Best Of
Re: Letting go of games
Thanks…I suspected you may have already posted it but I was too lazy to go back over the pages and look.
Yeah, the first is the list…and as I said, that’s not lay people….we’re not living on offered food. I’m not, ….don’t know about you.
The mindfulness trainings, I know….i received them the very last visit he did here. That’s not what Buddha said…that was the guidance and determination of our Teacher. And he was there when we played volleyball with the monks. Also that says ‘certain’. We covered in our sits/talks/workshop what those certain ones were/are. I never got the instruction that it was all.
The theatre reference…um…that could be debated as well. Another thread for that.
Vastmind
Re: Letting go of games
‘Buddha said’ ?? Can we can a scripture reference for that?
Are you referring to the list of games he would not play?
I think that was referring to him and his disciples….not lay people.
That being said, every Thursday I spent at the Monastery, we would play games with the Monks….so..maybe it depends what your spiritual group is/believes.
Its my understanding that it’s the absorbed part that’s the problem. Not the game. Young people can be very vulnerable to being absorbed by anything. We all were once there, weren’t we?
In fact, all our old asses are here now trying to work thru all the shit we’re absorbed by, hahaha
We have game night at my oldest daughter’s apartment once a month. It’s been amazing for family bonding and shared experiences. Snacks are good too! She has such pride in hosting and it’s really helped with some leftover mental health issues she’s had in the past. It gives me a chance to see about her, get the low down on how the place looks (her caring for herself) and we all have a ball! I try to choose 1/2 thinking/educational games and the other half is cut throat UNO! No stacking allowed, haha
If that disqualifies me for not being serious about my spiritual practice…..I’m ok with that. I’m more in the laid back camp.
Vastmind
Re: Letting go of games
@Jeroen said:
So we’ve talked a lot about violence and video games, but we haven’t really mentioned the downsides of nonviolent video games. I’ve played a lot of other games, ranging from card games like Hearthstone to mobile games like Bejewelled, and I see it like this.
- Challenge-reward cycles are still present, as well as a dopamine rush
- There is still a kind of design principle of using appealing pieces for the game
- There can be gambling aspects to the play, like loot boxes
- It keeps you very much in the mind and in goal-oriented thinking
It’s rare that you find very social aspects to this kind of game, but they can still be quite addictive especially for younger players.
On a worldly level I don't see much inherent harm to these, or perhaps any other games. The issue comes when they become addictive and distract from more healthful behaviors. Of course, they are designed to be addictive and keep us engaged as long as possible.
In general challenge-reward or goal-oriented thinking are necessary aspects for living a healthy, prosperous life. Being able to do the dishes, get our exercise in, accomplish our work use these systems.
From a deeper, spiritual aspect these can operate as obstacles. But most of us have worldly responsibilities and can't really afford to let go of them entirely.
person
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
“To be scientifically literate is to empower yourself to know when someone else is full of shit.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jeffrey
Re: Renouncing: is it a good thing?
I think ideally renunciation is a tool to help you more fully devote yourself to spiritual practice. But I think like Anthony de Mello says truly letting go of those things comes about by seeing through them for what they are.
The thought that comes to me is how fighting something gives it strength just as much as embracing it. To my way of thinking healing and letting go come about through acceptance and insight.
person
Re: How do I just…let go??
How do I just…let go??
By becoming open to awareness...
Thus have I heard (from an inside source) ...
A thought is just a thought, one of many passing freely and uninterrupted through the mind, thanks to the mind's Teflon coating which allows most thoughts to pass through without getting stuck. Problems arise when a thought gets stuck. The stuck thought begins to fuse with the sense of self, making it hard to distinguish between what is just a thought and what is the sense of self.
When the sense of self becomes entangled with thoughts, allowing thoughts to dominate the experience, it can lead one astray, up the garden path instead of the Dharma Path.
I've found that meditation helps to sever this link, especially if the thought is of the garden path variety, AKA unwholesome. In meditation and mind training, thoughts still come and go, but through awareness, the sense of self can select which thoughts to buddy up with and which to dismiss.
Thoughts play an important part in our place in the conventional world, especially as we navigate our way over the ocean of Samsara.
Thought makes a good servant, but it's a terrible master.
Shoshin1
Re: Blessings
Being alive is the blessing
Gratitude is appreciating the blessing
Happiness is celebrating the blessing
Challenges strengthen the blessing
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Renouncing: is it a good thing?
Renunciation is a useful tool, but not, I think, something to cling to indefinitely. Renouncing some negative thing completely for a few days can often enable you to see more clearly into its nature, what it is, what drives it, why it persists. At that point, perhaps, you can see more intelligent ways to deal with it than by simple-minded denial.
Fosdick
How do I just…let go??
In my experience, the most used phrase at the Buddha water cooler and vegetarian pot luck is…Let Go. You see, that’s what you have to do. It’s so easy. Just do it. ( not an ad, hahaha).
Let’s get a little simple with this. We all need refresher courses.
-I am right, the other person is wrong
-That person is living their life in the wrong way, they should change
-My preference is the best way, others are wrong
-This is the thing I want, I don’t want anything else
-I really don’t like that, it sucks
-I should have that person in my life, loving me
-I shouldn’t be alone, shouldn’t be overweight, shouldn’t be however I am, shouldn’t have this life
In all of these cases, and more, our minds are fixed in a certain viewpoint, and we often judge others. We complain. We are attached to what we want and what we don’t want. It leads to stress. Unhappiness. Anger. Righteousness. Being judgmental. Distancing ourselves from others. Closed-offedness.
If you’d like to work on letting go, I would like to offer a simple practice.
Start by realizing that you’re hardened. Notice that you are stressed, upset at someone, feeling like you’re right, complaining about someone or a situation, not open to other viewpoints, putting something off, avoiding, tensed. These are good signs that you are holding on, hardened in your viewpoint, fixed, attached, clinging. Get good at noticing this.
Notice the tension in your body. It’s a tightening that happens from your stomach muscles, through your chest, into your throat, up to your forehead. Think of this as your central column, and it tightens up when you think you’re right, or someone else is wrong, or you really want something or don’t want something.
Start to relax those tightened muscles. This is the heart of changing from holding on to letting go. Whatever is tight in your central column, relax. Try it right now. What is tight? Relax that. Soften.
Open your awareness beyond yourself. Once you’ve done this (and you might have to repeat the relaxing, multiple times), you can open your awareness from just your own body and your self-concern, to the world around you. Become aware of the space around you, the people and objects, the light and sound. Open your awareness to the neighborhood around you.
Become aware of openness & possibilities. With your mind opening, you can start to feel more open. Your mind is no longer closed, but has made space for possibilities. You are not fixated on one right way, but are open to everything. This is the beauty of not-knowing.
Open to the beauty that is before you. Now that you are not fixated on rightness or your way or the way things should or shouldn’t be … you can take in the actual moment before you. You’ve emptied your cup, and made room for seeing things as they actually are, and appreciating the beauty of this moment, the beauty of other people, and of yourself.
Step forward with a not-knowing openness. From this place of relaxing your fixed mind, of opening up … take the next step with a stance of not-knowing. You don’t know how things should be, let’s find out! You don’t know if you’re right or wrong, let’s explore! You don’t know the answers, you just hold the questions in your heart, and move into open possibilities.
Of course, it takes a lot of practice. You can do this at any moment, but it’s helpful to have a short time of day when you set a reminder and then take a few moments to sit still and practice with whatever you’ve been clinging to today.
🙏
From- zenhabits.net
Vastmind
Re: Giving Up?
Relax, and just be.
Remember we are only that which looks out of the eyes, hears with the ears, smells with the nose.
Not the body, not the thoughts, not the emotions.
Jeroen