I do hope to write an essay on this because man is it difficult to describe in a few words. I’ve been meditating daily for a year now and it is such a stabilizing force in my life. It brings awareness and equanimity. I generally feel well equipped to deal with anything that happens in life with grace. Life is more enjoyable and suffering has greatly reduced. I find myself more able to love and receive love. I find the world beautiful. I sustain habits much better. My screen time is minimal (by minimal I mean 1-2 hours vs 4+ before). Meditation itself has also become a hobby, because the space I can tap into there is magical. The list goes on and on!
I ask because I haven’t been able to notice any measurable impacts from meditation on any variable in my life (possibly too much information at 123. I also like meditation and will go on probably 2, plausibly 3 retreats this year, but the lack of measurable impact on my life leaves me skeptical that it’s actually a good use of my time.
I skimmed through the posts you linked. I find your quantitative approach to life fascinating. I can understand the doubt on whether it’s a good use of your time. For me, I’d say meditation is much more tied to mystical experiences, and subjective life improvements follow. At some point I think I decided this is not something we rationally understand fully, though we may try. Now I am just letting it happen to me, if that makes sense, while recognizing the intellectual component is but a small subset
In which ways?
I do hope to write an essay on this because man is it difficult to describe in a few words. I’ve been meditating daily for a year now and it is such a stabilizing force in my life. It brings awareness and equanimity. I generally feel well equipped to deal with anything that happens in life with grace. Life is more enjoyable and suffering has greatly reduced. I find myself more able to love and receive love. I find the world beautiful. I sustain habits much better. My screen time is minimal (by minimal I mean 1-2 hours vs 4+ before). Meditation itself has also become a hobby, because the space I can tap into there is magical. The list goes on and on!
I ask because I haven’t been able to notice any measurable impacts from meditation on any variable in my life (possibly too much information at 1 2 3. I also like meditation and will go on probably 2, plausibly 3 retreats this year, but the lack of measurable impact on my life leaves me skeptical that it’s actually a good use of my time.
I skimmed through the posts you linked. I find your quantitative approach to life fascinating. I can understand the doubt on whether it’s a good use of your time. For me, I’d say meditation is much more tied to mystical experiences, and subjective life improvements follow. At some point I think I decided this is not something we rationally understand fully, though we may try. Now I am just letting it happen to me, if that makes sense, while recognizing the intellectual component is but a small subset