meditation, the Red Book

[ulyart]

Meditation involves paying attention to attention; being aware of awareness; sensing sensation.

It does not involve, however, thinking about thinking, which would more properly be called philosophy or cognitive science

Comments

[felephant]

I vote against your changing host.

[peramble]

Amazingly, I still read LJ. I would like a link to your new blog if you decide to switch.

Do you really apprehend the same things in the world in meditation as you do in philosophy or cognitive science? If not, it would seem more like changing the subject than anything else. What is it that you apprehend in meditation? And what is the nature of this apprehension, of 'surfing on raw energies'? If it doesn't involve categories and concepts, is it directed toward any thing in the world at all?

[ulyart]

Is meditation directed toward any thing in the world?

"Thing"iness is an interesting concept.

Are space and time "things" for instance? Can they be apprehended? Is consciousness a "thing" and can that be apprehended? Is the ground- against with a figure stands in relief- a thing? Is silence a thing?

[peramble]

Thing-ness is an interesting concept, and certainly not a new one. Heidegger dealt with it somewhat, though I am not well-versed in his work. I agree that not all that exists is a thing.

What is meditation, though? I wouldn't personally have compared or contrasted it with philosophy or cognitive science as its purposes and methods seem rather different from theirs. How does meditation serve as an alternative to philosophy and cognitive in your life?

[ulyart]

I am not a cognitive scientist myself (though I do read some of what cog-scientists write), so I'll leave that out as I answer your last question.

Is meditation an alternative to philosophy? "Alternative" is not how I would put it.

That would be like asking if listening is an alternative to talking, or if sleeping is an alternative to being awake. These complementary pairs always go together.

Yes, the purposes and methods of listening are different from that of talking, and yet I don't think it's nonsensical to try to compare and contrast the two states, or at least to relate them to each other in some way.

For now I have not established a practice of formal sitting meditation, though I practice a lot of meditative arts like music, drawing and Taiji. But I am considering going to meditate with a group here whose catchline is "Poetry, Philosophy and Meditation"-- right up my alley! And the leader of the group is a Heidegger fan.

[ulyart]

Ha... I'm not sure how useful such secrets actually would be, though. Or, rather, I think the power of any "secret" transformational technique only comes through application and practice, and cannot really be transmitted at the level of text.

I may be wrong, of course. I'm just extrapolating from my own experience. Every complex skill I've learned-- from piano-playing to Taiji Quan, I've learned over months or years with a teacher plus intense practice... I couldn't imagine learning these skills from a book!

That said, I do read books about piano playing and Taiji, not because I expect to receive any revelatory secrets from them, but because it's interesting to see how others put words to experiences I've had. It's interesting to see my tacit sensations made explicit.