Why would meditation be a form of denial (in the negative sense)? It could certainly be used that way, and perhaps sometimes denial is helpful - not a sign of sickness, but a sign of reviving health, of the curing of an illness. For example, if someone is experiencing extreme anxiety, it is often pointless to try to think about resolving an issue that is identified as the cause of the anxiety, because one cannot be rational while feeling extreme anxiety. It is much better to meditate, and hence be "in denial" of the issue, until you can regain your balance and eliminate the anxiety, such that you can then start to rationally address the problem.Why is it that meditation is the holy grail of mysticism? Is it not because meditation is a form of denial? It is a return to a more primitive way of thinking that is known as intuition. — Magnus Anderson
Yes, but it depends on the definition of denial. When I am very anxious about a particular problem and I meditate, then I am fully accepting of the anxiety I experience, but I try to detach from the effort to mentally solve the problem. That is a sort of temporary "denial" of solving the problem, since I realise that I cannot solve it in that state.There should be no judgement or denial: only passive acceptance. — Bitter Crank
There is the magic, mystic crystal revelations of the New Age, and then there is just ordinary secular meditation. — Bitter Crank
Yeah, when I first learned meditation, I was told I was too much in my head ÖI have a hunch that those who are dismissive of meditation are probably responding to what they see as a negative attitude towards thinking. Often meditation can focus on feeling and bodily experience and classify thinking as unhelpful. Inevitably this sometimes results in "my way is better than your way" with people dissing each others methods. — Perplexed
Why is it that meditation is the holy grail of mysticism? Is it not because meditation is a form of denial? It is a return to a more primitive way of thinking that is known as intuition. — Magnus Anderson
There is the magic, mystic crystal revelations of the New Age — Bitter Crank
Thanks, I really needed a picture of your feet as proof that you are on a tram... — Agustino
With regard to anxiety I think that it can produce a cascade of thoughts which often are unhelpful because they merely perpetuate the anxiety. In this case an emphasis on the body can help to ground you and make you aware that you are more than those thoughts and put them into a perspective that stops you getting carried away. When you are calm maybe the problem can be reframed in new ways. Ultimately though I don't think meditation is about problem solving but radical acceptance. At bottom there is nothing to fix but only a getting to know more intimately. Here again is the rub of denial if this is used to turn away from problems. — Perplexed
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