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Absolutely agree with you. This seems like an excuse for a blog post rather than something that he was actively seeking to truly learn. I'm sure if he'd even re

by inovica 16y ago

Absolutely agree with you. This seems like an excuse for a blog post rather than something that he was actively seeking to truly learn. I'm sure if he'd even read a decent book on it that he would have benefited much more. For anyone reading these comments who is interested in meditation, check out these two free books: Happy To Burn - http://www.sankhara.com.au/shop/products/displayFree.html http://www.sankhara.com.au/shop/products/displayFree.html Mindfulness in Plain English - http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html I found these to be very useful as I started exploring meditation. I also found a yoga teacher that also taught meditation - enough to make a difference in my life, both working and outside of work.

michael_dorfman 16y ago
I don't know "Happy to Burn", but Bhante G's "Meditation in Plain English" is an excellent book. However, I think that learning to meditate from a book is a bit like learning to swim from a book-- I'm sure it is possible, but it's definitely not the easiest (or most efficient) way to learn. I'd recommend that anyone who is interested try to find a center to visit, and take some in-person instruction.
- jonhendry 16y ago
  There are also audio guided meditations available online from established teachers. eg, http://www.dharma.org/ims/mr_audio.php http://www.dharma.org/ims/mr_audio.php
eof 16y ago
I am not familiar with either of those books, but a great book on practical meditation is the Silva Mind Control Method. He comes at it from a completely practical place, no spirituality at all involved. It is very powerful and easy to use his methods. I also came here to say that this guy obviously had no instruction on meditation before he started. Meditation is hard especially if you have a noisy mind. However, meditation is not about turning off your mind, necessarily, though there is something to that as well. I think most people on HN however would prefer/benefit from what I would call 'active' meditation which basically involved 'getting control' of your mind (being able to hold a specific thought for a dozen or so seconds at a time is near impossible for anyone not trained) and using that control to fast-forward learning processes, shedding bad habits, etc.

by inovica 16y ago

michael_dorfman 16y ago

I don't know "Happy to Burn", but Bhante G's "Meditation in Plain English" is an excellent book. However, I think that learning to meditate from a book is a bit like learning to swim from a book-- I'm sure it is possible, but it's definitely not the easiest (or most efficient) way to learn. I'd recommend that anyone who is interested try to find a center to visit, and take some in-person instruction.

jonhendry 16y ago
There are also audio guided meditations available online from established teachers. eg, http://www.dharma.org/ims/mr_audio.php http://www.dharma.org/ims/mr_audio.php

eof 16y ago

I am not familiar with either of those books, but a great book on practical meditation is the Silva Mind Control Method. He comes at it from a completely practical place, no spirituality at all involved. It is very powerful and easy to use his methods. I also came here to say that this guy obviously had no instruction on meditation before he started. Meditation is hard especially if you have a noisy mind. However, meditation is not about turning off your mind, necessarily, though there is something to that as well. I think most people on HN however would prefer/benefit from what I would call 'active' meditation which basically involved 'getting control' of your mind (being able to hold a specific thought for a dozen or so seconds at a time is near impossible for anyone not trained) and using that control to fast-forward learning processes, shedding bad habits, etc.