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Speaking as a former meditation teacher who attained High Equanimity [1] and saw through the non-self mark of existence [2]: what you're doing is a complete cor

Speaking as a former meditation teacher who attained High Equanimity [1] and saw through the non-self mark of existence [2]: what you're doing is a complete corruption of the heritage of meditation and is dangerous. I'm speaking strictly from a secular point of view now, what you are teaching has nothing to do with meditation. Meditation is a practice with a clear line of progression. We have markers and waypoints for every stage of a meditator's journey to seeing the conditioned nature of reality. If you want to continue with your product, I strongly urge you to call it something else because they will be confused that what they are practicing has anything to do with a thousands of years old series of techniques that are well-defined and established and predicated on four simple truths: the observance of suffering, its origin, its extinction and the path leading to its extinction. I want to add for the purpose of disclosure: I am no longer a meditation teacher and have backslid greatly in my practice. My historical comments should not be taken as the examples of right ethics which would be expected of a highly attained practitioner. Intellectually, however, I feel I must condemn a product that risks harm by association to a beautiful, clear system which can be walked by anyone to achieve a calm, kind mind. If people are curious about meditation, Headspace is a solid intro to these techniques started by a former monk with decades of experience. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81-%C3%B1%C4%81%E1%B9%87a https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81-%C3%B1%C4%81%... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_marks_of_existence#:~:text=In%20Buddhism%2C%20the%20three%20marks,unsatisfactoriness%20or%20suffering%20(du%E1%B8%A5kha) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_marks_of_existence#:~:....

Pyramus 6y ago
Could you clarify what your understanding of 'meditation'? There are many different ways to meditate, from different traditions, with different objectives, secular and non-secular, with no/anecdotal/scientific evidence etc., e.g. * Mindfulness meditation * Loving kindness meditation * Transcendental meditation * Visualisation * Chanting and praying * Progressive muscle relaxation * ... It feels to me you are defending one particular school of thought (that has given you benefits) rather than meditation?
- emptysongglass 6y ago
  I am happy to clarify, though I believe I did when I specified that the word meditation is associated with the observance of suffering, its origin, its extinction and the path leading to its extinction. There were teachers who taught meditation before the Buddha but one also needs to understand that they were incomplete forms of mind-training which did not lead to the realization of the conditioned nature of reality. [1] The Buddha trained under the best teachers at the time and synthesized them into a whole practice, which when followed to their end led to total liberation, or nirvana/nibbana. Many of the techniques you highlight descend from the same lineage: mindfulness (vipassana), lovingkindness (metta), and nondirective (of which transcendental owes itself to, Zen was its predecessor). It should be no surprise that the scientific evidence we have available to us has verified the efficacy of mindfulness, has verified the efficacy of lovingkindness. [2] A meditator's journey may take them through a host of techniques. What's important is they are backed by ethics and deep understanding of what practitioners thousands of years before us were writing. That is a foundation to build on. The Buddha and the teachers who followed built on this foundation. The Chinese synthesists, Mahayana, Vajrayana, all of them established themselves in the foundation of what came before. The foundation is a tripod. It is not "just" concentration or "just" ethics or "just" awareness, it is these three working together. [3] If you kick one leg out, the whole thing comes crashing down. Let me also clarify what I mean by dangerous: meditation must be grounded in ethical action, in right understanding of the techniques because one can very easily come to assume a new set of delusions to replace their old, which leads to poor outcomes for themselves and others. People have been dragged from retreats screaming because of latent mental illness or they perceived something they were unprepared for. I myself have observed the total dissolution of self right before my eyes. I was not afraid, I was ready. I owe that fearlessness and confidence to my teachers who selflessly taught with no expectation of monetary gain. Money itself corrupts the relationship between teacher and student. And we have decades of abuses from self-proclaimed gurus to back this. Those who declare themselves authorities to remove ethics or wisdom from a system of mind-training because it smacks of religious devotion need to seriously examine their motivations for doing so. The dhamma is free for anyone to pick up. I could recommend a host of teachers who will give days and years of their life to any prospective students who wish to take up the path, completely for free. And then when you turn your mind to gratitude, to lovingkindness, it will be easy to find a person for which to be gracious to. I owe my life to these people. I'd like to conclude by really pushing the creators of this project to reconsider associating Chorus with meditation. Even the Wim Hof Method is just the Wim Hof Method. Chorus on its own is a great name. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da [2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m_tiYlDIyNpp6WGUgKd5nTu6r7MySFqIc5MDS0JJSoM/edit?fbclid=IwAR06dTEVk2JBKL-1Nn1H41uUq4ok98Qzv_TYKrXDuzWFc0umsksBLIDQlLc#gid=7 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m_tiYlDIyNpp6WGUgKd5... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training

Pyramus 6y ago

Could you clarify what your understanding of 'meditation'? There are many different ways to meditate, from different traditions, with different objectives, secular and non-secular, with no/anecdotal/scientific evidence etc., e.g. * Mindfulness meditation * Loving kindness meditation * Transcendental meditation * Visualisation * Chanting and praying * Progressive muscle relaxation * ... It feels to me you are defending one particular school of thought (that has given you benefits) rather than meditation?

emptysongglass 6y ago
I am happy to clarify, though I believe I did when I specified that the word meditation is associated with the observance of suffering, its origin, its extinction and the path leading to its extinction. There were teachers who taught meditation before the Buddha but one also needs to understand that they were incomplete forms of mind-training which did not lead to the realization of the conditioned nature of reality. [1] The Buddha trained under the best teachers at the time and synthesized them into a whole practice, which when followed to their end led to total liberation, or nirvana/nibbana. Many of the techniques you highlight descend from the same lineage: mindfulness (vipassana), lovingkindness (metta), and nondirective (of which transcendental owes itself to, Zen was its predecessor). It should be no surprise that the scientific evidence we have available to us has verified the efficacy of mindfulness, has verified the efficacy of lovingkindness. [2] A meditator's journey may take them through a host of techniques. What's important is they are backed by ethics and deep understanding of what practitioners thousands of years before us were writing. That is a foundation to build on. The Buddha and the teachers who followed built on this foundation. The Chinese synthesists, Mahayana, Vajrayana, all of them established themselves in the foundation of what came before. The foundation is a tripod. It is not "just" concentration or "just" ethics or "just" awareness, it is these three working together. [3] If you kick one leg out, the whole thing comes crashing down. Let me also clarify what I mean by dangerous: meditation must be grounded in ethical action, in right understanding of the techniques because one can very easily come to assume a new set of delusions to replace their old, which leads to poor outcomes for themselves and others. People have been dragged from retreats screaming because of latent mental illness or they perceived something they were unprepared for. I myself have observed the total dissolution of self right before my eyes. I was not afraid, I was ready. I owe that fearlessness and confidence to my teachers who selflessly taught with no expectation of monetary gain. Money itself corrupts the relationship between teacher and student. And we have decades of abuses from self-proclaimed gurus to back this. Those who declare themselves authorities to remove ethics or wisdom from a system of mind-training because it smacks of religious devotion need to seriously examine their motivations for doing so. The dhamma is free for anyone to pick up. I could recommend a host of teachers who will give days and years of their life to any prospective students who wish to take up the path, completely for free. And then when you turn your mind to gratitude, to lovingkindness, it will be easy to find a person for which to be gracious to. I owe my life to these people. I'd like to conclude by really pushing the creators of this project to reconsider associating Chorus with meditation. Even the Wim Hof Method is just the Wim Hof Method. Chorus on its own is a great name. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da [2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m_tiYlDIyNpp6WGUgKd5nTu6r7MySFqIc5MDS0JJSoM/edit?fbclid=IwAR06dTEVk2JBKL-1Nn1H41uUq4ok98Qzv_TYKrXDuzWFc0umsksBLIDQlLc#gid=7 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m_tiYlDIyNpp6WGUgKd5... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training