Thoughts:
If mindfulness is so great, then, why aren’t all of us practicing it every day?
Mindfulness can be unpleasant, because life can be unpleasant.
Mindfulness can hurt because, well, life hurts.
Researchers have long known that social pain is processed by many of the same regions in the brain as physical pain; it stands to reason, then, that avoiding mindfulness is a self-defense strategy for those suffering mentally.
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This is why I dislike all the Mindfulness apps, and the promise of technology mediated meditation, (there ain't no free lunch). And many of these can do real harm.
If you have struggled with meditation, two underlying problems might be to blame: You don’t know how to be at home in your head, or you do know and have concluded that home is dangerous.
How can you tell the difference?
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This is the point of the Sangha, the group of like minded practitioners who gathered together to support and care for each other. The Sangha is so important in Buddhist practice that it is one of only three "jewels", The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
At first glance formal meditation seems like a solitary endeavor, you alone on the cushion. But without the precursor of mindfulness, supported by the Sangha, it can be almost imposable to gain any insight.
And, in fact, do great harm.
eof
