Could Mass Meditations Raise the Human Collective Conscious

[abundance]

There's been studies that seem to support that group meditations have led to a reduction in murders within large cities.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/511271

It got me thinking what if a group meditation was coordinated but on a much much larger scale. Do you think it would be beneficial in raising our consciousness on a collective level. It seems humanity is in desperate need of this given all the looming threats that we face (climate change,A.I.,rise of right wing fascism,etc). We need a dramatic boost in our ability to empathize with one another and our environment.

Edited March 10, 2023 by abundance

[Epikur]

10 hours ago, abundance said:

There's been studies that seem to support that group meditations have led to a reduction in murders within large cities.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/511271

It got me thinking what if a group meditation was coordinated but on a much much larger scale. Do you think it would be beneficial in raising our consciousness on a collective level. It seems humanity is in desperate need of this given all the looming threats that we face (climate change,A.I.,rise of right wing fascism,etc). We need a dramatic boost in our ability to empathize with one another and our environment.

Correlation is not causation. The study does not seem legit.

[DocWatts]

Meditation is indeed a powerful tool for cultivating self awareness and emotional intelligence, but the problem is that meditation only serves these important functions after a person's more basic survival needs have been met.

No quantity and quality of meditation in the world is going to help someone who's struggling to keep a roof over their head.

It's not going to be a fix for that person who spends all day at a demeaning job which grinds down their body and mind to a festering pulp. It's not going to help lonely men build the interpersonal skills they need to construct meaningful relationships. It's also not going to help someone in a marginalized groups who's being oppressed by the society they live in.

Now can meditation help make someone more resilient in the face of bad circumstances? Of course. But at the same time it's not a magic bullet that will replace the need to meet a person's basic survival needs, which I'd argue is what the majority of people actually need.

As a supplement to support structures to help individuals meet thier survival needs, meditation is great.

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by DocWatts

[abundance]

12 hours ago, DocWatts said:

Meditation is indeed a powerful tool for cultivating self awareness and emotional intelligence, but the problem is that meditation only serves these important functions after a person's more basic survival needs have been met.

No quantity and quality of meditation in the world is going to help someone who's struggling to keep a roof over their head.

It's not going to be a fix for that person who spends all day at a demeaning job which grinds down their body and mind to a festering pulp. It's not going to help lonely men build the interpersonal skills they need to construct meaningful relationships. It's also not going to help someone in a marginalized groups who's being oppressed by the society they live in.

Now can meditation help make someone more resilient in the face of bad circumstances? Of course. But at the same time it's not a magic bullet that will replace the need to meet a person's basic survival needs, which I'd argue is what the majority of people actually need.

As a supplement to support structures to help individuals meet thier survival needs, meditation is great.

 

I understand that meditation is not a magic bullet. I was thinking of it as being a tool to raise our collective conscious so that we have the compassion and empathy necessary to address those social dillemas you pointed out.

I'll have to do more research on the relation between mass meditation and the reduction of murder rates. But hypothtically if there is a legit correlation I could see it being used a useful tool to raise society's overall capacity to empathize with one another.

Edited March 12, 2023 by abundance

[Leo Gura]

Gathering that many people together will make them stupider, not more conscious. Stupidity is a function of conformity.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Leo Gura

[abundance]

2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Gather that many people together will make them stupider, not more conscious. Stupidity is a function of conformity.

I think you're far too cynical. Yes, a lot of times large groups of humans can bring about chaos and mass levels of  stupidity (i.e. Jan 6th). But much of it depends on the underlying reason for the gathering in the first place. Sometimes large groups of people amassing for a common goal does some good too (i.e. March on Washington in 1963).

 

[caspex]

42 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Gather that many people together will make them stupider, not more conscious. Stupidity is a function of conformity.

If there are any such effects pointed out by the OP that happen due to group meditation, then they surely wouldn't be on the level of psychological

[Leo Gura]

4 minutes ago, Swarnim said:

If there are any such effects pointed out by the OP that happen due to group meditation, then they surely wouldn't be on the level of psychological

The costs of gathering a spiritual group are not measured.

[Leo Gura]

42 minutes ago, abundance said:

But much of it depends on the underlying reason for the gathering in the first place.

Spiritual gatherings are the worst kind of gathering.

Sorry for being a cynical cunt.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Hello from Russia]

3 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Spiritual gatherings are the worst kind of gathering.

What makes you say that? 

[Leo Gura]

3 minutes ago, Hello from Russia said:

What makes you say that? 

The entire history of human religion.

[mr_engineer]

I can only think of one incentive for a mass of people to get into meditation - they all see it as an escape from the problems of their life. 

Most people are not willing to use their brains, practically. That's what's required for your consciousness to actually get raised. You need to have a certain degree of comfort and even success and confidence to even entertain the idea that it's all meaningless and to then search for meaning! 

[Ulax]

15 hours ago, DocWatts said:

Meditation is indeed a powerful tool for cultivating self awareness and emotional intelligence, but the problem is that meditation only serves these important functions after a person's more basic survival needs have been met.

No quantity and quality of meditation in the world is going to help someone who's struggling to keep a roof over their head.

It's not going to be a fix for that person who spends all day at a demeaning job which grinds down their body and mind to a festering pulp. It's not going to help lonely men build the interpersonal skills they need to construct meaningful relationships. It's also not going to help someone in a marginalized groups who's being oppressed by the society they live in.

Now can meditation help make someone more resilient in the face of bad circumstances? Of course. But at the same time it's not a magic bullet that will replace the need to meet a person's basic survival needs, which I'd argue is what the majority of people actually need.

As a supplement to support structures to help individuals meet thier survival needs, meditation is great.

 

@DocWatts I'd actually disagree with some of your points of view here.

I.e. with regards to "No quantity and quality of meditation in the world is going to help someone who's struggling to keep a roof over their head." I don't think that is true. I don't think its true that meditation will mainly just make them more resilient in the face of bad circumstances.

I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few in human history have found peace, despite very adverse circumstances, through meditation. I mean i think that is why meditation is so popular really. It was sorted of created to deal with the depravities of the pre-modern age, where any day you could just die, drop dead, have your wife be suddenly raped and killed, be exiled from the tribe etc.

[Ulax]

@abundance I think you'd also need to account for the dark side of meditation. In terms of all the unconscious stuff it brings up, i wouldn't be surprised if some people ended up becoming more violent as a consequence, and that would derail the whole thing.

Also, i imagine the optics of such a group meditation would not go down well with many demographics. I.e. i think a lot would see it as a means of trying to dulcify the oppressed sections of societies and they would act in some manner.

Really I think improving mass consciousness would be much better achieved via focusing and advocating for political change, and also technological advancement. Mainly advocating for political change though in my opinion.

[Nilsi]

Maharishi Mahesh (the founder of transcendental meditation (TM)) came up with some specific number of how many people in the world would have to start a TM practice to end all wars on earth.

Not sure what the proposed mechanism is - maybe the only thing going on here is that people sitting down with their mouth shut is virtually always more constructive than all the stupid shit they would be doing otherwise .

[Leo Gura]

4 hours ago, Nilsi said:

came up with some specific number of how many people in the world would have to start a TM practice to end all wars on earth.

Lol

[gettoefl]

you cant do meditation out of external motivation

has to be intrinsic

a fire within

group meditation is utterly counterproductive

except if you are already a dedicated meditator - like for example folks at vipassana retreats

[abundance]

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Spiritual gatherings are the worst kind of gathering.

Sorry for being a cynical cu**.

True in a lot of aspects. To clarify, when I suggest mass meditation, I'm talking about a very large gathering of experienced practioners sitting in one place. No speeches. No marching. Just sitting in stillness and then carrying on with their day. Its sounds outlandish and like a naive fantasy but it would make for an interesting social experiment. 

There's something about witnessing a large body of people in stillness that I believe would have an impact on the human psyche. I can imagine it being a huge disrupter in the hustle and bustle of our modern society. 

[abundance]

10 minutes ago, gettoefl said:

you cant do meditation out of external motivation

has to be intrinsic

a fire within

group meditation is utterly counterproductive

except if you are already a dedicated meditator - like for example folks at vipassana retreats

Yes, it would be a large gathering of already experienced meditators. 

[abundance]

7 hours ago, Ulax said:

@abundance I think you'd also need to account for the dark side of meditation. In terms of all the unconscious stuff it brings up, i wouldn't be surprised if some people ended up becoming more violent as a consequence, and that would derail the whole thing.

Also, i imagine the optics of such a group meditation would not go down well with many demographics. I.e. i think a lot would see it as a means of trying to dulcify the oppressed sections of societies and they would act in some manner.

Really I think improving mass consciousness would be much better achieved via focusing and advocating for political change, and also technological advancement. Mainly advocating for political change though in my opinion.

You make good points. There is definitely a dark side to meditation. Overall I still think meditation can be a useful to reducing many of societal problems though.

Take a look at the video below. Vipassana teachers went into a prison and taught inmates meditation and it had a positive impact. 

I know this is in a different context to what I'm suggesting with mass meditation but it does exemplify the powerful effects of meditation. 

And I agree that spritual practice cannot take the place of political action. But I think one of the main underlying impediments to society moving forward with addressing these issues is a lack of empathy. Meditation increases empathy. Perhaps mass meditations can increase the overall empathy level within a community.