🧘⚠️ Catastrophic effects of meditation: a compelling, terrifying first-person account, with reflective analysis.
h/t @eigenhector, @paulbaumgart danlawton.substack.com/p/when-buddhis…
h/t @eigenhector, @paulbaumgart danlawton.substack.com/p/when-buddhis…
Meditation and science are two of the things I value most. It’s hard to know when too much “this can be extremely bad” publicity becomes counter-productive. Both can be extremely good.
It’s seems we’re close to the point where every reasonably clueful lay person understands science is in trouble. Then tweeting more of that will be counter-productive.
We’re still a long way from every reasonably clueful lay person understanding that meditation can kill you.
We’re still a long way from every reasonably clueful lay person understanding that meditation can kill you.
🧘⚠️ Meditation safety: I wrote a blog post about this a few months ago, with links to helpful resources. Yesterday’s thread hit a nerve, it seems; there’s more here:
vividness.live/meditation-ris…
vividness.live/meditation-ris…
Replies to yesterday’s thread were mainly “yes, I (or people I know) have had really bad experiences,” or (from meditation teachers) “this guy was already fucked up, so it doesn’t count.”
Denial pattern has recently shifted from “never happens” to “rare and their fault.”
Denial pattern has recently shifted from “never happens” to “rare and their fault.”
Common failure modes for meditation teachers, and maybe especially for psychotherapists who also recommend or teach meditation. From: brown.edu/research/labs/… 
🛑 My strictly amateur personal advice: adverse effects of meditation are common. Most are minor. The rewards usually outweigh the risks.
Realizing bad effects can come up, and recognizing them AS bad when they do, helps.
Most bad stuff stops if you STOP MEDITATING for a while.
Realizing bad effects can come up, and recognizing them AS bad when they do, helps.
Most bad stuff stops if you STOP MEDITATING for a while.
This just seems like common sense, but the mystical woo that still billows around “meditation” can lead people to dropping common sense and treating it as if it were totally alien to ordinary life, and not something you could or should reason about in a normal way.
A final non-common-sense observation that may be controversial (and I am not sure of it myself).
“Meditation” includes diverse methods with diverse goals. However, a single approach dominates in America now…
“Meditation” includes diverse methods with diverse goals. However, a single approach dominates in America now…
The original aim of this approach was to cause something that sounds much like depressive psychosis. It’s not surprising if it sometimes still does. It’s interesting that it can also be beneficial in small doses!
vividness.live/meditation-ris…
vividness.live/meditation-ris…
Vince raises an important point here! Only you can be fully responsible for your mental health. It’s tempting to turn it over to someone else, to avoid blame. That doesn’t work. (In the worst case it leads to dysfunctional cults.)
Use common sense…
Use common sense…
https://twitter.com/VinceFHorn/status/1416824668368084993
Western Buddhism developed a dysfunctional culture of entitledness among students, who expected meditation teachers to embody perfection and to provide unlimited support for free.
This seems to be changing, fortunately.
This seems to be changing, fortunately.
https://twitter.com/VinceFHorn/status/1416825166047371268
So, if you have a tendency toward depression or dissociation (spaciness), you might investigate alternative approaches, which aim toward joyful involvement with concrete reality instead. vividness.live/tantra-base
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