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>> Though yoga and meditation were originally intended as ways to calm the ego, many non-Buddhist practitioners do these activities with an eye to self-improvem

>> Though yoga and meditation were originally intended as ways to calm the ego, many non-Buddhist practitioners do these activities with an eye to self-improvement or calming personal anxieties. I have noticed meditation being pitched more and more as a self-help/productivity tool/cure all for a range of issues. Is the main difference between 'traditional' (for lack of a better word) and Western meditation just the motive behind it, or is there something else Westerners are missing?

redmaverick 8y ago
The reality, at-least for me is that it is a productivity tool. After meditation, I just do things I normally would procrastinate on like its not a big deal. Chores don't seem like chores etc.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
b6 8y ago
I don't think westerners are missing anything, at least not anything more than people who live in places where Buddhism is typically practiced. I'm western, I live in Thailand, I'm a meditator, and I often feel like some Buddhist scholar compared to Thai people. I think many people feel Buddhism is sort of re-blooming in the west, of course with its own style. There are a bunch of highly respected western monks now, even in the Thai forest tradition. I think it's just easy to get confused about this stuff. There's the goal, there's how the goal is supposed to be accomplished, there's what you actually do every day, and there are various related practices. It's easy to get confused and think that the things that are happening are the point, like that calming down is the point, or that rapture is the point, or even that bowing to monks a certain way or donating things to the temple is the point.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  It's pretty normal for people to grow up in Buddhist/Christian/Muslim/Whatever culture not know much about that religion. I grew up in a Christian country as a nominal Christian but I know almost nothing about Christianity other than a few holidays and stories.
WhompingWindows 8y ago
Every major religion has some kind of meditative tradition, but the vast majority of people in all religions don't perform "meditation" in the Western sense. Even Buddhists, the vast majority do NOT practice meditation, it's only certain sub-groups that have developed various kinds of meditation practices that are commonly used in the West today. We think, for instance, of insight meditation, loving-kindness, body-scanning, and such techniques in the West. To study these in India, Vietnam, Nepal, or elsewhere, you'd likely receive a lot of learning from the reading of texts, ancient or more recent, which is not as widely received by Westerners in today's meditation craze. Go to the Apple Store, you'll see over a dozen meditation apps, though I doubt any would explain jhana or the four-noble truths of Buddhism. Yet, here or abroad, most people will not know those ancient texts or the techniques you've been practicing for months on end.

redmaverick 8y ago

The reality, at-least for me is that it is a productivity tool. After meditation, I just do things I normally would procrastinate on like its not a big deal. Chores don't seem like chores etc.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

b6 8y ago

I don't think westerners are missing anything, at least not anything more than people who live in places where Buddhism is typically practiced. I'm western, I live in Thailand, I'm a meditator, and I often feel like some Buddhist scholar compared to Thai people. I think many people feel Buddhism is sort of re-blooming in the west, of course with its own style. There are a bunch of highly respected western monks now, even in the Thai forest tradition. I think it's just easy to get confused about this stuff. There's the goal, there's how the goal is supposed to be accomplished, there's what you actually do every day, and there are various related practices. It's easy to get confused and think that the things that are happening are the point, like that calming down is the point, or that rapture is the point, or even that bowing to monks a certain way or donating things to the temple is the point.

maxxxxx 8y ago
It's pretty normal for people to grow up in Buddhist/Christian/Muslim/Whatever culture not know much about that religion. I grew up in a Christian country as a nominal Christian but I know almost nothing about Christianity other than a few holidays and stories.

WhompingWindows 8y ago

Every major religion has some kind of meditative tradition, but the vast majority of people in all religions don't perform "meditation" in the Western sense. Even Buddhists, the vast majority do NOT practice meditation, it's only certain sub-groups that have developed various kinds of meditation practices that are commonly used in the West today. We think, for instance, of insight meditation, loving-kindness, body-scanning, and such techniques in the West. To study these in India, Vietnam, Nepal, or elsewhere, you'd likely receive a lot of learning from the reading of texts, ancient or more recent, which is not as widely received by Westerners in today's meditation craze. Go to the Apple Store, you'll see over a dozen meditation apps, though I doubt any would explain jhana or the four-noble truths of Buddhism. Yet, here or abroad, most people will not know those ancient texts or the techniques you've been practicing for months on end.