connections between existentialism and meditation?
Intermittently, I make connections. I would say this happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year for me. (I’m not a deep thinker.) One just happened while I was reading a new book (from the library) called “The big bang, the buddha, and the baby boom” by Wes Nisker. Existentialism and meditation are two things I’ve studied in the past. But I had no idea these things were connected.
Background: I’ve been attracted to existentialism for some time. I’ve read books about it, and I still don’t have a decent grasp of it, but what I do understand about it rings true for me. Basically, existentialism is taking a non-belief in deities, and exploring the logical implications of that assumption. As Sartre likes to say “existence preceeds essence”. In my words, that says, there is no “soul” inside you. You are born into the world with no essense. Existentialists think the universe is “absurd”, ie can not be figured out by a rational mind. in fact the rational mind is part of the problem. The curse of the human condition is the desire to figure everything out.
I’ve also been attracted to meditation for 3 or 4 years. I’ve always felt a key to life is being as close to “NOW” as you can be as you go about your daily business.
To quote from Nisker:
The existentialists wanted to turn off their rational minds and just “be”. Jean Paul Sartre wrote: “Being has not be given it’s due.” They unfortunately had no way to break out of their rational minds! There were no meditation classes for Nietzsche or Sartre, no dalai Lama around to say, “Hey, Camus, take it easy. Just try paying attention to your breath for a while. For the most part, the existentialists remained depressed, martyrs to the game of reason”
Meditation is the solution to existential angst.
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