r/streamentry • u/diagnoal_pleats • Mar 06 '25
Practice Book Recommendation for Ambitious Online Meditators / My Younger Self
[removed] — view removed post
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
This breaks the sub's first rule:
- All top-line posts must be based on your personal meditation practice.
Your last post on Reddit was 2 years ago. And you show up now to promote your friend's book?
Tucker is a cool dude and an insightful teacher
Cool dudes don't break the sub's rules to promote their products.
Edit:
And Tucker's been here promoting his own book (now deleted):
https://old.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/1j2ojcz/new_book_on_meditation_psychology/
In a reply to that post, Tucker says:
Oh sure, thanks for letting me know. I haven't posted here in a few years and didn't know the rules. Maybe I can ask a few people who read it if they'd post honest opinions on here, so then it's not self-promotion?
And now we have the friends in this thread:
- /u/jimInTheLotusHeart recommends Tucker's book. That account hasn't posted to Reddit in 5 years ... when it posted to promote an organization that Tucker founded.
- /u/diagnoal_pleats
Folks, stop brigading.
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u/diagnoal_pleats Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
Hi. Yes, I am promoting / bringing attention to the book. I totally get your concern and wouldn't want to see this subreddit turn into a bunch of people shilling their courses / spiritual wares.
I legitimately think it's a good book and will likely be of interest to some of the people here (as in, the audience for this book is *very* niche to the point that it was basically written with the intended audience being the kind of person who finds themself posting about meditation on reddit). As I mention in the post, Tucker is my friend and I hope his book does well. As far as I understand the economics of writing niche books for advanced meditators, this does not appear to be an undertaking primarily intended to make money.
Tucker did not read any of what I posted here beforehand and it is an honest accounting of my experience and thoughts.
While I haven't posted in this subreddit before, I spent the first several years of my practice religiously reading this subreddit (like - way more than was actually good for me, but that's another matter) and am not just popping on here out of nowhere.
I tried to keep the post as a reflection of my own practice and experience, but I totally understand why it may seem shady.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25
Tucker did not read any of what I posted here beforehand
But he asked you to make a post here, right?
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u/diagnoal_pleats Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
Yeah. I was telling him I liked his book and how I thought it fills an important gap in the meditation literature and that I was going to write something about it on twitter. He told me he was having his posts taken down on this subreddit b/c of the no self-promotion rule and if I wouldn't mind posting something here. So I read the guidelines for posting and tried to write something that would both help bring awareness of the book to its intended audience while being about my own practice and experience.
I hope that clarifies things a bit. Again, I think it's good to keep a tight leash on these things so that the sub doesn't become filled with people selling stuff and I appreciate that your concern comes from a good place.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25
I appreciate the honesty: Your friend Tucker asked you to post to help him skirt the no self-promo rule.
Did Tucker also ask /u/jimInTheLotusHeart to post here?
Again, I think it's good to keep a tight leash on these things so that the sub doesn't become filled with people selling stuff
Respectfully, if you feel that way and value this sub as something more than a place to promote your friend's product, then delete your post.
Yours is the second post today where teachers involved in the TMI lineage are trying to skirt the rules in order to promote their products. Here's the other one:
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u/diagnoal_pleats Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
No, I don't believe he asked u/jimInTheLotusHeart.
I feel comfortable leaving my post up because
a) it's about my own experience and is stuff I'd love to share anyway and took non-trivial time and effort to write
b) If It's bad for the subreddit, the mods are in the best position to discern that, and I'll leave it to them
c) the book isn't some money making scheme. (writing niche meditation books is not a great business idea)
d) I'm not getting anything in return for this, besides perhaps, very slightly increased good will or something
e) Tucker has a history of posting long, detailed stuff to this subreddit and working with people in and adjacent to this community over the course of many years - he's not just a random dude
f) the audience for the book is quite specific and I think there's a good chance people here would be interested in it
But yeah, I understand your and u/cmciccio's point of view about strict consistency of rules vs. a more case-by-case discernment and I think there is some real merit to that way of doing things as well.
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u/essentially_everyone Mar 06 '25
Who cares? The OP is sharing valuable content in his post besides promoting a book. I think you're taking this a bit too seriously.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25
Tucker tried to promote his book in this sub. That was deleted by the mods. With this post, it appears he's trying to skirt the no-self-promo rule, by getting a friend to do it for him.
To me, that's not something a dignified person would do, much less a dharma teacher that I'd trust for getting me or others to enlightenment.
If it doesn't bother you, then that's fine. Do your thing.
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
Nothing to fault in your thoughts, this feels rather commercial though. It seems like you’re primarily discussing products and services.
I don’t know how much Tucker charges, but one of his associates charges an astronomical 125$/hour for meditation lessons. So it makes me curious where this push is coming from.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
Here's another TMI teacher trying to promote another book today:
These folks don't interact with the community and then show up when they have something to sell.
Edit:
Looks like Tucker coordinated this particular post. Here he is asking a mod if his friends can promote his book:
https://old.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/1j2ojcz/new_book_on_meditation_psychology/
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
That's my impression as well. TMI, Too Much Income.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25
Culadasa's behavior alone should be enough to indicate there are problems with the lineage.
Now some of the people carrying on the lineage offer paid teacher certification. They certify you to teach in the lineage even if you aren't awakened.
The lineage is a dead end as far as I'm concerned.
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
I agree. I think TMI is good up to stage six or so at which point single-pointed focus should be abandoned.
My opinion is that Culadasa focused obsessively on single-pointed concentration and it repressed insights resulting in his problems.
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u/diagnoal_pleats Mar 06 '25
Yeah, I totally understand that concern. I tried to keep the post as an honest accounting of my direct experience over the years while also increasing awareness of a resource that many people here may find useful. As I mention in the post, Tucker is my friend and I also do want his book to do well. And yes, I agree it would be annoying if this subreddit was filled with promotional stuff.
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
I understand you want to help your friend and you genuinely enjoy the book.
There's often a lot of hit-and-run promotion that comes through here simply because it's a large community. As someone has pointed out, a lot of his friends seem to be commenting after many years of inactivity on Reddit, it seems kind of coordinated.
I'm sure many people would like to promote their activites but the subreddit rules need to be consistent.
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u/diagnoal_pleats Mar 06 '25
That makes sense. While I would prefer my post not be removed, I'm not sure what's best for the health of the subreddit. fwiw, I posted (with no prompting from Tucker) about this post in a group chat for a sangha I'm a part of, which I think led to the comment by one other friend. Tucker isn't orchestrating some kind of stealth campaign or anything like that!
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u/tehmillhouse Mar 06 '25
I'd been wondering why there's no talk here of Tucker Peck's book. I haven't bought it yet, but honestly, it's only a question of time...
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u/beets_or_turnips Mar 06 '25
I'm not a personal friend of Tucker's but I've gone to a couple of his retreats and I appreciate your review. Seems like nothing too surprising or revolutionary based on stuff I've heard him say, but I'm interested in checking out the book to add to my dharma library.
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u/thewesson be aware and let be Mar 06 '25
Can we take this to the weekly thread? Front page is about practice not promotion. Thanks.
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u/luttiontious Mar 06 '25
Aw, I saved this post to check out later and now I see it's been removed. Definitely interested in reading it if you post to the weekly thread. Thanks for sharing.
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u/jimInTheLotusHeart Mar 06 '25
I just read it, too! If you're on this subreddit, then I can't recommend it enough. I identify as being a very typical pragdharm practitioner (techy, mappy, prone to striving, probably neurodivergent, etc.) and, having been on a Tucker retreat and met the other people there, I think I can safely say that Tucker has dealt with a LOT of similar people. This book feels like it was written to counter all the typical roadblocks that myself and others in my pragdharm sangha have run into.
Specifically, it addresses what awakening and integration look like in people over time. I feel like so many of us read MCTB and TMI and got the idea that we could meditate for a month and somehow transcend all our issues. I know I struggled for a long time to understand why I still suffered after all the things that I experienced during meditation. If I had read this book back then, I would have probably saved 3 years of needless frustration.
Oh yeah, and his coverage of how to work with energy in the body is, without a doubt, the clearest and most effective advice I've seen yet. I feel pretty well educated about dealing with kriyas and such, and I picked up several new good techniques from the book.
If you liked TMI or MCTB, then SaS is right up your alley. It's also far, far more pleasant of a reading experience.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
All this feels very scammy.
Your last post on Reddit was 5 years ago.
You posted about an org that Tucker Peck founded.
Are you folks coordinating your promotion of this book?
Edit:
This does appear to be coordinated promotion. Tucker's been here promoting his own book (now deleted):
https://old.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/1j2ojcz/new_book_on_meditation_psychology/
Please stop.
Edit 2:
The commenter sits on a non-profit board with Tucker.
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u/jimInTheLotusHeart Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
Oh dear friend, if you had looked a little closer you might have noticed that I am the president of the organization that Tucker founded. I know the people in this thread in real life. I and Tucker literally run an all volunteer organization that gives money to needy people in order to meditate. You can check our guidestar rating. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/shared/c212e038-68f9-4dec-bb79-1c52898996b6
Here I was, so excited to see that my friend's book was mentioned on reddit that I would actually make the effort to post. Then I get your response. I'm sure you had great intentions, but it feels like you missed your mark.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 Mar 06 '25
[–]jimInTheLotusHeart [score hidden] 32 minutes ago*
Oh dear friend, if you had looked a little closer you might have noticed that I am the president of the organization that Tucker founded. I know the people in this thread in real life. I and Tucker literally run an all volunteer organization that gives money to needy people in order to meditate. You can check our guidestar rating. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/shared/c212e038-68f9-4dec-bb79-1c52898996b6
Here I was, so excited to see that my friend's book was mentioned on reddit that I would actually make the effort to post. Then I get your response. I'm sure you had great intentions, but it feels like you missed your mark.
Oh dear friend, if you had looked a little closer you might have noticed that I am the president of the organization that Tucker founded.
It's a strange way to admit that you and Tucker are trying to skirt the sub's rules and boost his book, but I'm glad to know it wasn't all in my head.
Here I was, so excited to see that my friend's book was mentioned on reddit that I would actually make the effort to post.
[ /u/jimInTheLotusHeart removed in subsequent edits...]
If you wonder why I don't post on reddit often, your comment is the reason why.
If you're only dropping by to boost your friend's book, then please don't do that.
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
Your tone is a bit condescending to be honest.
That's great that you have money to give away.
I know that teachers near Tucker charge an unreasonably high hourly wage for meditation lessons. I've done 10 day full-time workshops in a Tuscan villa with world-class psychotherapists and drama therapists that cost less per day than his associate's retreats. Real Buddhist retreat centers don't have these rates.
In light of everything, you just come as rather disingenuous.
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u/beets_or_turnips Mar 06 '25
This is just one data point, and I don't know how much Tucker charges for 1:1 therapy or teaching, but his 4-day retreat in Washington this summer is $330 dollars, pretty far at the low end of cost for that kind of thing:
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u/cmciccio Mar 06 '25
In terms of therapy, he's a high-priced therapist in San Francisco. To his credit he seems to teach based on dana. Those particular retreat rates seem more reasonable compared to other people in his orbit.
I was talking about his associates as I was responding to comments about the organization, and thus everyone who's associated with Tucker.
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u/thewesson be aware and let be Mar 06 '25
Please put this on the weekly thread(s). Front page is for practice not promotion.
TMI is great and all, but still.