Looks like some god gave these techniques to mankind in a specific manner to impart health. I find this intriguing and at the same time a bit off-putting. Is it an acknowledgement of a divine entity? Is it a means of respectful compliance to a higher power? I think it is, but ymmv, so I'm asking. What say you? Why?
If it is claimed that Yoga techniques were imparted by a supernatural Shiva what is the proof or evidence for this claim?
Did you look at the site? I think you will find that answer. If not, who developed it? Also, isn't praying the same as meditating? Aren't you simply concentrating on something out of body and intangible?
I did look at this site. No proof of any kind is presented that Shiva exists and/or provided Yoga techniques to humans. Saying "it is said" is not proof of anything. Therefore, I would say Yoga was developed by humans.
Okay, from a standpoint of secular humanist thinking, I agree. What about this meditation crap? Isn't that the same or pretty darn close to praying silently or in a group of like minded folk?
I think the concept of prayer and meditation are different. Prayer is petitioning a deity or engaging in a read and/or imagined conversation. Meditation as I understand it is a technique to shut down the senses engaged in comprehending a fake (virtual?) reality so as to comprehend the real reality. If it works, I guess it works but who wants to meditate for 30 years and find out that you have meditated on (the quote Fireside Theatre) the great white light of stupidity.
Well, I see what you are getting at. I find folks have similar results from praying as others do from yogic meditation. I do believe it is a form of acknowledgment of a god's existence to those who follow those particular doctrines, and that's why I believe it is a form of worship, as is doing anything one believes was prescribed by a god or gods. What's your opinion?
I feel privileged. Unfortunately, I know a little. Buddhism is a religious belief and practice. Sorry for your luck. Sorry for your luck. Check it out for yourself. What do you mean the government cannot sanction it? If it is used in the public educational system, isn't that government sanctioning of a religion? Just because folks don't realize what it is, doesn't mean it isn't sanctioning a religion. School sanctioned religion, at your service. It says it works. That's not my issue. Outside of school, they can learn and do as they please. This is a direct violation of the Constitution, in the same manner as a Christian prayer of someone kneeling and holding hands out or folding them in reverence. It is worse than the Ten Commandments being posted on a monument, because they are telling the children what to do and how. This should not be in school. They can worship silently, but they cannot use public funds or have this within the educational system.
For some reason you broke this away from where the original argument started so that it lost context, I wonder why that is? I have quoted below what you said and my response. The argument is NOT that meditation might have origins in religion, it is that it is not religious when practiced as part of mindfullness. If you can convince me that I was being religious when I have used meditation then you win but, you can't because it wasn't religious and I wasn't pretending to speak to a delusion while I was doing it.
I think meditation has survived because no one discovered they were meditating on the great white light of stupidity. The benefits of this ancient practice has yielded positive results for enough people in order to keep it around. The atheist Sam Harris has meditated for much of his life. I think it brings about a knowledge of something which can only be realized by mediating. You are standing on the outside, never having experienced what mediation yields and throwing stones. I find that some ignorance might do. Kinda like telling us a peach tastes like crap, while never actually ever tasting the peach. Or at least opening the possibility that indeed a peach which you have never tasted must taste like sh*t smells.
I don't do yoga....... I have attempted meditation a number of times and the method that I had the most success with was taught by a near death experiencer who stated that he could replicate the NDE state of consciousness through meditation. http://www.thomastwin.com/10 A Background to Silence.html I personally am terrible at meditation because I can't seem to stop thinking....... but I have ran into some verification for his idea that deep meditation can have some similarities to the NDE state of consciousness. https://www.near-death.com/experiences/triggers/extreme-meditation.html [/quote]
[/QUOTE] You can say the Jesus prayer and do similarly. I've read a book on some monks who did it. I don't recommend it. It pisses off the evil spirits and they attack you.
Meditation is a type of worship, after all. If someone believes or as many as do, that something is happening, it probably is. Who knows what that is?
I'm not really trying to win. I'm trying to state facts. You don't have to believe what I post. I know it's true. I'm connecting the dots Let's look at this the way secular humanists do with another religion. Jesus, a man, told everyone to say the Our Father. He told us how to say it and not to shout it out, but to say in in private and with reverence. In a sense, that is similar to this Shiva telling someone to meditate, and how to go about it. Promises were made in both instances. Both were given to a believer or believers, by someone or some thing accepted as god or a god. By doing what they are told, they are practicing religious beliefs. I don't see the difference. I think I have proven myself. I'm satisfied. I don't expect everyone to believe me or agree. I would like to see it used at home and not taught in schools. It is a religious practice. It is a violation of the separation fo church and state. I don't much care, if they do it in silence. Whatever works.
If you stop making absurd statements, I will not challenge them; I kind of know that I won't change your mind but, I was not prepared to let you abuse facts to make an inane point about meditation as a useful tool for the mind.
LOL! The best humor is at least somewhat serious...... and you are tapping into some really big truths with this comment. Thee year and ten month old Colton Burpo reported seeing lots and lots of animals in heaven during his brush with death........ and yes.... cats may well be far more powerful spiritual creatures than we tend to to imagine at first....... https://www.near-death.com/experiences/with-pets.html
I doubt the buddhists would say it was any type of worship. At least not the ones I associated with long ago. They even told me it was not really a religion, although it is considered by some in the west to be religious in nature. A religion without a God? I thought religion was defined by a particular God being involved? I liked these buddhists because they seemed like nice, peaceful people, something not seen much in many monothestic religions. At least historically.
My posts are accurate. I'm sorry you want something other than Christianity taught in school. And, you can say anything's absurd. It doesn't refute the truth.
Anyone who is intelligent and living in a country with religious hostilities that would and do cause murders is not going to admit anything that might endanger themselves and their family.
I accept your surrender. You failed to show that meditation is religious in nature. It is by definition not religious because it involves focusing on the senses and experience of the body in the here and now. Religion focuses on a delusion.
Especially since the atheist sam harris has meditated for years. lol And unlike prayer, there is no wheedling of God to give you what you want...as if He didn't already know what you wanted. I think JC said as much a couple thousands years back...
I tried yoga when my kids were little but they thought it was funny to crawl under me when I was doing "downward dog" and pounce when I'm trying to lie on my back and meditate... just didn't work