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I've never liked the way meditation makes me feel, but I really like doing "guided relaxation". To an extent that I think they have to be different somehow, eve

by feb012025 5mo ago

I've never liked the way meditation makes me feel, but I really like doing "guided relaxation". To an extent that I think they have to be different somehow, even though a lot of people would probably say they're the same thing. I feel like staring at walls is similar.

jakeydus 5mo ago
How would you describe the difference between them?
throwforfeds 5mo ago
> I've never liked the way meditation makes me feel This is common. A true meditation practice brings up a lot of stuff, from general body aches and pains to deep emotional things you may be unconsciously suppressing. With time and persistence, and with the right teacher, it becomes liberating though.
- feb012025 5mo ago
  I don't think that's it. I've never been one to shy away from any difficult emotional experiences I have (maybe I'm wrong though who knows) I just end up feeling emotionally "flat" after doing it. Which sometimes feels like that's the goal, but I don't like the feeling
  - throwforfeds 5mo ago
    Ah, I see, that's also very common. Taken all the way it can develop into nihilism, which is one of the two extreme views in Buddhism [1]. I fell into that early on and abandoned my practice for many years. I found that once I found the Mahayana teachings on emptiness [2] and then the stories of the Vajrayana masters [3] the practice became joyful again and not bogged down by some narrow view of what meditation is. [1] https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Two_extremes https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Two_extremes [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81 and particularly as formulated in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita [3] for example Saraha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraha and Tilopa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa
    - SeriousM 5mo ago
      Did you noticed the Sri Yantra pattern in the Prajnaparamita article? https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yantra https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yantra

jakeydus 5mo ago

How would you describe the difference between them?

throwforfeds 5mo ago

> I've never liked the way meditation makes me feel This is common. A true meditation practice brings up a lot of stuff, from general body aches and pains to deep emotional things you may be unconsciously suppressing. With time and persistence, and with the right teacher, it becomes liberating though.

feb012025 5mo ago
I don't think that's it. I've never been one to shy away from any difficult emotional experiences I have (maybe I'm wrong though who knows) I just end up feeling emotionally "flat" after doing it. Which sometimes feels like that's the goal, but I don't like the feeling
- throwforfeds 5mo ago
  Ah, I see, that's also very common. Taken all the way it can develop into nihilism, which is one of the two extreme views in Buddhism [1]. I fell into that early on and abandoned my practice for many years. I found that once I found the Mahayana teachings on emptiness [2] and then the stories of the Vajrayana masters [3] the practice became joyful again and not bogged down by some narrow view of what meditation is. [1] https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Two_extremes https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Two_extremes [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81 and particularly as formulated in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita [3] for example Saraha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraha and Tilopa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa
  - SeriousM 5mo ago
    Did you noticed the Sri Yantra pattern in the Prajnaparamita article? https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yantra https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yantra