TheSouseFamily;842682590 said:
Technically, yoga/meditation/Buddhism is not about getting to know yourself. In fact, it's the opposite. The traditional teaching is one of "non self" based on impermanence and the lack of a persevering identity. The Buddha would argue that "getting to know who you are" is an illusion and the source of dukkha (suffering). I guess your "target market" isn't Buddhists or serious yogis.
Can't resist putting in my two cents re meditation, as a proselytizer.
For me, the virtue of it is the openness, and lack of requirements, other than that one sit in the most comfortable position and do nothing for a given period of time.
Refinements include the following: Committing to watching your breath (an autonomic function which occurs anyhow if you don't consciously manipulate it), the main function of which is the insight which comes from realizing that it is actually an impossible task, since your mind regularly pulls your consciousness away from the breath watching, and then the following, bigger, insight that your mind functions in the same way (autonomically) as your breath, leading to the realization that you don't have to worry about the bad thoughts trapping you, because, like all the other thoughts, they'll just go away (and come back, and go away, and come back, etc.).
So, what happens in this open process is that, because you're not tied to your thoughts, and they come and go as they please (although to a certain degree you can hang on to them and focus/concentrate - an obvious virtue when needing to engage in life-building activities), in the interstices magically appear new helpful thoughts and feelings to deal with the stuff that's really in front of you, and which were not previously in your set (as you're otherwise running through it like a hamster on a wheel).
So, it's not necessary to clear your mind (an impossible task / oxymoron anyway) or know/learn anything in advance about the philosophy / religion / what have you. Really, just sit there and don't do anything (really, the longer the better), and you automatically get the benefit. Doing it daily also helps, immeasurably.
So, all that being said, I believe that meditation is not in the slightest in conflict with the tenets of Shockyism, or, for that matter, the tenets of any other religion.