tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post1119849617907434827..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: MeditationSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-66906385146109288022015-05-21T08:48:45.901-04:002015-05-21T08:48:45.901-04:00Great article. I tried meditating on the mysteries...Great article. I tried meditating on the mysteries and found that the more I did it the more skeptical I became. It actually set me on a path to my atheism. Try to meditate on the Assumption without thinking it is a made up story. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13080171028295570919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-24468251033853873612015-05-19T12:30:34.149-04:002015-05-19T12:30:34.149-04:00+JMJ+
I'm not big on meditation myself, thou...+JMJ+ <br /><br />I'm not big on meditation myself, though I <i>would</i> like to practice mental prayer more. I wouldn't have commented on this if I hadn't reread some of the chapters on mental prayer in St. Francis de Sales's <i>Introduction to the Devout Life</i>. This time around, I was really struck by his point that Christian meditation has two ends: a) greater affection for God, and b) an increase in the practice of virtue. If you meditate but aren't getting those two results, then something is off. <br /><br />Compared to that, meditation to be more mindful strikes me as the equivalent of working out to be fit and healthy. Both are good ends, of course, and I would do well to work toward both myself . . . but mental prayer is more like working out so that you are in top form for the zombie apocalypse. Or for the Olympics. Or for whatever higher purpose you'd like to insert here. Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-2307494238921225042015-05-17T12:55:50.456-04:002015-05-17T12:55:50.456-04:00Yes, I meditate, but not religiously or obsessivel...Yes, I meditate, but not religiously or obsessively. It's a mindfulness technique, not tied to religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any religion, really. Like you said, sometimes you just need quite space and to pause and reflect or pause and focus on the present. There's nothing religious to it, just as there's nothing particularly religious about secular yoga-as-fitness. Sure, it originated as a practice within a religious practice, but it can and does indeed exist separate from religion and seeking of enlightenment. And yes, I do believe that there are loads of people out there for whom basic mindfulness and self-awareness are not a basic norm. Minds are cluttered with societal and earthly crap and people don't take care of themselves, whether out of obliviousness or an aversion to anything holistic/Eastern/yuppie/what-have-you. <br /><br />I first began meditation as part of my yoga practice in yoga club in college. It helped me feel calmer and was a way to step out of the excessive stimuli and focus on my own body, hear my own heartbeat, and center myself in relation to the world around me. It still is today, although I don't feel a need to use it as regularly as I did then. But more meditation -- that is, more effort to take a deep breath and stop and take a step back from the everyday -- is not going to kill us, imour and scientifically speaking.<br /><br />Enlightenment is not an ideal for most people who meditate, from my observation, in the u.s., anyway. Mindfulness and self-awareness is... kind of like how transcendentalism was for Emerson and Thoreau.Heatherhttp://hungryheather.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com