What do YOU think YOU should do @Yeshe2019 ?
What will bring YOU peace of mind ?
I probably need to figure out what ‘closure’ I’m after and if it’s realistic. I don’t want to ruffle and feathers, or cause any issues as… okay this is the most in-depth thinking I’ve done about my situation. Perhaps I should stay away and let go of my attachment of seeking closure when I can find it for myself in other ways by moving on and staying in the present moment.
Thank you, person of short words, you helped me think more deeply!
🌹
@person said:
Unfortunately in this day and age so few people truly listen.
I feel this a lot when I think about getting more seriously involved in spirituality such that I could possibly teach others. For me its more like, no one would really care about or welcome my perspective. In order to teach I'd have to fall in line and offer the approved discourse.
I have this too, although perhaps I am more into being a ‘spiritual friend’ than a teacher. I’m not really interested in offering the approved discourse of Buddhism or another stream, that seems like an unnecessary complication of what comes from the heart.
What I feel attracted to at the moment is satsang, “meeting in truth”. I’ve heard of some meetings here in the Netherlands where this is done sitting in a large circle, there is a ‘speaker’s stick’ that moves around and people in the circle ask questions of each other. So the people attending satsang are both questioners and speakers.
I’m at a crossroads. I’m unsure if I should reconnect with a man whose brother took advantage of me nine years ago. The situation at the time resulted in me being held against my will and assaulted. I had to escape barefoot, dressed in only summer pyjamas and drive back to my place an hour away. This said, I ceased contact with both brothers. However, because the man and I cared deeply for each other and knew each other at that point for already fifteen years, and I knew the brother just as long(they were in their 50s, I was mid-thirties-9 years-ago); I would like to explain to the man why I stopped contact with him, even though I told him what his brother did to me. I just couldn’t continue seeing him after the assault as I was so hurt and ashamed at the time.
Buddhism helped me to forgive his brother’s actions and saved me from destroying my inner peace, however, I feel I need to speak with the man I cared for all those years ago, before I can truly move forward. My decision is, should I arrange to meet with him knowing he may not wish to see me, he is in the entertainment business and former politics, or should I let it all go and accept what is and free myself from any further trauma. I feel buddhism has healed me and allowed me to make more sense of what appeared to me as a very traumatising event where I couldn’t trust or be around men and now I can, although certain triggers do still effect me. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.
@lobster said:
LOL. Thanks. I tries my bestest ...
Yes, I know, and your penchant for the tangential is, as always, breathtaking.
The traces we leave
So when we have an extraordinary experience, would you not feel that it should be passed on?
In a sense, we are all teachers and students of life's wonders...We are continually learning things from each other's experiences...
Which reminds me...
When the student is ready, the master will appear
When the student isn't ready, will the master still appear?
It seems to me that many people leave few traces in the world. A couple may spend a lot of time and money on their house and furnishings, and the next occupant sends everything to the recycling and remodels. An aircraft engineer spends months measuring out vibration loads in an aircraft, only to say, it’s ok. A Zen monk spends hours sitting zazen and then stands up and there is no trace.
Like a dream, a mirage, a wave in the ocean or clouds in the sky.
We leave no traces because we are not that.
Form is like a glob of foam;
feeling, a bubble;
perception, a mirage;
fabrications, a banana tree;
consciousness, a magic trick —
this has been taught
by the Kinsman of the Sun.
However you observe them,
appropriately examine them,
they're empty, void
to whoever sees them
appropriately.Beginning with the body
as taught by the One
with profound discernment:
when abandoned by three things
— life, warmth, & consciousness —
form is rejected, cast aside.
When bereft of these
it lies thrown away,
senseless,
a meal for others.
That's the way it goes:
it's a magic trick,
an idiot's babbling.
It's said to be
a murderer.[1]
No substance here
is found.Thus a monk, persistence aroused,
should view the aggregates
by day & by night,
mindful,
alert;
should discard all fetters;
should make himself
his own refuge;
should live as if
his head were on fire —
in hopes of the state
with no falling away.https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.095.than.html
@Fosdick said:
I always wonder, seeing your pictures, how the air feels, how it smells, in your part of the world - and all the things that the dimension of photography cannot capture.
The Six Sense Bases (indriya or āyatana)
The eye & seeing (cakkhu)
The ear & hearing (sota)
The nose & smelling (ghāna)
The tongue & tasting (jivhā)
The body & sensing (kāya)
The heart/mind & cognizing (mana)
Yes, it seems that only four of our senses/consciousnesses actually comes into play when watching something on our screens...in a sense (pun intended) the other two do through imagination...but I guess it's all kind of imagination
Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes.
What one sees, what one hears how it makes one feel (sensations) , what is seen and heard forms the stories of what it must feel like, what it must smell like, as one's mind flicks through the memory bank to find/imagine similar sense experiences one may have had ...The salty smell of the ocean, the warm sun's rays, the cool ocean breeze and so on...