An AI that thought 'like a human' would be able to engage in [ meditation ]. What does this imply? What capabilities are missing from…
Modified: February 26, 2022.
This page contains my notes from the Pointing Out the Great Way Level 1 [ mahamudra ] [ meditation ] [ retreats|retreat ] course I took…
Modified: October 07, 2022.
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…
Modified: January 24, 2022.
[ Dan Brown ] uses this term a lot. Loosely, I think it means [ awareness ] that is aware of itself, without [ fabrication ]. Like…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
The most important thing to know about aversion (avoidance / fear / ...) as an emotional response is that it's, at best, exponentially less…
Modified: April 20, 2024.
Here's a perspective I like on spiritual awakening, elaborating on a metaphor used by [ Michael Taft ]. Suppose you awaken from a dream: a…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
As investigated in [ nondual ] or [ mahamudra ] meditation practice, awareness is both the 'field' in which all of experience occurs, and…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
Concentration is something of a misnomer for the meditative practice and states of samādhi . The word "concentration" carries connotations…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
Philosophical views on consciousness: Buddhist and meditative traditions focus on [ awareness ]. They claim that consciousness has nothing…
Modified: July 14, 2023.
A simple lens on meditative insight progress, from Michael Taft : Start with some sensory object - the sight of a tree, or the felt…
Modified: September 06, 2022.
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…
Modified: February 25, 2022.
Modified: January 26, 2022.
I think [ Dan Brown ] said somewhere that a good synonym for 'empty' in meditative contexts is 'mere construction'. For example, practicing…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
See [ emptiness ].
Modified: March 23, 2023.
"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…
Modified: October 03, 2021.
Buddists identify five factors as obstacles to [ concentration ] in [ meditation ]: Sensory desire ( kāmacchanda ) Aversion or ill will (…
Modified: March 22, 2023.
Modified: August 03, 2023.
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…
Modified: November 23, 2023.
[ Dan Brown ] likes to say that 'the view is the meditation'. That is, meditation isn't
Modified: February 10, 2022.
Around 15min into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWAZFuz_mFc , [ Ram Dass ] claims there are 'infinite doorways'. You start on the…
Modified: October 03, 2021.
A lot of discussion around [ artificial intelligence ] implicitly conflates intelligence with [ consciousness ]. It assumes that as we…
Modified: January 18, 2023.
With varying degrees of clarity and certainty. We are [ embedded agent ]s. So are any AI systems we build. We exist inside the world; the…
Modified: December 30, 2024.
Modified: October 29, 2021.
Mahamudra means the 'great seal' or 'great gesture'. We take and [ hold the view ] that each event arising in [ awareness ] --- every sight…
Modified: October 09, 2022.
Apr 24, 2023 be clear on what you're doing in each session. don't mix concentration and emptiness I guess this is related to Tucker's…
Modified: December 13, 2023.
Dec 13, 2023 Sangha session with Dustin: Something I realized during a concentration practice is that being honest about how ‘well’ the…
Modified: December 13, 2023.
The core insight that got me interested: "moments of recognizing your thoughts drifting and bringing them back to your breath" are not…
Modified: October 03, 2021.
Described, among other places, in Unlocking the Emotional Brain . Insofar as much of Buddhism is about dissolving [ samskara ]s…
Modified: February 04, 2025.
A lesson from [ Tucker Peck ]: unresolved questions are the worst thing in meditation. For example, you're just sitting down to practice…
Modified: November 27, 2023.
No-self is one of the [ three characteristics ] that traditional Buddhism holds are present in all phenomena. In later Buddhism, the…
Modified: May 30, 2023.
There's a spiritual idea, in Buddhism and elsewhere, that there is "nothing to do": everything is already suffused with "primordial…
Modified: June 06, 2023.
The paradoxical thing about pointing-out style meditation teaching is that you can't really explain the instructions when they're unclear…
Modified: October 30, 2021.
[ Tucker Peck ] often mentions this as a thing Sharon Salzberg would say. What does it mean? I don't know - I should ask Tucker to clarify…
Modified: January 25, 2024.
A point made by [ Michael Taft ] in various talks, e.g. The World is Inside You (also the '[ emptiness ] of perception' described by [ Dan…
Modified: May 30, 2023.
A point made by [ Michael Taft ] in various talks, e.g. The World is Inside You (also the '[ emptiness ] of perception' described by [ Dan…
Modified: February 03, 2025.
It exists, but is [ empty ], insubstantial, a [ fabrication ]. Foregrounding this view is an important part of [ awakening ] or…
Modified: March 23, 2023.
This is personal mental image for [ emptiness ] that has been really resonant for me, arising from an experience taking [ MDMA ] with a…
Modified: January 24, 2024.
Sasha Chapin describes trauma as a 'splitting off' of difficult or painful experiences as memories that the mind tries to avoid accessing…
Modified: October 27, 2024.
I don't know quite how to articulate or formalize this, but I get a sense that there is something fundamentally analogue, 'periodic' or…
Modified: March 19, 2024.
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…
Modified: January 15, 2022.