Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Poll: Do you meditate?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 233 posts

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#121

Post by hosh »

ha470 wrote: post #25
notatoad wrote: post #14

I go skiing in the winter, biking in the summer. I've always found this to be a meditative-like experience - if i'm cruising down a mogul run as fast as i can the only thought in my head is where my skis are going. it's impossible to think about anything that doesn't need to be dealt with in the next few milliseconds. That's much clearer than i can ever get my head by sitting down and trying to meditate.

Meditation is often confused with meditatIVE activities. Sitting and trying to meditate doesn't mean you'll meditate, but meditation almost always requires you to sit still. When you're in meditation, you'll know - your mind will be in a different state (akin to sleep). Keep practicing :) it takes a while, but once you get it, I promise it's worth it.

That's not precisely it.

You can be mindful anywhere and at anytime. There are people who find skiing or other physical exercise relaxing because, after years of practice, they are being mindful in all the ways that matters to someone who sits on a cushion and "meditates". This is the end product of the "10,000 hours" thing.

The benefit from formal sitting practice is that you create a ritual container. A timebox. You align with the resolution and intent to practice. You dedicate this space, this time to the practice. However, meditation doesn't end on the cushion. You can realize all sorts of insights on the cushion, but can you integrate those insights when you're off the cushion?

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#122

Post by ebiester »

windsurfer wrote: post #12

I don't meditate. I daydream and think and solve problems when I'm not doing anything that requires my attention (walking, resting, driving, etc). Does that count?

Completely different experience. Daydreaming might be anti - meditation in many ways. ;-)

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#123

Post by hosh »

xk_id wrote: post #27
mercuryrising wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being 'bored' is the best part - setting a time to do 'nothing' during the day. There's always something to do, something to see, someone to talk to, but there's rarely 'nothing' to do.

There is 'nothing' to do when I go to sleep. Isn't that enough, and the best time for it? Edit: Sorry, I do not wish to troll. You may wish to read the other post I made in this thread, where I question more elaborately the practice of meditation. My inquiry is genuine, I wish to have a critical discussion on the margin of the meditative practice.

When most people sleep, they typically "fall unconscious". That means, they go mindless.

Meditation is being mindful.

It is actually possible to enter sleep states while being mindful. This is one of many methods for entering lucid dreaming, and I suppose, some folks might call it dream yoga.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#124

Post by hosh »

jrajav wrote: post #2

Personally, I do not single out any one time for meditating in the way most people think of - passive sitting and breathing - but I often take breaks from my work to go and get decaf coffee, and I will take those times to stop doing anything or thinking and just be mindful of the act of walking. This is usually called active meditation, due to the contrast with the more widely known (in the West) passive meditation.…

Cool.

Though I say the "passive" "active" distinction isn't all that useful. When you are sitting still and breathing, your are actively observing the sensations. There's lots to see.

Lying, sitting, standing, and walking, are all different vehicles for practicing mindfulness. For some people, walking is too stimulating and need to sit. For others, sitting is too restful and one easily falls asleep.

I've mentioned this elsethread. Formal practice where you set aside time and make a commitment creates a ritual container for the practice. It creates a timebox from which you can bind your resolution and intent to practice. You can make this more or less elaborate -- and some people need elaborate.

The formal practice is to give you a chance to realize insights which you then integrate outside the timebox. As the saying goes, mindfulness doesn't end on the cushion.

So if you're able to be mindful in all the things you do, that's awesome. There are lots of people who are like you. And there are lots of people who need a more formal container for their practice.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#125

Post by Daishiman »

notJim wrote: post #107
subpixel wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a zen master or yogi, but I can promise you that if you try to measure the results of meditation (Am I feeling better yet? How about now?) you'll wind up chasing your own tail and giving up. Anyone promising wonderful results through meditation is very likely selling you something. The effects of meditation are best compared to those of sleep. A good night's sleep doesn't make up for lousy sleeping habits the…

This attitude of "you can't measure it, don't even try" really bothers me. You can measure the benefits of both meditation and sleep, and there have been studies that do so. This wikipedia article is pretty well-cited, and outlines many of the studies that have been done on meditation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation

It's not that you can't; indeed you can. But actively looking for results means the sort of outcome dependence which you are trying to avoid through meditation.

In the Eastern religions this is very much what is referred to as "faith"; the study and analysis of meditation in this manner is intellectual, but meditation itself if very much anti-intellectual and seeks for the non attachment of intellectual concepts (a difficult concept to grasp for those of us raised in the rationalist philosophies of the West).

It doesn't mean that you can't measure it; it means that, aside from the sensations which come to you of well-being and effects that come to you from direct observation, you shouldn't be using it as your primary guide to the effectivity of meditation. Fortunately there's 3000 years of incredibly descriptive and academic Buddhist and Hinduist texts which talk about this in amazing depth, and have zero usefulness for your personal progress.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#127

Post by Kaivo »

I don't know if it is related, as I've never read on the subject, but when I was in highschool, before falling asleep, I often spend over an hour with soft music playing at a very low level while focusing on any body parts. For instance, on my knees, or arms, feet, etc. I'd feel them loose, like they were floating, not even touching anything. I'd reach a point where I couldn't move even though I'd try, and it actually felt great. I sometimes miss taking the time to reach that point before falling asleep as I'm usually too tired to stay awake longer than five minutes once in bed (even with a book open).

I'm not sure if that counts as meditation, but I'm sure willing to read more on the subject, as I want to fell that calmness again.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#128

Post by pjscott »

krmmalik wrote: post #58

I used to do 10mins of meditation a day when i got my internship. I used to look forward to it everyday and remember that time of my life as really great. Things were going well. At some point, for some reason i stopped. Recently I made a new friend who i've now known for about 6 months. He told me a little bit about his past, and a particular part of his life where he started doing visualising exercises each day and…

This may be a little off topic, but I just wanted to commend you for saying "Nothing to report as yet." Lifestyle changes often have a honeymoon period where everything seems to be going great, whether or not it's actually sustainable. After the honeymoon is over, then you can get a clearer picture of what worked and what didn't.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#130

Post by Ixiaus »

ramblerman wrote: post #108
gnosis wrote: post #64

I recently started meditating, using the method in "Mindfulness in Plain English". So far, I've been able to meditate for between 1 to 3 hours at a time, every day. I do feel quite a bit of calm afterwards and during the deep parts of the meditation, and have also experienced some occasional hallucinations (like a feeling of intense bliss, like my arms are floating, like my chest is a hundred feet from my head) when…

Wow, I started at 10 minutes a day. Did you have much difficulty working up to sitting in meditation for 1 to 3 hours?

I used to meditate for an hour to two hours a day - but I've recently began finding out that I can compress my meditations into 10-15 minute sessions. This might come from being able to slide into trance more easily than I used to.

I've found that I actually feel better from 15 minute meditations per day than 1 hour meditations as long as I remain focused an in trance - if I'm having difficulty staying "in the zone" then I'll extend the meditation accordingly based on feel.

Post reply on HN