InterAct: Public Meditation in NYC Subway

[eujeeves]

this only works at midnight

[MurdocLC]

Why are they having the eyes open?

Its better if ONE does this. Then i think its a really good thing. But u gotta have guts. Like that guy in Stockholm.

[freeradicals]

@MurdocLC

what guy in stockholm?

[MurdocLC]

@freeradicals There is some video of a guy meditating in a subway in Stockholm. U might find it if you search for something like that on YT.

[freeradicals]

@MurdocLC

yeah I figured. Cant for the life of me find the damn thing though!

[MurdocLC]

@freeradicals Really? I'll try... maybe it's only in swedish.

No, I can't find it anywhere. Not even when searching for swedish words on YT nor Google. I know there is, or was, a video of it out there. It was like a bold man in a suit. Sitting on his briefcase in the middle like these people were. I think it was filmed just by some random person.

[freeradicals]

@MurdocLC

Sounds great, maybe he was having a breakdown? The morning commute tends to make me do such things, and just give up haha. Reminds me of the film clip to Radiohead's film clip for: Just (You Do It To Yourself).

[MurdocLC]

@freeradicals Haha, a breakdown? i'm sure not. He wouldn't sit down peacefully and meditate in that case. I think he was doing some kind of experiment. I'd like to do the same thing, I just wouldn't dare to. Xd

[freeradicals]

@MurdocLC

I guess if someone cracked hard enough they could wind up in a catatonic state. but I agree with you, I haven't seen the video anyway. I have a feeling if you did it, you'd be asked to move along by the rail workers for being an obstruction. Well that's how I imagine it would be in London anyhow.

[MurdocLC]

@freeradicals Haha, that theory is just too strange. I'm sure it would be ok in Sweden.

[japon7171]

I think this is good challenge, but at the same time, this meditation is annoying people...

[BlueMountain78]

sooooooooo coool :) Love you guys...carry on PLZ ;)) Namaste.

[CatalysticCadence]

This is powerful stuff. Finding the stillness in chaos ... I would love to be present with this. It seems dance activists and siteworkers are meeting more and more resistance from "the man" with our projects (like here and in the Jefferson Memorial arrest). Perhaps this is a testament to the work's relevance, and a call for more works which engage people in their everyday lives. The larger community could learn so much from the dance world. Important stuff. I love it!! BRAVO!

[divinemissm28]

Wow, that environment would really put my practice to the test. BTW, amusing to hear the ''Jesus saves'' woman at 2:30.

[dgs55dgs]

As you say, "we start by de-emphasizing our habitual conceptualizing of the self." Indeed! If one believes that taking definitive steps to draw attention to oneself in a very public place (and filming it!) is how "one de-emphasizes that conceptualization of self ", so be it. The concept that meditation is meant to be witnessed is only a concept. Time to move on. Good luck to you.

[CatalysticCadence]

I wanted to highlight what dfbartlett1 brings up about people's narratives ... this kind of work serves the important purpose of disrupting people's narratives (like running to-do lists in our heads instead of being aware of what's happening NOW in the present moment) ... although I cannot speak for those who facilitated this project, I believe the intrinsic benefit of work like this manifests if even one person pauses long enough to experience just a moment of now.

[dfbartlett1]

@dgs55dgs One of the benefits of meditation involves our awareness to the interconnection of all beings and matter in the universe, which is a very lofty goal, but we start by de-emphasizing our habitual conceptualizing of the self. We carry around with us a concept of our self that we constantly narrate. We also have the concept that each of us has propriety on attention. Collectively our attention creates and destroys. The concept that meditation is not meant to be witnessed is only a concept.

[dgs55dgs]

I simply say that meditation is not something to be rehearsed and staged for the purpose of presenting to others. "Rehearsed" and "staged" weren't my words, they were the organizer's. It's sort of like buying space in a publication to proclaim how humble I am. But if folks choose to rehearse and stage meditation, so be it.

[dfbartlett1]

The actual practice of meditation was not staged or rehearsed, everyone was actually meditating. The rehearsal involved working within the context of the subway and the view of the suffering and energy that can be found there was contemplated by the people who would engage in the act of meditation. Contemplation could be considered a rehearsal. Many traditions contemplate their own death, which could be considered a rehearsal for the real thing.

[dgs55dgs]

@dfbartlett1 I simply questioned how taking definitive steps to be observed in a very public place (and filmed!) helps us "de-emphasize our habitual conceptualizing of the self." If we disagree, that's fine. After all, the concept that meditation is MEANT to be witnessed is only a concept, yes? Time to move on. Good luck to you.

[dgs55dgs]

Further to my point, the organizer indicated that they "rehearsed". As in "rehearsing" for a performance. Group meditation has its benefits for sure, but the actual act of meditation is NOT a performance specifically meant for others to witness. If anything, that's the opposite of meditation.

[exertiongoldsun]

You've hit upon an interesting point in that for the meditators there is no performance. The intention for them is to practice with their attention and allow the organization achieved in preparation to carry them through the experience as a group. They are not Pretending to meditate. They ARE meditating-- to train their minds within a particularly challenging environment. The rehearsal and the group make the practice organized and supported. It is only a performance to those who witness.

[larry888888]

really, you could say that they are just a bunch of tubes!!! - boom boom!!!!

[dgs55dgs]

Indeed I understand the benefits of meditation. The point I was making was that it is NOT about drawing the attention of outsiders to one self! That is indeed egotistical behavior that is contrary to the whole idea of meditation. If it's about sharpening your practice, that could have very easily been done in a place other than a subway station!

[dfbartlett1]

@dgs55dgs you are absolutely right. Meditation is drawing attention to yourself. Alan Wallace's book,"The Attention Revolution", Shamatha meditation practices are designed to enhance sustained voluntary attention. Our thoughts are mostly an obsessive concern with the past, conceptualization about the present, and especially an obsessive concern with the future. Usually our mind is not experiencing the present moment at all.Public acts of meditation give pause to our obsessive nature.

[dgs55dgs]

yup, that's what meditation is all about...drawing attention to yourself in a public place...I'm sure the folks who had to walk around them were more than impressed

[bigbadbuddha108]

Awesome pretentious knuckleheads.

[dgs55dgs]

pretentious knuckleheads

[bigbadbuddha108]

Awesomeness

[kippenberger]

This is incredible.