Interview with Daniel Ingram | METRICS for Tracking Meditation PropanePodcast

[@nkastropil]

Great interview. I happened to read Culadasa 1st, which gave me the strength to attend a 10 day Goenka retreat. Now I’m fully into Daniel’s book which is incredibly helpful. What an amazing human he is!

[@Alejandro388]

no doubt my most fav. YT interview of Daniel, you really let him talk completely unobstructed and sort of "relax into his talk" (as agitated speaker as he often is) and that brought out streams of gold out of him/his-mind. Great job, much appreciated!

[@PropaneFitness]

Thanks Aleksandras, glad to hear my interview technique wasn't oppressive. Check out our chats with Kit Laughlin too, you'll love them kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZfNi3WNfbV8ftE

[@Alejandro388]

@@PropaneFitness thanks, illl check him out

[@KitLaughlin]

"Thoughts are known as thoughts." I recall mentioning something like this in our podcast, Yusef: when one is relaxed enough, a much larger space opens where thoughts are small things happening in this space. This realisation is part of non-attachment-because many people believe that their thoughts *are* reality. And when in this space, thoughts still function as useful, when useful, and not when not. One teacher said to me, "The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master." More: the reason I have chosen to make sensations in the body central to our work is just what Daniel speaks of around the 26' mark-sensations in the body are only experienced in the continuously unfolding present; they are ephemeral. So, if you are holding your attention on sensations (and this is much easier of you are doing something with the body at the time, like stretching) then you will be present. The more embodied this habit becomes, the more present, more often, you will be. Just so many resonances here: "Just be here now seems like a cliché... until you are just here now". This is the truth. Great interview. Later: his warning re. MBSR and similar 'mindfulness-based' trainings around 53' is spot on, in my experience. On minimum effective dose of meditation practise (around the one hour mark): the Buddha spoke of the "Four Postures of Meditation": moving, standing, sitting, and lying. The deeper meaning of this is exactly as Daniel describes-are you present when brushing your teeth, sitting on the toilet, eating, ....? This is the yoga of daily life. There is nowhere you can't be present.

[@PropaneFitness]

Looking forward to people's thoughts on your comment when this goes live. Something you mentioned that stuck with me last week: people that operate in a cogni-centric environment in the west spend an inordinate amount of time with their attention focused on the neck-up, and that the gateway to inhabiting the body is through relaxation, rather than firing additional concentration to that zone. Very glad to have done this one

[@KitLaughlin]

I will be sharing this on our main FB page when you give me the go-ahead!

[@alvarobiazus]

Great interview!

[@paulnotsmallBLOG]

Brilliant! Makes me realise that I need to seriously raise my game if I'm going to build up anything like enough volume to see some meaningful returns!

[@elba_magellan]

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, it has compounding beneficial effects

[@Rover08]

1:08:36 Seven Factors of Awakening = Mindfulness, Investigation, Energy, Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration, Equanimity.

[@queryqueryqueryquery]

Solid interview, thanks!

[@smudge78]

Great interview Yusef. Would you mind linking to the video you mentioned where you talk about your retreat experience? Also, where did you do the retreat? I'm in the UK too and it's something I've wanted to try for a while.

[@PropaneFitness]

Hey Smudge - sure, it's here: propanefitness.com/retreat/ hopefully that helps you make a decision

[@smudge78]

@@PropaneFitness Thanks, much appreciated!

[@bakedutah8411]

The interviewer has a bit of the Andy Serkis about it him.

[@PropaneFitness]

😂 I get that a lot

[@Nkforster]

So, a lot about concentration. At no point did Daniel mention that concentration must be based in Right View. If you’re not familiar with why Right View must come first, read the Maha-cattarisaka Sutta: The Great Forty, where the Buddha says “Right View comes first” or “Right View is the forerunner” (depending on the translation) 14 times in regards to concentration. Only then is it "Right concentration." He then goes on to describe what Right View is. And isn't. Daniel is not alone in being obsessed with concentration and assuming that more and more concentration will bring about awakening. He is in good company. But it can't. And that is because Right View comes first. Not concentration.

[@PropaneFitness]

Thank you for this - presumably this is cultivated through right speech/action + metta?

[@Nkforster]

@@PropaneFitness Well, if you want right speech, right view still comes first.

[@braverymaybe9819]

In his book he definitely mentions that all the concentration in the world isn't going to awaken you without practicing wisdom, and I am paraphrasing btw.

[@Nkforster]

@@braverymaybe9819 well, I've listened to Daniel quite a bit, and whilst he is clearly knowledgable, wise is not how I'd describe him. To quote the suttas - " It is through conversation that you know of a persons' wisdom, and that is after a long time, not a short time, with close attention, not without attention, by a wise person, not an unwise person."

[@braverymaybe9819]

@@Nkforster ah, fair enough. have a good one.

[@golgipogo]

IDK, this guy is ego-bound and flaky. Arahant, schmarahant.

[@kissmyclacker]

Totally agree