Meditation books for a westerner

[Anonymous No.19932337]

Are there any good books on meditation that aren’t corrupted by modern Western influence but at the same time part aren’t so specific to an eastern context. I’ve read some Tibetan stuff but once it starts talking about Buddhist gods or metaphysical theories I don’t really relate to it much since it is so far out of my cultural context

I do appreciate a lot of the authenticity of the traditional texts but I don’t find them to be very practical

[Εγώ No.19932342]

>>19932337
Unironically just relax and force nothing.

[Anonymous No.19932344]

>>19932337
>corrupted by modern Western influence
I guess Christian meditation isn't a thing?

[Anonymous No.19932347]

>>19932337
>that aren't corrupted by modern Western influence
>Buddhist gods or metaphysical theories I don’t really relate to

Those two requests contradict each other. Stripping the Buddhist gods or metaphysical theories out of it *IS* Western influence. They are integral to the original source material. Strip them away and what you're left with are breathing techniques used to squeeze more productivity out of Amazon warehouse slaves

[Anonymous No.19932356]

>>19932347
I just want the practical aspects of it. I want to reduce my chronic pain.

[Anonymous No.19932366]

>>19932356
Get comfortable. Breathe in for X seconds, breathe our for Y seconds, repeat. Insert specific values of X and Y and call yourself a guru for finding said values, but it doesn't really matter, just as long as they're consistent.

Sorry. There's nothing else to it if you strip out the metaphysics. If a bunch of pajeets had figured out ways to cure pain and suffering by sitting cross-legged or whatever, it would've already been integrated into Western medicine

[Anonymous No.19932375]

>>19932342
I got asleep. What next?

[Anonymous No.19932378]

>>19932366
I mean you can legitimately feel a mental difference in the ego after a long session. It does help and is integrated into medicine.

I just want to get the info without the escapist metaphysical baggage.

[Anonymous No.19932381]

>>19932344
Not really for management of pain. I feel that Christian meditation doesn’t try to induce changes of sensation or ego perception. That’s not it’s goal

[Anonymous No.19932389]

>>19932378
If you force yourself to stare at a wall for long enough you'll feel a mental difference in your ego. If you're serious then ask your doctor. He'll probably laugh at you and tell you you're retarded. I wish it weren't true but that's the way it is. I'm not trying to be mean to you, more like tough love, trying to save you from wasting untold hours of your time.

[Anonymous No.19932408]

>>19932389
Ok but That’s not meditation.

[Anonymous No.19932448]

>>19932337
Abhidamma Sutta

Visuddhimagga

[Anonymous No.19932451]

>>19932356
“Break through pain” by Shinzen Young.

[Anonymous No.19932463]

>>19932451
This is good advice.. shinzen can be out there but he knows his stuff

[Anonymous No.19932629]

>>19932366
>Western medicine is totally a synthesis of everything that has ever worked, guys
holy fuck anon. western medicine is completely captured by corporate and political interests from the ground up since the rockefeller foundation got its fingers into it in the early 20th century. Western medicine is inextricable from profit motive. it has a replicability crisis as bad as any social science, see the work of the most cited medical researcher of all time dr. john ioannidis. western medicine is utterly obsessed with pharmaceuticals and complex surgical interventions and is stifled and stunted in its understanding treatment of holistic health (diet and environment) and systematically covers up and ignores remedies that can't be patented or otherwise profitably marketed. western medicine excels most at treating the very health problems it creates at great cost to the patient.
not saying there haven't been incidental benefits and legitimate innovations along the way but yours is such a fucking r*ddit take.

[Anonymous No.19932893]

The Mind Illuminated
The Path to Nibbana
Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
With Each and Every Breath

[Anonymous No.19933812]

>>19932337
I find that the "sitting still and doing nothing" approach works really well for me. All I do is set a timer for a specific amount of time and I just sit, close my eyes and try to be aware. I don't force myself to be aware of any specific thing, I just try to maintain a general awareness of sounds, sensations, thoughts etc.

[Anonymous No.19933862]

>>19932629
Amazing how the same hippies who say this kind of stuff will, at the exact same time, tell us why it's totally legit to discriminate against the unvaxxed, how dare those rightwingers endanger Grandma by not taking Papa Biden's totally Safe and Effective miracle drug!

Nah, but for real though. You know how those pharmaceuticals you hate so much are made? They're made out of ingredients. Stuff like, specific plants and minerals. If a smelly Indian dude sold you those exact same ingredients, you'd be all OMG SO GOOD. But put them in a clean capsule with reliably measured dosage and suddenly its zomg le evil capitalism

[Anonymous No.19933873]

>>19933862
>do good things and karma will reward you
This has nothing to do with buddhism, christer

[Anonymous No.19933883]

>>19933873
And "Do good things and God will reward you" misses the point of Christianity too. It's just a funny meme I saved from someone else here to illustrate how people like >>19932629 have ridiculous double standards. Not intended as rigorous theology

[Anonymous No.19933886]

>>19932337
Vijnyana Bhairava Tantra. And those https://archive.org/details/@prannath_kaul_collection

[Anonymous No.19933892]

>>19932356
>I just want the practical aspects of it
Gods are part of the practical aspects.

[Anonymous No.19933903]

>>19933883
Exxactly. The reason why these pseudo atheists hate Christianity but go to Buddhism because Buddhism is focused on the self and isn't overt on the laws one must live by to live a good life in the presence of God or "the one." Christianity essentially shits on their jewish brainwashed post modern morality while budhissm leaves things vague for them whilst giving spiritualism.

They rather believe in something that's fundamentally about themselves, which is ego at it's height than believe in the teachings of christ and the laws of the bible. Why? Because it actually takes effort and isn't focused on yourself but your fellow man and God. They hate that there are "rules" they rather believe something vague and esoteric, something they'll never truly understand so they can hide and cope from the truth of Jesus Christ.

[Anonymous No.19933928]

>>19932337
Are you retarded? Gods and such are supposed to be part of the practical aspects. If you don’t think it is or just don’t believe it then just forget about those parts and only pay attention to the practical stuff. They are the primary sources for mediation I would assume so it would be better to listen to them then anything else. Also if literally all or most of the original is just religious stuff and it isn’t true then that means none of it was practical from the start and everything stating otherwise is corrupted nonsense

[Anonymous No.19933933]

Faith in mind by Sheng Yen. Its not a long book but its commentary on an old buddhist poem on meditation and he breaks down what each section means.

[Anonymous No.19933942]

>>19933928
The modern secularist: "Buddha was completely wrong and idiotic when he spoke 100,000 words about gods and deities and reincarnation and afterlife and miracles. But those 500 words he spoke about sitting cross-legged and reciting mantras in order to cure cancer? TOTALLY TRUE and p.s. the evil medical conspirators HATE him"

[Anonymous No.19933963]

>>19932337
Hey OP I've got you covered. I've extracted the practical aspects from Buddhism but rather than post it here, I've put it in my new book which you can buy on Amazon.com for just $49.99. Make sure you also follow my podcast and don't forget to like, comment, subscribe

[Anonymous No.19933985]

>>19933903
>isn't overt on the laws one must live by to live a good life
What is the noble eightfold path? Which is by the way stricter than Christianity in terms of morality and conduct.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and should stick to larping in the bible general

[Anonymous No.19933998]

>>19933903
>Buddhism is focused on the self

[Anonymous No.19935149]

>>19933862
lmao you're so assblasted, no arguments so you respond like a faggot r*dditor. keep taking SSRIs for depression, they're clearly really helping you lol
>>19933883
again you don't know what my standards are, all I did was critique western medicine. why are you so hurt anon, show me where the homeopathic quack touched you

[Anonymous No.19935226]

>>19933903
Are christers this anti-semitic because they can't cope with Jesus and the Bible not being written for or about them? I don't get how you can call something a newfangled and brainwashed morality and be so dense as to not realize that's what Christianity was to the Romans, and it came from a certain group of people who constantly rebelled against and spited them.

[Anonymous No.19935244]

>>19932337
You will have to start with the Jeets. There is no other way. The Jeets are read by all Buddhists, whether Japanese or Tibetan or Chinese etc. In that sense they are not "so specific" but if you went any more generic you'd have to read something "corrupted by modern Western influence." Engage with the material first and form your heuristic later.