the self.
"He practiced Advaita vedanta."
A bit pedantic, and I could be wrong, but based on what I've read, my understanding is that Advaita (non-dualism) is not something you can practice, although there are practices in that school that can advance you on the path, like shravana, manana, nidhidyaasana.
It's more of a reasoning-, knowledge- and understanding-based system than anything else.
Jnana Yoga is the path.
Check out Swami Sarvapriyananda's talks on YouTube about Advaita.
Re: The new science of meditation
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
Real life is a hallucination
Life being a hallucination is in fact one of the hallucinations that can be caused by meditation. These are called derealization hallucinations and are reported in meditators.
Your're being to literal without being literal enough!
The "reality" that we experience is a predictive model of what we believe is about to happen. This is required because it takes a quite some time[1] for stimulus to be received and processed by our bodies! If we didn't have this predictive mechanism the universe would seem very strange indeed.
But but because we hallucinate our reality we get the illusion that what we experience is instantaneous in respect to the cause!
[1] depending on the circuit it can take >100 msec for a nerve signal to reach the brain, and that's not accounting for the subsequent processing
Re: The new science of meditation
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
He practiced Advaita vedanta. When exploring the non-duality of self vs world, there are fundamentally 2 approaches. Advaita Vedanta denies the existence of the world, only the (true) self is real. Buddhism denies the existence of the self.
I thought Advaita denies only the duality between the soul and the world soul, while denial of the world is more of solipcism. Buddhism can deny self, but Buddha can also say, his self alone exists. In any case, these are just beliefs. We know the world exists and there are no souls around. So much for "enlightenment".
"solipcism"
solipsism
Re: The new science of meditation
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow thank you for this! I suppose that's what the answer could have been for me, a kind of bridging between my lifelong reverence and pursuit of reason, and the passion or intuition that I didn't understand in others or myself. I'm still early into reading the James Legge translation, but I've heard that there are many interpretations of the original. Is the tao of pooh not even close to daoism then?
Not OP and it's been a long time since I've read the Tao of Pooh, but from what I recall it's alright, but it really doesn't cover much of the real meat of Taoism. Much like Alan Watts, it provides an interesting philosophy, possibly even a helpful one, but it's not Daoism. Like watching an American re-make of a foreign movie :) I'd be a bit wary of older translations[0] and try to get a reputable new one if you can.…
I like the movie metaphor, some turn out to be very different from the original and I don't always like that.
This seems like a great list you've compiled, thank you. The deeper dives you've recommended sound very interesting too. I think I'll bookmark this
Re: The new science of meditation
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow thank you for this! I suppose that's what the answer could have been for me, a kind of bridging between my lifelong reverence and pursuit of reason, and the passion or intuition that I didn't understand in others or myself. I'm still early into reading the James Legge translation, but I've heard that there are many interpretations of the original. Is the tao of pooh not even close to daoism then?
Not OP and it's been a long time since I've read the Tao of Pooh, but from what I recall it's alright, but it really doesn't cover much of the real meat of Taoism. Much like Alan Watts, it provides an interesting philosophy, possibly even a helpful one, but it's not Daoism. Like watching an American re-make of a foreign movie :) I'd be a bit wary of older translations[0] and try to get a reputable new one if you can.…
I quite liked Thomas Merton's translations.
Re: The new science of meditation
#218I've practiced mindfulness and meditation for many years until I found "The Tao of Pooh", which, if you're not familiar, outlines the basic tenets of taoism. It has completely changed me and made me feel whole for the first time in my life, and I don't have to practice anything to achieve it. Early on in my life I was drawn in by proverbs and other pieces of wisdom, in an attempt to fill in the gaps of what I thought…
I’ve had a similar experience with Taoism. It is a kind of tough nut to crack coming from Western cultures what with our extensive theologies, holy books, and prescriptivist religions. I highly recommend “The Way of Chuang Tzu” by Thomas Merton. Perhaps this betrays some fundamental ignorance on my part, but I think understanding and internalizing the Taoist mindset makes meditation a little less relevant or necessar…
+1 on the Merton translation recommendation.
Re: The new science of meditation
#219I've practiced mindfulness and meditation for many years until I found "The Tao of Pooh", which, if you're not familiar, outlines the basic tenets of taoism. It has completely changed me and made me feel whole for the first time in my life, and I don't have to practice anything to achieve it. Early on in my life I was drawn in by proverbs and other pieces of wisdom, in an attempt to fill in the gaps of what I thought…
Sadly the Tao of Pooh does not outline the basic tenets of Daoism. As van Norden says in the chapter on the Daodejing in his Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy : > The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff ... is a charming work that has attained a wide readership. There is nothing wrong with enjoying it for itself. But it reveals much more about how the Daodejing as been appropriated to illustrate Western Romantici…
Reminds me of how "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" has nothing to do with zen.
Re: The new science of meditation
#220"Along a less-traveled route, meditation remains what it long was: a deeply transformative pursuit, a devoted metamorphosis of the mind toward increasingly enlightened states." This pretty much lines up with what meditation has done for me. However, the pursuit of "states" can be a trap in of itself. As my practice has gotten deeper, I've started to reframe meditation for myself as the process of unrelenting inquiry…
Turns out a lot of humans bond over mutually shared grasping, so it can make you 'not fun at parties' when they're harrumphing about things that Do. Not. Matter. and are put off by you not dog-piling. Most people wonder how the Dalai Lama can be so serene. I wonder how he can be so approachable.
It sounds like you may be dealing with growing pains: moving on from old relationships and social scenes you've matured past.