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…
The most important thing to know about aversion (avoidance / fear / ...) as an emotional response is that it's, at best, exponentially less…
[ 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 [ Michael Taft ]. Suppose you awaken from a dream: a…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Described, among other places, in Unlocking the Emotional Brain . Insofar as much of Buddhism is about dissolving [ samskara ]s…
A lesson from [ Tucker Peck ]: unresolved questions are the worst thing in meditation. For example, you're just sitting down to practice…
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…
[ 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…
A point made by [ Michael Taft ] in various talks, e.g. The World is Inside You (also the '[ emptiness ] of perception' described by [ Dan…
A point made by [ Michael Taft ] 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…
Sasha Chapin describes trauma as a 'splitting off' of difficult or painful experiences as memories that the mind tries to avoid accessing…
I don't know quite how to articulate or formalize this, but I get a sense that there is something fundamentally analogue, 'periodic' or…
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…