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If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

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Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#161

Post by intended »

prawks wrote: post #131
up_and_up wrote: post #127

In my opinion, Meditation and Mindfullness are not the same thing. Meditation is a state, where the mind is completely silent, the breath slows waaaay down, the heartbeat slows waaaay down. Slowly ever so slowly, some bliss starts to bubble up from within. It is the climax of one pointed attention. Few people who say they "meditate" are reaching that point since it requires years of sincere effort. In Yoga, meditatio…

If one were looking to get into Meditation, what is a good way of going about it? Preferably a DIY way if possible, but if a class is really the way to go that's okay. When you say years of sincere effort, are you talking devoting a full-time job's worth of time, or just keeping a routine? I've been interested in meditation for a while, but it seems whenever I try and dig around I get completely lost in literature an…

Brute force:

Allocate a certain room and time religiously where you will sit down every day. Reduce distractions to nil zealously.

Sit on the floor, cross your legs and close your eyes.

Now focus on taking deep slow breaths. Every time a thought comes, and you get focused on it, relax and let it go. Refocus on your breath.

Its more practice than technique.

The aim is pretty simple - be able to witness your thoughts and let them go. Finally you reach no thought.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#164

Post by Alex3917 »

konstruktor wrote: post #78
ricvg wrote: post #27

I highly recommend to take a 10 days retreat in a Vipassana[1] meditation center. I know that 10 days is a lot to ask but in my opinion is well worth the effort. I've been there twice in the past three years. I thought that I understood everything the first time. Boy, was I wrong. [1] http://www.dhamma.org/

If those rules don't creep you out, then I don't know what does: http://www.dhamma.org/en/code.shtml No talking, no outside contact, no other forms of practice. This is not a healthy environment unless you know very well what to expect and are sure you really, really want this. It sounds very cultish to me, even though I do know somebody who goes on Vipassana retreats regularly and seems to benefit a lot. Those retre…

I've done one of these retreats, it's not a cult, and there are good reasons for those rules being in place. Philosophically I'm much more of a pragmatic dharma person, but if I decide to continue with my practice then I'll do a bunch more Goenka retreats before trying other stuff. If nothing else they're free, and you actually get really good results. I certainly don't agree with all of those rules in my everyday life, but on the retreat itself they are a huge part of the experience.

If you want to know more about the Goenka approach, there are a couple of really good podcasts from Buddhist Geeks:

http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2007/07/bg-028-entrepregurus-an...

http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2007/07/bg-029-mass-producing-m...

I think they're pretty much dead on in their analysis.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#165

Post by rdudekul »

starpilot wrote: post #154
prawks wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one were looking to get into Meditation, what is a good way of going about it? Preferably a DIY way if possible, but if a class is really the way to go that's okay. When you say years of sincere effort, are you talking devoting a full-time job's worth of time, or just keeping a routine? I've been interested in meditation for a while, but it seems whenever I try and dig around I get completely lost in literature an…

I've read maybe a dozen books on vipassana meditation (the type usually posted to HN), zen, and mindfulness. The two best practical books on meditation I've read are: 1. The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh 2. Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana. This one is free online, though the paid copy is a bit more edited for clarity. My primary guide is 1. It's concise and provides just the right amount of…

I highly recommend the book Passage Meditation by Eknath Easwaran.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#166

Post by acous »

KirinDave wrote: post #86
dwiel wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are "cats" you are also "breathing". If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing".

> If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing". And sitting, and your heart is beating, and you're swallowing, and your eyes are moving reflexively, and you're probably digesting. And what about people with tinnitis? They're often "hearing" something. Sorry, I just don't understand why focusing on a specific topic to the exclusion of everything else is somehow inferior to focusing on breathing. Because your higher…

You can be mindful of all of those things, but it's not necessarily the thing they start you off with with. Breath is easy to explain and locate... not everyone can isolate their heartbeat or eye movements easily.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#168

Post by acous »

notJim wrote: post #140
adorton wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. Have you ever tried sitting still for 15-30 minutes, doing nothing but breathing? Distractions come easily in this state. Sometimes it's your thoughts. Other times, it's very hard to resist the urge to get up and start moving. In order to successfully meditate, you need to deal with a wide variety of distractions and other obstacles.

> Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. So is actually practicing resisting distraction in vivo, except that it's directly applicable. You're argument is exactly the “of course it does!” argument that your parent was referring to. Without studies, we don't actually know whether the skills in resisting distraction during meditation actually transfer to other situations. To quote your parent: One…

> Without studies, we don't actually know whether the skills in resisting distraction during meditation actually transfer to other situations.

From my own limited experience it does indeed generalise to all situations, the scientific evidence for that hypothesis is building (some links to studies can be found above). It does become self-evident if you meditate regularly for a while though. It shouldn't take long to at least get a feel for how it works if not a clear demonstration of the principle that the studies can only hint at.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#169

Post by aneth4 »

KirinDave wrote: post #114
aneth4 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Placebo effect has no meaning in this context. Placebo effects are caused by mind rather than a substance. In this case, the entire treatment is in the mind. There are many, many, many studies on the benefits and effects of meditation. If you haven't found any, it's because you are not looking.

"Placebo effect has no meaning in this context. Placebo effects are caused by mind rather than a substance. In this case, the entire treatment is in the mind." If you're a dualist, then okay. But I'm not. And since the mot compelling evidence of the effect of meditation so far presented involves structural changes to the brain, I think you just talked yourself out of a case. "There are many, many, many studies on the…

You may not be a dualist, but you sound like a negativist. It's nobody's job here to convince you of the benefits of meditation beyond the reams of research out there that for some reason you question.

Regardless, the structural changes to the brain are one of the effects, not the cause. The cause is of those structural changes is mental.

The goal here is changes that are highly subjective and personal. If meditation helps people, that is its goal, so to complain there is no evidence is nonsensical.

I guarantee you if you learn to meditate and master a form successfully, you will not be in HN forums demanding evidence.

Transcendental Meditation, as cultish as it is, is one of the most researched forms of meditation and there is a massive amount of research on its benefits. Go have a ball with that.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#170

Post by javajosh »

What the author calls "impulses" the Buddha called sankhara, or reactivity. The ones the OP is talking about are minor reactions.

These reactions do indeed impede our progress, as when our actions are driven by reaction we are not fully aware of what's going on around us. I first recognized the practical implications of this playing billiards - when I would strike a ball and miss, I would feel slightly dejected, and neglect to analyze what I just did to learn from it. When I would strike a ball and make it, I would feel slightly elated, and neglect to understand what I just did to learn from it.

My game got a lot better when I started playing the game, fascinated but detached from outcomes. There are a remarkable number of ways to strike a ball wrong - and it is interesting to consider why, having learned the game sufficiently, one would ever strike the ball wrong. Where does the variation creep in? Why, if I examine a table and decide to put the cue ball "just so", can I not do that? The answer, of course, is that there is countless non-verbal data that your body is sending you on each stroke - feedback from your bridge hand, the hand on the cue, even your stance and the feel of the felt all factor into this.

If you are attached to the outcome, all of this goes out the window. There is nervousness, fear, and excitement instead of systematic understanding.

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