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Comment by pinchharmonic | Hacker News Reader

It helps you be more mindful and detach from the moment to moment undulations of modern life. This can be good and bad.

I can meditate anywhere. But usually I sit in half-lotus, slowly easing myself into a blank state. I think about radiating outward. Anywhere from 5-25 mins.

Never did a retreat.

The problem with meditation is I think that it can release a latent and light form of schizophrenia. Things that society values, you no longer value as much. It makes it tougher to fit in with "normal" people. The benefit is that you can draw your path more clearly and execute more clearly. I'd like to hear others' opinions as well.

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I agree with you, but I wouldn't call it schizophrenia or say any values were lost, they were just reprioritized. Describing it as schizophrenia implies a disconnection with reality, but the feelings and sensations we have are true, just not easily quantified or explained. Since we have a greater recognition of the sensations going through our body, we place a higher importance on those instead of the social values everyone else is working towards in the hopes that it will make them happy.

One example is working at a bad job. The average person will sacrifice their happiness to work at this bad job, because it pays the bills, because it would look bad on you to quit, etc. They live their life in fear and misery, but will suppress it until it becomes too much and they explode. When a person has the experience of observing the sensations in their body, they will be able to recognize unhappiness early on and are more likely to move on before they explode.

It does make it a little tougher to fit in with "normal" people because we have completely different priorities, but I would say we have a greater grasp on our own happiness, which is way more important in the grand scheme of things.

I find I don't value social constructions near as much as I used to as well. For me it's because I realized there is something inside me. In deep trance I can see it as a blue fire. And it feels like this blue fire is more real than any insecurity or any external pursuit, and yet it drives my external pursuits so that my choices become clearer and I am less confused. It just feels real, while often our modern world feels like brittle plastic.

Meditation on the Buddhist tradition is more like 'leaning in' or becoming immersed in your experience. It's certainly not at all about achieving a blank state, or detachment. Not saying there isn't a meditation tradition that works like that, but from a Buddhist/psychology perspective, that sounds more like dissociation..

It's called void meditation, and is actually part of the buddhist philosophy. There are many different methods for practicing meditation even in buddhism. The goal with meditation in general is to will oneself into any desired mental state. One "practices" meditation to the ends of being able to call that state wherever one happens to be. It is a future-oriented practice, even when doing meditation that immerses one in the "moment", it is about eventually being able to do it anytime and anywhere one needs it. Often it is about introspection, but void meditation is about self control, and creating a feeling of safety in a mind full of loose and anxious thoughts. Void helps in times of deep emotional stress, so that instead of causing trauma, one can simply ignore the thoughts until they can be processed more coherently.

I found myself valuing things society forgot about was important.

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