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Meditation as a problem solver?
betaboy
Veteran
I suffer from stress-induced cough. Every time it gets too much, I meditate ... and the problem is solved.
Do you also try something similar ... such as trying to use meditation to solve problems?
Or do you just do meditation for its own sake?
I find it hard to do the latter - meditation for its own sake - so usually for me meditation has to revolve around some problem or the other.
0
Comments
If you view suffering, in all it's gross & subtle manifestations as a problem, then meditation is a problem solver.
@betaboy. As your skill and knowledge in the realm of meditation mature most issues will resolve.
I think meditation can help with a lot of problems. And I think that's fine-- but it's not really Buddhism. In Buddhism, meditation is just one tool for the path but not the whole thing. What really matters is the overall direction of a practitioner's life and meditation is seen as a way to bring clarity and strengthen that direction.
For instance, I heard that the folks who operate drones that hunt terrorists in the Middle East practice meditation in order to de-stress after a day of, well, killing. Simiarly, the very nasty Japanese militarism during WWII made use of Zen techniques to make soldiers calmer and more determined. It would be hard to argue that such meditation constitutes a Buddhist or, for that matter, any type of spiritual practice. My point here is that meditation in its own right is pretty neutral.
Now what I find true for myself is that I become especially interested in Buddhism and meditation when I have some serious problem in my life. And that makes sense, as Buddhism is all about deminishing suffering. So I think it's fine that suffering in our lives increases motivation to practice. It's just that using meditation solely as a pill to target whatever particular personal ills we suffer at the moment, is probably not spirituality.
My personal experience also confirms that when I try to use meditation as a cure-all for my personal pains, I quickly lose my way. It's kind of like this: sugar is a crucial ingridient of the cake but if you eat just sugar rather than the whole cake, the result always disappoints.
I hope your cough gets better. Also, I would consider looking into conventional or alternative medicine-- a lot of very smart people have spent their lives studying bodily ailments over millenia
I don't like to set up expectations that meditation in itself will 'solve' anything for me.
This song helps me before i meditate.
The more you meditate, the more you clear your thinking to allow you to more efficiently see yourself through problems.
But meditation per se is not a problem-solver.
YOU are the solution to your problems.
Seems like a plan.
For me it is the calming side effect that solves many dukkha related problems. :wave: .
@betaboy I meditate to try and see things clearly. Or more clearly haha.
That's it!
There are quite a lot of benefits to a regular meditation practice, including a calmer and clearer mind which is likely to be better at problem solving.
If you can make it part of your daily routine I think you will find it helpful.
I think that is appropriate as the Buddha went to meditate, not just for the sake of it, but to solve the problem of suffering. If you don't have some pressing immediate problem, you still have the problem of being stuck in samsara. This is one of the points of taking the Bodhisattva vow. The practice is done for a purpose, to liberate beings from suffering, not just for the sake of it itself.
I think meditation should help to solve the problem, otherwise we are just transferring the issue to another medium. We need to be able to solve our own problems.
"There are no problems, only situations"
If meditation has caused you to stop making situations into "a problem" to begin with, then you could say meditation has solved all the problems!
Fair call.
To Meditate
To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself,
that the sun of awareness is shining in you,
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace.
http://www.rinpoche.com/quotes/quote12.htm