"Extreme" meditation

[Bishop Black]

I dabbled in "extreme" meditation based on some books I read - in which I attempted to Isolate myself from my surroundings as much as possible, and these are my thoughts on it.

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*I believe that it does allow one to access "higher states" of consciousness, however the effects could be unpredictable, and at times I felt dissociated from the world around me, and had some paranoid or grandiose thoughts which were disturbing.

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*I believe it does reveal that a lot of our "needs and wants" are psychological and driven by underlying emotions such as pride (we can "survive" on a very small amount of basic material needs, and "9-5" jobs I worked didn't bother me because of "back breaking labour", but because of ease and boredom). But our overall sense of purpose in life goes beyond that.

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*However the full fledged "ascetic" worldview in which all wants are viewed as worthless, I never totally bought on to. My conclusion is that being "addicted" to wants, like a drug that is "controlling" you, rather than earnest motivation by a higher sense of purpose and satisfaction is the key. If there are "some" people who could live a fully ascetic life and be completely content, I'm not sure that this is true for the average person. (I won't get into religion, however my belief is that individuals like Jesus and St. Paul were attempting to promote a worldview of self-discipline and being above and beyond "banal" pleasures and drives which bring misery for a lot of people - even if so, Jesus only had 12 disciples out of his multitude of followers).

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*In some cases, I am skeptical that some of the gurus are "enlightened", and in some cases may be a little "insane", cult-like, or fanatical (as an example, on Youtube I watched a video of a guru who threatened to kill the interviewer for "talking too much"; that didn't seem like the kind of behavior I'd expect from an "enlightened" individual).

 

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[Ninjakid]

I dabbled in "extreme" meditation based on some books I read - in which I attempted to Isolate myself from my surroundings as much as possible, and these are my thoughts on it.

This is exactly why it's important to have a type of path, or structure to your practice and not just dive in headfirst. It's very easy for people to become delusional after having some sort of insight. A huge danger is people's egos going out of control. Also, if you're isolated from everyone, there's no one to keep you in check if you're going off your rocker. Isolated retreats are good after you've attained some sort of proficiency to your practice, but not at first.

*However the full fledged "ascetic" worldview in which all wants are viewed as worthless, I never totally bought on to. My conclusion is that being "addicted" to wants, like a drug that is "controlling" you, rather than earnest motivation by a higher sense of purpose and satisfaction is the key. If there are "some" people who could live a fully ascetic life and be completely content, I'm not sure that this is true for the average person. (I won't get into religion, however my belief is that individuals like Jesus and St. Paul were attempting to promote a worldview of self-discipline and being above and beyond "banal" pleasures and drives which bring misery for a lot of people - even if so, Jesus only had 12 disciples out of his multitude of followers).

Not only is this lifestyle unnecessary, it's not even encouraged by many masters.

Many people who are advanced spiritual practitioners literally just live like normal people. You might have walked past them and not even known it.

*In some cases, I am skeptical that some of the gurus are "enlightened", and in some cases may be a little "insane", cult-like, or fanatical (as an example, on Youtube I watched a video of a guru who threatened to kill the interviewer for "talking too much"; that didn't seem like the kind of behavior I'd expect from an "enlightened" individual).

Many of them actually are, or they are even outright scammers. In India, there are actually many well known fake gurus who just want to take money and service from their followers.
And I saw the documentary you describe, and that is a prime example of a nutcase.

 

[Bishop Black]

Many people who are advanced spiritual practitioners literally just live like normal people. You might have walked past them and not even known it.

I believe this is the 'Middle Way' that Buddha was said to have recommended, while hedonism or strict austerity didn't bring him happiness.

 

[Ninjakid]

I believe this is the 'Middle Way' that Buddha was said to have recommended, while hedonism or strict austerity didn't bring him happiness.

Yes but it's also the simple fact that being enlightened doesn't make someone radically different than anyone else.

Buddha was initially not going to teach anyone, he was just happy to chill and go out his life. He happened to be born in a time and place where there was sort of a vacuum in spiritual teachings so he got really well received.

 

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[Niyas]

I dabbled in "extreme" meditation based on some books I read - in which I attempted to Isolate myself from my surroundings as much as possible, and these are my thoughts on it.

-

*I believe that it does allow one to access "higher states" of consciousness, however the effects could be unpredictable, and at times I felt dissociated from the world around me, and had some paranoid or grandiose thoughts which were disturbing.

-

*I believe it does reveal that a lot of our "needs and wants" are psychological and driven by underlying emotions such as pride (we can "survive" on a very small amount of basic material needs, and "9-5" jobs I worked didn't bother me because of "back breaking labour", but because of ease and boredom). But our overall sense of purpose in life goes beyond that.

-

*However the full fledged "ascetic" worldview in which all wants are viewed as worthless, I never totally bought on to. My conclusion is that being "addicted" to wants, like a drug that is "controlling" you, rather than earnest motivation by a higher sense of purpose and satisfaction is the key. If there are "some" people who could live a fully ascetic life and be completely content, I'm not sure that this is true for the average person. (I won't get into religion, however my belief is that individuals like Jesus and St. Paul were attempting to promote a worldview of self-discipline and being above and beyond "banal" pleasures and drives which bring misery for a lot of people - even if so, Jesus only had 12 disciples out of his multitude of followers).

-

*In some cases, I am skeptical that some of the gurus are "enlightened", and in some cases may be a little "insane", cult-like, or fanatical (as an example, on Youtube I watched a video of a guru who threatened to kill the interviewer for "talking too much"; that didn't seem like the kind of behavior I'd expect from an "enlightened" individual).

 

[Niyas]

One of the activities most associated with mindfulness and meditation is breathing. Counting breaths, noticing the quality of the breath, slowing the breath, essentially being mindful of the breath; these are some of the attentions you might employ to the activity of breathing in order to make a meditation of it.
Reading is also an activity! So, there is no reason why it cannot also be used as a meditative tool. It could be argued that mindfulness is simply the art of doing whatever you are doing at any given moment with presence. Getting the most out of your current task or action by not being passive, but by being fully engaged in it on a multi-sensory level; this is at the heart of mindfulness meditation. There is so much to notice when engaging with text; it is the perfect activity.

I suggest to hear some relaxing music when you reading or doing meditation activity.I can suggest the below YouTube channel to get some mind free music.

Greenwood Music - STRESS RELIEF

Welcome all. I am Mohamed Niyas M, I have a music playlists for Meditation Music, Sleep Music, Study Music, healing & Wellness Music. This all are original m...

www.youtube.com

 

[Pavan M.]

Anyone on this forum Practices Vipassana Meditation.

 

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[Pavan M.]

It is a 10 meditation retreat.

 

[AFMKelvin]

I dabbled in "extreme" meditation based on some books I read - in which I attempted to Isolate myself from my surroundings as much as possible, and these are my thoughts on it.

-

*I believe that it does allow one to access "higher states" of consciousness, however the effects could be unpredictable, and at times I felt dissociated from the world around me, and had some paranoid or grandiose thoughts which were disturbing.

-

*I believe it does reveal that a lot of our "needs and wants" are psychological and driven by underlying emotions such as pride (we can "survive" on a very small amount of basic material needs, and "9-5" jobs I worked didn't bother me because of "back breaking labour", but because of ease and boredom). But our overall sense of purpose in life goes beyond that.

-

*However the full fledged "ascetic" worldview in which all wants are viewed as worthless, I never totally bought on to. My conclusion is that being "addicted" to wants, like a drug that is "controlling" you, rather than earnest motivation by a higher sense of purpose and satisfaction is the key. If there are "some" people who could live a fully ascetic life and be completely content, I'm not sure that this is true for the average person. (I won't get into religion, however my belief is that individuals like Jesus and St. Paul were attempting to promote a worldview of self-discipline and being above and beyond "banal" pleasures and drives which bring misery for a lot of people - even if so, Jesus only had 12 disciples out of his multitude of followers).

-

*In some cases, I am skeptical that some of the gurus are "enlightened", and in some cases may be a little "insane", cult-like, or fanatical (as an example, on Youtube I watched a video of a guru who threatened to kill the interviewer for "talking too much"; that didn't seem like the kind of behavior I'd expect from an "enlightened" individual).

I've been studying the Vedas for a decade now and the aesthetic lifestyle is not for everyone. In fact I think today it's pointless to practice such lifestyle. There's no reason to deny your biological needs. The whole spiritual awakening of seen things and feeling extraordinary sensory stimulus is something that's sort of unique to the west. Meditation is about self control and discipline more than anything else.

Most if not all gurus are the Indian version of the self help gurus of the west. They talk a lot but say nothing. The real enlighten ones in India don't bother with disciples or having a following. And if they do they have at most one disciple or just write a book when they're older.

 

[TheFitVegan]

There are several spaces around the world where they ask you to join in for a period of 7-11 days. In these days, they ask you to practice meditation in different spaces like in soft music, dead silence, some breathing exercises and many more things. For those days, you aren't suppose to speak a word nor use your phone. In the free time you can read and of course meditate. (I am no way promoting any space, just felt like sharing about it)

 

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