The Illusion of Meditation

Seph

I think too often we are 'sold' on the fantasied, romanticized imagery of meditation,  and I think this might be harmful.




My favourite are the pictures and especially landscapes associated with meditation. (Try googling meditation landscapes).

I know I can't sit on a beautiful sunny ocean shore and have any hope in hell to meditate. The sheer beauty of the surroundings are a brutal distraction. (But then again, I could be wrong. Maybe we're supposed to get to a point where we can 'tune-out' the surrounding beauty.... naah).



I think the Venerable Henepola Gunaratana agrees:

"We have certain images of meditation. Meditation is something done in quiet caves by tranquil people who move slowly. Those are training conditions. They are set up to foster concentration and to learn the sill of mindfulness. Once you have learned that skill, however, you can dispense with the training restrictions, and you should. You don't need to move at a snail's pace to be mindful. You don't even need to be calm. You can be mindful while solving problems in intensive calculus. You can be mindful in the middle of a football scrimmage. You can even be mindful in the midst of a raging fury"

Mindfulness in Plain English, pg. 93

My first (chance) encounter with mindfulness (before I even had a name for it) was during my Black Belt Examination. It was quite profound. But wouldn't have described myself or my actions as anything remotely close to quiet, tranquil or slow moving.



I wonder sometimes whether there's an unproductive industry out there that - really - only sells the idea of meditation. All the imagery and trappings; but little to no substance.

I think this might be the illusion of meditation.

I also think we should be careful of this; to be mindful of it.

genkaku

Not sure whether it is relevant or not, but I wrote this a year or so ago:

Here are the ten incontrovertible qualifications for really being a real Buddhist really:

1. Adopt a wise and wizened demeanor -- someplace between George Clooney and Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Memorize the 108 holiest and most convoluted of all possible paradoxes. Dispense as necessary.

3. Clothes ... don't forget the clothes!

4. Walk slowly as if permeated with some weighty liquid.

5. If you're a lay person, yearn for ordination. If you're an ordained person, yearn for laicization.

6. Chant softly but audibly in public rest rooms.

7. If you visit a temple or monastery, make sure to bring home some small tourist treasure to indicate you visited. Hang it prominently, but with humble discretion, in your living room...next to all those books, perhaps.

8. Offer a small, carefully-crafted smile when someone tells you a first-class joke.

9. If someone asks you if you are a Buddhist, consider the question in a dour and somewhat quizzical silence.

10. Treat all beings with equanimity and kindness ... right up until the moment when you can't stand it any more and simply kick the cat. Repent as necessary.

And if all of this strikes you as utterly ludicrous, find a Buddhist practice, practice it and never mind who's a Buddhist and who's not.

Everyone suffers ... nuff said.

how

Imagery is certainly an added complication with a Zen a meditation practice.
Self generated imagery is just another doge from simply accepting what is really unfolding in front of us.
It is like the difference between practicing and thinking about practicing.

lobster

My first (chance) encounter with mindfulness (before I even had a name for it) was during my Black Belt Examination. It was quite profound. But wouldn't have described myself or my actions as anything remotely close to quiet, tranquil or slow moving.

My first kensho was during very intense martial art training. For a few seconds the individual sense of self was gone. 'No-self'. In the zone, flow, sport samadhi.

@gengaku enjoyed your examples of being real. I will have a go at a list . . .

Seph

lobster said:

My first (chance) encounter with mindfulness (before I even had a name for it) was during my Black Belt Examination. It was quite profound. But wouldn't have described myself or my actions as anything remotely close to quiet, tranquil or slow moving.

My first kensho was during very intense martial art training. For a few seconds the individual sense of self was gone. 'No-self'. In the zone, flow, sport samadhi.
(...what's "kensho"...?)

It was this chance encounter that was the final push into solidifying and pursuing meditation.

Theswingisyellow

Concepts are a bitch but it's what we humans specialize in. Concepts can be helpful but in this case holding concepts about what meditation is or should be would definitely be a hindrance

lamaramadingdong

90% of my meditating is done in my office in my chair (I have a home office). It is not beautiful, it is a mess. There are distractions everywhere- I find it a very true place to practice.