Conversation

Jody

@Kalieezchild

Mar 29, 2018

Replying to

@misen__

@chagmed

and

@rubot

In fact, I’d say it’s a missed opportunity to not ignore it. It’s a different feature than the normal distracting thoughts and sensations, and thus affords a chance to lock in focus in a more rigorous setting, like jogging with leg weights.

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Sure, in that context of practice that could be a perfectly reasonable way to train. One could also do the exact opposite and open to the full vividness of subjective space-time in all its bizarre co-emergent transient glory. Both could be valid approaches, among others 🤷‍♂️

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I don't give a fuck what people tell me for practice if it works. I would sing mantras over a sheep's skull if it would do something fun. But it can be a bit rattling to see "practice this way only" stated when it can't possibly be an authoritative claim. Where are the results?

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I think if we limit the idea of meditation as being attentional training, we can say that it’s best to keep that as front and center in the practice, which means ignoring the fireworks at every opportunity. Meditation is more for many, so it’s not a blanket proscription.

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Ignoring the fireworks, AFAIK, is standard to most. It's the approach to everything else that varies. Do you approach the Void, pull away from it, ignore it altogether, serenade it with songs...? Do you call the Void a thing or do you just think about Nibannah or flow? Etc.

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I boil it down to ‘has awareness w/out objects been recognized as the source of the experience of being’.

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Very Zen. But then, you could also just do Theravada/Vajrayana and do fucking magic. Not that I would recommend it, personally.

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does that work?

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Vajrayana, I personally doubt it. I know many people who are as on the mark from Theravada as anyone else can claim, with or without magic.

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I believe in magic I can see on my kitchen table.

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I didn't say I believe in magic. I said people who practice it sometimes have powerful realizations akin to results from meditation. When they don't go completely insane, that is. Well, sometimes then, too.

11:01 PM · Mar 29, 2018Twitter Web Client

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I don't "believe" in meditation either. It just happens to do some cool things, which seems reason enough to take it seriously. I know meditators who claim things I have never experienced nor can substantiate that anyone else has experienced. I am skeptical of any such claim.

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But this also segues nicely into why I am skeptical of dismissive or proscriptive claims. You haven't experienced A, B or C doing X, Y or Z? I hesitate to care.

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