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This is different! I never thought much about the drawbacks to meditation! I meditate for spiritual reasons, not for stress relief. I meditate because it usually brings me a feeling of bliss and happiness.
Huh, interesting! I honestly never thought about any negative aspects to meditation…but I guess, like most practices, there are some.
After reading the article you linked to at the end though, I wonder if the harm is moreso in misunderstanding what mindfulness is/how it’s practiced. From my understanding, or at least the way I practice it, mindfulness isn’t a means to detach from life, yourself, your emotions. It’s a way to become present to whatever your experience is at that moment – whether it’s an angry outburst (like my outfit crisis 😉 ) or sitting peacefully in nature.
I’m having a hard time even pouring out what’s in my head – this is a very interesting topic! Let’s just say I can see both sides. Thanks for making me think, Amit!
Sure!
I also think we’re talking about slightly different things (or rather, I wasn’t clear in the article). There’s mindfulness meditation as it’s practiced in the west, and then there’s Buddhism.
Buddhist meditation as a system is designed as a series of steps to take a man that is fully integrated into society into a monk that can self-generate happiness and well-being. Case in point, Buddha left his life as a normal human completely (left his wife, his son, his princedom, etc…), believing normal sources of happiness to be inadequate.
So I think if I had followed buddhist meditation as it is meant to be progressed, I would have been fine (e.g. monks practice multiple kinds of meditations). Instead, I and many others combine Buddhist philosophy with mindfulness meditation, which taken the wrong way can be a recipe for disaster.
“I’m having a hard time even pouring out what’s in my head”
What’s in your head? I want to know 🙂