Keeping one's practices secret

[konchog uma]

I have read in a couple places that one should never reveal their meditations or internal practices to others. Practices which are occult are said to gain power from being so, and to reveal them to others is thus said to diminish their "potency" or efficiency. I have seen this line of thought in both eastern and western traditions. Even buddhists, who believe it is not good to lie, teach don't talk about one's accomplishments and practices with another person. I assume they mean "who isn't your lama" but whatever. Hahahah save the drama for your lama!!

 

Has anyone ever had their meditation teacher tell them this? Or perhaps read it in books? I am wondering, is this superstition from an age where keeping practices hidden was more necessary? Or is there something subtle to this idea that people should know about? Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated.

 

I would like to start a personal practice journal here, but the idea that sharing what i am doing with a lot of people might diminish it keeps nagging at me. Well thanks for your thoughts my bumly friends

[ChiDragon]

I have read in a couple places that one should never reveal their meditations or internal practices to others. Practices which are occult are said to gain power from being so, and to reveal them to others is thus said to diminish their "potency" or efficiency.

 

It was not a matter of diminishing "potency" or efficiency. However, it was a matter of not to reveal a family or school secret. Also, it was because someone may use it to go against the originator. In the ancient, the teacher always reserved the last two steps to defend himself, in case, his students revolt against him. Hence, the original method has less steps as it passed down from generation to generation.

[Apech]

I was told this by a qi gong teacher ... it was to do with maintaining the energy of the practice.

[RiverSnake]

Hm...i read the same thing in Initiation into Hermetics. Perhaps i should not write everything down in my PPD.

 

Anyways i think life is generally easier if you don't reveal your practices to others...you won't have to deal with getting a weird eye from others. Its better just to be a wolf in sheeps clothing.

 

[mYTHmAKER]

Aside from esoteric practices talking too much about anything dissipates your power

[Informer]

I have read in a couple places that one should never reveal their meditations or internal practices to others. Practices which are occult are said to gain power from being so, and to reveal them to others is thus said to diminish their "potency" or efficiency. I have seen this line of thought in both eastern and western traditions. Even buddhists, who believe it is not good to lie, teach don't talk about one's accomplishments and practices with another person. I assume they mean "who isn't your lama" but whatever. Hahahah save the drama for your lama!!

 

Has anyone ever had their meditation teacher tell them this? Or perhaps read it in books? I am wondering, is this superstition from an age where keeping practices hidden was more necessary? Or is there something subtle to this idea that people should know about? Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated.

 

I would like to start a personal practice journal here, but the idea that sharing what i am doing with a lot of people might diminish it keeps nagging at me. Well thanks for your thoughts my bumly friends

 

Honestly I think it is more of a sales gimmick than anything. People will pay more for something they think is exclusive.

[konchog uma]

Thank you for the feedback.

 

My natural intuition is to share what I have been doing lately on TTB, but every time I want to write an awesome thread about internalism, I am smacked upside the head by 2 thoughts... 1, that I should keep it to myself and not post about it on the internets for the reasons given in the OP and resounded by you all so far. and 2, that I am just wanting to post about alchemy out of egotistical reasons, saying "look at me" in a way. Its been a seesaw for the last couple weeks, but I am going to keep my practices private (except from my girlfriend, who is quite my energetic/spiritual consort, and my teacher, who can give me feedback and guidance).

 

I feel that my girlfriend has every right to know what I'm doing; it would feel really weird to keep secrets from her. We do some of the same meditations and share energy in many ways, so I am open with her. I think I need to be open with somebody and I think its appropriate that I talk to her about my meditations and my progress. Does that make sense to you guys? I mean, thats healthy right? It seems way different than blabbing on the internet about stuff.

[Informer]

Others will also have to pay the originator instead of being able to get it from anyone else, so it would seem.

[konchog uma]

Aside from esoteric practices talking too much about anything dissipates your power

 

haha great point

 

Honestly I think it is more of a sales gimmick than anything. People will pay more for something they think is exclusive.

 

its not usually said in the context of marketing, but rather in the context of practice, whether its private, or monastic, or part of a school, or under a teacher doesnt matter. Its just said that telling other people about the ins and outs of one practices diminishes the effectiveness of that practice. Nobody is really selling anything yknow?

[ChiDragon]

its not usually said in the context of marketing, but rather in the context of practice, whether its private, or monastic, or part of a school, or under a teacher doesnt matter. Its just said that telling other people about the ins and outs of one practices diminishes the effectiveness of that practice. Nobody is really selling anything yknow?

Somebody might be right about that...!!!

That may be somebody's hidden agenda, who knows......???

Edited January 1, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Aetherous]

It doesn't matter what you choose to do. Self doubt is the real problem, not the action you take in this instance.

 

If you're going to put yourself out there, do it unwaveringly...have a purpose. For instance, helping people...or motivating yourself.

 

If you're not going to put yourself out there, you'll be saved from a lot of trouble.

[imb]

maybe it simply debases as it often strays into the territory of bragging about our accomplishments and progression.

Perhaps the dividing line should be between those few trustworthy souls who have a genuine interest or by divulging your experiences you may be able to help, versus those who want to extract the superficial elements and not put any work in. Adopting any extreme doesn't seem like a good idea.

[doc benway]

Some of the reasons why we keep traditions secret may be a secret!

 

One question I have for the OP - are you referring to keeping the practice methods secret?

Or are you referring to keeping your experiences which occur during such practice a secret?

These are two very different questions.

[dwai]

I have read in a couple places that one should never reveal their meditations or internal practices to others. Practices which are occult are said to gain power from being so, and to reveal them to others is thus said to diminish their "potency" or efficiency. I have seen this line of thought in both eastern and western traditions. Even buddhists, who believe it is not good to lie, teach don't talk about one's accomplishments and practices with another person. I assume they mean "who isn't your lama" but whatever. Hahahah save the drama for your lama!!

 

Has anyone ever had their meditation teacher tell them this? Or perhaps read it in books? I am wondering, is this superstition from an age where keeping practices hidden was more necessary? Or is there something subtle to this idea that people should know about? Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated.

 

I would like to start a personal practice journal here, but the idea that sharing what i am doing with a lot of people might diminish it keeps nagging at me. Well thanks for your thoughts my bumly friends

I have learnt that its ok to talk about one's practices but never about accomplishments or their deeper experiences. I have been told so by many people, especially my grandfather, who was my first guru. The fact is that we are after an unknown, unknowable experience ( ie cannot be captured ntellectually). All that naming it ( talking about this) does is to fixate us on sign bords on the road, and instead of walking towards the destination we spend time on landmarks on the way.

 

I asked my guru what it feels like to reach samadhi to which his response was " if i tell you how it s, it will color your experience...so i wuld ather have you discover it for yourself"

Edited January 1, 2012 by dwai

[konchog uma]

Some of the reasons why we keep traditions secret may be a secret!

 

One question I have for the OP - are you referring to keeping the practice methods secret?

Or are you referring to keeping your experiences which occur during such practice a secret?

These are two very different questions.

 

I wasn't thinking about it in terms of keeping the practice methods secret from others, although I have read that serious cultivators should only talk to their teachers about that, and not even to fellow practitioners.

 

I was thinking about it more in terms of sharing my experiences and successes.

 

I am not really qualified to teach methods of meditation, so if i had a practice journal here, it would be for talking more about my experiences with different techniques. I think I am going to opt out, since I just don't feel comfortable in my bones about it. In the end, I think it is, in part, a matter of ego and wanting to be recognized for my successes. I would like to outgrow those urges. And even a lot of the stuff that my teacher teaches me, he says "just practice, don't start showing other people this stuff" because of course I am not experienced enough to teach, and improperly taught techniques can be dangerous.

 

So I thank everyone for their feedback, it helped solidify my feelings about it.

 

Happy new year!

[konchog uma]

I have learnt that its ok to talk about one's practices but never about accomplishments or their deeper experiences. I have been told so by many people, especially my grandfather, who was my first guru.

 

thanks dwai, that gives me a good sense of where to draw the line if i do find myself talking about my practices

[johndoe2012]

If one never shares experiences, should one even write anything?

 

What's interesting about this:

 

day one

 

1 hour of sitting

½ hour of movement

 

day two

 

1 hour of sitting

½ hour of movement

 

and so on.

 

Hey, maybe I shouldn't write anything in my personal forum

Edited January 1, 2012 by chris d

[三江源]

I have read in a couple places that one should never reveal their meditations or internal practices to others. Practices which are occult are said to gain power from being so, and to reveal them to others is thus said to diminish their "potency" or efficiency. I have seen this line of thought in both eastern and western traditions. Even buddhists, who believe it is not good to lie, teach don't talk about one's accomplishments and practices with another person. I assume they mean "who isn't your lama" but whatever. Hahahah save the drama for your lama!!

 

Has anyone ever had their meditation teacher tell them this? Or perhaps read it in books? I am wondering, is this superstition from an age where keeping practices hidden was more necessary? Or is there something subtle to this idea that people should know about? Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated.

 

I would like to start a personal practice journal here, but the idea that sharing what i am doing with a lot of people might diminish it keeps nagging at me. Well thanks for your thoughts my bumly friends

 

lot of reasons.

 

keeping the alchemical vessel sealed is very important, otherwise no alchemy is happening, or it is very diluted.

 

avoiding ego attachment ie 'story telling' : distancing the process by translating it into a comprehensible- to -others, finite, sound bites.

 

Learning to 'hold' your truth is a power which, along with the practice itself, ideally brings humility.

 

No 'specialness' can accrue, unless your practice itself is not working and you are gradually gaining ego inflation from what is happening in practice.

 

the analytical mind can adversely affect the development of deeper mind if it is given free reign over all territories.

 

one does not want to develop a sense of self made up of practice - as - presented- to - others, which can never be the actual reality of practice.

 

one does not want to 'trade' consciously or not, ones practice details, for attention.

 

One might want to learn to speak allusively and metaphorically and to transmit without words. this will develop other aspects than the usual everyday mind.

 

At some point you will know when there is no charge left in something and it is available to be talked about.

[Mal]

"hide your light"

 

[Aetherous]

[Mal]

To expand slightly re personal practice as I use to keep a large practice journal and I did find it quite useful.

 

At 1st when I was searching for a path it was a very detailed journal, I don't think this is an issue when beginning as it's useful to look back at what you tried over the years. Also it was more about "me" and how I felt than a practice prescription.

 

However over time my journal needed to be less detailed, mostly because what I was doing wasn't something I could "teach". I couldn't put in the level of detail required to explain the practices, plus some of them need to be learnt properly from a teacher and not from some student's confused journal

 

Then it just became obvious that process of "writing about it" really wasn't useful to me any more.

[Mal]

 

re: the hiding you light under a bushel example from the bible. To me that relates more to showing your light in terms of radiating your love for God (or perhaps "Te") rather than a "showing off" of "personal power"

 

 

"Hide your Light" was from one of my teachers, this is from another.

 

"Don't scare the sheep so that you can eat the wolves!"

[konchog uma]

lot of reasons.

 

keeping the alchemical vessel sealed is very important, otherwise no alchemy is happening, or it is very diluted.

 

avoiding ego attachment ie 'story telling' : distancing the process by translating it into a comprehensible- to -others, finite, sound bites.

 

Learning to 'hold' your truth is a power which, along with the practice itself, ideally brings humility.

 

No 'specialness' can accrue, unless your practice itself is not working and you are gradually gaining ego inflation from what is happening in practice.

 

the analytical mind can adversely affect the development of deeper mind if it is given free reign over all territories.

 

one does not want to develop a sense of self made up of practice - as - presented- to - others, which can never be the actual reality of practice.

 

one does not want to 'trade' consciously or not, ones practice details, for attention.

 

One might want to learn to speak allusively and metaphorically and to transmit without words. this will develop other aspects than the usual everyday mind.

 

At some point you will know when there is no charge left in something and it is available to be talked about.

 

Thanks cat! Makes a lot of sense to me. I was going to listen to my bones, but now my brains can agree

 

but seriously, that is a really helpful response.

[Aetherous]

To me that relates more to showing your light in terms of radiating your love for God (or perhaps "Te") rather than a "showing off" of "personal power"

 

Yup totally agree.

[三江源]

Thanks cat! Makes a lot of sense to me. I was going to listen to my bones, but now my brains can agree

 

but seriously, that is a really helpful response.

 

Good bones you got.

 

Good. Happy New Year.