An AI that thought 'like a human' would be able to engage in [ meditation ]. What does this imply? What capabilities are missing from…
This page contains my notes from the Pointing Out the Great Way Level 1 [ mahamudra ] [ meditation ] [ retreats|retreat ] course I took…
One of the best ideas in machine learning. (I even thought so in 2011!) There are two common mechanisms: 'soft' and 'hard'. In both cases…
[ Dan Brown ] uses this term a lot. Loosely, I think it means [ awareness ] that is aware of itself, without [ fabrication ]. Like…
Here's a perspective I like on spiritual awakening, elaborating on a metaphor used by NameRedacted. Suppose you awaken from a dream: a…
As investigated in [ nondual ] or [ mahamudra ] meditation practice, awareness is both the 'field' in which all of experience occurs, and…
Concentration is something of a misnomer for the meditative practice and states of samādhi . The word "concentration" carries connotations…
Philosophical views on consciousness: Buddhist and meditative traditions focus on [ awareness ]. They claim that consciousness has nothing…
A simple lens on meditative insight progress, from Michael Taft : Start with some sensory object - the sight of a tree, or the felt…
A set of connected brain regions that are active when you're 'at rest', not focused on the external world. This includes mental states such…
I think [ Dan Brown ] said somewhere that a good synonym for 'empty' in meditative contexts is 'mere construction'. For example, practicing…
See [ emptiness ].
"In other words, there's a method of pursuing or following a devotion to the Guru, but ultimately every method is a trap, and you've got to…
Buddists identify five factors as obstacles to [ concentration ] in [ meditation ]: Sensory desire ( kāmacchanda ) Aversion or ill will (…
On Michael Taft's podcast, A. H. Almaas pointed out that an obstacle for most people realizing a sense of divine, nondual love, is some…
[ Dan Brown ] likes to say that 'the view is the meditation'. That is, meditation isn't
Around 15min into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWAZFuz_mFc , [ Ram Dass ] claims there are 'infinite doorways'. You start on the…
A lot of discussion around [ artificial intelligence ] implicitly conflates intelligence with [ consciousness ]. It assumes that as we…
Mahamudra means the 'great seal' or 'great gesture'. We take and [ hold the view ] that each event arising in [ awareness ] --- every sight…
Dec 13, 2023 Sangha session with Dustin: Something I realized during a concentration practice is that being honest about how ‘well’ the…
The core insight that got me interested: "moments of recognizing your thoughts drifting and bringing them back to your breath" are not…
A lesson from NameRedacted: unresolved questions are the worst thing in meditation. For example, you're just sitting down to practice when…
No-self is one of the [ three characteristics ] that traditional Buddhism holds are present in all phenomena. In later Buddhism, the…
There's a spiritual idea, in Buddhism and elsewhere, that there is "nothing to do": everything is already suffused with "primordial…
The paradoxical thing about pointing-out style meditation teaching is that you can't really explain the instructions when they're unclear…
NameRedacted often mentions this as a thing Sharon Salzberg would say. What does it mean? I don't know - I should ask Tucker to clarify…
A point made by NameRedacted in various talks, e.g. The World is Inside You (also the '[ emptiness ] of perception' described by [ Dan…
It exists, but is [ empty ], insubstantial, a [ fabrication ]. Foregrounding this view is an important part of [ awakening ] or…
This is personal mental image for [ emptiness ] that has been really resonant for me, arising from an experience taking [ MDMA ] with a…
As a kid, we learned about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(mind_game) : if you think of the game, you lose. (and have to say "I…