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atheism as point of departure into the unsublimated self re: meditation (subjective by nature !!)ic

I find this little pin- pointed in bhuddism despite the heap of dharma and in light that bhuddism does not focus on God at all and if worships Bhudda it is written the Bhudda never recommended it.
Also anything written on meditating/ getting in touch with one's astrale body strikes me as a load of irrelevant Lore -mis-leading almost as a religion for the astrale than any sensible atheist point of departure. Maybe its an unteachable path based on subjective intuitions adding up (as I have found) or Self easily confused with selfishness makes it too dangerous for the masses so yoga people dismiss it as " the Desire" body. Whatever ....thought I would through it out there as I'm disgusted with allnthe bull#@$** in print out there on the subject

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Permalink Reply by Samantha Thomas on June 10, 2012 at 8:19pm

Buddhism is aptly called "the religion of no religion" and by extension one could say the Buddha or Buddha-nature is the god of no god. Meditation, a practice that has no purpose — religious or otherwise — is a method through which one can experience transcendence. Properly practiced, there is no goal, no place to go, no right experience to have. You experience what you experience, and you get whatever you guess. Some say to focus the mind, but rather it is an unfocusing of the mind (or focusing on Nothing). At the very least, it is restful.

Forgive the apophatic nature of this response. It is easier to describe meditation (in the Hīnyāna Buddhist tradition, which is distinct from so-called transcendental" meditation or the Hindu practice) by saying what it is not. What it is, on the other hand, is impossible to describe. If one finds enlightenment, and to be clear, to the degree one intends or seeks enlightenment, one cannot find it, it is not an insight into heaven or nirvana or gods or goddesses. It is insight into oneSelf and one's life.

Personally, I am as Atheist as anyone can be, and as a philosopher, I find Buddhist thought and practice useful. I am not a Buddhist, nor do I have anything to say about the more ritualized forms of Mahayana Buddhism, such as Tibetan or Pure Land, that include the veneration of Boddhisatvas. My work in philosophy is informed as much by Hīnyāna thought and early Mahāyāna writings, particularly those attributed to Nagarjuna on śūnyatā (emptiness) and anātman (no-self), as it is by my Continental European predecessors.

And by the way, everything is subjective!

Permalink Reply by michele ricketts on June 10, 2012 at 9:21pm

This play of self and no self mind and no mind a CATALYST to keep fluid against baggage and fossilising ideas one would hope.....leastways I find the right brain ( home of intuitive mind) is more comfortable in no mind to house the whole spectrum from white to grey to black of hunches some whacky some too abstract like jazz or part useful or after sifted found sound. No God is more ressonant with flexability whilst Belief is notorious for otherwise. This is why I atheism a starting point for true meditation

Permalink Reply by Samantha Thomas on June 10, 2012 at 10:36pm

Ideas are always already fossils. Ideas are relics of the past, and the mind carries more baggage than the Queen's footmen. If the mind is quieted, and the voice in Your head*, which is the voice of the past, stops intruding on the silence, You never know what may show up in that clearing. I invite You to try it.

You write like Jazz, dear Michele, and You spell like Picasso painted. Nevertheless, I enjoy what You write.

* if You hear a voice saying,"What voice in my head? I don't have a voice in my head!", that's the voice of which I write.

Permalink Reply by michele ricketts on June 15, 2012 at 12:24am

You mean like a state of pranic trampolining?

Permalink Reply by Neil Thompson on June 11, 2012 at 3:30am

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. If you want to understand meditation, I think you would be best advised to find a good teacher. Having found that teacher, you may need to make a leap of faith - not in anything intangible but to trust the teacher and go where they take you. No gods required and you may find the reward worth having. I detect an element of impatience in your post, perhaps it would be better to focus more on what is enjoyable your life and less on what, for the time being, you cannot have.

I can't believe how much I sound like some tacky astrologer but as a lifelong atheist and sometime successful meditator, that is the best way I can put it.

Permalink Reply by michele ricketts on June 22, 2012 at 3:01pm

Actually I skipped the teacher and beat up on a visiting Lama instead. All this fear and obsequious stuff. His secretary tried to spooky me but he looked me in the eye as if to say now we are going to have fun! ! Its the astral body to be both murderer and child ( for better words to use) then you learn see pranic people and and the spiritual but astral kept sound with music. And using right hand brain to see in the dark across stepping stones like fetishes into right hand mind. Wool or feathers and its graduations / spectrum to tune into what is sound taste and sensability in music

Permalink Reply by Kelly Christopher Phelps on June 11, 2012 at 2:39pm