Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

Best Of

Re: What we are doing right?

Soon you will be one with the grass hoppers,

When you walk through a storm, Hold your head up high, And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm, There's a golden sky, And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind, Walk on through the rain, Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on, With hope in your heart, And you'll never walk alone, You'll never walk alone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokk%C5%8Dd%C5%8D

Re: What we are doing right?

It’s odd…

Lately I have been finding that the path to relaxation has been leading through a period of degeneration, and that there is no more letting go to be done. That instead I need brief periods of vipassana to re-align my energy, not much, no more than 5 minutes every once in a while. That just tells me that it’s necessary to listen to my body.

I just had some cold pumpkin soup made yesterday evening entirely from fresh ingredients, there was a little left over and I thought it might suit me for lunch. The delicate flavours of fried shallots and toasted garlic and ginger were most delicious. That too is listening to the body, that it prefers the soup to chocolate (of which I also had a little).

For the rest, I have been letting the body take a few naps during the day, sleeping when it feels like it would like a little extra sleep, such as after a meal. Which means I have been awake a little more during the night, which is fine too. It is all natural rhythms of the body, day and night.

In a way much of our rhythm is determined by living circumstances. I think of my experimental rhythm above as a ‘caveman rhythm’, going back to prehistory before nine-to-five jobs were a thing. It’s a luxury to be able to explore such a thing without pressure and anxiety.

JeroenJeroen

Re: So HUNGRY to NOT CRAVE

I feel like I am on the other side (for now) of what I was struggling with when I first posted this.

I want to say thanks to everyone. The advice you have all given me has pretty much come to pass. I am more comfortable with letting things go in their time and not spending energy on achievement, which of course has eased the hunger for being able to do those very things. O.o

Re: What we are doing right?

What we are doing right?

I laugh a lot, because in my daily life I find that there are always things to laugh about...And when I'm serious, I'm serious, because there are things/situations which require some seriousness ...but not too much seriousness as this can be detrimental to ones health and well being...

Many moons ago a Buddhist friend who lives in Europe told me what her Dharma once told her group/Sangha "Beware of unhappy Buddhists...They are not really practicing, just being intellectual "

Which also reminds me of this:

The Dharma.

Re: What tradition (if any) do you follow?

Hi Bunks,

  1. Yes.
  2. Thai Forest Tradition & Zen.

Both schools I see as complementary. While the Thai Forest is very direct with "simple, crispy clear instructions", the Zen school does give me a few insights which, while challenging and mind boogling, have aided the first ones practice, and viceversa. The discipline stressed by the Thai Forest Tradition has been essential to even be able to practice shikantaza. What I miss sometimes is maybe a sangha that shares the same time-zone and geography to discuss and talk.

Lanzarote has two Buddhist centres, both Gelug. Don't know if it is better to frequent them to have some contact or if it is better not to keep mixing the ingredients in the mind's pot and also, potentially, disturb others practice as I have no intention to practice Vajrayana. They say Buddhism without a teacher can become like a messy garden. You attend the front display and let certain weeds proliferate and then adjust them to your needs, which at the end can hinder the path.

Re: What we are doing right?

I find myself very low on energy these days, so mindful energy management has become a big concern. Uncontrolled reactivity, it seems, is a big energy waster, and consequently I have become much less reactive than I was previously. Most of this reactivity was entirely internal, and many internal reactions have faded away entirely. Outwardly I've stopped spewing strings of blasphemies every time I fumble or drop something. Very pleased about this generally.

Re: What we are doing right?

Strong, skilful views can definitely help one remain upright in today’s society. Every persons situation is unique and we all have to find what works for us, all we can do is share a few tips and tricks, so with that in mind:

  • sleep well, getting enough high quality sleep is very important;
  • essential medication on a regular rhythm, consistency is all;
  • eat the right kind of diet for you, it needs some experimentation;
  • get enough love in your life.
JeroenJeroen

Re: The morals of a spiritual person

@Jeroen said:
I was apping my cousin a few days ago, and he said to me, I miss people that are honest, upright, principled in my life. And I told him that is one of the reasons that I spend time on Buddhist forums, they are generally more principled.

Of course for Buddhists there are the Five Precepts and the Bodhisattva ideal that encourage us to be better people. In our consumer society the people who get rewarded are those who will do anything to increase shareholder profits, which is basically a stance of selling out your moral backbone to the highest bidder. This chase towards making money is ultimately depraved, it is morally corrupt.

So what about spiritual people who do not feel a connection with Buddhist morality? Christians perhaps? They also have a morality that is perhaps more complex, less pure. So you could certainly argue that most spiritual people you are likely to meet have morals that would keep them from following money or power exclusively.

I’d say that they have the potential to, yes. But I also think multiple factors condition the opposite. Having studied and practiced in multiple religious traditions, I’ve become a perennialist of a sort because I see a great deal of similarities between them, especially within what many might call the mystical traditions in each religion. And one of those commonalities is a very deep ethical foundation on top of which most spiritual traditions are built upon and that forms the framework for the deeper, more contemplative teachings and practices. Nevertheless, I think one needs to be aware of the gap that often develops between the spiritual seeds planted by sages and the invasive institutional vines that spring up around the religious trunk that grows out of them. And those institutions always arise in conjunction with worldly powers and concerns and generally become dominated by them. So the potential is there for people with little dust in their eyes who study and practice the fundamental principles of whatever religion they’re a part of, but sadly the combined power of wealthy religious institutions and the omnipresent weight of any socioeconomic system fueled by greed tend to engender religious people who fail to live by those religious principles and instead become ensnared by greed, hatred, delusion and the pursuit of worldly aims. It’s hard not to when most of society expects you to care more about marketability and success rather than developing wisdom and peace and helping those in need around you.

JasonJason

Re: What we are doing right?

The few things I've been doing right lately: doing really well at my job (medical assistant at internal medicine clinic), reading more (currently reading Rabbi Sam Lebens' Principles of Judaism and Rebecca Yarros' Onyx Storm), seeing a psychiatrist, trying to get into a better exercise routine.

Everything else, not so right lol.

JasonJason

Re: What we are doing right?

I guess one thing I'm doing right is not letting the current political shenanigans get to me. I've resolved to accept the things I cannot change, have the courage to change the things I can, and do my best to discern the difference.

I won't let it go to my head, lol.

WalkerWalker