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"As for rest of the nonsense, any more or less authoritative teacher will tell you that it requires years of deliberate practice to attain very basic level of b
by hosh 13y ago
"As for rest of the nonsense, any more or less authoritative teacher will tell you that it requires years of deliberate practice to attain very basic level of being continuously aware and in control of ones inner states. "
They say that because that is generally true, and people who come into this practice cold tend to have expectations of quick results that forms obstacles to the practice.
However, I have met, and have experienced on my own, various inner states that themselves motivated me to start up a practice of meditation. That happens too. It results from biology, though some of those very same authoritative teachers might have other views on this.
In any case, there is a reason that when teachers describe meditation to the mainstream, they will lower the standards to as low as it goes. 8-weeks. Sit for five minutes. Etc. Some sort of practice, no matter how watered down, has a beneficial effect, will tease out a tiny bit of self-realization for the person. As such, encouraging people to try it without talking about how enormous the task is, is itself a compassionate activity.
- dschiptsov 13y agoMy objection is that what they have "measured" had nothing to do with meditation as a practice of developing a habit of continuous, effortless self-awareness, and that the practice itself, by definition, has nothing to do with morality.
- hosh 13y agoSo there are two separate things here. The first is whether or not developing a habit of continuous self-awareness is important. For the individual meditators like you and me, yeah, this is the goal. I don't expect others to try to reach this. It's not something that people who have not meditated, or who have not been graced with the realizations from meditation will understand why that is important. Until you reach that point, there is nothing in the world that will convince you of the importance. And even if you are persuaded that this is the standard, you're reacting to things inside of you that you are not aware of. You can't force someone to be mindful; why would you want to force someone to be continuously mindful? The second is why you are upset by this apparent lack in the article. Perhaps it is something to investigate on the cushion.
- mping 13y agoAgreed, any decent art won't require years of dedication to start getting its benefits. Unless there is some heavy obstruction, if people learn meditation from a good teacher, they should feel the benefits quite easily at the end of a sit, so much more after 8 weeks. In fact, people are generally so "confused" it's quite easy for us to get impressed with some minor improvements such as mood and concentration. As for the article, take it at face value.