Can meditation be harmful?
Upvote:0
Buddhist meditation is about contemplating on Dhamma which in short can be put into the Four Noble Truths.
When you are learning and practicing the noble dhamma, you are cultivating qualities such as mettā (kindness), karuṇā (compassion), muditā (sympathetic-joy) and upekkhā (equanimity). Just think practically if these are the qualities you cultivate, can they bring anything negative?
Furthermore, when one learns that this nature of Suffering (birth, aging, sickness, death, etc.) and learns that the origin of this suffering is because of the three-fold craving, and also by destroying that very same craving the mass of suffering can be removed; he or she develops this Noble Eight Fold Path which is the path leading to the cessation of that suffering.
With the development of the Noble Eight Fold Path, having removed unskilled bodily, verbal and mental actions, and contemplating on the origin and cessation phenomena, one starts to understand the dependent origination. With that you start to understand the root cause of what is arising now, and what happens if we act with lack of wise attention and lack of mindfulness. Simultaneously an unshakable Faith arises in you about the Buddha, Dhamma and the Noble Sangha (as a result of seeing the true dhamma within you). Now with that Faith and the mind fixed on Nibbana, that will become your most important protection.
When you practice dhamma this way, you don't get carried away even with highest levels of concentration or the results of such concentrations. You understand if you seek delight in them you are seeking delight in suffering.
So if you are meditating in accordance with the Noble Dhamma, only positive things can come out of that, with most positive and incomparable result being Nibbana.
With Metta
Upvote:2
Each person is born with a survival instinct, which manifests as "ego". For many or most people, this ego instinct cannot be abandoned. Luckily, nature protects most people but not allowing their mind to end the ego. This is why Buddhist internet forums, for example, have many egotists that claim or imagine meditative attainments, such as "jhana". These minds or people simply cannot get rid of ego. But for some people, meditation can cause the ego to become fragile, causing psychosis. Its only a select few that can peacefully abandon ego. These are the Noble Ones.
Upvote:2
Coming from a clinical perspective, i would advice against meditation in cases of moderate to severe illness like depression for instance. I am aware that a practicing buddhist may have a different perspective.
I also find the false memory argument hard to understand, as a mindful look on memories would be a very healthy way of looking at any form of recollection. If i understand correctly the mindfulness study cited only examined meditation experiences during one fifteen minutes session, and it seems like a very superficial base to draw these conclusion from.
Upvote:3
What Buddha recommended was the right concentration (Samma Samadhi) a part of Noble Eightfold Path. Wrong concentration (Mitya Samadhi) may be harmful.
More post
- 📝 Is the only way to deal with the effects of your bad karma endurance?
- 📝 What Buddhist Software is there?
- 📝 What could I say to someone when they ask me "why do you meditate?"
- 📝 Compassion Meditation's Efficiency
- 📝 What were the conditions laid down by Ananda when asked to be Buddhas personal attendant?
- 📝 Am i physical body?
- 📝 What is meant by "secret" in the Guhyagarbha tantra?
- 📝 Why did we first incarnate?
- 📝 Does the Pali word "vinaya" in the suttas always refer to the Vinaya Piṭaka?
- 📝 Consciousness and Name-Form
- 📝 How, if at all, does karma exist in the form and formless realms?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha take 7 years to attain Nirvana?
- 📝 Why are there rising/falling tones in English-language chanting?
- 📝 Where can I find sources for historical data on Buddhist populations in various regions around the world?
- 📝 What might be the impact when western monk start to think they must teach the elders?
- 📝 What does buddhism say about mind and heart?
- 📝 What are great forty?
- 📝 Non-striving and happiness
- 📝 Was buddha aware of future or future way of living?
- 📝 Is there a proper English word to call Brahmas?
- 📝 Why work on one thing at a time?
- 📝 What is right view regarding rebirth?
- 📝 Russian language Mulamadhyamakakarika?
- 📝 what is difference between sukha and sukhendriyam?
- 📝 If everyting comes from emptyness than what is energy
- 📝 How to improve mindfulness of thinking?
- 📝 Intention and Karma
- 📝 Earth covered with water in the beginning?
- 📝 How to become a samma sambuddha (Theravada)
- 📝 Can a Buddhist own and run a billion dollar business?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Can one learn meditation on their own?
- 📝 Can one practice meditation to gain knowledge about the universe?
- 📝 Can meditation cause you to sleep less?
- 📝 Can meditation help students in exams?
- 📝 What determines whether a style of meditation can or cannot lead to insight?
- 📝 How can one apply the skills developed through Vipassana meditation to overcome FMO/PMO (fantasy, p**n, masturbation, o*g**m) addiction?
- 📝 How can I remedy the erratic energy-power that arises from vipassana aka cessation-contemplation meditation so I can feel more in-control?
- 📝 How can the sensations of the meditation object (attention to the breath) be made more noticeable?
- 📝 How can we include meditation in our daily activities or day to day life?
- 📝 Can a person with harmful thoughts still meditate?
- 📝 Mental illness: can Dhamma, meditation help?
- 📝 Can meditation heal physical diseases?
- 📝 Can I save my meditation practice or should I abandon it?
- 📝 Can meditation change your hormone and neurotransmitter system?
- 📝 How can i use meditation to concentrate!
- 📝 How can I practice mindfulness meditation with sound, not breathing?
- 📝 Can meditation be harmful?
- 📝 How & why can sexual intentions be harmful to others?
- 📝 can meditation and dharma alone take us to higher levels of consciousness?
- 📝 Can I plan for future while doing meditation on death?
- 📝 Can Meditation lead to Suicide?
- 📝 Can we use Piti as a meditation subject?
- 📝 Can open monitoring meditation lead to states of Jhana?
- 📝 Can the energy generated through meditation neutralize the covid 19 corona virus?
- 📝 Can the Buddha ever be a woman?
- 📝 If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth?
- 📝 Lust - How Can it be Overcome?
- 📝 Where is the Buddha quoted as saying do not believe anything I say until you can prove it by yourself?
- 📝 How to determine the end of a meditation session without a clock?
- 📝 How can I assess the quality of a local Buddhist group?