A less obvious risk is attempting self-redesign without sufficient competence.
Good point.
I think in most cases the changes due to meditation are slow, so one is not thrust into drastically greater powers before observing how they’ve redesigned themselves with weaker powers.
The hypothetical slippery slope has you happy with each step, but you had imperfect visibility at the beginning; with full knowledge you would have been horrified at the result.
I find the prospect of gradual identity change (where I’m always locally happy) horrifying if it leads to me destroying things I now hold dear. But supposing that I accidentally took such a course, I’m sure I would be quite content.
I find the prospect of gradual identity change (where I’m always locally happy) horrifying if it leads to me destroying things I now hold dear. But supposing that I accidentally took such a course, I’m sure I would be quite content.
Interesting. How does one distinguish preference drift from learning about unknown aspects of preference?
You’re right. I think I’m incapable of it. In retrospect can tell you where I drifted from (or was naive about), but even that’s just recollections of thoughts and emotion (i.e. not very reliable). I don’t see any way to distinguish drift vs. learning about who I “really am” over my history, let alone in the present.
The short version is that people try to get rid of problems by methods which they hope will immediately make themselves feel better so that they can go back to the way they were living before they noticed the problem.
However, the restriction of awareness to wanting to get rid of the problem and the fantasy of how one will feel when the problem goes away is a large part of the problem.
Life gets much better when you quit fighting the present moment.
Yes, it’s specifically mantra meditation that is problematic in large amounts, not Vipasanna. Vipasanna is a meditation of greater awareness of the body, and mantra meditation is dissociative. Mantra meditation seems to be fine for 30 minutes or less a day but there are negative side effects when it is done in the long term for much more than that.
Is mantra meditation generally problematic?
A less obvious risk is attempting self-redesign without sufficient competence.
Good point.
I think in most cases the changes due to meditation are slow, so one is not thrust into drastically greater powers before observing how they’ve redesigned themselves with weaker powers.
The hypothetical slippery slope has you happy with each step, but you had imperfect visibility at the beginning; with full knowledge you would have been horrified at the result.
I find the prospect of gradual identity change (where I’m always locally happy) horrifying if it leads to me destroying things I now hold dear. But supposing that I accidentally took such a course, I’m sure I would be quite content.
Interesting. How does one distinguish preference drift from learning about unknown aspects of preference?
You’re right. I think I’m incapable of it. In retrospect can tell you where I drifted from (or was naive about), but even that’s just recollections of thoughts and emotion (i.e. not very reliable). I don’t see any way to distinguish drift vs. learning about who I “really am” over my history, let alone in the present.
A description of getting oneself into a worse and worse cycle, with something in the neighborhood of meditation as the way out.
The short version is that people try to get rid of problems by methods which they hope will immediately make themselves feel better so that they can go back to the way they were living before they noticed the problem.
However, the restriction of awareness to wanting to get rid of the problem and the fantasy of how one will feel when the problem goes away is a large part of the problem.
Life gets much better when you quit fighting the present moment.
The Bearable Lightness of Being—more about the implications of not imposing artificial separations on one’s experiences.
Yes, it’s specifically mantra meditation that is problematic in large amounts, not Vipasanna. Vipasanna is a meditation of greater awareness of the body, and mantra meditation is dissociative. Mantra meditation seems to be fine for 30 minutes or less a day but there are negative side effects when it is done in the long term for much more than that.
http://www.myownmind.com/extmteacher.cfm (there are lots of stories like this out there)
Thanks, though I’m left wondering how much the problem is mantra meditation and how much is inappropriate hopes and fears taught by TM.
Indeed. I did that during my teens, and it may have resulted in several pecularities of my current personality.
The only one I’m sure is due to it is that I am no longer capable of violence; which was the main point of my meditation.
However, while I’m no longer capable of violence, my brain as a whole still IS. It just means that I don’t have access to any memories of such events.