From mountain crossings to mobile downloads, the way we learn to meditate has been revolutionized. But are apps really helping us wake up, or just keeping us glued to our phones?
Most valuable experiences in developing my practice were 2 yrs. in a group that was willing to share their meditation experience with near-complete candor and realizing the scope of what a Thervan monk's repeated instruction to 'see what's there' could mean.
For me, a lifetime solo practitioner (since age 12, I'm now 68) who has always lived in rural settings, using meditation apps or following a recorded meditation on a website has helped with motivation. They change things up a bit and I may learn a new technique, but I continue my practice with or without them. I use apps as meditation energy bars.
How to seed sprouting of in person Sangha through apps? Might sound ridiculous, but apps are, otherwise, overall, just another reinforcement of the silos of isolation, the very thing we must overcome to begin to move back closer to "I and Thou" (Martin Buber) at scale.
Most valuable experiences in developing my practice were 2 yrs. in a group that was willing to share their meditation experience with near-complete candor and realizing the scope of what a Thervan monk's repeated instruction to 'see what's there' could mean.
For me, a lifetime solo practitioner (since age 12, I'm now 68) who has always lived in rural settings, using meditation apps or following a recorded meditation on a website has helped with motivation. They change things up a bit and I may learn a new technique, but I continue my practice with or without them. I use apps as meditation energy bars.
Not about this post, but something that bothers me:
I really don’t like being part of a hierarchical competitive program here.
Am I thinking about this wrong?
An email I received;
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How to seed sprouting of in person Sangha through apps? Might sound ridiculous, but apps are, otherwise, overall, just another reinforcement of the silos of isolation, the very thing we must overcome to begin to move back closer to "I and Thou" (Martin Buber) at scale.