The Danger Inherent in Modern Secular Meditation

👈 || UNSAYING | CONTEMPLATION | TRADITION | MEDITATION | DISCUSSIONS | BACK MATTER || 👉

Modern secular meditation focuses on techniques taken from ancient spiritual traditions, while jettisoning their deep wisdom born of long experience working with practicing meditators over centuries. Even the original purpose of traditional meditation techniques — that of discovering our true nature — is ignored.

Almost everyone wants the low-hanging fruit of meditation — the wondrous health effects it is rightfully touted for — which are beneficial and readily accessible to those willing to make the effort to learn and practice these techniques. But these were never considered to be the focus or goal of traditional meditation. Instead they were side-effects of the actual practices.

I frequently hear people say that meditation is so much better without all the religious ideas suffocating it. Some even find yoga threatening because of its “spiritual connections.”⁠¹ Perhaps it would be better if the unique nomenclature of yoga was jettisoned too… so the sentiment goes. So founders and teachers of secular meditation practices who remove the explanatory support of the traditional doctrines are rewarded for providing a more generally acceptable product, but then are surprised when negative things start happening.