A reasonably good (if polemic) article about common misunderstandings of Buddhism and meditation, and what they’re really about. A quotation: “Mindfulness is the natural scientific method of the mind. A scientist brings a microscope, a meditator brings mindfulness. We need to realize that we live in a state of deep assumption about the way the mind works, which then extends to our understanding of the world. We rarely experience anything directly, without first slowing down and paying attention. A scientist shouldn’t make statements based on unsubstantiated claims, and a meditator shouldn’t try to change anything until mindfulness is decently established. Whenever we try to change something before we understand it, our attempted transformation actually comes from habit and assumption, not wisdom. Solutions that come from habit, as Albert Einstein pointed out, just end up reinforcing the problem. That’s called samsara, due to the always circular structure of habitual logic.”
A reasonably good (if polemic) article about common misunderstandings of Buddhism and meditation, and what they’re really about. A quotation: “Mindfulness is the natural scientific method of the mind. A scientist brings a microscope, a meditator brings mindfulness. We need to realize that we live in a state of deep assumption about the way the mind works, which then extends to our understanding of the world. We rarely experience anything directly, without first slowing down and paying attention. A scientist shouldn’t make statements based on unsubstantiated claims, and a meditator shouldn’t try to change anything until mindfulness is decently established. Whenever we try to change something before we understand it, our attempted transformation actually comes from habit and assumption, not wisdom. Solutions that come from habit, as Albert Einstein pointed out, just end up reinforcing the problem. That’s called samsara, due to the always circular structure of habitual logic.”