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Is it possible to gain the benefits of meditation through just trying to be awake and mindful during every day activities?
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Jul 10, 2013 07:30
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 08:42 |
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Cool, thanks for the answer. Alternately, I would be very curious on the threadmembers views on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uarCaupZBY Warning: by a sort of "pick up artist" guy. But the video is not about pickup (and I am not a fan of pickup in general, but this guy is more of a self-development guy in my opinion). I just found this video very affirming of some lifeviews that I have always had and have been somewhat fueled by my more eastern delves into philosophy, although this guys preaching of searching out life experiences (some could be perceive as hedonistic) might run counter to the maybe-stereotypical zen idea that enlightenment is insulated in one's self/ridding yourself of your ego. I'll pose a question to give this query a bit more structure: Do you think life is more about seeking out opportunity/traveling and developing one's self and learning along the way, or that you can live an equally fulfilling life locked up inside of a monastery or meditating inside of your bedroom? Do you believe in the scarcity of opportunity as described in the video or do you believe that is an illusion? Whether you agree or think the guy is a numbskull I'd like to hear your thoughts.
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Jul 10, 2013 08:08
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Nice answer and the sort of critique I think I was looking for when I asked. I introduced that false dichotomy in my language on purpose to illicit a reaction but I don't necessarily lean one way or the other ultimately, besides the fact that my cultural upbringing and circumstances have set me on a trajectory to appreciate the "globetrotting" lifestyle a bit more. I think one important thing is that his intended audience is probably the 18-35 range of people who still have a lot of youthful vigor and potential first world opportunities to leap towards, and in general I find his philosophy more enlightened than the average person's, which is obviously vague but perhaps you know what I mean. It does fail to answer that ever pervasive question of "what to do when the fun is over?," besides just saying get it while you can. Your contrasting view does make me ponder if we of the first world have some sort of responsibility towards those in more unfortunate situations, if they can be called that, and if so, what? I think we obviously do, in some sense, but I have no idea how to grasp the logistics of actually helping those people, and it does feel like a problem much bigger than myself-- there are probably an embarrassingly large number of people living in the year 2013 that are living like those ancient buddhists. How do you confront this personally? Is this something to meditate upon? Do you feel compelled to give up material possessions and move into a monastery? I don't know what to do besides keep on living in such a way that improves upon my first world, and hopefully if I am lucky enough to improve my own life and that world MAYBE some of that could spill over to others, eventually.
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Jul 10, 2013 13:23
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I'm not gonna lie, some part of me really wants there to be a truth in just the act of traveling and learning to enjoy one's own life, but obviously that notion belies what buddhism says is the temporary nature of things. Thanks for all the words, guys
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Jul 10, 2013 20:14
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What is it that motivates someone to become a monastic?
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Jul 22, 2013 06:23
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Does Buddhism or Zen (if we happen to have an expert) have any official stance on art/creativity and it's place in a person's life
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Aug 10, 2013 12:14
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Does anyone else feel their eyes moving in their head while sitting? Also, can I describe my meditation process and have someone critique it? I usually set my alarm on my phone for 11 minutes (I know people do 15/20, but this is hard for me) and then begin to sit. I forget where I learned this method, but I usually count to 10 with the breaths, in 1, out 2, in 3, out 4, etc. and just try to be with the breaths. Only I often find myself writing narratives in my head, such as "oh I am going to go to the Something Awful forums and describe this mental object or this other obstacle" or "I am going to write a poem when i am done with this." I don't think I am really trying to announce these, but they do constantly float across my brain. Anyway, I have one rule while I sit and that is that even if those things are happening, I keep counting and breathing in and out. Sometimes it becomes too much and I feel very tense and have to stop. But if I perservere, typically it becomes bearable or I become resolute and continue sitting in spite of it. After about the 5-6 minute mark (I'm guessing) sometimes I start to feel a feeling of relief and then I become aware of the white glow in front of my eyelids if there is a light somewhere in the room. I try to face away from light or leave lights off, but if there is a light behind me even then this will happen. It almost feels like this is the precipice of being in the moment, and then when I reach that point I am able to fade somewhat blissfully in between being in the moment and out of the moment, counting counting counting, and even though it feels somewhat good (atleast compared to the beginning of the meditation) I still find myself sometimes yearning for return to non-meditation, or thinking about when the alarm will go off. Even so, I always feel better if I make it through. Does this sound typical at all to my fellow sitters? Thanks for reading.
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Aug 16, 2013 11:46
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You aren't really "thinking about nothing," but depending on the practice you could be developing loving-kindness which you can apply to your day to day actions and interactions, or you could be quieting the thinking machine, so that your thoughts are more poignant and you function better. These are very practical in my opinion, but this is just my interpretation.
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Aug 25, 2013 21:33
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So, I have this thing sometimes when I sit (I think you would call my meditation zazen) where I feel a big buildup of energy and I just want to shake my arms and legs or just extend them. This last time I instead brought my attention to different parts of my body and went down to my toes and it slowly faded, I think. Any idea what's up with that? It gets pretty frustrating
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Oct 22, 2013 07:46
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How do you guys maintain meditation habits? I really just want to meditate for 10 minutes every day, but I can never stick to it. Any advice? I know this question has probably been asked 1,000 times, but this thread is kinda dead anyway.
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May 16, 2015 23:29
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Yes, I do think it will make me a "different" person in that it will improve my quality of life. I am mostly interested in doing it for selfish/"worldly" reasons, such as performing better at my work, learning, having better and more present interactions with others, but I would also like to be more able to evaluate positive pathways in life to make my and other's world a better place. Is that a lot to ask from 10 minutes of meditation? Yes. But I think not-doing it is pushing me in the other direction.
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May 17, 2015 01:46
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 08:42 |
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Mr. Mambold posted:Yeah, that's asking a lot, but you may just be the one in a billion sleeping supermeditator who can do all that on 10 minutes a day. Who cares if you do it for selfish motives- all motives are selfish Yeah, its a small incremental change. But what would my life for the next 5 years be like if I meditated 10-15 minutes a day, every day, vs. not? If anyone in this thread thinks that it wouldn't be a noticeably positive trend for all the motives I mentioned, I'd be surprised.
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May 17, 2015 03:17
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