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This is very interesting to me. I have signed up for the free 10-day Vipassana course (dhamma.org). Some of you may find this blog entry I wrote to be interest

This is very interesting to me. I have signed up for the free 10-day Vipassana course (dhamma.org). Some of you may find this blog entry I wrote to be interesting. It is a review of Buddha's Brain: the practical neuroscience of happiness, love & wisdom. http://www.zacharyburt.com/2010/05/the-neuroscience-of-buddhism-practical-tips-via-insightful-framework/ http://www.zacharyburt.com/2010/05/the-neuroscience-of-buddh... I am currently reading The Myth of Freedom by Trungpa. He's definitely assaulted my practice of spiritual materialism. I am confused about one thing. Trugpa asserts that the benefit to meditation is boredom. Csikszentmihalyi, in Flow, asserts that meditation is beneficial because it is the practice of such a well-honed skill (practitioners become skilled at observing the intricacies of their breath and therefore experience a feeling of being "in the zone", which is basically the opposite of boredom). Trugpa says that observing the breath is just a useful beginner's crutch. What do you think? Estragon, would you please chime in?

silentbicycle 16y ago
Focusing on your breath can be a good way to recover after sitting for several minutes and (without realizing it) getting caught up in worrying about whatever crap has been dragging you down. It's a fundamental body function. At the same time, there's nothing inherently sacred about your breath - it's just oxygen keeping you from dying. Saying, "oh, I lost focus, I'm going to take a deep breath and try to stay here" seems to help most people, that's all.