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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

#181

Post by rohamg »

wakoumel wrote: post #145
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…

You cannot stop your thoughts, it's like trying to capture the wind by opening your jacket. The point of meditation that most miss is that it is an experiment rather than a quiet place you're trying to reach. You discover what your emotions are, what you think about, etc. There is no goal other than observation of your mind and to consistently bring your attention back to your breath. The reason you sit and don't mov…

You donated to the westboro church?

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

#182

Post by ma2rten »

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…

The later is available for free online:

http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/mindfulness_in_plain_english....

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

#183

Post by krrrh »

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…

I know it's not what you want to hear, but doing the 10 day Goenka vipassana course really makes a huge difference in getting established in the technique. I tried a few things, but didn't really click until doing it. To me sacrificing a 10 day vacation ended up being a lot more practical than slogging away by myself for years. Now I can miss practicing for a while but still get back to it in short order.

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

#185

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

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…

OK, I would think (based on years of on off practice) that the effects of meditation do generalise to other situations.

Here's an RCT that suggests that meditation is effective over and above relaxation in producing positive states of mind. http://www.springerlink.com/content/720772266xj33972/ Here's a more directly related study which showed that meditators showed greater ability to focus attention than did controls: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13674679908406332 Finally - a randomised controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness meditation on attention showing that mindfulness is more effective than progressive relaxation training in building up the four components of attention: http://www.springerlink.com/content/617t1648164627q4/

This was extremely trivial to find (two google scholar searches, one on meditation and distraction (first link) and the second on meditation and attention (second and third links). The first and third links have open access papers linked from Google Scholar if you would like to know more.

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

#186

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

jcl wrote: post #60
dchest wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an analogy, it may be true or false. Download speed is a muscle. By downloading more files you're building up your download speed.

The analogy is true, insofar as there are experiments that support it. https://www.google.com/search?q=willpower+muscle+research More interestingly, there is research that suggests that believing that willpower is like a muscle impairs willpower. :) http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/11/1686

Thanks for that, I read that study when it came out (the second one) but could never find it again.

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

#187

Post by crntaylor »

hollerith wrote: post #157
kylebrown wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose that would work. Press a key on each breath, and use a script to alert after 108 keystrokes.

I don't go in for doing the same thing over and over like some Buddhists like to do. It's just a timer, which I set for 3 to 5 minutes. When the timer reaches 0, (part of) a particular song plays. (And a record is made of the start and end times of the meditation session.) In the rare case that I am doing something other than meditating when that song plays, I know I got so distracted that I did not even notice I got…

Do you find that 3-5 minutes is enough? I just tried meditating for the first time, and set a 5 minute timer. When it went off, it felt like only 2 minutes had passed and I could have (and wanted to) go on longer.

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

#188

Post by crntaylor »

wakoumel wrote: post #145
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…

You cannot stop your thoughts, it's like trying to capture the wind by opening your jacket. The point of meditation that most miss is that it is an experiment rather than a quiet place you're trying to reach. You discover what your emotions are, what you think about, etc. There is no goal other than observation of your mind and to consistently bring your attention back to your breath. The reason you sit and don't mov…

Your email is not visible to others in your profile. You need to put it in the 'about me' box if you want people to be able to contact you.

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

#189

Post by Hari_Seldon »

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…

I think that there is a tendency amongst us westerners to believe that meditation is about attaining something, Chögyam Trungpa described this as a type of "spiritual materialism". I've noticed this behaviour repeatedly, people feeling the need to quantify theirs and others progress or lack thereof.

If the writer of the TFA experiences 4 seconds of emptying his mind and a state of bliss, does it really matter that he didn't in your opinion use the correct terminology? or wasn't in the state long enough for this or that term to apply?

I enjoyed the article, it has inspired me to take up my own practise again, even 1 second of no thoughts and blissful awareness at the beginning of my day changes everything.

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

#190

Post by joelthelion »

Hari_Seldon wrote: post #189
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…

I think that there is a tendency amongst us westerners to believe that meditation is about attaining something, Chögyam Trungpa described this as a type of "spiritual materialism". I've noticed this behaviour repeatedly, people feeling the need to quantify theirs and others progress or lack thereof. If the writer of the TFA experiences 4 seconds of emptying his mind and a state of bliss, does it really matter that he…

>I think that there is a tendency amongst us westerners to believe that meditation is about attaining something

Of course there is. It's the only rational reason to do something: for present or future benefit. Otherwise you quit the realm of reason and enter the domain of religion.

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