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Sometimes, you meet a new person and the first thing that you notice is the immense calm on their faces. You get good vibes from them. And even without talking,
by mayayo3 11y ago
Sometimes, you meet a new person and the first thing that you notice is the immense calm on their faces. You get good vibes from them. And even without talking, you can tell they are nice people.
It happened with me recently a few times. As I got to know those people better, I learnt that they've all done Vipassana at some point in their lives. It might sound mumbo jumbo but these are the facts.
I haven't done Vipassana but my girlfriend did, about a few months back. Honestly, I didn't see any noticeable change in her. I mean she loves puppies now as much as she did earlier. She definitely did have trippy, out of body experiences. Perhaps, others who don't see her as often as I do might be able to tell some very visible, external changes.
However, there was one very peculiar effect. She had been complaining of a chronic back pain for almost a year. After she returned, her back pain was 90% gone!
Some of my close friends have also recently returned from it, and they all seem calmer, more mindful people now.
- savage_platypus 11y agoReads like a scientology ad
- lamuerteflaca 11y ago>>Reads like a Scientology ad After just reading the first few lines I started thinking what a bunch of bull. Then I read your message and I laughed because it's so true...:) What worries me is that it is so easy to be taken in by this stuff. Specially if you are in a vulnerable state.
- seanp2k2 11y agoIt is what you make of it; that's also the whole point, so it's funny because it's meta. That's also why I find people who are super-invested in that type of thing and super serious about it hilarious; it's as if they don't get it because they think they get it so hard.
- crindy 11y agoDid you sign up just to bash vipassana? I'm curious as to why you feel so strongly about the issue. If it works for some people, it works for them. Does it cause harm to you if other people give it a try?
- compbio 11y agoScientology and some Thelemic orgs use Vipassana and other meditative techniques to ensnare their students. The wonky experiences like out-of-body experiences are used to market the system. So it works, yet is still abused to capitalize on the spiritual progress of followers. It works, but so does a parlor trick works when your audience does not pay full attention. Your question: 'Does it cause harm to you if other people give it a try?' is a tricky one. A practice can be harmful to others without being harmful to you. Does it cause harm to you if other people try out heroin? Does that void a strong opinion on drug abuse? To people not, or slightly, familiar with Vipassana, such stories do read like someone smoked their first joint and its the cure for every ailment they can think of. Like born-again people talking about "seeing God and having Him save my life". Glad it helped and you are so enthusiastic, but you are still claiming salvation from an invisible man in the sky, aka: you sound like a Scientology ad. Especially when claiming medical benefits, caution is required. Edit: I am not comparing meditation to heroin. I am showing that the question 'Does it cause harm to you if other people give it a try?' is a trick question, a debating technique. Answering 'no' does not invalidate the statement 'this reads like a scientology ad'. But even if I did compare meditation to heroin, so what? The article compared meditation to psychedelics.
- rosser 11y agoYou're comparing meditation to heroin?
- ctolsen 11y agoThe article compared meditation to psychedelics because the author is misguided. They may produce remotely similar states of mind. That does not mean they are equal. There is no claim of salvation in meditation. Only claims of personal benefit in terms of calm and compassion, plus an increasing body of scientific evidence of cognitive benefits. Invisible men in the sky are the antithesis of Vipassana, and anyone who uses it to ensnare anyone are frauds. The only benefits are within yourself, and the teachings make that abundantly clear. Also, implying that Vipassana and meditation can harm anyone is absolutely ridiculous. It cannot do that anymore than reading a book or eating breakfast can.
- futuravenir 11y agoUnlike Scientology, Vipassana courses are free. They provide food, shelter, and an incredible experience on the donations of others. If you want to give a donation after you've finished the course (and only after you've finished the complete course, they won't accept donations otherwise), then you are welcomed to.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- oskarth 11y agoI have never done a Vipassana retreat, but I've played around with that style of meditation with good results. To me this is one of the most admirable aspects of it - so many of these so called "spiritual" (a misguided umbrella term) retreats/courses functions more as a way for the founder to get rich than to do something good. See the founder of Bikram yoga.
- pizza234 11y agoAnd yet again, it's not rocket science. There are simple psychological reasons for having pains. If a person has a very tense lifestyle, no wonder he/she will get pains due to induced muscle stiffness. In such cases, even a cup of tea a day (just to say) can "miraculously" cure a back pain, if the latter is caused by induced stiffness, and the first causes a daily relaxation.
- helloagain 11y agoI was not wearing my glasses and I read that first sentence as "There are simple psychological reasons for having pants". But I suppose this statement is also true :)
- ctolsen 11y agoExcept it doesn't. Vipassana courses are barely advertised, people come of their own volition, and participate for free. People are asked to try their method for ten days, not to change their lives without wanting to. If they did advertise, they'd have scientific evidence that there are benefits from their methods. However, they don't use that, because meditation is not about proven benefits to them. It's about living a more compassionate and harmonious life. Hardly a scam of any kind. I don't know why anyone would attempt to discredit it.