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A minor nit: Many people can reach deep insight by meditating intensely for a week or less, not a lifetime. Testimonies of Deep Insight or Knowledge of the Ari
by orasis 14y ago
A minor nit: Many people can reach deep insight by meditating intensely for a week or less, not a lifetime.
Testimonies of Deep Insight or Knowledge of the Arising and Passing - http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-this-is-indeed-a-p-congratulation.html http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-this-is-in...
To reach the end of seeking and seeing that everything is already non-dual, many people can accomplish this in 18 months to 2 years.
- 001sky 14y agovipassana meditation == another nit: the first word is a useless adjective.
- hosh 14y agoPeople have all sorts of notions about meditation. I'm writing for people who have become intrigued by the potential insights gained by psychedelics -- who may even be seeking relief from existential anxiety right now -- but may still have some doubts about using psychedelics. These folk are unlikely to to know what "vipassana" is, or that it is a meditation, or that there are lots of other things people call "meditation", and most importantly, a Google keyword to look through. If you know enough to nitpick this, then you probably didn't need the information :-D
- Alex3917 14y agoThe 10-day guides for achieving stream entry on that site are designed for people who already have 5+ years of experience. Similarly, the Buddha became an arahant within one 10-day sit, but not without many years of previous training.
- hosh 14y agoI point out vipassana for these reasons: (1) You don't have to do this with psychedelics. (2) You can gain the insights without psychedelics, meaning that it is within the normal operating parameters of the human brain to gain these insights. (3) You can trip and get high when you meditate. Don't be afraid when it happens. (4) You can trip and get high when you meditate. It's another attachment. (5) It's less of taking a "shortcut" with psychedelics and more about being initiated. Having tasted it and knowing that vipassana will also get you there invites you to have a regular practice. Peak experiences come and go. (6) The universe is a bigger place than we thought.
- molsongolden 14y agoCan you provide any advice for getting started or learning more about vipassana?
- yor 14y ago98% of Mindfulness in Plain English is great. Just ignore the parts where they talk about psychic powers. The description of vipassana technique is very well done. I'd suggest starting with the book Unlearning Meditation instead of any particular traditional technique, but that's just me.
- hosh 14y agoAs @yor said, Mindfulness in Plain English is good. You can find a copy free at: http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html I never heard of Unlearning Meditation but I do know that there were a lot of things I thought I knew about meditation and it was ... not exactly like that. Anne Wise's book, High Performance Mind gets into some of the technical details. I like Daniel Ingram's book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha but a lot of people don't. It's not exactly a beginner's book, but it's something to keep in mind if you ever start getting some weird experiences that you have difficulty framing. I say vipassana to mean the specific practice of experiencing reality, every little bit. It's not the only modality, and you'll find this particular practice in other traditions (and I mean, in Western traditions as well. There's not much you can tack on to "experience reality"). I have also been (slowly) translating the Tao Te Ching from the perspective that it is a book to guide you in your practice, not necessarily a book stating a philosophy. For example, the famous "The journey of a thousand miles begin with the first step" when put into this context actually means, let go of the thought/emotion/sensation at the beginning rather than when it becomes a full-blown train wreck that you have to ride out. I'm a bit stuck with the translation because I'm hitting the parts that resemble more of a trip with psychedelics, and the audience was originally intended for people who may not have those experiences. Having said that, I noticed that Brian Browne Walker's translation is in that particular spirit. Sometimes, just sitting there and getting in touch with reality is difficult. So there are other practices that can lead up to doing this. If you are still interested in this, but find Mindfulness in Plain English intimidating, I suggest Dan Millman's The Way of the Peaceful Warrior and followup with his Everyday Enlightenment.