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painful situations motivate me to meditate. Am I just escaping?

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breakeven60k

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Dec 9, 2010
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When i'm happy or joyful or lethagic, i indulge in my vices. It's only when i'm in a situation that invokes a large amount of emotional pain or discomfort that I become mindful. I do this by focusing my mind on the present moment, becoming a passive observer of all my emotions and thoughts and letting them pass by me as I continue to focus on the present(which are usually stuff like my breath or my current physical sensations). I find that when I do this, those bad feelings pass away a lot quicker or they don't bother me as much.

When I do this, am I just using meditation and mindfulness as a form of escape? Is this actually going to help fix me in the long term?

I feel like I'm approaching meditation the wrong way. This just doesn't feel right to me, it really feels like I'm just running away from suffering momentarily.
 
It depends on how you define the meditation.

Are you essentially putting your fingers in your ears while shouting "la la la this isn't happening"? Or are you practicing non-attachment and using the meditative experience to observe the pain as something temporary that will pass?

Inner peace is a ground state. It's what you really are underneath the turbulence. You can learn to cultivate inner peace as a life experience that remains relatively constant across many situations. Joy and happiness, although pleasant, are still attachments.

To achieve balance I think it's useful to have a consistent meditation practice that you do regardless of how you are feeling. Then you will learn to see how temporal emotions and thoughts are, across all situations.
 
It sounds like you're discovering the technique that many might refer to as 'black magick'. That is, manipulating your perception to suit your needs regardless of possibly unhealthy outcomes later. When you meditate, you should look deeper into yourself to exploit the negative emotions rather than use it to block them out.
 
breakeven60k said:
When i'm happy or joyful or lethagic, i indulge in my vices. It's only when i'm in a situation that invokes a large amount of emotional pain or discomfort that I become mindful. I do this by focusing my mind on the present moment, becoming a passive observer of all my emotions and thoughts and letting them pass by me as I continue to focus on the present(which are usually stuff like my breath or my current physical sensations). I find that when I do this, those bad feelings pass away a lot quicker or they don't bother me as much.

When I do this, am I just using meditation and mindfulness as a form of escape? Is this actually going to help fix me in the long term?

I feel like I'm approaching meditation the wrong way. This just doesn't feel right to me, it really feels like I'm just running away from suffering momentarily.
Click to expand...

What you're experiencing is called "Spiritual Bypassing". It's a nuanced topic that's hard to qualify in terms of "right" and "wrong". You're correct that using meditation as an escape is not going to lead to growth. On the other hand, suffering is the universe telling you to "Wake up!". Mindfulness is an appropriate response.

Mindfulness is not a fix for long term problems. It'll orient you with a perspective of being content with who you are.
 
Crashing said:
It sounds like you're discovering the technique that many might refer to as 'black magick'. That is, manipulating your perception to suit your needs regardless of possibly unhealthy outcomes later. When you meditate, you should look deeper into yourself to exploit the negative emotions rather than use it to block them out.
Click to expand...

meditation is not manipulation. like said above, its nonattachment. theres certainly nothing wrong with it, and where you heard the term black magic is a bewilderment.
 
Well, i think the main issue is that I'm able to stop my train of thought. When there are no thoughts, then it's kind of hard for emotions to continue flowing. But when i'm forcibly stopping my thoughts like that, am I just running away from my problems? Thinking is natural for the human mind, and you can't really just be in a state of thoughtlessness forever, nor is it healthy or beneficial to permanently wire your brain to not have any thoughts..... is it?
 
you can label the span of time in which youre not thinking as awareness. if youre thinking, then youre not as aware of your environment. and if youre not aware of your environment, you can lose control of your thoughts and perceptions. easily. happens to me all the time.
 
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