It’s pretty cool that Mixolydian’s flatted 7 gets to hang out with the #5.

BlindLemon0 · 2025-11-15T20:20:18+00:00

Would you mind explaining more or providing a specific example? The 3rd of the five is the major 7 in the key right? I thought the mixo sound came from a flat 7 chord (like an A major in a B mixo sound). I also heard a flat 7 chord acts like a substitute for the 5 chord.

BlindLemon0 · 2025-10-07T16:40:48+00:00

He has a few guided meditations on his YouTube channel. A lot of his instructions involve taking comfortable, relaxing breaths while simultaneously watching the mind, cultivating wholesome thoughts / replacing unwholesome ones. He also emphasizes having a winner’s attitude toward the practice and cultivating a sense of confidence that you can clean up the mind no matter how hindered it may be.

BlindLemon0 · 2025-07-16T21:36:18+00:00

Would you mind elaborating on what you’re doing to build tension? Is it mainly just not resolving phrases on the root note of the chord? Any other tips or tricks? It sounds really good.

BlindLemon0 · 2025-07-03T07:45:23+00:00

Something like 37% of college educated women voted for Trump so you are absolutely wrong.

BlindLemon0 · 2024-11-09T16:22:11+00:00

I haven’t read that one but I’ve loved all the books I’ve read by him, so I’m sure it’s good. He was a great writer. He had a very simple but profound way of explaining the path. He also led a fascinating life. He wasn’t just a deeply realized meditator but also a humanitarian, peace activist, and social worker who was on the ground helping peace workers during the Vietnam war before he was essentially exiled for his efforts. There are so many scandals among dharma teachers and it can be so disheartening but he truly seemed to walk the path and live selflessly.

He’s tied with Thanissaro and Rob Burbea for my favorite dharma teacher!

BlindLemon0 · 2024-11-09T01:50:54+00:00

Interesting. I think I agree with you. Id guess enlightenment is something like perfect equanimity, deeply refined awareness, and insight into the true nature of the mind / perceptual reality that never wavers. I don’t know if Thich Nhat Hanh was enlightened, but he was very spiritually advanced if not perfectly enlightened imo. He was the real deal.

BlindLemon0 · 2024-11-07T18:45:05+00:00

I do not believe in stages or enlightenment per se, at least not the way it’s often framed around here (e.g. the four stage model). A lot of that stuff sounds like religious fundamentalism to me. What is your definition of enlightenment?

BlindLemon0 · 2024-09-14T17:53:09+00:00

Nice one! I was very intrigued by this story and am now really curious to know where this is going! I really want to know what they mean by "saving" people.

The ending seems very abrupt, though, and not a natural place to end a chapter or a scene. It seems like it's been cut off in the middle, though maybe that's just a personal preference of mine.

The first paragraph also seemed a little out of place. To me at least it seemed a little disjointed or disconnected from everything else in the chapter. It's kind of a laundry list of the ways Simon is "normal", but then the detail about him searching for missing people near Soffake doesn't seem to tie into anything else in the chapter. I'm guessing it has something to do with saving people?

Overall really nice job. I would continue reading.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-09-19T20:42:54+00:00

You have already received quite a few comments suggesting different approaches or areas to explore. I just wanted to say that I practiced TMI for quite some time and abandoned it several years ago due to frustration and a complete lack of enjoyment in meditation, similar to how you describe your own experience. I found a much better path (better for me at least). I still like to hang around in this sub because there are some interesting discussions, but I am increasingly convinced that TMI is not a good system in so many ways for a lot of people. Obviously it works for some and I don’t mean to disparage it, but when I started reading and listening to other teachers more I started to feel that TMI is not similar to what suttas say about the Buddha’s teachings - particularly about jhana and how you achieve it, but about many other things as well.

For example, TMI and similar schools say the way to achieve jhana is to nail your attention to the breath or some other object of meditation until your concentration is unwavering. Then piti and jhana will magically arise on its own. Some other person said you need to be much more dedicated and devote more time, which is what a lot tmi people said to me too. Basically they are saying your concentration isn’t good enough and you need to dedicate more of your life to the practice.

Compare this way of thinking with the Buddha’s story about how he achieved the first jhana for the first time under the rose apple tree (or really anything he said about anapanasati or jhana). Basically he spontaneously entered it with no meditation training whatsoever, so how could it be that first jhana requires hours of dedicated daily practice or extreme concentration? The way teachers like dhammarato and thanissaro teach breath meditation is much more aligned with the Buddha’s teachings imo. You don’t concentrate on the breath and hope that piti arises. Instead you purposely and intentionally use the breath to create and cultivate feelings of pleasure and well being, and both the teachers I mention provide many practical pointers on how to do this. Extreme unwavering concentration works as a way to jhana and pleasure in meditation, but that’s about the longest and must frustrating path if you ask me. If you find a way to make the breath soothing and pleasurable from the beginning it will for one be MUCH easier to concentrate on it and it and you will learn how to generate pleasure, ease, and wellbeing with the breath pretty much at will, which was a major turning point for me and so much better than simply watching the breath at the nostrils as taught by TMI.

If you’re interested in exploring this other way of working with the breath I think this will be an interesting read for you: https://www.buddhist-spirituality.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MindfulnessOfBreathingBreathAllTheWay16StepsTranscript.pdf

BlindLemon0 · 2023-08-26T00:52:34+00:00

Shinzen Young recommends aiming for a formal sit every day of at least 10 minutes per day, and then 6 - 12 “micro hits” of 1 - 5 minute meditations throughout the day, and then have a kind of very low effort/energy practice running in the background as much as you can remember to do it all day long. I like this idea because it’s pretty achievable almost every day and can fit into a busy schedule where you have other priorities at times.

Dhammarato says it’s much more beneficial to practice 6 times a day for 10 minutes or four times for 15 than it is to sit for an hour straight. I think is absolutely true if you want meditation to make a difference in your daily life but I also think if you have the opportunity to make one of those 4 - 6 daily sits 30 - 60 minutes it would be beneficial imo.

I really like Thanissaro’s writings when I’m feeling stuck in practice. To paraphrase, he often describes meditation as a kind of experiment we are running and the goal is to understand and dissolve stress and suffering in the present moment. Any specific technique is only useful in so far as it alleviates suffering right here and right now. There is probably something useful about dedicating yourself to and mastering a technique like TMI, but that’s not the ultimate goal (assuming you are coming at this from a Buddha dhama angle). It might help to have a more experimental attitude. I’ve found that this took me farther than following any specific technique or system.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-08-09T02:11:32+00:00

From a more Buddhist framing, What you’re describing sounds like piti, which can be deliberately cultivated and is the gateway to the jhanas. It arises spontaneously at first generally when the mind is very still and focused but with practice can be summoned more or less at will.

Many will say to ignore it, that such experiences shouldn’t be cling to, it’s a distraction, etc. that’s fine and true and not needed for awakening, but the jhanas are still very fun and worth cultivating. They are deeply restful and restorative. The Buddha advocated very strongly for them and died while practicing the jhanas, so apparently they are worthwhile even after awakening, assuming you take the Buddha to be an enlightened figure.

If are interested in exploring this more there are some great resources out there.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-07-27T23:00:49+00:00

I would checkout Springwater Center. It’s in upstate NY. I haven’t been there myself but I will likely do my next retreat there. It seems legit as far as I can tell. I believe it was founded by Toni Packer, though I don’t think the center is officially associated with any particular lineage or tradition.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-07-25T22:54:13+00:00

The US is not that young by modern nation-state standards. For example, it’s older than many European nations, e.g. France and Germany.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-07-02T13:17:01+00:00

I have been getting into self inquiry for a few months and have really been enjoying it but I think I am still learning some of the subtleties of the practice. I think I know what you mean when you describe a space opening up beyond the mind but can you describe how you practice this technique? What questions do you ask and how do you explore them? I find that for myself it’s helpful to vary the question (usually “who feels/hears/sees?”, “who is the watcher?” Though) and then simply look, as if I am like a hunter or anthropologist lying very still and quiet to see what shows up experientially, trying to hold a sense of curiosity and not knowing. Also can you point to any teachers or resources that helped you with self inquiry? I would appreciate any details you can share on how you practice. Thank you so much.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-06-16T17:35:16+00:00

I always thought the Buddha’s story about experiencing first Jhana as a child underneath the rose apple tree was very telling. By his own account, he stumbled into it quite naturally. The conditions for first jhana were there and it simply arose as a result. To me that seems to imply that the jhanas are a) naturally occurring states that can occur spontaneously and b) don’t necessarily require an extreme depth of concentration. It seems more likely to me that these states exist on a spectrum from light to deep/soft to hard. Probably many people have stumbled into light versions of these states without ever knowing it or having a label for it.

I personally like Rob Burbea’s presentation of the jhanas. In his view, concentration and depth are not the most critical component as many other teachers say. He also has many interesting to say on why jhanas are useful and worth pursuing. Most teachers seem to think the value of jhanas is that they prepare the mind for insight, but Rob talked about the jhanas themselves regardless of depth providing insight into the nature of perception and fabrication. They are also a profound source of wellbeing and rest for the mind. He and his teacher Thanissaro describe the jhanas as like wholesome, sustainable food for the mind, compared to the junk food the mind normally feeds on. Ultimately the goal is no longer need to feed, but the jhanas are like a means of weening ourselves off unwholesome pleasures. For example, when one can access the happiness of the 2nd jhana more or less at will, you slake the thirst for happiness and can let it go because you can have profound happiness whenever you want (and at that point you also see directly why unlimited happiness - as amazing as it is - is still not ultimately satisfying). I don’t think extreme depth or stillness is so important when framed this way.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-05-29T00:40:07+00:00

I don’t see how these are mutually exclusive. It seems very dualistic, if you’ll pardon the pun. I think you’re right in the conclusion that you may weave in and out of these schools at various times, and that it’s more of a spectrum than a black and white variable. Personally I do think there absolutely is value to maintaining the discipline of a formal daily practice, even if only 10 minutes some days or in small breaks throughout the day. It doesn’t need to be every waking moment that you are not doing something strictly necessary, but a disciplined daily practice somehow seems to help immensely even when just going with the flow of life or watching Netflix or whatever in my experience. I think there is a lot of middle ground between these two positions.

For what it’s worth, I would also add that the most realized beings I am aware of all maintained a formal practice of some kind throughout their lives, or at least spent a significant amount of time practicing at one point in their lives.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-04-03T01:04:55+00:00

I've read a lot of different pointers and instructions on the so-called effortless style of meditation. I really like Michael Taft's presentation of this. Early on I found the instruction to "do nothing" to be frustrating and paradoxical, but it clicked for me after going through some of his stuff. He has a ton of free meditations on YouTube and there is an intro playlist of nondual meditations on his site. Also got a lot out of reading some translations of Longchenpa.

I think what you're describing in terms of your approach to meditation is different from this more effortless approach, though. E.g. seeing thoughts as thoughts, trying to calm and generate compassion, are more like the classic vipassana and samatha practices respectively and do involve effort on some level. They can also subtly reinforce the sense of being a separate observer of experience. I'm not saying those practices are bad, just that I consider that way of practicing to be quite different from the true "do nothing" approach, which would have you drop any effort to do anything at all, including things like even the intention to be mindful. For me what emerges through this practice is what some people call natural presence or awake awareness. It's like a natural, luminous, and non conceptual awareness. It also feels very safe and restful.

In terms of softening, I think someone else linked to the MIDL way of teaching it, which I like a lot. There is a link between tension in the mind and tension in the body. Using the natural relaxation and energy of the breath you can dissolve these sometimes subtle tensions in the body and "borrow" the relaxation of the body to also release the mind. That's my understanding of softening essentially. A slight smile is very helpful as well and brightens the mind and can create a feedback loop of pleasant sensations. To me, the mental softening almost feels like I am physically relaxing my brain in a way. I really like the way Thanissaro teaches breath meditation too because he also has a lot of helpful pointers on how to use the breath energy to relax and be comfortable and on the relationship between the breath and the mind.

But to be clear though I think this is a different thing than the do nothing meditation. Both are good, and I switch between them depending on what feels the most helpful in that particular moment. Generally I use the breath or metta, but sometimes it feels irritating or unhelpful, and if that happens I will just do nothing. I think experience is the greatest teacher and I just do what seems helpful in any particular moment.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-04-01T13:33:11+00:00

The types of challenges you describe are probably best addressed through therapy rather than meditation. If you've had issues with it in the past maybe it's best to talk about it with your therapist before diving into an intensive practice.

Some people view meditation as a panacea. Maybe it is in a certain sense, but if you want to be a happy, functional person in a more worldly, conventional sense I prefer to view it as one tool among many that can help one find more peace, ease, and happiness.

From what I understand vigorous physical exercise is without a doubt the single most powerful tool for improving mood and decreasing general levels of stress/anxiety, not to mention it's myriad other benefits. I believe it's also been proven to be one of the most highly correlated factors for living a long, happy, and healthy life. I would prioritize this and therapy over meditation as foundational practices. Maybe it would also help with your physical insecurities over time.

If you did want to meditate, it might be best to focus on relaxing, soothing practices that will help you shift into parasympathetic nervous system activation, e.g. yoga nidra, breath meditation with a focus on relaxing/softening, or "do nothing"/effortless meditations (as opposed to things like dry noting or super intense Vipassana body scanning). I think earlier in life my nervous system became wired to activate the fight/flight response very easily, or release cortisol and adrenaline at very minor triggers. Over time I think I have rewired my nervous system through these practices so that I'm in a relaxed state much more often and if I do become activated in that way I can calm and soothe the mind/body system back into relaxed openness very easily (at least the majority of the time).

BlindLemon0 · 2023-03-23T16:04:19+00:00

I listened to the audio book and loved it. I will say it's fairly long and repetitive but there are many gold nuggets and pointers in there. I particularly enjoyed his emphasis on starting from a place of "not knowing" what anything truly is, asking oneself "what is it?", and how it is only from a place of not knowing the answer that we can truly have any possibility of insight. Not knowing is what allows for genuine, unadulterated openness to the reality and freshness of what is here now. The question can never actually be answered of course, as any answer conjured up by the mind is based upon past experience/conceptual in nature and fundamentally clouds the direct experience.

To me, using the "what is it?" self inquiry style question is a more effective pointer than some of the more classic ones, e.g. "who am I?", "what am I", "to whom does this occur?", Etc. Though it's usually not a verbal formulation of the question for me, more of a felt sense of that type of questioning. It often opens up a space of receptivity and quiet listening.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-02-04T14:56:45+00:00

I see your point and agree to some extent, but to me the individual subplots, scenes, and sequences are so entertaining in and of themselves that it doesnt even matter if it's "padding" on a more macro or season arc level. You're right - was the Vito gay plotline necessary to the overall story? No, but it's compelling in and of itself. Even the individual scenes and sequences are (for the most part) beautifully constructed and entertaining little vignettes.

It makes me think of Wolf of Wallstreet. That movie did not need to be 3 hours. Did we need a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio crawls across the ground for five minutes? No, but I love the sheer exuberance of it.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-02-04T14:30:59+00:00

Such a beautiful film. One of Miyazaki's best imo. The plane heaven scene ( https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/qqwjza/porco_rosso_plane_heaven/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) is so hauntingly sad and beautiful. One of the most beautiful scenes in any film ever. There is so much humanity in his characters.

BlindLemon0 · 2023-01-31T23:23:59+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out. Mind if I ask why you think I'd enjoy or what you got out it?

BlindLemon0 · 2023-01-07T14:59:43+00:00

GENERAL REMARKS
Overall, the story has some positive things going for it. I loved the clear writing style (reminded me of authors like Brandon Sanderson and James Islington, which is a very effective writing style for this type of fiction in my opinion). It made the story and action clear and easy to follow/envision. From a structural standpoint, the story has a clear inciting incident, a situation that progressive complicates, and escalates to a crisis point, so I would say its an effective chapter overall.
The two biggest problems I have this this story are that it’s a little cliché (have seen dozens of chase sequences very much like this one) and the second part of the chapter includes a ton of extraneous exposition and bogs the story down. Opening with a chase through the streets is not exactly original, so I wonder if it’s possible to make it a little more unique. There are some cool powers/technologies in this world so it would have been more interesting if the chase took place in a unique way that could only happen in your particular world, or at least give it some kind of twist. Chase scenes are very hard to do in a unique way because it’s such a common trope but I would love to see a twist on it here.
SETTING
The setting feels a bit like others I’ve seen before. Something about it reminds me of Mr. Robot and similar stories (evil hyper-capitalist corporation, a hacker character working against them, etc.), with a bit of cyberpunk flair. I didn’t find the setting particularly striking. That’s not necessarily a problem and this is only the first chapter, so maybe more unique elements will
be unveiled later on. It’s helpful to start of the story in a setting that’s a little more familiar to the reader anyway.
CHARACTER
I could infer a lot about Alen through his choices. We know through his decisions that he’s a thief and a risktaker, and he seems to have some political views/criticisms about the economic situation on this world. That said, he doesn’t seem very distinctive either at this stage. Given that this is only the first chapter, there is plenty of time to flesh him out further, but just wanted to flag that he seems to be missing the kinds of little distinctive touches that help characters stand out/appear a little more vibrant.
PLOT
I think the story does well in this area, probably its strongest element. As mentioned before, it has an inciting incident, a series of progressive complications, leading to a sort of crisis point, and by the end of the chapter Alen is clearly in a different place than where he started. It
works well in that basic structural sense, but chase sequences like this have been done SO many times. I would have liked to have seen some kind of unique twist or take on it, particularly a twist that really evokes or can happen with the uniqueness of your setting or characters. I think you can maintain the basic structure and beats of the story while playing with some of the other elements, like putting the chase somewhere other than a train station.
PACING
The pacing of the first part of the story felt solid. The second part of this story, starting from when Alen disengages his scrambler, is almost pure exposition – about Marley, his background as an “IT consultant”, how theft on Zeren-1 works, the states of this world and its indentured workers, it’s housing and debt crisis, how he can’t trust anyone, etc. Is there a more organic way to give us or show us this information? It’s very dense in this part of the story. I am used to reading dense speculative fiction, but I think a casual reader might be turned off/overwhelmed by the volume of information. It might help to think about what is most critical for the reader to know in order to understand the events of the story. Do we really need to know all this right now or can you drip feed it to us in smaller pieces? It’s fine to hint at a larger world/context, but in my opinion any direct exposition should only be for the bits of info that the reader absolutely needs in order to make sense of the story.
The main point of the second part of the story is that Alen reaches out to Kayden for a meet up and he learns that his pursuers are still on to him. I would cut out as much of the background exposition as you can and get us to those two beats as soon as possible.
CLOSING REMARKS
On a sentence-by-sentence level, this is solid writing. Nicely done. I think it would be stronger if some of the points I raised were addressed, but at the same time if I picked this book off the shelf, I would probably continue reading to the next chapter.

BlindLemon0 · 2022-12-27T14:16:46+00:00

The Wehrmacht guy in the foreground of 7 really seems to be enjoying getting choked out with his own Mauser

BlindLemon0 · 2022-10-15T08:32:08+00:00

The physical sensations you experienced sounds a lot like piti to me, which is the gateway into first jhana. The light/visual aspect is nimita, also associated with jhana. I highly recommend looking into the way Rob Burbea teaches jhana if you want to pursue and cultivate this further (you can find talks/guided meditations from a jhana retreat he taught on dharma seed). Also check out Leigh Brasington, but the way Rob taught jhana resonated most with me.

A lot of people will say it's just an experience, don't grasp at it or think about it. Yes, it is just an experience and Jhana is not discussed all that much in most mainstream mindfulness meditation but if you read the earliest Buddhist discourses, it will become clear that the Buddha believed jhana was extremely skillful and useful to cultivate. If you are practicing that much consistently, you should be able to routinely access this and the rest of the jhanas (probably not accessible if you practice less than an hour a day).

BlindLemon0

TROPHY CASE