I am not aware of these two authors, I’ll be looking them up now!
I certainly believe that is one possibility, Dr Britton dismissed it by saying even meditation teachers got into trouble, and I have also know someone who committed suicide who was a mindfulness teacher. Although I did not know what his qualifications nor how long that person has been doing this for, and if there were other hardships in life. I suspect there are other factors which is, just like many who wants to master a skill, one would get a competent teacher who is familiar with the field or has demonstrated skills and insights, in this case, I would say monastic Sangha with many years of rigorous training or lay teachers whom have been trained by Monastic as well. Perhaps there is a question of how does one know who is competent? Sometimes vassa or years on cushion doesn’t mean someone is wise and can advise meditators.
2 Likes
Any suttas you can think of, I can explore this a bit more? 
That is a great point, any suttas that anyone know talks about Akusala or Kusala Bhavana?
Many suttas talk about the right vs wrong N8P… e.g. AN 10.103 Not sure what you’re looking for specifically?
In the last bit of my reply, I was quoting AN 11.2
1 Like
The following information regarding ‘the best teacher on Samatha and Vipassana meditation’ may be useful for your question:
1 Like
Off the top of my head, Aharasutta SN46.51.
1 Like
If someone wants to make meditation safe, he should be virtous and learned regarding the five hindrances and all the defilements that can come up in the mind.
He should learn that the Dark Night stage was not taught by the Buddha. He should learn that fear, anxiety, excitation to have this or this vision, excitation to have this or this insight, conceit of superiority, equality and inferiority are all hindrances.
He should read the suttas and listen to or read Dhamma talks from wise people like Ajaan Chah, Ajaan Maha Bua, Ajaan Thate, Ajaan Paññavaddho and Ajaan Geoff. If he speaks thai, he can listen to Ajaan Singtong’s talks.
In other words, he should have right view inside and right view oustide.
2 Likes
On the other hand, according to right view, mind and thoughts are not mine and can never be mine. They only act according to their own causes and effects. Thus even due to mediation, dark night and other psychological disorders may occur. Specially when trying too hard and stressing neurons, these may occur.
If one follows closely the best teacher on Buddhist meditation (i.e. ‘right view’ and ‘mindfulness’) suggested above (How to make meditation 'safe'? - #15 by thomaslaw), it is certainly not only very safe but also mentally very healthy at all times.
When I first encountered the idea of meditation as having a “dark side” in an article, I was immediately curious. As I read the article, I realize that the kind of meditation it was referring to was what I call “escapism meditation”. It’s a kind of “spiritual bypass”, a term introduced by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist. This kind of meditation contradicts what the Buddha taught as found in the Suttas.
I’ve written about this in my book: What You Might Not Know about Jhāna & Samādhi.
To briefly answer your question “How to make meditation ‘safe’?”, have the right ideas about meditation, because your ideas about meditation determine how you meditate.
2 Likes
I agree, and I suggest that one stays with the teaching/teacher until one is firmly grounded, and then, I would say that one is ready to continue in one’s practice, and open up to other teachings/teachers.
I used to go by “stay(ing) with the teaching/teacher until one is firmly grounded”. But then I came to see one problem: What if the teaching is so wrong that one can’t ever be grounded?
Now, I advise people to evaluate for themselves if their defilements are reducing, having put in reasonable time and effort. “Reasonable” is subjective, yes, and it has to be, as this matter is subjective.
2 Likes
When meditation is carried out with a ‘gaining’ idea (i.e., to reduce MY stress, make ME manage MY emotions, etc., which is often the case when presenting mindfulness in MBSR programs, etc) then it can be counterproductive if one practices it for a long time. However, if meditation is carried out by understanding/learning the Four Foundations of Mindfulness - then even if a so-called “adverse effect” happens - then one can view it as simply a present moment experience (arising/ceasing) without attaching/repelling it. Buddhist teachings beautifully explain the Five Hindrances, and the ways in which one could overcome them as one gradually travels the path to liberation.
As a therapist, I can say that, very simply, meditation brings up painful issues. Some people can work through these issues on their own, while others need someone to help them. This can be a therapist, a Dhamma Group, kalyana mittas, or a meditation teacher.
Bringing painful issues to awareness is both valuable from a psychological perspective and from the perspective of someone who wants to follow the eightfold path. But most people need to walk the path with others.
10 Likes
Hi, I used to read and comment on this site when I was learning about Buddhism as part of a master’s degree in ‘mindfulness-based approaches’ in a UK university. I had a brain injury at the time and I was investigating the neuroplastic properties of meditation. I am familiar with Willoughby Britton from my research and in practical terms would agree with her position to an extent. What she may also consider to be harmful effects are also enlightening realities and going through a meditative process brings these realities to the surface which means it’s all about the perspective and non Buddhist views of events experienced. Meditation in a western context may misinterpret elements of the path as psychological or psychiatric events. As meditation evolves, East meeting West, the right hemisphere of the brain meets the left hemisphere of the brain, a balance will emerge because from my experience the middle way balances the hemispheres of the brain. If I’m allowed I could share my thesis with you, meditation meets brain injury in some very surprizing ways Research thesis. - Brain injury rehabilitation (mendingbrokenbrains.com) . If this is not allowed to be shared here please delete or ask me to delete it, I mean not offence. On the other hand, it will bring context to Willoughby. The path can be found from many starting points!
7 Likes
What kind of ‘meditation’ (that brings up ‘painful issues’) do you refer to?
It seems you do not refer to Buddhist meditation (i.e. ‘right view’ and ‘mindfulness’ as mentioned above).
I’m surprised at the contributors in this thread dismissing, minimising and scoffing at the idea of safety in meditation.
Perhaps it’s time for a reminder of the famous incident at Vesali, where hundreds of monks commited suicide after learning asubha contemplation from the Buddha.
https://suttacentral.net/sn54.9/en/sujato
If direct students of the Buddha could have this sort of harmful response, we should at least entertain the possibility that meditation isn’t always safe…
All minds are not the same. People have different experiences. Something that is not an issue for you might be a big problem for others.
If your meditation is going well and fine, that’s great! However, there are many people for whom meditation has actually created harmful results. This is a known problem, even though it might be news to some of you. So, I’d suggest listening and trying to understand the experiences of others, rather than glibly dismissing these problems as “not Buddhist meditation” or saying that people simply need mindfulness and right view—not having those things is precisely the problem here.
16 Likes
In this example you provide (that happened during the time of the Buddha) people did not have a method to gain an overall good understanding of the teachings expect by listening to occasional sermons delivered by the Buddha or his disciples. So, people had to build their understanding gradually. However, nowadays, one can gain a good overall understanding of the teachings by easily accessing the discourses available on the internet, etc., so, it is very unlikely for a person to get overly distressed by practising just one type of meditation.
Also, I have read some of the material by this researcher (Britton) and have found that she seems to consider mindfulness to be ‘something’ that one induces into the body (like taking a drug or drinking coffee). This, however is an incorrect understanding because from Buddhist teachings, we know that mindfulness is a tool (a natural capacity that one has) that is used to develop insight into reality (i.e., to reach the goal of understanding the nature of human experience). Also all the so called “adverse effects” fall under the Five Hindrances, and we need to remember that Buddhist teachings provide effective remedies for the hindrances. So, if we understand the teachings properly (also have a broad overview of the teachings), then the so called “adverse effects” do not make sense at all - they are merely hindrances that we need to overcome in order to tread towards enlightenment.
1 Like
The word “if” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in your response. And many beginner meditators simply do not have the kind of knowledge you are taking about.
1 Like