Changes

== Reluctance of Western atheists to engage in meditation ==

== Reluctance of Western atheists to engage in meditation ==

[[File:G. Christina.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Atheist [[Greta Christina]] wrote: "A lot of atheists, [[Secular humanism|humanists]], and other nonbelievers are leery or dismissive of meditation and mindfulness."<ref>[http://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2013/fierce-humanism/mind-is-matter-2 Mind is Matter], Greta Christina, The Humanist.com</ref>]]

[[File:Greta Christina at Skepticon.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Atheist [[Greta Christina]] wrote: "A lot of atheists, [[Secular humanism|humanists]], and other nonbelievers are leery or dismissive of meditation and mindfulness."<ref>[http://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2013/fierce-humanism/mind-is-matter-2 Mind is Matter], Greta Christina, The Humanist.com</ref>]]

[[Atheism|Atheist]] [[Greta Christina]] wrote at the website Humananist.com:

[[Atheism|Atheist]] [[Greta Christina]] wrote at the website Humananist.com:

{{cquote|A lot of atheists, humanists, and other nonbelievers are leery or dismissive of meditation and mindfulness. Some see it as an irretrievably religious or spiritual practice, and want no part in it. Others are put off by the faddish, overused, buzzword quality of the practice and the terminology. And I can understand that. For years, I stayed away from trying this stuff out, for exactly those reasons. I was interested in the practice—I had friends who did it, and who seemed to get a lot out of it. But I couldn’t find anyplace to learn that didn’t base their teaching on [[Buddhism]] or some other religion. And I’m too ardent an anti-religionist to “take what you need and leave the rest,” the way many nonbelievers do with religion. After all, I literally wrote the book on [[Atheism and anger|angry atheism]]. For me, trying to learn meditation in a Buddhist center would be like trying to learn meditation in a room full of fingernails scraping on blackboards.<ref>[http://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2013/fierce-humanism/mind-is-matter-2 Mind is Matter], Greta Christina, The Humanist.com</ref>}}

{{cquote|A lot of atheists, humanists, and other nonbelievers are leery or dismissive of meditation and mindfulness. Some see it as an irretrievably religious or spiritual practice, and want no part in it. Others are put off by the faddish, overused, buzzword quality of the practice and the terminology. And I can understand that. For years, I stayed away from trying this stuff out, for exactly those reasons. I was interested in the practice—I had friends who did it, and who seemed to get a lot out of it. But I couldn’t find anyplace to learn that didn’t base their teaching on [[Buddhism]] or some other religion. And I’m too ardent an anti-religionist to “take what you need and leave the rest,” the way many nonbelievers do with religion. After all, I literally wrote the book on [[Atheism and anger|angry atheism]]. For me, trying to learn meditation in a Buddhist center would be like trying to learn meditation in a room full of fingernails scraping on blackboards.<ref>[http://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2013/fierce-humanism/mind-is-matter-2 Mind is Matter], Greta Christina, The Humanist.com</ref>}}