How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/5/15 2:37 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Alexander Rice 3/5/15 6:21 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/6/15 12:15 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Not Tao 3/6/15 7:30 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 4:35 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Dream Walker 3/5/15 10:37 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Jenny 3/5/15 3:31 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Matt 3/5/15 3:36 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 4:31 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 9:53 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Ryan J 3/7/15 12:04 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Bill F. 3/7/15 12:59 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 2:25 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Bill F. 3/7/15 3:15 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 3:39 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Bill F. 3/7/15 3:53 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/8/15 9:34 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Ryan J 3/7/15 2:53 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/7/15 3:25 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? SeTyR ZeN 3/8/15 1:30 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/8/15 9:38 AM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? SeTyR ZeN 3/8/15 2:01 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/8/15 3:34 PM
RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha? Pål 3/8/15 9:36 AM
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 2:37 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 2:37 AM

How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Like the title says. I'm kind of writing a pitch talk emoticon
Alexander Rice, modified 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 6:21 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 6:19 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 36 Join Date: 2/20/15 Recent Posts
Smoke a bowl with them ;) Or better, psilocybin.. or both and then mess around with fire kasina in a "here, check out this cool trick" kind of way. That combo makes jhana trivially easy and fun, and once you've figured out how to do it it's easy enough sober. And drop the sales pitch idea, you'll just create resistance.
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Dream Walker, modified 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 10:37 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 10:37 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 1657 Join Date: 1/18/12 Recent Posts
Pål:
Like the title says. I'm kind of writing a pitch talk emoticon

Jhanas are bad M'kay? You shouldn't concentrate cause it'll get you really really high. So don't do that. ummm I probably shouldn't have said anything about that. Forget I said anything about getting high on jhanas.
~D
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Jenny, modified 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 3:31 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 3:31 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 566 Join Date: 7/28/13 Recent Posts
Dream Walker:
Pål:
Like the title says. I'm kind of writing a pitch talk emoticon

Jhanas are bad M'kay? You shouldn't concentrate cause it'll get you really really high. So don't do that. ummm I probably shouldn't have said anything about that. Forget I said anything about getting high on jhanas.
~D

Waited 2 months for Dream Walker to post. This is the culmination of the wait. 

A&P much?
Matt, modified 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 3:36 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/5/15 3:35 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 316 Join Date: 1/14/14 Recent Posts
Jenny:
Dream Walker:
Pål:
Like the title says. I'm kind of writing a pitch talk emoticon

Jhanas are bad M'kay? You shouldn't concentrate cause it'll get you really really high. So don't do that. ummm I probably shouldn't have said anything about that. Forget I said anything about getting high on jhanas.
~D

Waited 2 months for Dream Walker to post. This is the culmination of the wait. 

A&P much?
This is the cumulative effect of meditation on ability to channel South Park, and it cracked me up! emoticon
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/6/15 12:15 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/6/15 12:15 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Thanks guys!

can't do drugs since it's school work, but since sweden is a very "liberal" country I could compare it to drugs. Personally I'm absolutist though. 
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Not Tao, modified 9 Years ago at 3/6/15 7:30 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/6/15 7:30 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 995 Join Date: 4/5/14 Recent Posts
Explain how society, tradition, and conditioning are controlling their minds.  Our natural abiding state is contentment, and we can't see it because we're too involved with the many varied influences and checks that have been programmed into our behavior.  Meditation is the process of removing those controls. It's about allowing ourselves to be free to be anything. We can just decide to remain that way. Samatha, in particular, is about becoming free. Freeing ourselves from the urgency and domination of powerful emotions. These emotions are deciding for us how we live and what we do, and they are created by the rules, values, beliefs, tropes, and taboos we encounter on a day to day basis. By watching ourselves we can see how the things we want and the things we hate are actually decided for us by other people, and when we've finally removed all of these ideas there just isn't anything in particular left. We are free. The way to remove these influences is simple - pay no attention to them. Let the mind rest and ignore the cacophony that is the world's ideas of "should," "could," "must," and "want."

If someone had told me that as a teenager, I would have been meditating. Fight the power, and all that. We're all still teenagers until we're enlightened - we never actually figure out who we are or what we want.
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 4:31 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 4:31 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Gordo . .:
Dont! Allow others to evolve in their own way. Every time you feel the desire to pitch so to speak, put that energy into your own practice. If you do this, eventually others will see things in you that attracts them to the practice and you will have developed the skills to teach them. Walk the path, dont talk the path or you will be just another bible basher. Hopefully this may convince you; a teenager, to practice. 


But this is for school haha, we are supposed to write a speech about something of our choise so I thought I would pick a fun subject. 

And btw the reason I started meditating myself wasn't initially what I saw in others. 
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 4:35 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 4:35 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Wow, I'll have to let that sink in for a while. 
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 9:53 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 9:53 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Yes I should probably not make it very deep and talking about it as a cool and addictive trick. And I'm goind to mention a pretty unknown benefit that samatha meditation has: it boosts testosterone! emoticon Hopefully, my classmates will go: "so that's why he's so buff" haha
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Ryan J, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 12:04 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 12:01 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 121 Join Date: 2/19/14 Recent Posts
Gordo . .:
Dont! Allow others to evolve in their own way. Every time you feel the desire to pitch so to speak, put that energy into your own practice. If you do this, eventually others will see things in you that attracts them to the practice and you will have developed the skills to teach them. Walk the path, dont talk the path or you will be just another bible basher. Hopefully this may convince you; a teenager, to practice. 

While there is some truth to this, I've convinced multiple people to have practices mostly by explaining it to them.

Instead, a balance between selfish interest in your self and desire to help others is key, and it's a real time improvisational balance. Depending on the person, teenager or not, I would explain it 1000 different ways depending on who they are. The real answer is complex and requires high level social-emotional skills with a sophistacted understanding of the person you are talking to. How does this practice relate to them? How do they benefit? If they're sincerely world conscious, how do we benefit from them doing it? Etc. Personalized delivery of the practice depending on who they are and your relationship to them.

Long story short: balance between silence and explaining to others that is evolving sagacious judgement born out of many social victories and blunders.
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Bill F, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 12:59 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 12:59 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 556 Join Date: 11/17/13 Recent Posts
If you go to school with him/her, tell them you'll start a rumour about them that will make them look bad in front of everyone. Teenagers are especially succeptible to the opinions of their peer group. If you want a more positive angle tell them that if they practice samatha they will be considered cooler among their peer group, and will be more laid back. Or threaten to tell their parents something about them that would have them grounded or some other kind of punishment. You could actually do this anyways, and then when they are bored at home, just happen to drop by with some meditation instructions, and sort of talk about all the ways it has been helpful.
Basically in a pitch you have to look for the audience's weakness and exploit that. In the situation given you have someone with a probably underdeveloped ego, and also limited power in terms of their ability to autonomously make decisions for their life, so use that. 
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 2:25 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 2:25 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Great advice guys, but I'm going to talk in front of a group, so it can be hard to make it fit everyone.
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Ryan J, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 2:53 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 2:52 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 121 Join Date: 2/19/14 Recent Posts
Bill said, "Basically in a pitch you have to look for the audience's weakness and exploit that."

My reply is somewhere between serious and a joke: if it's a male straight teenager, well anyone for that matter, but for stereotype sake: Men care about not so much about getting laid as they do about the perception that they get laid, there's a huge difference. Somehow create the association that concentration meditation will increase sexual desirability, which isn't actually even false. Something like, concentration meditation makes someone chill, more self-confident, happier, and these are desirable qualities men especially need to get laid, as men are primarily judged as attractive the less emotional neediness they have. Concentration practices make you less emotionally needy, thus more confident, thus you will get laid. 

I wouldn't totally sell concentration meditation as a means to get laid, but if you're going for strong associations, that's pretty un-toppable. If it's a group and needs to be less taboo, go more for the confidence self-esteem angle than the you'll get laid if you meditate angle.
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Bill F, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:15 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:15 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 556 Join Date: 11/17/13 Recent Posts
Nothing convinces so much as experience. Lead them in a meditation. You can do it. Don't worry about getting it perfect.
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:25 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:25 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
This is awesome since samatha developement is all about being non-needy, calm and happy emoticon

I'm thinking about making a "warning" too: "this stuff is really addictive. No matter how high you get when you first learn to quiet your mind, be careful, don't start spending all of your free time staring into a wall all blissed out. Don't give away all of your money to charity when you realize you don't need external stimuli to be happy ;)" 

That could convince some stoners. I mean teens are kick-junkies. What do you think about that?
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:39 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:39 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Bill F.:
Nothing convinces so much as experience. Lead them in a meditation. You can do it. Don't worry about getting it perfect.

that could be something! It would be hard to lead anyone in the kind of nostril focus I practice currently though. Would have to be scanning or something.
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Bill F, modified 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:53 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/7/15 3:52 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 556 Join Date: 11/17/13 Recent Posts
Why do you suppose the nostrils would be hard? I worked at a mental health hospital where I ran groups for children/adolescents and for years I led a simple breathing meditation exercise every day. You may be surprised.
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SeTyR ZeN, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 1:30 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 1:30 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 113 Join Date: 9/9/14 Recent Posts
Alan Watts answers, i think, the question quite gracefully at 1min30sec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_wiaTe5ug
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:34 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:34 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Well it's simple, I've done it before, but it's supposed to be a speach you know. Then I'd have to lead a meditation where I talk a lot and give lots of instructions, like some scanning method. In minimalist anapana, that would just be disturbing. Unless my teacher is ok with there being a paus in the middle of the speach. 
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:36 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:36 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
That's right, no samma samadhi without sila.
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:38 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 9:38 AM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Is he saying that if I'm just really into what I'm talking about people will be convinced?
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SeTyR ZeN, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 2:01 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 2:01 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 113 Join Date: 9/9/14 Recent Posts
Hi Pål;

As for what i can hear from the video , he is not;
Pål, modified 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 3:34 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 3/8/15 3:34 PM

RE: How would you convince a teenager to start practicing samatha?

Posts: 778 Join Date: 9/30/14 Recent Posts
Too deep for me, or my english is bad lol

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