The author mentions that his technique is not meditation, but his description is very similar to zen meditation ; just sitting in a state of awareness.
There is definitely something in common with zazen but it is worth not externalizing it for two reasons.
1. I was formerly a Buddhist and I find it unserious, maybe even cringey or appropriative? People who are doing Buddhism are actually on a larger journey which their meditation is a component of, they want to train their attention to be able to truly be present and free of the bullshit of this world... the endless co-opting of mindfulness and meditation to "go out and be a more productive paper-pusher" just seems kind of... I don't know. Profane. Take something holy and put it into an unholy context. Same like I don't make it a point to describe it now as "bathing in the Holy Spirit without any other things to direct yourself to other than your belovedness as an adopted Child of God." You can describe it that way, but if someone's not on that journey that is a rather profane and unsettling thing to do, no?
2. By making it internal, for example by describing it as "doing nothing," I think it makes it easier? If you are setting up for zazen then you might go out and buy a good mat, buy a zafu, clear out a room so that you can stare at a blank wall, listen to many podcasts about the goals and aims of meditation. Like I said, this was an important part of my religious journey and if you're on one yourself, great! But the goal of doing nothing is much simpler than that and does not require special preparation.
I might have chosen an article more along the lines of (2), for example https://www.insidethetravellab.com/the-importance-of-doing-n... , where it's like "no we have seen this in a neuroscience context, here are some resources about what this is called in, say, athletic training contexts etc." Doesn't matter where you do it, it matters what your responsibilities are while you're doing it (namely, that you don't have any).
1. I was formerly a Buddhist and I find it unserious, maybe even cringey or appropriative? People who are doing Buddhism are actually on a larger journey which their meditation is a component of, they want to train their attention to be able to truly be present and free of the bullshit of this world... the endless co-opting of mindfulness and meditation to "go out and be a more productive paper-pusher" just seems kind of... I don't know. Profane. Take something holy and put it into an unholy context. Same like I don't make it a point to describe it now as "bathing in the Holy Spirit without any other things to direct yourself to other than your belovedness as an adopted Child of God." You can describe it that way, but if someone's not on that journey that is a rather profane and unsettling thing to do, no?
2. By making it internal, for example by describing it as "doing nothing," I think it makes it easier? If you are setting up for zazen then you might go out and buy a good mat, buy a zafu, clear out a room so that you can stare at a blank wall, listen to many podcasts about the goals and aims of meditation. Like I said, this was an important part of my religious journey and if you're on one yourself, great! But the goal of doing nothing is much simpler than that and does not require special preparation.
I might have chosen an article more along the lines of (2), for example https://www.insidethetravellab.com/the-importance-of-doing-n... , where it's like "no we have seen this in a neuroscience context, here are some resources about what this is called in, say, athletic training contexts etc." Doesn't matter where you do it, it matters what your responsibilities are while you're doing it (namely, that you don't have any).