The Sunk Costs of Buddhist Practice
Jul. 11th, 2018 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsOne thing you might encounter in Buddhist teaching is a lesson entitled The Ten Distractions. These distractions are experiences you will probably have during your meditation periods that are generally considered pleasurable or valuable, but are not the aim of Buddhism and so are considered "distractions." These distractions are:
Only the last one is considered "bad" by Buddhists, because it's the anchor with which the others ensnare you. Once you become attached to any of these states, you're going to fail in your goal of reaching the state of Insight and Enlightenment which is the hallmark of Buddhist teaching.
I have this sneaking suspicion that Buddhism beyond Equanimity is a case of sunk cost, that is, you've spent so much time and energy in meditation, literally exploiting whatever neuroplasticity we have to grow new brain matter dedicated to the task of repeating and realizing the meditative experience, that once you've gotten that far you may as go the whole way, even if at some point you start to lose touch with what it means to be human in the first place. The Buddhist Insight stage seems so off-the-charts compared to the attachments that I have to wonder if it really has value. Who assigns that value? Well, other Buddhists who have spent years chasing it, a self-referential loop of sunk costs.
The Dalai Lama has a well-established place in the popular imagination, but I have to wonder if his grip on all of reality is, well, as strong as mine. His wokeness seems to leap entirely over addressing existing injustices and tackling iniquitous hierarchies into a pithy mass of "If we all thought like me, none of this would be a problem" aphorisms.
It's a common affliction, one that is either pathetic or unbelievably dangerous, depending upon how much power the believer has.
- Illumination that meditation is effective
- Understanding how your mind works
- Joy
- Tranquility
- Physical pleasure
- Faith and confidence
- Energy and vitality
- Concentration and focus
- Equanimity
- Attachment
Only the last one is considered "bad" by Buddhists, because it's the anchor with which the others ensnare you. Once you become attached to any of these states, you're going to fail in your goal of reaching the state of Insight and Enlightenment which is the hallmark of Buddhist teaching.
I have this sneaking suspicion that Buddhism beyond Equanimity is a case of sunk cost, that is, you've spent so much time and energy in meditation, literally exploiting whatever neuroplasticity we have to grow new brain matter dedicated to the task of repeating and realizing the meditative experience, that once you've gotten that far you may as go the whole way, even if at some point you start to lose touch with what it means to be human in the first place. The Buddhist Insight stage seems so off-the-charts compared to the attachments that I have to wonder if it really has value. Who assigns that value? Well, other Buddhists who have spent years chasing it, a self-referential loop of sunk costs.
The Dalai Lama has a well-established place in the popular imagination, but I have to wonder if his grip on all of reality is, well, as strong as mine. His wokeness seems to leap entirely over addressing existing injustices and tackling iniquitous hierarchies into a pithy mass of "If we all thought like me, none of this would be a problem" aphorisms.
It's a common affliction, one that is either pathetic or unbelievably dangerous, depending upon how much power the believer has.
