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November 8, 2018 11:19 PM   Subscribe

Vipassana Live

(menu at top-right; h/t HN)
posted by Gyan (11 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
I will never cease to be amazed at the endless creativity and sheer ingenuity that human beings, especially those of us with interests adjacent to information technology, bring to the vital work of inventing new methods to help us miss the point.
posted by flabdablet at 2:28 AM on November 9, 2018 [13 favorites]


Click this icon when you are paying attention to your information appliance
posted by thelonius at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


I don't understand, where does it display the scores at the end of the game?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:50 AM on November 9, 2018 [7 favorites]


Oh great, it makes horrible noises too. I kind of get the idea, and I think the creators are well-meaning, but it’s definitely getting in its own way. I think this is a thing that pretty much by definition doesn’t need to exist: if you’re doing the practice it supposedly encourages, then you don’t require gamified beep boops to tell you you’re noticing sensations, thoughts and feelings.
posted by aesop at 4:13 AM on November 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


Quite so. And the fact that the thing requires you to analyze whatever distraction has just pulled your attention away from your point of focus to an extent great enough to choose one of the eight available categories for it serves only to prolong and strengthen that distraction.

it makes horrible noises too

Indeed it does. Once you've fallen into the trap of clicking on the ear icon, that's pretty much all you're going to be doing for the rest of the sit.
posted by flabdablet at 4:34 AM on November 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


Also: "Instant Meditation". WTF? No.
posted by flabdablet at 4:37 AM on November 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


from the makers of Live Bullet Journaling Your Isolation Tank Experience
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:00 AM on November 9, 2018 [5 favorites]


This is...sort of the opposite of how Buddhist meditation is supposed to work?

Disclaimer: I'm not a Buddhist, but I used to practice Buddhist mindfulness meditation. And I'm pretty sure this isn't how it works.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:30 AM on November 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


I found myself clicking each icon in turn around the circle, faster and faster, hoping to break something or at least trigger a reaction beyond "beep". I remain unenlightened.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:54 AM on November 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


i'm generally interested in buddhist thought and cosmology, but my knowledge, like probably a lot of people, is patchwork at best. here is a specific thing within the realm of buddhism that, as a result of a silly web thing, i am now consciously aware of, that before, i was not. now from my understanding of buddhism, it really doesn't give a shit what i understand and what i don't, and neither should you, really. but before you slag this silly thing too much, remember that not everyone possesses your body of knowledge. or don't. pretty sure the buddha don't care.
posted by rotten at 4:55 PM on November 9, 2018


I don't know why this came to my head, but yesterday my 80-year old mum recalled an old saying: "The mud buddha cannot swim the ocean."
posted by storybored at 9:54 PM on November 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


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