Chade
newsguy.com> writes:
> On 3 Aug, 22:05, monkeym...@hactrn.ch (Monkey Mind) wrote:
>>
>>
>> No. You'll gain certain skills, changing what you already are, from
>> someone with little concentration skills to someone with lots, at
>> least.
>>
>
> While a certain amount of concentration is beneficial the best ways to
> build 'mental muscle', although they can also be called meditation,
> are not usually the most insightful in the long run.
True. But you're almost guaranteed to improve your concentration, if
nothing else, by practicing meditation. That's what I meant by "at
least".
>> Practicing to read and write changed you from someone who couldn't
>> read or write to someone who can. It didn't change the form of the
>> letters you see through your eyes, of course. The words were already
>> there before you learned to read them. You could already see them. But
>> your school teachers didn't tell you, "the words are already there,
>> you don't have to do anything about them", because while true, it
>> wouldn't have helped you to read them.
>>
>> Now my little daughter is learning to read, and it's *hard* *work* for
>> her. And sometimes, she tries to cheat when reading: she remembers a
>> sentence from before, and points at the words, saying them, but
>> one-off because she missed a word or remembers incorrectly. Just like
>> many members of the "nothing to achieve"-crowd repeating after their
>> teachers, but one-off, because they can't be bothered to do their
>> homework.
>
> I think meditating should simply be viewed as an end in it's self. I
> meditate because I meditate. If you treat meditation as work to try to
> achieve something, such as enlightenment, you are imposing your flawed
> expectations on the experience, distorting it, rather than
> experiencing it directly.
I think I see what you mean, but there have been more sophisticated
"personal development" models even in the Buddha's time, for example
the "four bases of success/power", the iddhipada.
> BTW I warn you now, Florain, any tricky questions will be thrown over
> to alt.magick. ;)
Ok, here's a tough one: "How do you spell 'Florian'?"
Cheers,
Florian
--
Every man passes out of life as if he had just been born.
-- Epicurus (Vatican Sayings 60)
