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So I'm a fully qualified teacher of meditation, all the way to what is casually called enlightenment. I'm also a software engineer - I came from a "householder" lineage where teachers have day jobs. I'm currently the release coordinator (ish) for the Ethereum Project, so I'm working on cryptocurrency stuff. For the record, I hardly teach meditation: very few people really want it. Let's actually put this into context: you sit there and do stuff with your mind that is supposed, over time, to make your mind work better (even if better means silently!). This is not in principle different from exercise: you do thing with the body that result in a better body. The argument between dancers and cross fit enthusiasts about the real benefits of exercise would be a good parallel to the discussion about meditation for a better mind vs. meditation for enlightenment. To expand a hair more: meditation is a tool on the path to enlightenment. You certainly need it, but you may also need other things: "wisdom teaching" that show you what to look for, or membership in an enlightened society to provide models to step into as your practice matures. Climbing might be an analogy: a lot of time in the gym, but the real action is on the peaks. It's just that in meditation, the gym and the peaks are both on the meditation cushion, in different parts of your mind. One thing that I don't think anybody has discussed here is the role of time. I'm willing to believe that a fair number of the people who are meditating for better minds now will meditate for other reasons as they age and their mortality presses in on them. Others will find a deeper practice during personal tragedy, or moral crisis, or any other deep impetus for change. I don't see anything wrong with a whole bunch of people hitting the gym - those who choose to climb later will be in good shape. But, and this does need said: the enlightenment tradition must be protected through all this popularity. The dance, the mountain climb, all of that - those are analogies for something far above-and-beyond one's regular sitting practice: you build CERN in your mind and look for the fundamental nature of consciousness through introspection. It's not done one mantra at a time. |
Is this really true? A lot of people want to meditate and learn to meditate (me included), and a lot of us have tried a bunch of books, so called courses etc. But eventually gave up, because we couldn't succeed. I think having a good/experienced teacher would make a world of difference to people like us.