Buddhism 103: The Best Meditation Requires no App…
Only silence can solve the problems caused by language. But this is a difficult reality for many people, especially Westerners, to accept. After all, our psychological method is basically ‘talk therapy’, wherein somehow the words all fall into position in a way that makes sense and provides meaning for the patient, i.e. listener. Within the Buddhist tradition, I’ve only had ‘guided meditation’ from western lamas in the Tibetan/Vajrayana tradition.
In my own Theravada Buddhist tradition, I’ve never had, nor even heard of such ‘guided meditation’, though I wouldn’t be surprised to find that in the English language and specifically intended for a Western audience. Because this is a fundamental distinction between East and West. There are few, if any psychologists or psychiatrists in most Asian countries, and I would only expect to see those few for Western clients. If that sounds inconclusive, then go to an Asian bookstore and find the psychology section, if they have one. So, you’re thinking, maybe, ‘I’m Okay, You’re Okay’?
It’s probably more like ‘How to Make Money without Really Trying.” This is why I suspect that many psychologists have problems with Buddhism, and vice versa, hence the term ‘spiritual by-passing.’ They don’t use that term with Christianity, or any other religion, all of which are far more ‘religious’. Westerners love engagement. That’s why Mark Z pushes it constantly, and why many people leave Facebook eventually. I guess it pays off for him, but other lessons are more valuable to learn. Welcome to Buddhism—and silence.
hardie karges and 
If there’s anything more annoying, as a Buddhist Studies MA student, than having to memorize lists of lists after lists full of lists from the annals of the ancients, it’s having to plow through the re-definitions of all those terms from the mouths of the moderns (is ‘anals’ a word?). This is not high scholarship. This is the business of busy-work, the intellectual equivalent of keeping that shovel moving to justify your union job, or to keep your position as the arbiter of privilege in the fan-boy chat-pages of Facebook…
Yes, this is a dimension of suffering, more than the sum of your life, more than the breadth of this world, an entire dimension, or two, length width depth time and biology chemistry physics, at the very least, all conspiring to keep you within limits, physical limits, by a margin of maybe 51 to 49, you’re doomed, to a life sentence, paragraph, chapter and verse, complete with death, guaranteed, and there’s not much you can do about that, no matter what some sweet-talking New Age guru with his most articulate drugstore Buddhism tells you…
streaming consciousness... 
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