My Week at the Buzzy Meditation Retreat That Promises Bliss on Demand

I later realized that was a mistake. The power of the jhanas was not that they offered a temporary escape from our otherwise pallid lives — as we typically think of pleasurable vices — but that, with repeated practice, they somehow elevated my everyday life to be more jhana-like.

The question is, do you want to do to your own psyche what humans have done to ecosystem after ecosystem? With the best of intentions, just trying to take care of yourself, fit in with your needs and your environment, you can practice jhanas and set boundaries and get massages — and at some point, you look around to find your inner wilds paved, you... See more

After meditating in silence for 20 days, one person told me that he found himself slipping in and out of hallucinogenic experiences from breath exercises alone.