Ironically, that’s a super Buddhist statement. The idea that you would go do a Buddhist meditation with the expectation of gaining something from it is antithetical to what Buddhism is about. I’m not a Buddhist, I don’t meditate, but I remember going to a session with my significant other and a bunch of people were like, “how many sessions of this do I have to do before I start getting the effects (depression getting better, anger issues, etc).” They completely missed the point that the whole thing is about self-reflection, or as you said, a breathing exercise.
If you’re a mindful and competent person then you probably aren’t gaining much from guided meditation. If you’re struggling with some stuff then taking 30 min of dedicated time to work through it is probably a good thing. If you’re a certain type of Neurodivergent and have trouble focusing, then it’s probably something you could do every day.
More importantly, if you’re a 3rd century AD monk who has a ton of time on their hands, it’s probably not a bad way to spend your time (other spiritual/religious groups would do the same praying)
My experience from taking the MBSR was that the match of meditation techniques to practitioner was wildly idiosyncratic.
I think the best thing about that class is that it just exposes you to a dozen or so different styles, and hopefully you like one or two.
My experience with the body scan is that it is best done guided, at least for the first few years, because you need to be walked through your blind spots.
Enlightenment is just realizing truths that go against assumptions that get programmed into us by the way we are raised into society. Meditation, I think, is a way to think neutrally about things, which can make it easier to realize those truths, because we can have a lot of emotional attachment to the untruths they replace.
I don’t really meditate myself (hence the “I think”) though psychedelics might have helped prime me for several enlightenments (it’s not just one thing). Enlightenment doesn’t really solve any life problems but make it way easier to navigate life emotionally by adjusting expectations and entitlements.
I suspect the mysticism added on to Buddhism was intended to address the existential dread about the certainty of death (the reincarnation stuff) as well as try to temper those that realize nothing is really stopping them from doing whatever the fuck they want to others if they either have the power for it or don’t care about what happens to themselves afterwards (the karma stuff).
Personally, I separate the mysticism from the philosophy, where I consider the latter very useful for living a happy or at least content life and the former fun to think about, probably wishful thinking, but no real way to know unless there is something after death.
Ironically, that’s a super Buddhist statement. The idea that you would go do a Buddhist meditation with the expectation of gaining something from it is antithetical to what Buddhism is about. I’m not a Buddhist, I don’t meditate, but I remember going to a session with my significant other and a bunch of people were like, “how many sessions of this do I have to do before I start getting the effects (depression getting better, anger issues, etc).” They completely missed the point that the whole thing is about self-reflection, or as you said, a breathing exercise.
If you’re a mindful and competent person then you probably aren’t gaining much from guided meditation. If you’re struggling with some stuff then taking 30 min of dedicated time to work through it is probably a good thing. If you’re a certain type of Neurodivergent and have trouble focusing, then it’s probably something you could do every day.
More importantly, if you’re a 3rd century AD monk who has a ton of time on their hands, it’s probably not a bad way to spend your time (other spiritual/religious groups would do the same praying)
My experience from taking the MBSR was that the match of meditation techniques to practitioner was wildly idiosyncratic.
I think the best thing about that class is that it just exposes you to a dozen or so different styles, and hopefully you like one or two.
My experience with the body scan is that it is best done guided, at least for the first few years, because you need to be walked through your blind spots.
Enlightenment is just realizing truths that go against assumptions that get programmed into us by the way we are raised into society. Meditation, I think, is a way to think neutrally about things, which can make it easier to realize those truths, because we can have a lot of emotional attachment to the untruths they replace.
I don’t really meditate myself (hence the “I think”) though psychedelics might have helped prime me for several enlightenments (it’s not just one thing). Enlightenment doesn’t really solve any life problems but make it way easier to navigate life emotionally by adjusting expectations and entitlements.
I suspect the mysticism added on to Buddhism was intended to address the existential dread about the certainty of death (the reincarnation stuff) as well as try to temper those that realize nothing is really stopping them from doing whatever the fuck they want to others if they either have the power for it or don’t care about what happens to themselves afterwards (the karma stuff).
Personally, I separate the mysticism from the philosophy, where I consider the latter very useful for living a happy or at least content life and the former fun to think about, probably wishful thinking, but no real way to know unless there is something after death.