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As delluminatus says, Buddhism. Zen, Vipassana, and others teach concentration as a tool (not the end goal). There are many, many books. See Mindfulness in Pla
by dwc 10y ago
As delluminatus says, Buddhism. Zen, Vipassana, and others teach concentration as a tool (not the end goal).
There are many, many books. See Mindfulness in Plain English[1] for a good one that's available to read free online.
1. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html and more directly http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe1-4.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe1-4.html
- 819238129 10y agoWhat is the intellectual output of Buddhism apart from religion and a couple of witty Koans? Meditation is something different -- actually I find it has adverse effects on critical thinking. The only thing that works for me is (courtesy Feynman): 1) State the problem. 2) Think hard. 3) Write down the solution. I cannot do these steps for programming or math in "any environment". I could write Koans though.
- dbingham 10y agoIf you're using meditation hoping to solve problems while your meditating, then you're doing it wrong. Meditation is like sleep or taking a rest day in a work out regimen. It's all about clearing your mind of noise so that when you finish and get back to the Feinman process then you're head is a little clearer and it's easier to focus.
- 819238130 10y agoPersons are different. If someone is balanced, already introverted and has no trouble living in the moment and being happy just breathing and moving then I maintain that meditation can have prolonged adverse effects outside the period of actual meditation. If another person is extroverted, perhaps even to the point of being hyperactive, then meditation (as you described it) may help. In general I see very little connection though between meditation and intellectual output. Many famous people who are known for taking to Buddhism did so after accomplishing their major works. I also doubt that meditation, even if it leads to a rested mind, helps focusing in noisy environments. [same person as above -- sorry dang!]
- wlamartin 10y ago"I maintain that meditation can have prolonged adverse effects outside the period of actual meditation." Why do you maintain this?
- Koshkin 10y agoSo, basically, meditation is like taking a nap? Then why prefer one over the other?
- edejong 10y agoExercising equanimity is a possible state while meditating. However, apart from equanimity, most Zen Buddhist meditations involve knowing and exercising the mind in different ways, such as applying (right) concentration and disentangling thought processes.
- dwc 10y agoNote that I wrote that meditation teaches concentration as a tool, not as the end goal. Focus and concentration are useful outside of meditation, too. If you learned the concentration parts and left the rest, I'm sure the meditation people would think that you'd done yourself a disservice, but do you care? > I cannot do these steps for programming or math in "any environment". I have noticed that sometimes, when I'm really deep in flow on a problem, I can power through people starting a conversation standing right behind my back. I can't get into a flow state with such distractions, but sometimes I can maintain it. I imagine you've had similar experiences. What if you had explicitly practiced concentration to the degree that you could enter a state of flow in those circumstances? With training, is that possible for some people? Most people?