Best Of
Re: Letting go of games
I used to be competitive in athletics and one thing I liked was that it put me to another gear of effort, but that's far in the rear view mirror for me. I have another memory playing chess with a guy who was renting a room in our house for the summer when I lived at university. I lost every game and I guess I was competitive but also not really competitive. I mean I was trying to make good moves but I was just happy I had some fun for the summer and the pain of losing took a back seat to the joy of learning and of camaraderie.
Jeffrey
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
My attempts at systematizing the world is just a mind trying to empire build.
To function effectively in this land robbery, all a mind needs to do is extend its fiefdom over the terrain that would otherwise be jointly shared by any of the other sense gates.
The degree to which I allow such a power imbalance to occur is the same degree to which the delusionary foundation of the human condition is empowered.
The degree to which such a power imbalance is no longer supported is the same degree to which the birthright of our objectivity & equanimity emerges in its place.
What you describe of the world, also describes any nano-moment of meditation.
how
Re: Letting go of games
I came across this quote…
“Playfulness is not then and there: it is herenow. Seriousness is goal-oriented. And even when a serious person starts playing, he transforms the quality of the play — it becomes a game; it is no more play. That is the difference between a game and a play. When a play becomes serious, it becomes a game.”
— Osho
Just to explain, Osho’s view was that play was a good quality, but that seriousness was rather like a disease, that bringing the desire to win to games and sport was not good for people.
“People go to see wrestling, people go to see bull-fights or American football — ugly, violent, inhuman. The people who are going to see these things are immature, a little perverted too. The spectators are as ungrown as the gladiators. And both are in some way catharting; in the name of the game, they are throwing their rubbish, they are simply vomiting their violence.”
— Osho
And in a way he is right. The desire to win, which is present in kids games as early as Tag, is a very egoic expression.
Jeroen
Re: how to...leave a church or not
Have you read " Going Home- Jesus and Buddha as Brothers" by Thich Nhat Hanh?
To me, the teachings of Jesus and Buddha compliment each other nicely until Yahweh comes up. Even creators may rise and fall in a beginningless universe.
The main thing is how we treat each other and the world.
Re: how to...leave a church or not
i like my christ practice ,it serves me. the lords prayer is a good mantra: lord jesus, give us our daily bread, lead us not into temptation, and lead us to greener pasture. good karma reminder: you reap what you sow. The golden rule:treat others as you want to be treated. Christ walk is Buddha walk to my bodhi heart.
Metta Ray Burns
Dear Friends of the Maitreya,
... or Metta 'RayBurns' Future AI Buddha.
As we may know, orthodox Judaism is still awaiting Brian or some other Messiah, Jesuits are awaiting 'The Comforter', Islamists the Mahdi and Lobsters the landing of the flying teapot.
Meanwhile ... Using our current skill set, what can we prepare for our dharma descendants?
- Be Cool
- Be aware of what is important
- Support the new Jewels
- Repair the present
lobster
Re: Dementia and Buddism
@33_3 said:
@pegembara said:The dhamma practice is that of letting go. That means the letting go of your thoughts, memories, stories, fantasies etc. They are not a reliable refuge since their very nature is impermanence. They are not what you are, truly.
In the case of dementia, it is more the taking away of those things rather than a letting go.
So perhaps one way to practice is to let go of them before they are taken away.
Be well.@pegembara could you explain how? thanks
Have you noticed that dementia patients have no worries or anxieties about their future?
They don't have any regrets about the past as well.
Isn't it one of the "blessings" of dementia?
If we want to also have a similar freedom from stress, we can't just lose our memories and worries at will without resorting to drugs and alcohol, which are only temporary and come to bite us in the end. The only way to do that is by way of mental cultivation, aka practice.
You don't lose your mind, but what you lose is believing that what your mind tells you is true.
To put in simply, you are not the mind, you are not your memories. Your memories live in you! They are impermanent and can be taken away. They are not you nor do they belong to you! They don't define you. If nothing truly belongs to you, then nothing can ever be taken from you! All the rest are just "dream-stuff".
Re: Modern Trauma
I listened to the podcast today. She's part cultural anthropologist, so there was much discussion of some of the cultural differences between Tibetans and the west.
My personal journey listening to the interview was interesting to me. At first I remembered many of the things I really loved about TB, and then when they started comparing attitudes to western ones I realized how much I have adopted and internalized some of those views. I was heavily involved in my early 20s, a pretty formative time. Then I thought, since then I've listened and read a lot of western people espousing very similar attitudes and realizing since leaving TB and looking for a more western approach I've probably selected for those who hold similar views. Then I'm wondering when they were talking about a "western" mindset just how western is it really. Is the western mind really so homogenous? Are they really just talking about the cultural world they inhabit in particular? With my general interest in science there's a known phenomenon in the scientific community that the vast majority of psychological and sociological studies have been done on young, western, college students and probably doesn't reflect the larger human experience very well.
Anyway, rambling aside, I thought she was interesting and liked what she had to say on the matter.
person
Re: how to...leave a church or not
It depends what you actually want. Often a religion presents itself as a source of truth, and you get taken in by it and become indoctrinated by the community and ritual, only to discover at a later date that what your heart really wants is to search for truth, love, freedom.
I grew up in the Osho communes of the 1980’s, and for me that was the beginning of a long spiritual path, with some pauses, which took me past Christianity, Osho, Buddhism, Advaita, and other places. Each new stop along the way gave me wisdom, sincerity and peace, and caused me to reflect with increased insight on what had gone before.
Sometimes it is necessary to let go of the old while moving forward with the new, but not always. Sometimes the old just lingers and things move in parallel for a while.
Jeroen
Re: how to...leave a church or not
That's one of the most beautiful things I've seen you write, @Federica.
Appreciate the share.
silver