


The yoga teacher appears to be open-minded:


In a funny twist of logic, however, he ends up recommending breathing meditation:

But of course meditating on the breath is most ideal. It is both highly reassuring and a good means to enhance concentration and achieve one-pointedness of the mind.

There is nothing wrong with breathing meditation, and it is often taught as part of yoga both in Acem and in other contexts. In our experience, sound-based meditation goes deeper than breathing meditation and other body-based techniques, but the simplicity of a breathing technique also has its charm. The most problematic aspect of the yoga teacher’s answer lies in his emphasis on concentration and one-pointedness. True, meditation sometimes brings about a kind of calm and mental absorption that is both pleasant and beneficial. But techniques that open the mind also do the opposite. They bring you in contact with the tension and unease that resides within you, and so enable you to deal with these things rather than just letting them stay put. Too much talk of concentration tends to restrict the mind and stop the process.

Download the original piece in Spanish.