I don't hold to the truth that all of life is suffering.
To clarify, buddhist thought isn't that all life is suffering. it's more that the defining characteristic of life is suffering, in it's natural state, and it proposes a means of freeing ones self of that suffering.



but meditation being more than just a buddhist phenomena, we can't really point to buddha as the best meditator can we? the best buddhist perhaps, but not the best meditator by necessity.
actually yes, i did mean that, that buddha would be the best meditator in the buddhist tradition, but I guess I didn't word that very well.

I've heard people describe the meditative state as something seperate life. For the taoist its more like becoming closer to life.
hmmmm, this is interesting because I actually consider meditation as your desribe it in the taoist sense. maybe this is why (at least partially) why china largely combined taoist and buddhist thought. I actually admire and revere taoism very much in its philosophy, I just found more personal meaning in buddhism. as you said, it's the "flavour" that appeals to me as well. plus, I've never been big into the multiple gods and dieties that taoism has, but the philosophy on living itself is excellent.


Maybe just in that the focus is on all of life and not just the illusion of our seperation (self).
actually, while buddhism puts a lot of emphasis on the self, we still believe in the understanding of and compassion for all life very much. the point of buddhist practice is to remove all illusion so as to be in perfect harmony with all life and existence. hence why killing is prohibited whether it be a human being, or a worm. A true buddhist indeed strives to understand and be one with nature.


I dunno, mostly I consider buddhism and taoism as two expressions of the same thing
the more I think of it, the more I agree with this. like two different (and in some cases very similar) approaches to the same goal. actually many times in history buddhist and toaist philosophers have congregated in huge philosophical discussions to give each other more understanding.

Oh right, so anyway, whether the "self" is altered or not, meditation can still occur. You do realise that you can hold to and be aware of the meditative state all the time don't you?
absolutely, the extinction of "self" is not the extinction of consciousness, buddhism places a huge emphasis on awareness. we're encouraged to maintain awareness of our surroundings, situation, and current state of mind at all times, rather than being constantly lost in distracting scattered thoughts as most people do.



A trip can be like living a lifetime in an hour. Some people don't know how to focus right, and create a nightmare for themselves. But other people can focus on something else, and can create amazing experiences.
that it can. The mushroom trip I had was an amazing spiritual experience that made me and my best friend both finally clearly figure things out in our lives. I really believe in exploring consciouesness in all sorts of ways, I just don't like the idea of psychadelics being the only way, because then it becomes a lazy mans way of conscious exploration without training the mind in it's natural state.
mrdevious Reviewed by mrdevious on . FOR ANYONE WHO MEDITATES I'm afraid my hindrances in meditation are due to being high, should I try to not smoke a few hours before meditation to clear my mind up? I heard having impurities in the body can disturb your ability to connect with your inner entity.. is this true? Rating: 5