Best Of
Re: The practice of stopping
@Shoshin1 said:
A simple quick mental body scan can work wonders for both body and mind...
Are you then not still doing things? Even if it’s only focussing and moving the awareness.
Anxiety is often an overactive deep mental state… some deeper part of the mind that is fretting. If you meditate and intentionally try to slow down, be gentle, calm, then in my experience much of it disappears.
My question currently is whether the same mindset can be applied also during activity.
Zen says many activities lend themselves to this. I believe it would be mostly repetitive activities which would be best, like cutting grass with a scythe.
Jeroen
The Walking Stick
On odd occasions I might trip on an exposed Dukkha root on the Path and this is when I pick up my trusty walking stick to help get back on track...
"Great Faith and Great Doubt are two ends of a spiritual walking stick. We grip one end with the grasp given to us by our Great Determination. We poke into the underbrush in the dark on our spiritual journey. This act is real spiritual practice -- gripping the Faith end and poking ahead with the Doubt end of the stick. If we have no Faith, we have no Doubt. If we have no Determination, we never pick up the stick in the first place."
~Sensei Sevan Ross~
Shoshin1
Re: What does a seeker after truth really seek?
What does a seeker after truth really seek?
For me personally - acceptance. Of my place in life, of others' views and opinions (this is a biggie for me at this point and is a large reason why I'm not very active on here and other forums), and of the fact that I can't control most things in life.
- Sura
Re: The practice of stopping
TNH has such a calming presentation, just listening to his voice slows me down. Gil Fronsdale teaches a 3 breath meditation to use during the day. When you notice yourself getting wound up or frazzled just stopping for a beat and taking 3 focused breaths does a lot, especially in conjunction with a longer daily practice that it brings you back to.
In an attempt to answer @marcitko question about stopping while moving. Traditional practice includes mindful movement and activity as a way of habituating a mental stillness and focus while moving. Modern positive psychology talks about flow states, that might have some similarity.
person
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
“My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.”
— Jack Nicholson
Jeroen
Re: Buddhist quotes
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the earth.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Jeroen
Re: lasting presence in the shortest time possible without going through a "dark night of the soul"
@Avisitor said:
I do not claim to be enlightened. Rather that I have given up trying to find something so elusive. I just go about trying to straighten out my life. Practice what I have been taught. If I need to go thru rebirth again then there must be something I need to learn before I can go home.
You seem rather serious, @Avisitor … have you not heard, seriousness is a disease? We can do more than merely parrot the wisdom of the ancients. Instead we need to bring it to our present age, with internet, smartphones and apps, so that we can have neo-Tao, neo-Zen, neo-Buddhism and reinvigorate these things for a modern world.
Just remember to laugh at yourself, and don’t take it seriously!
Jeroen
Re: Disturbing hint from the matrix
If you chase all the things the mind is presenting, you will never come to rest.
In silence one can relax and just be.
It is a question of waiting in quietude, just letting the mind wind down.
Don’t do anything, it is not necessary to investigate the deep mind, things will come to you
When they are ready.
Jeroen
Re: Disturbing hint from the matrix
When all these thoughts come to stop at least temporarily, are you still present?
If the answer is yes. I am still here, then -
Are you the story or something more than a mere story?
