Comments on: Why we hurt ourselves, the effects of hormones on our well-being

By: 7 Reasons to Start Meditating Today

7 Reasons to Start Meditating Today — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:02:14 +0000

[...] is quite uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong there, it’s a ritualized form of self-torture with a happy ending. You’ll be sitting in a position that will cause your legs to start aching after 10 minutes [...]

By: Christiaan

Christiaan — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:24:38 +0000

Denying something isn’t there doesn’t imply that it doesn’t exist. I totally agree with you there. My attempts to be ruthlessly honest however about my own being hasen’t disclosed any signs that there is someone with a long beard up there sitting on a throne with angels surrounding him up there somewhere.

Experiencing is believing, that is, if you don’t fool your own senses. I can easily see why for almost everyone meditation has a spiritual nature and won’t argue with them about their own experiences or beliefs. After all, you can never truly and accurately convey an experience.

This conversation has given me enough to think about and perhaps write a future blogpost about. I’ll also give a go at (Zen) Buddhism 101 to give people a better understanding on where my thoughts are coming from.

Thank you Ralph!

By: Ralph

Ralph — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:16:16 +0000

I have no issue with Darwin or Budda. Neither seems to me to pose an issue with the existance of a higher being although I admit to knowing virtually nothing about Budda and until your comment assumed that there was some concept of a higher being involved there. I think we could get into a long discussion of spiritual. I might say that although you deny the spiritual nature of your meditation, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.

By: Christiaan

Christiaan — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:07:53 +0000

A sight problem would arise there if meditation was constantly comfortable. It’s my belief that if the slight discomfort associated with meditation no longer is a part of the experience soon the release of endorphins would diminish as well.

Pain from the knees will get less with practice but the pain indeed always finds a way to manifest itself in one form or the other. Meditation without discomfort (on any level) would be pointless I think.

I haven’t dumped the feed yet, and have no idea how to solve the issue at the moment. If you would like to help please contact me. I’d be very grateful.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:25:07 +0000

Christiaan – Nice post!
I want to modify your use of ‘self-torture’ … taking a hike, or sitting in meditation, or any of these exercises soon becomes comfortable enough. Certainly no longer torture. Settling in to the meditation cushion, as Suzuki Roshi said, as if into your mother’s lap. At that point, though, the pain moves to other levels, and so it goes.

BTW, I think there’s problem with your set-up of the Google feed. Or your blog css. You’ve already dumped the feed and reloaded it, right? Plse email me if maybe I can help.

By: Christiaan

Christiaan — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:58:34 +0000

Well, we’ll have a nice discussion here seeing as I’m a Darwinist with a Buddhist streak. I do not believe in creation or in a supreme being out there. Tuning into that being would seem strange to me.

However, the bodily effects of endorphins can be perceived as something that comes from outside ourselves. We pray to God, sitting on a hard wooden bench and after our prayer that lasts for a good 15 minutes we feel less pain and feel better in general. If you are religious you might interpret that as divine intervention perhaps?

I don’t see anything spiritual in my form of meditation to be honest. I light incense to create a nice smell, I use a chime to let other people know I’m not to be disturbed and to have a very clear cue for myself when to start and finish. It’s highly ritualized, but hardly spiritual.

i hope this explains my thoughts a bit

By: Ralph

Ralph — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:11:43 +0000

Since many of the activities involved are spiritual in nature, I wonder about this being a mechanism to tune humans to God. I hear the Star Trck theme in my head as I head off in this direction. Your thoughts?

By: Christiaan

Christiaan — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:09:47 +0000

My first thoughts are that the body has designed a mechanism to protect itself from pain and discomfort. Something that would evolve over time because this would help coping with daily life. Feeling no pain or less pain constantly would be dangerous I can imagine. (Take for instance people who suffer from lepracy.) The body would need a way to temporarily adjust the pain reception.

As to why there are plants who make roughly the same substances (opium) I’m clueless..

But I’m going to look into this further and will get to you in a future post somewhere. Thanks for the comment.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:01:47 +0000

This provides an explanation for the unexplainable. You could trivialize and say that all these behaviors are really addictions but that ignores the fact that the body is designed to work that way. Which brings me to a deeper question. Do you have an opinion about why the body does this?

By: Christiaan

Christiaan — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:57:38 +0000

The feeling is mutual I can assure you