> For a cumulative ten hours and forty-five minutes, she sat cross-legged on a rug, her spine erect, and tried to focus on her breath.
This practice _will_ cause disassociation at some point, which is precisely what happened when she broke out into psychosis after engaging in the practice for 60+ total hours.
...so you're qualified to make that sort of statement? Got any publications to back it up for example? Concentrating on something for a cumulative 10 hours and 45 minutes is actually not uncommon in the slightest. Does everyone who focuses on something for that long disassociate? Or just people who focus on their breath? Why is it that good posture and focusing on one's breath in particular would cause 'disassociation' if that's your claim?
Maybe you go through life constantly asserting and believing things that are in no way true....with no experience nor credentials nor having even read any literature to back any of them up...
Because you ended the comment with an insulting fantasy of me.
> Maybe you go through life constantly asserting and believing things that are in no way true....with no experience nor credentials nor having even read any literature to back any of them up...
I would have loved to actually engage in a conversation on how vipassana meditation inevitably, whether it's after 8 hours or 8000 hours, leads to disassociation. Ego death. Seeing reality as it is. But if you refute it by calling the person inexperienced and ignorant, the other party will have no reason or motivation to discuss it further.
Yeah it seemed weird to me that those got flagged but also in line with a lot of what I read here.
If you have something authoritative to say about meditation, I may read it, but I don’t think you’re off to a good start so far. I’ve been getting the impression that you believe your speculation to be authoritative, which is dishonest and deluded. Sorry if this comes across as harsh, but you’ve yet to say anything that indicates to me I was wrong to say what I said.
It certainly does come across as harsh, and is probably why you were flagged. In a debate, you simply don’t insult their intelligence, especially without evidence disproving their claims. You haven’t said why you’re an alleged expert on this subject, either. And regardless if either one of us are experts, that shouldn’t change a thing. If they’re truly ignorant, that can be quickly shown by counter arguments. HN’s toxicity has risen over the years, but we still strive to keep things civil. What’s magical about this community is that you _do_ come across experts, and through civil discourse you can learn a ton from them.
> I'm not assuming. You've demonstrated your knowledge on the subject. (insinuating I have little knowledge on the subject)
> Maybe you go through life constantly asserting and believing things that are in no way true....with no experience nor credentials nor having even read any literature to back any of them up...
If you don’t find these offensive, you may have thicker skin than most, but it’s still best to leave them out.
yeah dude, you are going way out on a limb there. But wait...you've done a whole lot of dissociative practices? So basically you're totally dissociated from reality? (to put things in your own words)
So again...why would I care?
edit: also, just in case anybody takes this charlatan at his word and does decide to read 'the mind illuminated' know that many of the author's followers demonstrate cult-like behavior, as well as disillusionment with his claims after it broke that he had been deceptive to his community about his sexual affairs.
> For a cumulative ten hours and forty-five minutes, she sat cross-legged on a rug, her spine erect, and tried to focus on her breath.
This practice _will_ cause disassociation at some point, which is precisely what happened when she broke out into psychosis after engaging in the practice for 60+ total hours.