Thanks guys.
Tosh: I wish there were a decent sangha around. There is one (kind of) but it is a bit of a drive and the host was not terribly welcoming the one time I went.
RichardH: Brilliant and funny. I will try to keep that in mind.
Skullchin:…
Thanks Lady_Alison. I guess everyone gets a little blue every now and then. But it can still be difficult to shake the feeling. I guess I'll just wait it out and meditate in the morning and try to keep my head straight through the day... one kind of…
I am very introverted. I don't know if there is a difference but I don't think of myself as shy I just don't know what to say to people. Even with people I know well I don't talk much. One obstacle is that all I really want is a girlfriend and I thi…
I guess it's mostly because I don't have enough friends and/or a significant other. But there is also the phenomenon where perceiving a few things as problems causes you to perceive more things as problems. I usually have my daughter on weekends but…
Dunno... but you made me realize something. This is a Buddhist forum, Buddhists consider quiet and solitude highly valuable. I am compelled to come here occasionally but I rarely really have anything to say. It's as if it's an online meditation grou…
Thanks for the suggestions guys... I guess I expect too much from books... I have at least twenty books about buddhism and I still can't find just one to keep coming back to.
Ps, do you guys know of any good parapsychological message boards where I could investigate my above stated conundrum? For that matter what field of thought would you consider that conundrum to fall primarily under? Thanks.
@Dakini I am very interested in parapsychology. I have read a good bit about it, yet for some reason I still lack real faith. It is something I wish I could understand but I don't really know how to go about. I want to believe there is more to life …
My first thought is that it could be a matter of voice tone or facial expression. Is there anyone you could ask in person that might be better able to address that possibility (as I doubt any of us are familiar with your tone of voice)? Second thoug…
I've been browsing over the Canon on AccesstoInsight.org and it seems my evaluation that most of the canon is just useless stories was mistaken. I guess I just purchased the one volume of the canon that contains the most useless stories (the long di…
@sattvapaul Thanks for the bookfinder suggestion! There's a copy of the Visuddhimaga (I hate spelling that word...) listed for five bucks. I'll have to do a little more research to see if it's a decent edition. I knew it was available online I just …
Thanks for the What the Buddha Taught suggestion Jason. I saw it sitting on the shelf in Books-A-Million a million times and it never particularly caught my attention but I got a copy and it's pretty awesome. I think I'm going to read the basics fro…
One more question here. I really want to understand this but I'm having serious trouble. "Ignorance gives rise to volitional action". Wisdom can give rise to action as well... what am I misunderstanding..?
Thanks guys. As far as being yourself goes. Words don't come to me naturally... I think just about everything I say is forced. Especially with new people. That's part of why I don't have social skills I think. Because conversation feels forced and I…
I liked The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire when I was about 19... it was one of my early new age books. But yeah, definitely more Hindu than Buddhist. I'm afraid his writings are motivated more by whether or not they will sell than whether or not…
I posted lots of book suggestions on the topic on this page.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/12236/zen-brain-exploring-the-connection-between-neuroscience-and-meditation#Item_9
I posted lots of book suggestions on the topic on this page.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/12236/zen-brain-exploring-the-connection-between-neuroscience-and-meditation#Item_9
lol yeah... I find myself wanting to post on here constantly but I don't want to irritate the mods as most of it would probably wind up being irrelevant crap just posted to pass the time. A part of me feels like it should constitute practice...
"A genius is never bored." Albert Einstein
Read. Meditate. Be mindful. Investigate the root and nature of your boredom and transcend it..... or just play a video game.
I can understand the concept that small scale compassion and good deeds arise naturaly from a pure silent mind. But what about the kind of long term complicated thought process that goes into large scale social change or scientific progress. I unde…
Oh yes. I hope I didn't seem rude. It is a great post. I am very interested in the information presented and very impressed with the OP's knowledge and experience.
I find it a bit odd that the Visuddhimaga is not more widely available being that it is such a central text to Theravada tradition. I would really like a hardcopy of it but I'd rather not shell out $28 bucks right now... It's probably hopeless but d…
Read most of Mindfulness in Plain English this morning. I'm surprised. I thought it was going to be more about mindfulness throughout your day and not so much about sitting meditation... It makes it even more confusing that he suggested it as a prer…
Haha thanks for the offer ajnast4. But I like having my own copies of books. I'm sure I will get my own copy very soon. I am just very eager to learn about mindfulness so I can start practicing as soon as possible. (Is it all ironic that I'm trying …
I have not gotten into a good routine yet but so far I jump back into autopilot too quickly. I need to learn to stay mindful throughout the day. As far as posture goes I had to switch to kneeling with a zafu. I really wanted to use full lotus but it…
Thanks again everybody. One thing I meant to clarify earlier is that my feelings on the matter are split. There is a part of me, maybe even the larger part, that knows that anger is self defeating. But with extended exposure to triggers my defense s…
Thanks for the response Taiyaki. I'm sure you are correct. I am also sure embodying that perspective is much easier said than done. But I will try.
Not to beat a dead horse but just to share a specific example that I am currently in the midst of; …