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> It's interesting how differently we all think about the world. Absolutely. I am convinced that difference in the approach also affects the view of spirituali

by ay 7y ago

> It's interesting how differently we all think about the world. Absolutely. I am convinced that difference in the approach also affects the view of spirituality as well. > I saw absolutely no sign of this being true in my session. Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely and there was a strong sense of bonding and peace... The group I was in was a mix - probably 40% of people who definitely were going through a tricky time in their life (if wearing a T-shirt with “nobody loves me” may be any indication of that). And most of the remaining ones were the happy looking bunch. The debrief felt okay and fine, but one of the participants explained he needed help during the exercise and he wasn’t given it, and the “teacher” had a kinda uncomfortable interaction with that person at that point. > Did you get any results out of your session? Characterizing this as a scam or a placebo effect makes me think it didn't work for you? With my “effects” of the hyperventilation being the cramps, and the “funny” moment during the debrief, I didn’t get any enlightenment :-) I won’t really call it a scam - since most if not all of our perception of the world is defined by the brain chemistry, much like with drugs, I can see how this may have some effects - especially with some preconditioning. If it helps someone - why not. Placebo is a powerful mechanism. > I don't see how being a GP would equip someone in any way for having superior insight on such topics, unless they are speaking only to the qualitative medical risk aspect? Yeah, precisely. The feedback was basically “there is no conclusive research that this is good for you. Meditation does have such research”. As for spirituality: In my view no one is qualified to tell another person about it in an assertive fashion. Any representation of a higher order system within a lower order system will be necessarily slightly different - that’s why it is everyone’s personal journey. :-)

mistermann 7y ago
> The group I was in was a mix - probably 40% of people who definitely were going through a tricky time in their life (if wearing a T-shirt with “nobody loves me” may be any indication of that). And most of the remaining ones were the happy looking bunch. My session felt similar, the older people in the group seeming to be dealing with ongoing issues from past experiences, whereas the younger people while very sincere about the whole thing seeming to be mostly there more for spirituality as a lifestyle reasons. They all seemed happy and extremely supportive of each other. > With my “effects” of the hyperventilation being the cramps, and the “funny” moment during the debrief, I didn’t get any enlightenment :-) I won’t really call it a scam - since most if not all of our perception of the world is defined by the brain chemistry, much like with drugs, I can see how this may have some effects - especially with some preconditioning. If it helps someone - why not. Placebo is a powerful mechanism. I'm very curious, have you ever taken a significant amount of psychedelic drugs followed by sitting in a quiet dark room for several hours? My intuition suggests not.

by ay 7y ago

mistermann 7y ago

> The group I was in was a mix - probably 40% of people who definitely were going through a tricky time in their life (if wearing a T-shirt with “nobody loves me” may be any indication of that). And most of the remaining ones were the happy looking bunch. My session felt similar, the older people in the group seeming to be dealing with ongoing issues from past experiences, whereas the younger people while very sincere about the whole thing seeming to be mostly there more for spirituality as a lifestyle reasons. They all seemed happy and extremely supportive of each other. > With my “effects” of the hyperventilation being the cramps, and the “funny” moment during the debrief, I didn’t get any enlightenment :-) I won’t really call it a scam - since most if not all of our perception of the world is defined by the brain chemistry, much like with drugs, I can see how this may have some effects - especially with some preconditioning. If it helps someone - why not. Placebo is a powerful mechanism. I'm very curious, have you ever taken a significant amount of psychedelic drugs followed by sitting in a quiet dark room for several hours? My intuition suggests not.