".... stories of disturbing experiences and psychological damage from meditation are coming to light. Borrowing a phrase from the Christian mystic Saint John of the Cross, these experiences are being called "a dark night of the soul."
"Although meditation has been marketed in the West as a kind of relaxation technique, that is actually not what it is in a spiritual context. Buddhists meditate to wake up. The traditional Buddhist meditation practices are powerful techniques developed over millennia that can reveal to us who we really are and how we are connected to the rest of the cosmos throughout space and time. Stress reduction is just a side effect."
O'Brien, Barbara. "Buddhist Meditation and the Dark Night of the Soul." Learn Religions, Aug. 25, 2020
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Practice has to be a process of endless disappointment. We have to see that everything we demand (and even get) eventually disappoints us. This discovery is our teacher. It's why we should be careful with friends who are in trouble, not to give them sympathy by holding out false hopes and reassurances. This type of sympathy - which is not true compassion - simply delays their learning.
Even with long practice, will sometimes seek false solutions, but as we pursue them, we recognize their futility much more rapidly. When this acceleration occurs, our practice is bearing fruit. Good sitting inevitably promotes such acceleration. We must notice the promise that we wish to exact from other people and abandon the dream that they can quench our thirst. We must realize that such an enterprise is hopeless. Christians call this realization the "dark night of the soul." We've worn out everything we can do, and we don't see what to do next. And so we suffer. Though it feels miserable at the time, that's suffering is the turning point. Practice brings us to such fruitful suffering, and helps us to stay with it.
The Promise That is Never Kept page 46 to 47, Nothing Special by Charlotte Joko Beck
Four Noble Truths translated or adapted by Joko Beck's group.
Caught in the self-centered dream, only suffering;
Holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream.
Each moment, life as it is, the only teacher;
Being just this moment, compassion's way.
Caught in a self-centered dream, waking to a dream within a dream. Each moment life as it is, the only teacher. Being just this moment, compassion’s way.
The truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
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