Best Of
Re: Meditation and mental health
@IdleChater said:
It would be the OP's right to sue your ass off if they take your advice, and they are psychologically injured as a result. The owners of the site could be sued as well.End of the site. End of our community. End of your savings.
I was going to stay out of this because I said my piece already. But that's not correct. Section 230 protects the forum and the site. Not only that, but the OP would bear a significant amount of legal responsibility for deciding to take medical advice from an unverified source online.
But the OP would never sue anybody, because he is a member of our community who shared his thoughts in good faith. More than one person responded that seeing a medical professional was first and foremost. And Tavs certainly wasn't asking about any kind of dosage for anything, so the diabetes comment is false equivalency.
With multiple people reminding Tavs that a doctor was necessary up front, the air was cleared for others to share their thoughts in loving-kindness, which I believe is the point of the forum.
Re: Meditation and mental health
@Jeroen said:
it is a fact that the intersection of mental health and meditation is not an area that is well served with knowledgeable doctors at the moment.
Not a fact at all jeron, and it's irresponsible to make any statement that would erode confidence in modern medicine, especially in the area of mental health.
There are plenty of psychologists and psychiatrists that are familiar with Buddhist meditation methods and are able to integrate that into more traditional modalities.
There are schools that include this in their curriculum. Naropa has a complete program around it.
Lemme ask you a question - if someone, with diabetes, came in here with questions about what insulin dosage they should use, what would you prescribe?
Re: Meditation and mental health
An awful lot of medical advice being given, by people unqualified for it.
@Tavs: If you're having mental health issues, take them to a doctor and not a forum like this.
Re: Meditation and mental health
Exactly so! @Ren_in_black
You will never have an absolutely 'clear' mind/body/emotional vehicle but if your spice rack is either simple or multi-varied, you can cook.
It depends on how committed and serious you are in your art/practice/changing understanding...
For example: Being 'mindless' denotes the idiocy of many people. It is also a form of samadhi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi
lobster
Re: Meditation and mental health
In my experience I have found rest, beach walks, contemplation and Buddhist literature to be conducive to restoring mental health. I enjoyed sutra anthologies a lot in this space, as long as you keep in mind that not every goal the Buddha sets his monks needs to be a goal for you. Relaxation and rest should be the primary concern, letting the body and mind heal themselves.
Jeroen
Re: Some troubles with new sila efforts
It seems like most people got 'hooked' by the examples and lost track of the questions.
For me, the most important thing is to build moral courage and integrity.
The examples I gave are, I believe, very good to do in their own right, but even more importantly are, for me, 'training grounds' for moral courage and integrity.
marcitko
Re: Some troubles with new sila efforts
@person said:
@Angus said:
Youd be some kind of dumbass to pay taxes you dont need to....but well done for considering it. With a bit more maturity hopefully you will see the folly of your action.I suppose this is an example of a rebuke. Care to elaborate on why you consider people dumb for paying taxes and how maturity will change someone's view? I think for myself it would be important to make a case for why it wouldn't be considered stealing.
Wanted to wait for @Angus to respond, but he seems to pop in infrequently.
Looking into tax avoidance a bit. Sentiment varies quite a bit by country, it depends on many factors like what you feel you're getting in return, how corrupt or efficient your government is, how visible the tax is (a VAT isn't as noticeable as a yearly income tax).
From a game theory point of view its kind of like a large scale prisoner's dilemma. The prisoner's dilemma, for anyone unfamiliar, is a simplified example of cooperative/selfish dynamics that play out in life and society. If you act selfishly, while others act cooperatively you win, if you both cooperate you both win but by not as much and if you both act selfishly you both lose the most.
So if I avoid paying taxes while others do, I get the benefits of a well funded society and keep more money for myself. If tax avoidance becomes the norm things get worse for everyone.
person
Re: From Seeker to Scholar, and Back Again?
@person said:
I'd argue that there is much less innate wisdom in knowledge today compared to ancient wisdom traditions.
I think that is a good observation. Most wisdom traditions contain a certain teaching knowledge, they are not purely for entertainment. Whereas a lot of books today are written without such high ideals.
Jeroen
Re: Some troubles with new sila efforts
@Angus said:
Youd be some kind of dumbass to pay taxes you dont need to....but well done for considering it. With a bit more maturity hopefully you will see the folly of your action.
I suppose this is an example of a rebuke. Care to elaborate on why you consider people dumb for paying taxes and how maturity will change someone's view? I think for myself it would be important to make a case for why it wouldn't be considered stealing.
person
Re: From Seeker to Scholar, and Back Again?
What do you think? Does wisdom and an understanding of meaning come automatically? Does book learning help?
I'm under the impression that karma and rebirth plays a part. For some, wisdom and an understanding of meaning come simply from observing life’s flow. Ancient people acquired wisdom and a sense of meaning without having to read books or study the thoughts of others.
For most so-called modern human beings, we fill our minds with the ideas of others through reading, and then, if we are lucky, meaning if our karma allows, we too begin to study life’s flow using the knowledge gained from the books of others as reference points for our own experiential understanding.
Shoshin1