QUESTION: I have heard that meditation can be dangerous. Is this true?
ANSWER: To live we need salt. l3ut if you were to cat a kilo of salt it would probably kill you. To function in the modern world you need a car hut if you don’t follow the traffic rules or if you drive while you are drunk, a car would become a dangerous machine. Meditation is like this, it is essential for our mental health and well—being but if you practice in the wrong way, it could cause problems. Some people have problems like depression, irrational fears or schizophrenia, they think meditation is an instant cure for their problem, they start meditating and sometimes their problem gets worse. If you have such a problem, you should seek professional help and then after you are better take up meditation. Other people over-reach themselves, they take up meditate ion and instead of going gradually, step by step, they meditate with too much energy or for long periods and soon they are exhausted. But perhaps most problems in meditation are caused by ‘kangaroo meditation.’ Some people go to one teacher and do his meditation technique for a while. Then they read something in a book and decide to try that technique. A week later a famous meditation teacher visits their town and so they decide to incorporate some of his ideas into their practice and before long they are hopelessly confused. Jumping like a kangaroo from one teacher to another or from one meditation technique to another is a mistake. But if you don’t have any severe mental problem and you take up meditation and practice sensibly it is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
ANSWER: To live we need salt. l3ut if you were to cat a kilo of salt it would probably kill you. To function in the modern world you need a car hut if you don’t follow the traffic rules or if you drive while you are drunk, a car would become a dangerous machine. Meditation is like this, it is essential for our mental health and well—being but if you practice in the wrong way, it could cause problems. Some people have problems like depression, irrational fears or schizophrenia, they think meditation is an instant cure for their problem, they start meditating and sometimes their problem gets worse. If you have such a problem, you should seek professional help and then after you are better take up meditation. Other people over-reach themselves, they take up meditate ion and instead of going gradually, step by step, they meditate with too much energy or for long periods and soon they are exhausted. But perhaps most problems in meditation are caused by ‘kangaroo meditation.’ Some people go to one teacher and do his meditation technique for a while. Then they read something in a book and decide to try that technique. A week later a famous meditation teacher visits their town and so they decide to incorporate some of his ideas into their practice and before long they are hopelessly confused. Jumping like a kangaroo from one teacher to another or from one meditation technique to another is a mistake. But if you don’t have any severe mental problem and you take up meditation and practice sensibly it is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
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