The Dangers of Meditation
Quote:
Originally Posted by
shadowofwind
I ran across this today and thought it would be worth posting. I only skimmed it.
The Dark Knight of the Soul - Tomas Rocha - The Atlantic
A couple of quick comments:
For myself personally, the goal of knowing myself is pretty much non-negotiable. Maybe some people have trouble dealing with knowing who they really are, and maybe they shouldn't go there too deeply. But I want to know.
I think part of the problem is that when people teach meditation, there are always other beliefs and goals in the background, and those have effects that self-inquiry would not have by itself. When people inquire 'Who Am I' as a part of a meditative tradition, for instance, they always have assumptions about what the question means, an ideological position on what the answer is going to be, and a motive that circumscribes what kind of answer is acceptable. That's not quite the same as really asking. To some extent its a kind of deciding who to be, but often with an unseen internal contradiction in what is being decided.
Like I said, I didn't take the time to read the article carefully, so I'm not saying I think its good or bad.
shadowofwind
I read the whole article. Thank you for posting it.
In 1995 I woke out of a pleasant, clear dream about 2 little ducklings. Within about 4 hours the dream happened in waking life. I decided to ask my GP to recommend a psychiatrist. I said "normally, I I'd seek out a guru or mahatma about this but I'm 25 now and I'm wondering if the cause of these dreams is a life long mental illness". My GP sent me to a long time colleague of his.
Two unusual things happened with that very ethical psychiatrist. On our third appointment I plucked up the courage to say,
"I have an inner World and some ofmy dreams come true"!
He replied, very firmly,
"And I am not interested!"
A few weeks later I told him that I was thinking of taking up meditation again. He looked gently at me and said something like,
"I don't want you to do that Debbie." He explained that it is good for some but not for others.
Since then I never deliberately meditate (focuss on one thing) for more than a few minutes. If I'm lucky enough to have a dream game to participate in, I just focus as I drop off to sleep.
After reading your link I think my first ever psychiatrist was a wise man.
Here is the last bit of that article:
Quote:
There are parts of me that just want meditation to be all good.
I find myself in denial sometimes, where I just want to forget all that I've learned and go back to being happy about mindfulness and promoting it,
but
then I get another phone call and meet someone who's in distress, and I see the devastation in their eyes, and I can't deny that this is happening.
As much as I want to investigate and promote contemplative practices and contribute to the well-being of humanity through that, I feel a deeper commitment to what's actually true."
Is there any Danger in this meditation practice?
Cthatlhie
Here is that monk's meditation practice
Here is a 10 min Youtube from that monk who said U can drive your self insane , meditating.
(2:34) - ... So, in these videos it is important to understand that sometimes during the meditation it may not feel peaceful and calm. Sometimes, the meditation is dealing with the very deep unpleasant states that exist in our mind.
States of stress
States of worry
States of anger
States of addiction, and so on. (...)
(4:00) - And the way we do this is, we use an ancient technique which is called Mantra. (...) But instead of focusing the mind on some out-of-the-ordinary word (mantra), we are going to focus on an ordinary word (mantra). (that will help us focus) on the reality around us as we experience it.
(4:28) - ... we'll be using a mantra, a word for the experience, which brings the mind to focuss, to clearly experience that phenomenon, as it arises.
In the last five minutes of this YouTube he explaine the meditation.
The above is from his 1st of 3 "How to meditate" 10 minute YouTube's. But at the bottom of this post I'll link his 2nd becaues it explains the "How-to"
But, basically
When I'm sitting I say to myself, "sitting, ... sitting, ... sitting.
When I'm standing I say to myself, "standing, ... standing, ... standing.
When I'm walking I say to myself, "walking, ... walking, ... walking.
If my mind wanders I say thinking, ... thinking, ... thinking. This mantra stops me getting involved with my thinking and soon the thinking stops (for a while).
If I get bored with the practice I say to myself, boring, ... boring, ...
If I get frustrated at the practice I say to myself, frustrated, frustrated
If I get peaceful or blissful or happy then I say to myself peaceful peaceful peaceful and so on.
Basically I'm not to get carried away with "liking" or "dis-liking" any feeling I get. And by simply saying the corresponding "mantra" the mind soon disengages from "liking and disliking" leaving only reality.
Buddha said that only the senses are real. But my liking or disliking what I sense causes the delusion of the "self" the "me".
To dissolve that delusion I need to practice letting go of liking and disliking every thing I sense. He said that sound is just sound, seeing is just seeing.
Here is the monks second YouTube on his meditation practice. He gets right down to the practice.
I don't think there is any danger in this meditation practice.
★★★
How To Meditate II - Sitting Meditation: How To Meditate II - Sitting Meditation - YouTube
★★★(10:00) 293,771 views
This is the text under the Youtube:
Uploaded on Jan 23, 2009
Second (of six) in a series of videos on how to practice meditation without the requirement of religious dogma or spiritual mumbo-jumbo. This video discusses a simple technique of sitting meditation.