What is Digg?203 Comments
- Vorphlack, on 08/22/2008, -11/+90Buried for being a leftist ploy for subverting the American solution - Pharmaceuticals & Shopping!
- Laker1507, on 08/21/2008, -14/+75I know from personal experience that this is true, but I'll add one caveat - if you're moderately or severely depressed, take the drugs first. You can't really work on your mind until you have your emotions stabilized.
- jnickles, on 08/21/2008, -6/+40Meditation is a powerful tool when used wisely. It can benefit you in numerous ways!
- reisrocks, on 08/22/2008, -2/+33while driving.
- mBrutis, on 08/22/2008, -2/+27Dugg for reminding me I was a happier and healthier person years ago when I practiced meditation daily. I really need to start again.
- HeavyWave, on 08/22/2008, -0/+23OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
- charm803, on 08/22/2008, -6/+26I was on meds for depression and I can say, meditating helped me wean off them after 3 months.
I'm very anti-pills but I was too volatile to not take them.
And why the hell am I telling you for?!?!?? - NightStryke, on 08/22/2008, -0/+18NOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM NOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
- aDFP, on 08/22/2008, -1/+18Glad to see an article on Meditation on Digg. Shame this isn't a terribly good one. The image it leaves me with is trying to hold the mind still, which does not suggest detachment, rather trying to calm an excited monkey by pinning it down. I prefer the idea of letting go, and allowing the mind to settle, like sand in a slow-moving river. Works for me, anyway.
- Azerael, on 08/22/2008, -3/+18Welcome to reality. There is no evidence of a spirit or god, and justice is in the hands of those in power. 9/11, regardless of who committed it, has been used to create fear and manipulate the populations of the western world.
- diggarden, on 08/21/2008, -6/+20Meditation can definitely help. This is good practical guidance
- nmathew, on 08/22/2008, -2/+15That's simple. You understand what it's like. Therefore, you want to show people experiencing what you have that there is hope and alternatives to drugs with side effects which often rival the disease they are trying to fight.
- FredFredrickson, on 08/22/2008, -2/+14I think doctors are too quick to throw pills your way these days. It's natural to have depression - and you become a much better person by working through it and understanding it, rather than hiding from it by getting doped up.
- mohsenxp, on 08/22/2008, -4/+16Meditation or at least the teaching of it should be compulsory to our kids.
If anyone is familiar with Gung Fu, they know that at its core, it teaches you to free yourself from your ego. To allow your thoughts to occur, but to stop being the sponge on which your thoughts are absorbed.
Many people think that the goal of meditation is to clear your mind of thoughts, but in my opinion, it is to simply observe your thoughts and disassociate yourself from your ego - your 2nd thinker.
At any rate, it is a life long task but one's quality of life can be greatly enhanced. - Haecceity, on 08/22/2008, -1/+13Meditation is (mainly) a Buddhist activity. Muslims aren't Buddhists.
- aDFP, on 08/22/2008, -0/+10Who dugg him down? That's not as stupid as it sounds.
When you meditate, part of you is falling asleep. It's the part I thinks of as your body's radar, the bit that's always focused on changes in the outside world. When you're anxious, stressed, frightened or distracted, that's the main part of your mind you're using. Conversely, when you're relaxed, calm and happy, your 'radar' gets switched down a level, and you're actually more aware of everything, both in yourself, and the world around you. Meditation is a way of taking the radar offline for a spell.
Also, I've seen people fall asleep during meditation lots of times, even practiced meditators while they're leading meditation. It's amusing, but the aim is surely to quieten the mind, not just to stay awake. If it was, then all I'd need to attain enlightenment is coffee and XBox. - Visarga, on 08/22/2008, -1/+11The immune system is influenced by the nervous system. The placebo effect is just 1% of the true power meditation can have on the body. If it were just wishful thinking, then why would all the medical trials need to be double bind?
- SicSlipknot66, on 08/22/2008, -0/+10Please be very careful with drugs though and make sure you have an excellent doctor that is looking out for your best interest. I was on anti-depressants for 4 years and they made my life a living hell...still just as depressed but so zoned out I couldnt deal with normal situations properly. Ive been off them for about a year now and still feel the side effects. So please be careful...I know it can help some people, but I would suggest trying therapy/meditation/etc. first.
- mambanamba, on 08/22/2008, -5/+15when i meditate i feel like falling sleep
- notwizt, on 08/22/2008, -1/+10...what?
- FLarsen, on 08/22/2008, -0/+9Just confess to an ashtray, it will be okay.
- aDFP, on 08/22/2008, -0/+8The key isn't to push thoughts away, but to relinquish the hold they have on you. If you see yourself as an insecure person, and you have a self-abasing thought, then part of you says 'yeah, that seem to fit who I am, that's something I ought to think'. But also, if you see yourself as a determined person, and something goes through your head, you're likely to accept it or reject it based on your own self-image, rather than any rational basis.
Meditation, and detachment, enable you to quieten your ego, and thereby think and see with more clarity, not less. You'll still think your own thoughts, but it's the difference between seeing on a clear day and peering through thick fog. - Borgcube636, on 08/22/2008, -6/+14Meditation is something that everyone (including myself) should strive to pick up as part of their daily routine. It is extremely beneficial in so many ways. And, it opens the doorway to spirituality.
- aDFP, on 08/22/2008, -0/+8Try and track down some Alan Watts and Ram Dass, for starters.
I'd recommend avoiding google, as the subject seems to attract a lot of vague new-age drivel, and a lot of people who would use it to further their own agenda. The wikipedia article seems good at a quick glance.
Also, if you're after books, go with the sources, like the yoga sutras of patanjali, the dharmapada, and avoid the modern rubbish like the celestine prophecy and deepak chopra. Modern authors who are good are Alan Watts and Ram Dass, also Erich Fromm, D.T. Suzuki, and you may get on with Robert M Pirsig. - Luminoth, on 08/22/2008, -6/+14You aren't going to work your way through a chemical imbalance.
- mohsenxp, on 08/22/2008, -0/+7Actually successful meditation can be done as you go about day to day tasks.
It is not the cliched, sit in a silent room and hum with candles burning around you.
It relies upon constantly striving to be aware of your true self. Or perhaps more correctly, constantly striving to depart from your ego. - antipoet, on 08/22/2008, -2/+9@Luminoth
There is growing speculation that the mind can actually change things like that - even possibly our own DNA. They are literally starting to prove that mind over matter is true in some cases. - oxdeltaxo, on 08/22/2008, -2/+9Sometimes a person is so far gone that they need that chemical shock to bring to a normal level so they can understand what it's like to think normally again.
- captZEEbo, on 08/22/2008, -2/+9Just out of curiosity, how do you use meditation unwisely?
- Detritus, on 08/22/2008, -1/+7I won't say that you're wrong, Berkana, but that sounds highly sensational.
I've had some bad trips meditating, but none of them were even in the same league as bad trips on acid or shrooms. - mohsenxp, on 08/22/2008, -1/+7I agree that the idea of having a thought-free (still) mind can seem impossible to all except a few.
I personally have not managed to have a thought-free mind for longer than a few seconds at a time.
I certainly prefer to observe my thoughts and once you learn to become the observer of your thoughts, it is relatively easy to avoid any attachments to them.
More importantly you then build up a greater level of control upon realising that you control your thoughts and not the other way around.
Bare in mind that negative thoughts are not all harmful, some are indeed necessary. However being too attached to these thoughts is what can cloud the mind and cause depression.
One helpful tip which has helped me along the way is to take note of the next time you lose yourself in negative thoughts. Be aware of the emotions which you feel. It may be that your body reacts as if the thoughts are physical (increased heart-rate, anger, sadness etc.)
Once you are slightly aware of this, it is much easier to then calm your thoughts. It is worrying how the body reacts to thoughts, and thus in a vicious cycle, your thoughts are enhanced by the body's reaction. - mohsenxp, on 08/22/2008, -0/+6The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
It is not so much a meditation book, but a complete transformation guidebook. Very enjoyable read and highly recommended. - TheLichKing, on 08/22/2008, -0/+6If you know of a better one, it'd be nice if you could post it please.
- captZEEbo, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5nah, I'd rather here input from digg users and also see what people give thumbs up too.
- chillbeast, on 08/22/2008, -1/+6I feel this way everytime I see something about it, then I forget about it and I continue to push ***** around inside and feel like crap...
I think the constant assault of the senses from an urban lifestyle just beats you down and makes it hard to remember to relax your mind as much as your body....
That said I get into a pretty meditative state when I am writing music, which definitely helps my mind sort things out, so I think you can gain some of the benefits without actually sitting there just meditating - inactive, on 08/22/2008, -3/+8buried your comment. the largest study of all time on antidepressants shows they are no better than a placebo (see above poster's link). you sound like a shill for big pharm. i was on paxil, prozac, lexapro, wellbutrin, effexor, nardil, etc. etc., they did nothing for me except to ruin my brain.
- Haecceity, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5So far most of the research on meditation and depression has been on getting people to avoid relapse into depression, teaching them to meditate when they're in a relatively balanced state. But meditation can also work with mild depression. With mild depression there are still enough inner resources to practice meditation.
- Berkana, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5A couple of years ago, one of the California bay area free weekly news papers had an article on the dangers of meditation, saying that some people who are unexperienced in meditation meditated themselves into extremely unpleasant halucinatory states, went mad, or had other seriously negative effects.
It is possible to "meditate unwisely." Do a search for "dangers of meditation" and you'll find quite a lot of articles from various perspectives on this matter. - UNL1M1T3D, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5I hated anti depressants. I have never been on them myself, but my ex was. At the lower doses they worked great and she didn't have any negative effects. But when they upped the doses she would turn into a zombie. Just zoning out in the distance and when I would ask her what she was thinking about she said she couldn't remember. That and our sex life took a huge hit.
- josher565, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5I like the article topic, but I don't agree with the author as to his/her goals. The point of meditating is not to gain control, it's to be aware of what is going on in one's mind and once you see that, perhaps you will be able to be present in the moment more often.
As for how to do it, all you have to do is sit in one place, before doing so, get rid of as many distractions/entertainments as possible and sit up straight and do your best to relax. Do your best to keep it simple when getting started. A common starting point is to concentrate on the breath. Observe when you are concentrating on your breath and when you feel distracted and just keep observing. - Haecceity, on 08/22/2008, -1/+6There's a ton of information available about clinical trials showing the health benefits of meditation. You'll find a short list here:
http://www.wildmind.org/applied/stress/mbsr/mbsr-h ... - inactive, on 08/22/2008, -2/+7Don't forget carpet and cluster-bombing third world villages, that's really the glue that holds America together.
That, and mayo. - inactive, on 08/22/2008, -3/+7Hallucinations don't count as metaphysical experiences.
- antipoet, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4You're right, 'how to meditate' is pretty difficult to explain to people. I've done a fair amount of reading on it and gotten sometimes conflicting advice. Some make it sound like your mind should be silent while practicing while others recommend merely watching your thoughts flow past you as if you were watching a river. From my somewhat inexperienced view, it seems like the focus is the most important - single-mindedness - and more important than anything else of the process.
The simplest way to begin meditating is something called 'following your breath'. Simply focus on the feel of breathing and count each in breath, restarting at 10. Keep practicing till you can keep your mind focused on the breathing/counting and not get caught up in the flow of thoughts and pulled down the river. - Gndoab, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4Due to loads of confusion, I'll give my two cents:
Go back to your breath. If you have thoughts, that is good. If you have non-thoughts, that is good. Just go back to your breath.
There really isn't anything else to it. Striving to have one state of mind or another is not helpful, and if you find yourself doing it, go back to the breath. Striving to have no state of mind isn't helpful either, so just go back to your breath. Very simple practice made difficult by the mind - mohsenxp, on 08/22/2008, -1/+5"If you start seeing your own thoughts as not a part of you, then what are you; an un-thinking shell not capable of thought of your own?"
Indeed you would turn into a delusion schizophrenic if you started thinking your thoughts are from an evil other that lives inside your head.
However you have missed the point. In meditation one strives to realise that the thoughts that dominate many people's lives are just that, thoughts.
The point is to observe your thoughts and react accordingly, but not to let your thoughts become who you are. You must learn to appreciate that who you are, whatever makes you you, is that 'being' that is aware of your thoughts.
Once you can distance yourself from your thoughts, you can actually focus on constructive thinking which will help your life and avoid destructive thoughts associated with paranoia, pride and fear. - Jaenns, on 08/22/2008, -1/+5Most depressed people can't concentrate on anything let alone meditate
- FredFredrickson, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4I agree with all of you, but I said that I think doctors are too quick to give you pills for depression, not that all people can correct themselves. Obviously, some people may need help getting back to whatever normal is.
It's the same with rehabilitation versus surgery - sometimes you can take the longer, harder route and rehabilitate a physical problem, and sometimes you need help from surgery. In the end, you may just be healthier because you took the non-surgical route, but that may not have been an option from the beginning. - thailand1972, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3I don't know why, but I find that genuinely amusing....
- justinbonnet, on 08/22/2008, -2/+5I'm surprised so many on digg actually meditate. Do to the atheist culture here, wouldn't this just be connecting to the non existing void that doesn't exist? (calm down atheists, it's possible to have spirituality without another man's bible)
My Advise to those who might be curious to exploring meditation: I was very ignorant my whole life on the concept of meditation, in recent years I've taken the attempt. while nothing really significant didn't happen for a month of doing it nightly. Every morning felt like i got a extra 3-4 hours of well needed rest. This can be priceless to a mind lost in the fast pace of reality. -
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