WHAT ABOUT ALL THAT RELIGIOUS STUFF (PDF-2207)

In what I have written in the last few blogs I have tried to explain something about what Shamata meditation isn’t. I have mentioned that (at least for beginners) it is usually not relaxing, is not easy, can be boring, is only a practice, and that this practice should not to be confused with the results of the practice, etc. I don’t intend to be negative. Much of this is to point out that here in the U.S. (where there are so many different ideas as to what meditation is) let’s not mistake the authentic meditation technique as taught by Zen and Tibetan Buddhists for the many (quite valid in their own right) relaxation techniques masquerading until the name “meditation.”