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Or saying 10 Hail Marys.
Mantras, sutras, verses etc. are similarly used in Buddhism, as an instrument of focused thinking. It's not either/or, it's both.
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There are four stages of mental stillness as per an awakened meditator mentioned in his book [0]. As per my understanding, you seem to be at stage 3 which is a great achievement. > On your journey so far, you’ve come off the freeway and you have driven through a suburban road. Now, you’ve hit the countryside road, the third stage of mental stillness. Just like effusive rivers rush into the sea but the sea remains unm…
I've had several, intense Kundalini experiences! I know for certain that I can achieve a classical Buddha awakening in this lifetime, as long as I take care of myself.
And another study published as a research paper on his voluntary control of brain regions: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8717094./autho...
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I've not read the book, but IIUC _The Four Hour Workweek_ has as its central idea that you can outsource most of your actual work to other people while accruing most of the wealth those others are creating. Not exactly a mark of great compassion or kindness, if that's actually what's presented.
It goes deeper than that. He encourages this behaviour in all aspects of interactions - getting other people to look things up for you etc, while firewalling yourself from other people's requests for assistance, finding ways to be more efficient at your job and hiding this from your boss so you can use the time saving for your side hustle.
Yeah, that's... icky.
Thanks for explaining.
This would line up with a broader trend I've noticed and would be interested in reading more about: the use of pop psychology to justify antisocial behavior. Ten years ago, telling a distressed friend you don't feel like hearing about their problems would be incredibly rude. Now you can find NYT articles explaining how to couch the same sentiment in more acceptable terms like, "I don't have the bandwidth to perform t…
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All the teachers I practiced with repeated to me: don't look for something special. Don't look for bliss. If bliss comes, don't pay attention to it. Bliss is not the aim of this meditation. I don't know what meditation you are practicing, and there are so many of them I wouldn't be able to give any advice that would work with your own practice. So I can't know if you are doing something wrong. What I know, however, i…
Have you read MCTB? I feel I'm still in stage 1, maybe 2, but definitely haven't reached the arising and passing away... Still, I find labelling useful. Going to try to find a Mahasi retreat
Mindfulness and compassion are often talked of as "two wings of a bird" by dharma teachers - mindfulness doesn't automatically translate to compassion. This sutta makes the same point: Maṇibhadda Sutta (SN 10:4) On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Magadhans at the Jewel-stand Shrine, the haunt of the yakkha-spirit, Maṇibhadda [Auspicious Jewel]. Then Maṇibhadda the yakkha-spirit went to the Blessed…
My issue with this specific concept is that lots and lots of people are lazy and instead of doing compassionate things, they "feel compassion" as a generic emotion through the use of meditation. I studied Buddhism quite a while pretty seriously, and I know that a lot of the meditations involve practicing loving yourself, and your friends, family, community, and that these feelings of love are a core thing to have in…
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
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...minor Star Wars nerd here: It's a pressure chamber. He uses it so he can take off his pressure suit / armor for a bit without dying. IIRC it wasn't about meditation at all.
Yes I was checking up after posting, it has been referred to as a meditation chamber, but was actually a way for hime to take the life support system off. What is he going to do in there though? Does he have a PlayStation set up?
A bit off beam but I always thought it odd that Darth Vader used a meditation chamber to meditate in The Empire Strikes Back. It just seemed so strange that the key villain was practising mindfulness, yet not being very mindful.