[Buddha-l] Addictive Dhyana?

[Piya Tan]

Meditation is not just sitting, definitely not for hours, when you know very
well it does not work. Mindfulness is an ongoing present-moment awareness
(partly defined in the Sati  Sampajanna passage of the Satipatthana Sutta).

Then there is Metta Bhavana, where you relate to others with the positive
side of yourself. In time, that other will see his own goodness.

The point is that both methods are mirrors that we look into clearly. We
slowly see what we really are. So deal with it.

Piya


On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 1:03 AM, Richard Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu> wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-01-12 at 21:37 -0800, Katherine Masis wrote:
>
> > What exactly do you mean by "addictive dhyana"?
>
> Piya Tan will no doubt answer for himself. What I mean by the term is a
> tendency to seek out the peacefulness of second and higher dhyāna states
> rather than dealing directly with one's issues. It was once pointed out
> to be that the distinction between simply being industrious and being a
> "workaholic" (a ridiculous and ill-formed word if ever there was one) is
> that the latter uses being busy as a strategy for avoiding one's
> problems. To use Buddhist language, a workaholic takes refuge in being
> busy.
>
> Drawing on that notion of going for refuge to a practice in order to
> avoid facing unpleasant realities (especially unpleasant realities
> within oneself), I made the casual observation that dhyāna can be
> addictive; one can be a "dhyānaholic" (if I may be permitted to coin yet
> another ridiculous and ill-formed word). Some people (I being among
> them) will go to considerable length to avoid unpleasant realities. I
> have spent countless hours on meditation cushions being quite peaceful
> as a way of avoiding addressing my own kleshas. The Buddha himself
> warned against this. I ignored his advice. People who had to live with
> me paid the price.
>
> --
> Richard
>
>
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