Worst? Psychotic breaks, religious delusions, fun stuff like that. Of course the most spectacular disasters seem to involve some combination of truly hardcore level of non-discursive meditation, pre-existing mental conditions and sheer bad luck. Just don't meditate all day while fasting, or at least do it on a retreat or monastery, where you have full access to guidance. Push your limits, but don't try to leap past them.
On a more common side, there are issues relating to activation of energies and insight into the structure of your mind. Working through them can be extremely rough. Avoiding practices specifically intended to create those lessens the risk, but they can happen spontaneously, especially if your daily sits are longer (hour or so). Now, this is highly rewarding territory, so don't let me scare you off, but going in alone and uninformed is a bad idea. You can't unsee things just because you find them terrifying.
Most common though? It's not that bad, but people can get stuck in meditative honeytraps. For example, once you can instinctively bring back your attention right after it starts to wander, overcome the mind's tendency to sink towards drowsiness, and get over all the thousand little discomforts, you find yourself in a very pleasant place. You're relaxed, focused, and rather (though not anywhere near fully) alert. But, for all the stress-dissolving tranquility of this state, it doesn't lead you anywhere. I also suspect that overtly indulging in it can make its carefree and blissful nature bleed into your everyday life. Better that than taking Xanax, but you can get attached to the feeling and go into denial about things that would break it, because they certainly aren't fine just the way they are.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-10-07 11:16 am (UTC)On a more common side, there are issues relating to activation of energies and insight into the structure of your mind. Working through them can be extremely rough. Avoiding practices specifically intended to create those lessens the risk, but they can happen spontaneously, especially if your daily sits are longer (hour or so). Now, this is highly rewarding territory, so don't let me scare you off, but going in alone and uninformed is a bad idea. You can't unsee things just because you find them terrifying.
Most common though? It's not that bad, but people can get stuck in meditative honeytraps. For example, once you can instinctively bring back your attention right after it starts to wander, overcome the mind's tendency to sink towards drowsiness, and get over all the thousand little discomforts, you find yourself in a very pleasant place. You're relaxed, focused, and rather (though not anywhere near fully) alert. But, for all the stress-dissolving tranquility of this state, it doesn't lead you anywhere. I also suspect that overtly indulging in it can make its carefree and blissful nature bleed into your everyday life. Better that than taking Xanax, but you can get attached to the feeling and go into denial about things that would break it, because they certainly aren't fine just the way they are.