7 ms·

When a Therapist Puts Buddhism into Practice

82 points by nz 9y ago

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
omgbananas 9y ago
URL without the Google crap: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/books/mark-epstein-advice-not-given.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/books/mark-epstein-advice... Can a mod that can fix this please?
- jimhefferon 9y ago
  Yes, please. I try not to go to NYT articles (I just try to avoid the paywall system) and this one fooled me.
  - vinceguidry 9y ago
    I broke down recently and bought a subscription. They are the only news outlet I actually pay for. Their content is simply ubiquitous. I never thought it would happen, but there it is. What's ironic about all this is that what I want is cable-like bundling of content. But while with news content I can be content with channel surfing, with television content I want to consume individual shows. Curious as to why this is.
    - nvdk 9y ago
      are you familiar with blendle.com ? It's how I tend to consume news these days. I don't get why most news sites don't allow me to pay per article. Very happy blendle exists, just wish more outlets would partner with them.
      - vinceguidry 9y ago
        Looks like I'm already on their mailing list. Must've been a long time ago. I hope they make it to launch.
    - drallison 9y ago
      In addition to the NY Times, I believe that The Washington Post is worthy of a subscription. And while you are at it, sending some money to The Guardian seems to make sense. We all complain about the poor quality of the news and the prevalence of fake news. If we want quality news with intelligent reporting, we have to ensure that the news media that provide it are adequately resourced and funded. Of course, there are methods other than paywalls that could be used, but paywalls are what we have. It would be nice if several news organizations were to provide a single subscription with broad access. The current paywall strategy nickel and dimes voracious readers.
      - vinceguidry 9y ago
        I may get there. Let's see what the next few years bring.
- lnanek2 9y ago
  The Google crap was probably to disable the pay wall. I had to google the article title and follow the Google link myself to avoid it...
b6 9y ago
I really sympathize with anyone who has looked into Buddhism and found it puzzling or even annoying. I felt the same way for many years -- if the Buddha had realized something really important, I'm listening, why not tell me what he realized in a straightforward way? Well, he would have, if that would work, but it doesn't. Concepts fly easily between our minds but concepts don't seem to really change how our minds work. What does change how our minds work is direct experience. We lead ourselves to the life-changing realizations by meditation. Slowly, steadily, you train yourself to be calm, to be indistractable, to make your mind very still, much stiller than it ever is even in sleep. Focusing on the nature of experience itself, your mind directly experiences new information about its own workings. And when it does, it has no choice but to change itself, because it does not want to suffer. It causes itself to suffer only because it does not see how its actions lead to suffering. When it does see, it stops. It's freedom and peace by insight. It starts making perfect sense to help others, to plant trees the shade of which you will never enjoy yourself, etc. You see that it doesn't make sense to fear death. It doesn't make sense to be angry at anyone. It's good stuff.
- mping 9y ago
  Good solid advice right here. For me, personally I feel meditation is about developing wisdom through concentration. The more wise you become, the more sense the Buddha's instructions make. The more insights you get.
  - kstrauser 9y ago
    I was raised firmly Protestant. I've since decided that prayer is meditation: - You typically enumerate ways where you've strayed from your ethical goals. "I harmed so-and-so. I regret having done that." - You put yourself into the mindset of change. "I want to be a better person. Help me recognize when I'm about to do something I know I shouldn't so that I can steer away from it." - You open yourself to insight. "OK, I've said what I wanted to say. Now I'm going to sit back and listen for an answer." Although meditation is secular and prayer is explicitly religious, in my experience they seem to follow identical processes. The main difference is whether you intend to send your thoughts outward or to deal with them yourself, but either way you're introspecting your own behavior and desires to seek insights on how to deal with them.
simonebrunozzi 9y ago
Frankly, I'm tired of this: "Help Times journalists uncover the next big story. Get The Times from $9.99 a month." As much as NYT might have interesting content, lately there is a high amount of these on HN.
marojejian 9y ago
A lot of therapy (esp CBT) is incorporating Buddhist concepts. The most established is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), which is roughly Buddhism + CBT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy And the concept of mindfulness is practically mainstream in therapy (as it is becoming in culture overall). Good trends, IMHO.
- zardo 9y ago
  Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) is also largely a sort of secular subset of Bhuddism.

82 points by nz 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

URL without the Google crap: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/books/mark-epstein-advice-not-given.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/books/mark-epstein-advice... Can a mod that can fix this please?

jimhefferon 9y ago
Yes, please. I try not to go to NYT articles (I just try to avoid the paywall system) and this one fooled me.
- vinceguidry 9y ago
  I broke down recently and bought a subscription. They are the only news outlet I actually pay for. Their content is simply ubiquitous. I never thought it would happen, but there it is. What's ironic about all this is that what I want is cable-like bundling of content. But while with news content I can be content with channel surfing, with television content I want to consume individual shows. Curious as to why this is.
  - nvdk 9y ago
    are you familiar with blendle.com ? It's how I tend to consume news these days. I don't get why most news sites don't allow me to pay per article. Very happy blendle exists, just wish more outlets would partner with them.
    - vinceguidry 9y ago
      Looks like I'm already on their mailing list. Must've been a long time ago. I hope they make it to launch.
  - drallison 9y ago
    In addition to the NY Times, I believe that The Washington Post is worthy of a subscription. And while you are at it, sending some money to The Guardian seems to make sense. We all complain about the poor quality of the news and the prevalence of fake news. If we want quality news with intelligent reporting, we have to ensure that the news media that provide it are adequately resourced and funded. Of course, there are methods other than paywalls that could be used, but paywalls are what we have. It would be nice if several news organizations were to provide a single subscription with broad access. The current paywall strategy nickel and dimes voracious readers.
    - vinceguidry 9y ago
      I may get there. Let's see what the next few years bring.
lnanek2 9y ago
The Google crap was probably to disable the pay wall. I had to google the article title and follow the Google link myself to avoid it...

b6 9y ago

I really sympathize with anyone who has looked into Buddhism and found it puzzling or even annoying. I felt the same way for many years -- if the Buddha had realized something really important, I'm listening, why not tell me what he realized in a straightforward way? Well, he would have, if that would work, but it doesn't. Concepts fly easily between our minds but concepts don't seem to really change how our minds work. What does change how our minds work is direct experience. We lead ourselves to the life-changing realizations by meditation. Slowly, steadily, you train yourself to be calm, to be indistractable, to make your mind very still, much stiller than it ever is even in sleep. Focusing on the nature of experience itself, your mind directly experiences new information about its own workings. And when it does, it has no choice but to change itself, because it does not want to suffer. It causes itself to suffer only because it does not see how its actions lead to suffering. When it does see, it stops. It's freedom and peace by insight. It starts making perfect sense to help others, to plant trees the shade of which you will never enjoy yourself, etc. You see that it doesn't make sense to fear death. It doesn't make sense to be angry at anyone. It's good stuff.

mping 9y ago
Good solid advice right here. For me, personally I feel meditation is about developing wisdom through concentration. The more wise you become, the more sense the Buddha's instructions make. The more insights you get.
- kstrauser 9y ago
  I was raised firmly Protestant. I've since decided that prayer is meditation: - You typically enumerate ways where you've strayed from your ethical goals. "I harmed so-and-so. I regret having done that." - You put yourself into the mindset of change. "I want to be a better person. Help me recognize when I'm about to do something I know I shouldn't so that I can steer away from it." - You open yourself to insight. "OK, I've said what I wanted to say. Now I'm going to sit back and listen for an answer." Although meditation is secular and prayer is explicitly religious, in my experience they seem to follow identical processes. The main difference is whether you intend to send your thoughts outward or to deal with them yourself, but either way you're introspecting your own behavior and desires to seek insights on how to deal with them.

simonebrunozzi 9y ago

Frankly, I'm tired of this: "Help Times journalists uncover the next big story. Get The Times from $9.99 a month." As much as NYT might have interesting content, lately there is a high amount of these on HN.

marojejian 9y ago

A lot of therapy (esp CBT) is incorporating Buddhist concepts. The most established is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), which is roughly Buddhism + CBT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy And the concept of mindfulness is practically mainstream in therapy (as it is becoming in culture overall). Good trends, IMHO.

zardo 9y ago
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) is also largely a sort of secular subset of Bhuddism.