I see these, and I'm a bit skeptical. I try a few, sitting in my best lotus position and looking at the laptop fullscreen, and...
Some a bit jarring. Many of these videos will, for instance, feature a very wide array of environments in which to meditate. Living in Florida, perhaps I may want to try watching arctic mountains, but these videos will feature a rollercoaster of everything from desert to beaches to California Redwood forests and everything in between, randomly.
As a side issue, I feel it's rather appropriative of many these of videos to call themselves "Zen" when it's just more of what I described. Another thing which bothers me is when I see meditation videos specific to Buddhism in which the video features someone who is Caucasian. Many videos feature someone by the name of "Ajahn Brahm", "Ajahn" being a title, I believe. He's Caucasian, and frankly, I don't watch any of them. I'm not Buddhist, so I'm not an authority on the matter, but when I see a Caucasian person (and I'm Caucasian myself) engaging in these videos, I can't help but feel a sense of annoyance. I can only imagine what real Asian Buddhists might feel.
I feel the issue is that when Caucasians practice what they call "Buddhism" is really not much more than Hippyism under a poorly-constructed veneer of Oriental philosophy.
Are there any Asian posters here who could weigh in?
I wish they'd be honest. Call it "sitting silently", but don't intrude into a millenias-old tradition so as to appear sophisticated to other people. After all, didn't the Buddha say "Let go of pride"?
Some a bit jarring. Many of these videos will, for instance, feature a very wide array of environments in which to meditate. Living in Florida, perhaps I may want to try watching arctic mountains, but these videos will feature a rollercoaster of everything from desert to beaches to California Redwood forests and everything in between, randomly.
As a side issue, I feel it's rather appropriative of many these of videos to call themselves "Zen" when it's just more of what I described. Another thing which bothers me is when I see meditation videos specific to Buddhism in which the video features someone who is Caucasian. Many videos feature someone by the name of "Ajahn Brahm", "Ajahn" being a title, I believe. He's Caucasian, and frankly, I don't watch any of them. I'm not Buddhist, so I'm not an authority on the matter, but when I see a Caucasian person (and I'm Caucasian myself) engaging in these videos, I can't help but feel a sense of annoyance. I can only imagine what real Asian Buddhists might feel.
I feel the issue is that when Caucasians practice what they call "Buddhism" is really not much more than Hippyism under a poorly-constructed veneer of Oriental philosophy.
Are there any Asian posters here who could weigh in?
I wish they'd be honest. Call it "sitting silently", but don't intrude into a millenias-old tradition so as to appear sophisticated to other people. After all, didn't the Buddha say "Let go of pride"?
