Professor Thurman discusses the potential dangers of cultivating an empty mind without also developing proper understanding of what emptiness is. Just meditating with our default understanding of reality can temporarily dampen our worries, but it won’t completely overcome them. The danger is that we’ll think we’re already enlightened, and lose the motivation to completely transform our whole experience into a Buddhaverse.

“A true bodhisattva does not develop strong meditative prowess at the wrong time. The abilities you attain with deep contemplation—the abilities to isolate oneself from relationships, to deaden the emotions, to withdraw when encountering obstructions, to palliate suffering with genuine detachment—can make you stick at a level of self-centeredness that stunts your spiritual growth.”

Robert A.F. Thurman

“The Danger of “Just Meditate!” – Episode 19 of the Bob Thurman Podcast” is an excerpt from a lecture given at Jewel Heart in New York City, May 7, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “Vajrayana and Emptiness.”

The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

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