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Meditation in the context of these bobo articles is just prayer for westerners who hate Christianity. It's a warped solipsistic form of prayer, however. Of cour

Meditation in the context of these bobo articles is just prayer for westerners who hate Christianity. It's a warped solipsistic form of prayer, however. Of course if they knew a damn thing about real Buddhism or Hinduism they'd avoid using terms from those religions, too.

locopati 13y ago
You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about Westerners practicing Eastern religions. If your practice is Christianity and you are happy in your practice, why does it bother you how other people find the same relief?
- a8da6b0c91d 13y ago
  I'm not christian and I have no chip. I just think the social dynamics of this meditation stuff are highly noteworthy and important. It is absolutely rooted in western self hatred and rejection of tradition. Anyway, these people aren't really practicing eastern religions. They're simply remaining ignorant enough about the faiths that their PC sensibilities aren't triggered.
  - locopati 13y ago
    At least in the community of practitioners that I am a member of, that doesn't ring true. Many people, including myself, did not connect with the faith they were born into, yet found something that spoke to them in Zen practice, which is deeply rooted in tradition (albeit one novel and unfamiliar to most Western practitioners). To say that 'these people aren't really practicing eastern religions' is a sweeping statement. Again, it may apply to some folks, but not generally to members of the communities I have experienced. I'm curious about your connection of self-hatred to 'the social dynamics of this meditation stuff.' Could you expand on what you wrote?
rainmaking 13y ago
All of these statements are false. Prayer is communication with a God(1), while meditation is simply quieting of the mind(2). Therefore, one is not a warped form of the other. The two are distinct. Finally, meditation is a etymologically a western term(3) (1) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer (2) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation (3) http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meditation http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meditation

locopati 13y ago

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about Westerners practicing Eastern religions. If your practice is Christianity and you are happy in your practice, why does it bother you how other people find the same relief?

a8da6b0c91d 13y ago
I'm not christian and I have no chip. I just think the social dynamics of this meditation stuff are highly noteworthy and important. It is absolutely rooted in western self hatred and rejection of tradition. Anyway, these people aren't really practicing eastern religions. They're simply remaining ignorant enough about the faiths that their PC sensibilities aren't triggered.
- locopati 13y ago
  At least in the community of practitioners that I am a member of, that doesn't ring true. Many people, including myself, did not connect with the faith they were born into, yet found something that spoke to them in Zen practice, which is deeply rooted in tradition (albeit one novel and unfamiliar to most Western practitioners). To say that 'these people aren't really practicing eastern religions' is a sweeping statement. Again, it may apply to some folks, but not generally to members of the communities I have experienced. I'm curious about your connection of self-hatred to 'the social dynamics of this meditation stuff.' Could you expand on what you wrote?

rainmaking 13y ago

All of these statements are false. Prayer is communication with a God(1), while meditation is simply quieting of the mind(2). Therefore, one is not a warped form of the other. The two are distinct. Finally, meditation is a etymologically a western term(3) (1) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prayer (2) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation (3) http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meditation http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=meditation