> So when people say trust the science, what they’re saying is a bunch of people who do this all day every day are collectively hive minding some opinion on how things work.
Only the right people who do this every day though... Even better only the ones whose reputation and parts of their salary depend upon more people believing in their science and not questioning them.
The words and standards of the Buddha or other masters, just like Scientology isn't true Christianity even though it has Jesus in it all Buddhist practices aren't necessarily Buddhist if they have meditation in them...
And it's also what Christian mystics like Meiser Eckert and and Gnostics also believe.
You are right it is not just the western culture was mainly using the stereotype to prove a point specifically that moving up in a materialistic society is antithetical to what true meditation and spiritual practice aims at which is beyond the material world.
> For some, like in many types of Christian meditation, the purpose can be to deepen one's relationship with God. Quieting the mind or stillness might be part of a way to get there, but not the ultimate aim.
A true Buddhist would argue that divinity is within a truly quiet mind.
Thank you for explaining much better than myself friend :)
As a practitioner of a Buddhist practice (see my username), meditation is about developing and mastering concentration the mind. The Buddha taught Meditation with out precepts (or living a moral life properly aligned with the universe) was in vain. This is this the reason the Buddha stressed precepts on how one should live as ultimately a mind focused on the material world and self interest will never have the stillness of one living a life of virtue for others which is why many people find meditation so awesome until they try to still there minds and blame the practice for this inability like in this article.
The problem I see is the framing of meditation into the portrait of modern society.
Meditation is about quieting ones mind to ultimate stillness. This is where the ego disolves which is not exactly in alignment with the culturally dominant materialism that we find surrounding us (i.e. the quest for money power and status) all things that rely on an inflated ego.
Using meditation to improve in moving up in society is like using wood logs to put out a fire.
Peter kingsley talks about this in both reality and a story that will pierce where you dive deep into the hidden connection between Pythagoreans and mystical traditions leading back to the mountains of Tibet.
The teachings of Falan Dafa also discusses this claiming that the earth and human civilizations has gone through cycles of destruction and renewal with the last period occuring in the time of the ice age where a small surviving group of mystics in Tibetan mountains managed to survive which matches up with the flood stories across cultures and recent scientific discoveries outlined by people like Graham Handcock.