Meditation: Why Bother?
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Meditation: Why Bother?
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Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#2I think that, given a limited amount of time, I'd rather do exercise (cycling) than meditate, as it's a pretty good way of 'getting away from things' and thinking without interruptions, and I also get some physical benefits from it.
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#3This is almost poetry, expertly written.
"The essence of our experience is change. Change is incessant. Moment by moment life flows by and it is never the same. Perpetual alteration is the essence of the perceptual universe. A thought springs up in your head and half a second later, it is gone. In comes another one, and that is gone too. A sound strikes your ears and then silence. Open your eyes and the world pours in, blink and it is gone. People come into your life and they leave again. Friends go, relatives die. Your fortunes go up and they go down. Sometimes you win and just as often you lose. It is incessant: change, change, change. No two moments ever the same."
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#4This is almost poetry, expertly written. "The essence of our experience is change. Change is incessant. Moment by moment life flows by and it is never the same. Perpetual alteration is the essence of the perceptual universe. A thought springs up in your head and half a second later, it is gone. In comes another one, and that is gone too. A sound strikes your ears and then silence. Open your eyes and the world pours i…
Reminds me of:
"You can never step in the same river twice." - Heraclitus
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#5I think that, given a limited amount of time, I'd rather do exercise (cycling) than meditate, as it's a pretty good way of 'getting away from things' and thinking without interruptions, and I also get some physical benefits from it.
Exercise is awesome.
I do think the concept of "limited amount of time" is a little flawed. Perhaps the real reason people shy away from meditation is that it's hard and takes discipline and willpower (in a good way)?
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#6This succinctly and so eloquently said everything my father has spent my entire life trying to teach me. It's beautiful.
If I have kids, I hope that one day they understand this essay.
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#7I think that, given a limited amount of time, I'd rather do exercise (cycling) than meditate, as it's a pretty good way of 'getting away from things' and thinking without interruptions, and I also get some physical benefits from it.
Exercise is awesome. I do think the concept of "limited amount of time" is a little flawed. Perhaps the real reason people shy away from meditation is that it's hard and takes discipline and willpower (in a good way)?
> I do think the concept of "limited amount of time" is a little flawed.
And you do have a kid. Huh:-)
Well, I do not have enough time for all the activities that I would like to do, so for me it's a very real concept. Proper training is hard and takes discipline in a good way too, so exercise has that one covered.
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#8I think that, given a limited amount of time, I'd rather do exercise (cycling) than meditate, as it's a pretty good way of 'getting away from things' and thinking without interruptions, and I also get some physical benefits from it.
Exercise is awesome. I do think the concept of "limited amount of time" is a little flawed. Perhaps the real reason people shy away from meditation is that it's hard and takes discipline and willpower (in a good way)?
I don't think the concept of "limited amount of time" is flawed.
Frankly, some people are constantly working and don't have time to meditate. It isn't that they shy away from it because it is hard or takes discipline and willpower, it is because we live in a world that (unfortunately) gives us a limited amount of time during the day that we can spend awake consistently if we don't want to possibly damage our health.
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exercise is awesome. I do think the concept of "limited amount of time" is a little flawed. Perhaps the real reason people shy away from meditation is that it's hard and takes discipline and willpower (in a good way)?
I don't think the concept of "limited amount of time" is flawed. Frankly, some people are constantly working and don't have time to meditate. It isn't that they shy away from it because it is hard or takes discipline and willpower, it is because we live in a world that (unfortunately) gives us a limited amount of time during the day that we can spend awake consistently if we don't want to possibly damage our health.
Fair enough. Still though, I don't know, I personally spend a lot of time on things that are not obligatory, so that time is mine to choose how I spend it. Family time, kid time, HN time...
If you're "constantly" working, then that's a choice you made, right?
[edit: just realized I sound kind of like an ass. I shouldn't speak for other people. Just read this as me talking to myself :)]
Re: Meditation: Why Bother?
#10That's one of the best essays I've ever read. It says almost nothing about meditation, but it nails every frustration and unhappiness I've ever experienced.
It makes me think that if someone can be that insightful, I'm more likely to go along with whatever he suggests because he's got it figured out so well. Maybe it's time to give meditation a shot.