Ask HN: What exactly Is a Mindfulness Meditation?
by aristofun on Hacker News.
I spent many years learning about different ways and schools of meditation. Not professionally but as one of hobbies constantly running in the background. And I still don’t get it. Honestly It still looks like a big scam to me. Some “teachers” say that you just focus your attention on breath or whatever you choose as a focus point. But then isn’t our whole life a sequence of meditations? Because we always focus on something (with sleep breaks). And then following Occam’s razor – why need separate concept for that? Other gurus teach that meditation is “doing nothing”. Okay, but then again there’s nothing special about it, we all do it from time to time. More than that, it means you can’t really practice such meditation, by its definition. Another way to look at it – just sit peacefully and observe your thoughts. Then again, aren’t we doing it anyway on a regular basis without introducing a word for it? Can you please share your own personal specific definition — what exactly is a meditation for you? Please be as detailed as possible and avoid abstract discussions and arguments (I’ve had enough of it already :), just your own experience. Thank you.