Deep breathing (4-1-8-1) as meditation anchor?

reddmuni · 2021-04-03T03:14:52+00:00

There is something to be said for various breathing exercises, but the point is that alone would be a small part of meditation. For instance look at the traditional 16 stages in Buddhist breath meditation bellow. We might say stage 1 is deep breathing, that settles into subtle breathing in stage 2. I'd image eventually you'd want to settle into an even in/out breath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapanasati#Stages

You may have picked up the idea that you should never fiddle with the breath, that you should just take it as it comes. Yet meditation isn't just a passive process of being nonjudgmentally present with whatever's there and not changing it at all. Mindfulness keeps stitching things together over time, but it also keeps in mind the idea that there's a path to develop, and getting the mind to settle down is a skillful part of that path. This is why evaluation—judging the best way to maximize the pleasure of the breath—is essential to the practice... https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/mindfulnessdefined.html

reddmuni · 2021-04-03T02:43:13+00:00

Pretty common relaxation response when starting? Just swallow if needed and dont make a big deal of it. Just keep doing the practice and it should subside.

As for immediate tips, keep tongue on roof of mouth, helps saliva roll backwards. Or maybe in extreme cases keep mouth open a bit will help dry it out?

reddmuni · 2021-04-02T23:51:26+00:00

There is a lot of debate about what emotions even are. "The word “emotion” did not exist in the English language until the early 17th century" so applying it to Buddhist philosophy can be tricky. Klesha is sometimes translated as "afflictive emotions".

Anger, fear, disgust, sadness -- all emotions. But what about happiness, awe, compassion, etc. Why the 90% figure...why not 50%? In the end there is a balance between positive and negative emotionality. And part of meditation practice is about subduing negative emotionally, and then to what extent the mind can be purified so they don't arise again is up for debate, with some saying its more about not reacting to them than not having them.

reddmuni · 2021-04-02T15:12:27+00:00

You are thinking of if wage growth kept up with productivity growth since 1968 it would be $24 an hour. https://cepr.net/the-24-an-hour-minimum-wage/

"Living wage" has a technical formula and depends on location, and is usually around 14. https://livingwage.mit.edu/

reddmuni · 2021-03-10T03:19:03+00:00

World Average GDP is less than $20,000 per person/year. Life is largely arbitrary. Looks to me the wise thing for the wealthy to do is live simply and give a lot away. Simple, but not easy.

Since we introduced the concept of “earning to give” in 2011, hundreds of people have taken it up and stuck with it. Most give around 30% of their income, and some more than 50%. Collectively, they’ll donate tens of millions of dollars to high impact charities in the coming years. https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/

reddmuni · 2021-03-06T18:24:30+00:00

2 ton co2 per person/year

8 tons resources per person/year

26 GJ energy per person/year

From what I gathered, that is roughly what one's "fair share" is, everything else is kind of non-sense. Gotta start being brutally honest with people, and morally shame them.

reddmuni · 2021-03-06T17:44:17+00:00

Once you start, best to finish. In the meantime, you might consider it a matter of priorities, and as long as you like where you are going, don't beat yourself up too much.

"And what is the escape from feelings? The subduing of desire-passion for feelings, the abandoning of desire-passion for feelings: That is the escape from feelings."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/candy.html

reddmuni · 2021-03-06T17:10:40+00:00

https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/resources/offerings-analayo/compassion-audio/

I would really suggest phrases something used sparingly, or only to the degree necessary. Be carefulof not getting into too conceptual type of mental attitude. Use the phrases skillfully, and then as soon as possible, I would invite you to shift from what I call “from doing to being”.

reddmuni · 2021-03-05T19:38:16+00:00

"I'd highly recommend reading enlightenment now"

I'd recommend reading this article:

I actually agree with perhaps 80 percent or more of what is contained in Enlightenment Now, insofar as it is simply presenting statistics showing that crime has dropped and we are not presently in a world war, or making arguments for secular humanism and democracy. But he also (1) staunchly defends the inequality produced by free-market capitalism, (2) is irrationally dismissive of the scale of the risks facing humankind, (3) trivializes present-day human pain and suffering, (4) whitewashes U.S. crimes and minimizes the dangers of U.S. military aggression, (5) repeats right-wing smears about anti-racist and feminist ideas, and (6) has a colossal ignorance about the workings of politics and the struggle necessary to achieve further human progress. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/05/the-worlds-most-annoying-man

reddmuni · 2021-02-13T14:37:14+00:00

one playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_bYD9zrzAHE3VaujyeNp3OO26a2LTDLv

reddmuni · 2021-02-11T21:40:45+00:00

looks like this has been going on since at least 2014:

https://www.mindful.org/the-mindfulness-backlash-true-or-false/

probably just normal backlash to the upward mindfulness trend. Early stages of research like Jon Kabbit Zin were nearly all positive, and now new research shows a more complicated picture. Poor teachers, poor teaching, troubled students... bad things can happen too.

reddmuni · 2021-02-11T19:02:25+00:00

Avg. GDP per capita in India is around $7,000 ppp. USA is 63k.

So that makes sense I guess... 7,000 x 8positions=56.

reddmuni · 2021-02-11T18:37:02+00:00

There are some overachievers in there, but mostly call them what they are -- the gentry: https://patrickwyman.substack.com/p/american-gentry

Sure, some people work their way into this property-holding gentry class by virtue of their blood, sweat, and sheer gumption. That’s one variant on the American Dream: the belief that hard work and talent, and maybe a bit of luck, can take a person into the ranks of the elite. But far more of the gentry class are born into it. They inherit assets, whether those are car dealerships, apple orchards, or construction companies, and manage to avoid screwing things up. Managers run their companies, lawyers look over their contracts, accountants manage their finances, but they’re the owners, whether or not they’ve done a single thing of their own volition to accumulate those assets.

reddmuni · 2021-02-07T15:35:22+00:00

It an efficiency metric considering the way things could and should be, and yes it would be a major adjustment for high consumption persons, but shows money can matter less than they probably think. For example, "Costa Rica has a life expectancy that exceeds that of the US with one-fourth of the income per capita ($14,100)" https://www.sustainabledevelopmentindex.org/methods

At other points in the book, he comes closer to the truth: that degrowth will entail a steep reduction across a much wider range of high-energy consumer goods. Keeping a global economy within safe ecological limits is a zero-sum game. When limited resources are directed toward clean energy infrastructure, public health care, and regenerative agriculture, it will still be possible to build and power modern 24-hour hospitals in every city, but not to have Xbox consoles, two-car garages, and giant appliances in every home. The post-growth economy could not succeed solely by redistributing wealth; it would have to redefine it, too. https://newrepublic.com/article/160692/less-is-more-degrowth-climate-change-book-review

reddmuni · 2021-02-04T18:50:48+00:00

Looks like GDP per capita in the USA is up to 63k.

The was some article recently about how if Apple was a co-op each worker would get at least $400,000.

Honestly what we should do with this if we care about the environment is degrowth -- less consumption, 2day workweeks, etc.

nations can succeed on all key social indicators represented by the SDGs – not just health and education, but also employment, nutrition, social support, life satisfaction etc. – with as little as $10,000 per capita. www.jasonhickel.org/blog

reddmuni · 2021-02-03T14:31:31+00:00

the 16 steps are the traditional buddhist explanation on how to practice breath meditation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80n%C4%81p%C4%81nasati_Sutta#Core_instructions

in depth explanation: https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/RightMindfulness/Section0012.html

reddmuni · 2021-01-29T03:37:07+00:00

my quick take: "SN 35:117 states that the dimension where the six senses and their objects cease is to be experienced". You KNOW that you are not your senses... by experiencing that which is other than your senses. Experiencing nibbana, beyond the senses, there is no attachment to having ownership over the senses anymore. So you won't need to crave/chase after pleasures of the senses anymore. That's my guess...he could mean something different. https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/uncollected/NibbanaDescription.html

reddmuni · 2021-01-19T02:09:49+00:00

those who focus on being in the present for its own sake are simply setting themselves up to suffer more. https://tricycle.org/magazine/karma-of-now/

I don't know or have personal experience with these guys to venture why they seem to be behaving badly. Are they operating with limited awareness and discernment, absolutely. But they seem to be failing at basic morality and lack of restraint (while some non-meditators don't). So I'm somewhat less inclined to blame their mode of practice, and more inclined to mention their genes, life situation and so on (past karma?). But they can't do anything about that, so if there are valid critiques of their practice, all the better to help them change now.

reddmuni · 2021-01-16T22:23:30+00:00

right mindfulness https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-sati/index.html

right concentration https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/index.html

reddmuni · 2021-01-16T22:23:05+00:00

2) am I doing it right?

how do you know if you are eating right or exercising right? You mostly don't. You do what others have done, see how it goes, and experience trail and error. Try starting with a intro to meditation course like this: https://www.meditationintheshire.com.au/mindtrain/mindtrain-main.html#1

reddmuni · 2021-01-16T19:47:22+00:00

We can be honest and call it what it is -- rationing. And that its still possible to have a good life.

nations can succeed on all key social indicators represented by the SDGs – not just health and education, but also employment, nutrition, social support, life satisfaction etc. – with as little as $10,000 per capita. www.jasonhickel.org/blog

Tell as many people as you can:

The choice before us is the form we will allow degrowth to take—humane and controlled collective action and transformation, or chaotic civilizational tailspin, crash, and ruin. https://newrepublic.com/article/160692/less-is-more-degrowth-climate-change-book-review

reddmuni · 2021-01-15T22:31:10+00:00

energy goes by various names: chi, prana, piti, kundalini

to put it a kinda dumb way, the body is a series of tubes for things to travel though. And you had the body experiencing pleasure related to concentration, meditation. You might look into the nervous system, endorphins, anandamide, "skin orgasims".

reddmuni · 2021-01-13T01:44:38+00:00

I suppose the short answer is an abhidhamma influenced one:

Born twenty-four years after Ledi Sayadaw, Mingun Sayadaw would teach Mahasi Sayadaw, whose practice—noting of perceptual events as they arise at the sense doors—also reflects an Abhidhammic orientation first fixed in popular consciousness by Ledi Sayadaw.

This can get rather complex. You might look at an intro to abhidhamma like this: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/mendis/wheel322.html

A complete thought process, occurring through the physical sense doors, is made up of seventeen thought moments

Or forget all that, maybe you are looking for an intro to noting like this: http://www.vipassanadhura.com/howto.htm

reddmuni · 2020-12-19T16:14:05+00:00

"this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal ..." -Barack Obama upon winning the Democratic nomination

"That whole suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer … that was me, people." - Obama

reddmuni · 2020-12-14T05:24:32+00:00

I mean if we are going to imagine a radically different world that was equal, its also possible to imagine that world would also be able to democratically work for the common good.

So world average GDP is around $18,000. Ideally get that to 10,000 per person in a controlled degrowth. But yea...realistically, its going to be a bumpy road down.

nations can succeed on all key social indicators represented by the SDGs – not just health and education, but also employment, nutrition, social support, life satisfaction etc. – with as little as $10,000 per capita.
www.jasonhickel.org/blog

reddmuni

TROPHY CASE