> Like, if you’ve become highly invested in the idea that you’re not supposed to experience mental turbulence anymore, this will naturally cause you to avoid st

> Like, if you’ve become highly invested in the idea that you’re not supposed to experience mental turbulence anymore, this will naturally cause you to avoid stress and conflict, which could, in turn, cause you to avoid growth, accountability, and humility. This. Very important insight. > Athletic Buddhism I love this term! (Competitive Buddhism) > My friend Jake, reading this section, correctly pointed out that I am engaging in Salad Bar Criticism. Jake's a good friend and the author very reflected. > First of all, it can lead to, essentially, a scolding relationship with the mind, in which you dismiss all of your desires and fantasies as undesirable “ego mind.” Interesting point - didn't think of that, yet. > Then, a few years ago, I started using introspective techniques and engaged with my self-hatred directly. This lead to an incredible increase in my mental clarity and overall well-being, which, funnily enough, made gainful meditation practice possible for me for the first time. It seems to me that the author is mostly digesting his own rather naive and dogmatic approach to Buddhism. He makes several good points, though. But generally his essays appear to me more as criticism of how the West tries to shoehorn Buddhist teachings into a culture which causes the problems we try to solve by means of Buddhism and meditation in the first place. That can't work, of course. > But the standard frontline meditation advice is still to ignore your thoughts and leave it at that. I think it’s tragically incomplete advice. But with an emphasis on "frontline". I never got the impression from modern introductory texts that thinking in general is bad or should be discarded. Quite the opposite. I enjoy thinking more during phases where I am able to successfully quiet my monkey mind interfering with sound thinking. > The aesthetic of modern Buddhism gives you the impression that being nice, quiet, and simple is the way to be, that this is Buddhist-ish living. This definitely seems to be a preconceived notion by beginners or outsiders. But as far as I am concerned I quickly realized how quiet meditation practice (without compassion, empathy exercises - which I still neglect) make me rather confident, loud, entertaining and sometimes even mean (though, 99% in justified situations - those situations where you think afterwards that a more aggressive reaction to some a*hole would have been totally warranted)