Best Of
Re: Does reading about spirituality make any sense?
@FoibleFull said:
Spirituality is NOT an intellectual, cognitive, nor verbal activity. It is an activity that arises from mindful awareness of THIS moment, Here and Now ... only.
I was just coming to this realisation this morning. I had a dream, in which I was sitting in a fast Intercity train, and at a certain point I wanted to see the train from the outside. Then it was as if the viewpoint shifted to a stationary point outside the train, showing it rushing past on the tracks… later I returned to my dream body inside the train. So when I woke up, I realised I am not the dream body, and I recalled what it felt like to be in that stationary place watching the train. There was an amazing peace and a silence.
Jeroen
Re: Unexpectedly bored during meditation
@Lionduck
I like your comment.
The body changes. Nobody has the body (or mind) of a baby or a toddler. That is gone.
As Lionduck suggests. Mind and body are interdependent.
The monkey mind that we mention on many occasions flits and flaps. We can occupy it with breath or different boredoms and techniques that @Jeffrey mentions.
Bodyscans and led meditations are very effective.
https://www.tarabrach.com/guided-meditations/
Is consciousness hygiene a type of brain washing? Tee hee!
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2026/mar/05/michael-pollan-book-a-world-appears-consciousness-hygiene
lobster
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Today - 8th of March - is International Women’s Day.
Jeroen
Re: What documentary are you watching?
A nice half hour for Alex Honnold fans. Kind of a day with him and his family both in the city and on a hike.
person
Re: Combining business with spirituality
After a short discussion with my cousin, this lady doesn’t put herself forward as a guru or a spiritual teacher, but more as a fellow enthusiast with broad knowledge.
Jeroen
Re: Can the mind be conditioned into enlightenment?
Further inquiry showed that often modern psychological framing around transcendent experiences think of them as something created. My approach to living these days is drawing heavily on psychology in addition to Buddhism, so I've probably been focusing more on the "soteriological" aspects, plus I'm a practical person anyway, so what it takes to make something happen matters at least as much as the isolated, pure idea.
person
Re: Can the mind be conditioned into enlightenment?
Been playing with Chat GPT and thought to ask a question along these lines. The two points that stood out to me, and reflect my own learning.
Ontology vs. soteriology: The question mixes two angles. Ontologically (what is enlightenment?), many Buddhist traditions teach that awakening is the recognition or removal of ignorance about the true nature of mind and phenomena — it is a seeing of what already is. Soteriologically (how does one become enlightened?), awakening happens through a causal process: ethical conduct, meditation, wisdom — i.e., conditions and effort.
And then the Madhyamika understanding of emptiness and its relation to enlightenment. This is the tradition I developed my sense of Buddhism in.
Madhyamaka: Emphasizes emptiness. Enlightenment is the experiential realization that all phenomena lack inherent existence. This realization is not a “thing” that’s created; it’s a correct cognition that arises when ignorance ceases.
Practical summary: Buddhism generally resists the notion that enlightenment is an invention or addition to a self. It’s better described as the cessation of ignorance and the direct realization (revelation) of reality — a change that occurs through causes and conditions, not creation ex nihilo. The upshot for practice is the same either way: cultivate the conditions (ethics, meditation, wisdom) that allow the revealing to occur.
person