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Just came back from Rishikesh this week. That city is overloaded with meditation, drugs, mysticism and gives me fair perspective of whats happening with these p

Just came back from Rishikesh this week. That city is overloaded with meditation, drugs, mysticism and gives me fair perspective of whats happening with these phenomenons. As these concepts became popular in the west past few years, they became very commercialized. For eg. Yoga was always about mindfulness, it became more about stretching and poses. All of these concepts metamorphised into something else. As the transition happened, the value got diluted. As it because diluted, it became taboo and sometime butt of jokes (for eg. Crazy yoga lady was thrown around quite often).

p-e-w 3y ago
> That city is overloaded with meditation, drugs, mysticism Overloaded with the pretense of it more likely, for the benefit of tourists who go there in search of a quick pseudo-mystical high. > As these concepts became popular in the west past few years That's a common misconception. Mysticism and related experiences actually have a history in Western culture going back thousands of years. In the Middle Ages, it was completely normal and in fact encouraged for young people to seek unity with God through direct mystical interaction, and the many mystical writings from that time (most of them authored by ordinary monks/nuns and priests) are a testament to that. I recommend the 1915 book Practical Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill as an example of what modern Western mysticism can look like. It's available on Standard Ebooks in a high-quality, free edition[1]. The author, who wrote during WWI, considers mysticism a natural part of everyday life, without ever feeling the need to reference "The East" or other New Age tropes. [1] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/evelyn-underhill/practical-mysticism https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/evelyn-underhill/practical...
- debarshri 3y ago
  Thank you.
- OfSanguineFire 3y ago
  I suspect that the dopamine feed of modern media and internet has left people without so many quiet moments in which they could practice contemplation.
braindead_in 3y ago
Can you recommend some good places in Rishikesh to experience all this?

p-e-w 3y ago

> That city is overloaded with meditation, drugs, mysticism Overloaded with the pretense of it more likely, for the benefit of tourists who go there in search of a quick pseudo-mystical high. > As these concepts became popular in the west past few years That's a common misconception. Mysticism and related experiences actually have a history in Western culture going back thousands of years. In the Middle Ages, it was completely normal and in fact encouraged for young people to seek unity with God through direct mystical interaction, and the many mystical writings from that time (most of them authored by ordinary monks/nuns and priests) are a testament to that. I recommend the 1915 book Practical Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill as an example of what modern Western mysticism can look like. It's available on Standard Ebooks in a high-quality, free edition[1]. The author, who wrote during WWI, considers mysticism a natural part of everyday life, without ever feeling the need to reference "The East" or other New Age tropes. [1] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/evelyn-underhill/practical-mysticism https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/evelyn-underhill/practical...

debarshri 3y ago
Thank you.
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
I suspect that the dopamine feed of modern media and internet has left people without so many quiet moments in which they could practice contemplation.

braindead_in 3y ago

Can you recommend some good places in Rishikesh to experience all this?