/lit/ - Literature

>>18718565
>>18718578
>>18718738 (me)
you know what anons i apologize for being so rude. it is very difficult to resist the temptation to use this board as an outlet for what i'm not allowed in the public world. i truly do not believe anything you have provided me with discounts any of the arguments i purposed. and I admit it is difficult to prove. you can point me to as many scientifically documented Christian miracles as possible but the question will always remain as to what about the other religions. i'd like you to understand that meditation and eastern traditions do very strange things to you once embraced and practiced regularly, many of which things are miraculous. doing so has forced me, a former materialist. to embrace the power of faith and works. i find it difficult to accept that these miracles are wholly Christian and nothing else when I have first hand experienced many similar things not practicing Christianity. nonetheless, i respect your religion and apologize for slandering it.
i wish you peace.

>>15401722
>Like, say I made a mistake five years ago or so that haunts me and scares me, but it virtually doesn't exist anywhere besides in my head as a threat to my well-being and it's probably a feeling that's routed in anxiety and doesn't affect anyone but me.
This is the illusion. It absolutely affects the people around you. If it is a serious determent to your well-being than you have interference with seeing people around you with compassion. Also, this account of yours is incredibly singular. I don't go into meditation to deal with one instance that occurred to me and hope to get over it. Instead, the one instance is a reflection of the possibility of being dissatisfied and being at conflict with reality before you. You have this illusion that by not bringing this thing up you are avoiding the pain, but in actuality you are avoiding confrontation with your anxiety itself, not this single instance. If you went full on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and forgot about this thing there would just be another occurrence to haunt you just as easily.
Carl Jung writes that the serious goodness of neurosis is that it is our body communicating with itself and trying to understand our trauma. The point of therapy is thus to exercise self inquiry and resolve the neurosis at its source, instead of numbing the effect of the source with pain killers. Think of meditation in this way. I am very new to my practice but I have really found a way to view the world through a lense of nonjudgment and have come to a much fuller understanding of love and patience.
Consider Marcus Aurlies:
> Stand firm like a promontory, upon which the waves are always breaking. It not only keeps its place, but stills the fury of the waves. [Wretched am I, says one, that this has befallen me. Nay, say you, happy I, who, tho’ this has befallen me, can still remain without sorrow, neither broken by the present, nor dreading the future. The like might have befallen any one; but every one could not have remained thus undejected. Why should the event be called a misfortune, rather than this strength of mind a felicity?

Last of all, learn how to see the humor in things! Woefully understated is this in modern discourse on meditation!

Namaste

>>15370734
I am right there with you brother.
our society profits on fragmenting our attention every single moment of the day. if you want to fix this it is going to take a lot of work, and it will help if you have something you are extremely dedicated to so you have a coherent goal for said work. The work of Shamatha meditation is specifically meant to cultivate a deeper sense of concentration within oneself. Think of it like this: when your arm breaks you don't have to tell your arm to heal; the body heals itself. In the same way your mind is completely pulled apart because of rapid attention society. By sitting in meditation you give your body and mind the chance to clean itself and restore a more proper balance. I warn you tho, the work can be very difficult. Before you make any progress you're going to have to learn to sit and be totally okay with the torment of thoughts completely beyond your control-- this is all a part of the journey. I recommend finding some resources on Shamatha. I found a book that is serving as one source called 'The Attention Revolution' (pardon the cringey title!). I would recommend this.
you should be happy with yourself. most people (and i really mean most people) have a zero attention span because of things like TV, porn, video games etc but they are too involved with these things to realize their own dissatisfaction. by coming to terms with your deficiency you have already began the journey really. Closing remarks: though I'm speaking a lot about 'making progress' you'll find that you'll make the most progress your meditation when you forget what this concept means and learn that beyond anything else it is about sitting and breathing and nothing more than that.