Best Of
Re: Letting go of games
I think that some part of everyone's day (if possible) should be playful. But not too much. What works for me is to sort of have a list of virtuous things to do and then do those first and then have some type of play in the evening. Could be play tug or fetch with my dog for 5 minutes, or could be explore a video game. Could be reading or cooking. I used to paint (badly).
Jeffrey
Re: Letting go of games
@person said:
I have the day off and decided to spend about 3 hours playing an old game. I feel like I've wasted a big part of my day that could have been much better spent. I could have learned something or spent the time getting my life more in order, taking care of the things that need taking care of. On top of that I feel worse off than when I started.
I feel somewhat regretful about that. I certainly wouldn’t want to stop anyone from just simple play. In a way even something as ordinary as clowning around, waggling a pair of cushions over your head like ears while you pull a funny face is playing. It’s an instinct in humans that goes back as far as the laughter the clowning tries to bring forth, the cleanest expression of a baby’s joy you’ll hear, and not only from children but also from old men like my stepfather.
But then I no longer feel obliged to spend my days well. I don’t think I could even define what that means. For the last ten years I’ve held that there is nothing more important than the spiritual path, and I’ve spent that time studying every spiritual classic I could lay my hands on, everything from the modern, like Nisargadatta Maharaj’s I Am That, to the ancient, like the Bhagavad Gita and the Tao Te Ching. That means I have spent up to ten hours a day on my iPad, reading, foruming, listening.
In the end, I borrow a line from Osho and say I am against seriousness. I think one should smile at existence, be light of heart and mind. When you have truly let all your burdens go, and you are but a wandering beggar monk in your imagination for a while, a blissful peace comes to visit you before desire and worry finds you again. I wouldn’t let a game give me new cares, they are the figments of someone else’s imagination and not worth losing a grain of peace over.
Jeroen
Re: Experiences
I very much like how @how put it.
Sometimes we learn from everything and everyone. In essence the three jewels or similar are everywhere.
lobster
Experiences
There are Buddhists who spread the Dharma. 
Most of us, initially, work on ourselves. 
There is not one way in. Warriors may prefer Zen.
Those with #access may prefer talks, books, online meetings etc.
We each find Our Way. 
We may be a Druid Buddhist ... 
I met a couple at a Buddhist monastery.
They brought their own meditation cushions, emblazoned with acorns ...
https://druidry.org/druid-way/other-paths/druidry-dharma
What is your sharing experience?
lobster
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
We need to be cultivating peace.
Thanks for the insightful post @Steve_B ...
When the labels such as Arab, Jew, Asian, African, European, etc, etc, are removed, what's left are human beings who support Israel's actions and human beings who don't....
Psycho-physical beings capable of generating great love and compassion or great hatred and heartlessness ....
We all have a choice ....
Shoshin1
Re: Letting go of games
I know of no attachments more widely addictive to todays worlds inhabitants than the electronic visual stimulation that we are all plugged into. Gaming is just part of it.
Could you go a day, a week, a month, a year without it?
How would our excuses for not dropping electronic visual stimulations, compare to any other typical addict explaining how they could take or leave their addiction of choice anytime they decided to.
What would your life look like if you absolutely dropped all of it for just one month?
Would you be surprised to see a strong enough collection of disconcerting withdrawal symptoms arising to cause most folks to quit and go back to their regular mainlining again?
If you could stick with its absence, is what you replace it with, just your new attachment of choice?
how
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
@Shoshin1 said:
I don't think those who have posted here are anti-Semitic/anti-Israel. They are expressing their concerns regarding the Israeli government's actions, which are not only making Israeli citizens and the surrounding regions unsafe but are also making Jewish people around the world unsafe.
This is of course exactly right. Commenting on the actions of those in power at the moment does not make one categorically anti semitic.
I am a Jew by birth, family name is Bernard. My sister and I were raised Jewish, and still keep some of the traditions. I am fully aware of the holocaust, the formation of Israel, the unwavering US political and military support, which at the time was clearly an appropriate honorable stance. Over the generations though, things have a way of changing.
I am horrified and disgusted by the actions of those currently in the Israeli government and military. And I am not alone. Jews all around the planet are joining an initiative called Not In Our Name, to express the perspective that we don’t condone the outrageous violence of the IDF. We’re Jewish, we’re pro-Israel, and we detest what Israel is currently inflicting upon their fellow humans.
Many people in the West were shocked when hearing about Hamas's attack and the killing of Israelis. Many supported Israel's right to retaliate. However, when Israel started to target and bomb homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches, cutting off power, water, food and medical supplies, (with blatant disregard for international humanitarian laws) resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including men, women, children, and babies, including the targeting of Journalists, and humanitarian workers... support for their actions waned and then shifted to the Palestinian civilian population...
Israel’s current violent actions are defended by some as not a first strike but rather a response to Palestinian violence that preceded it. And within such a tightly drawn perspective this is technically quite true, though in the big picture it is an aggravating response. The Hamas attack is defended by some as not a first strike but rather a response to Israeli violence that preceded it. Also technically true, also aggravating the situation. BOTH sides believe they are responding appropriately to violence initiated by the other side. This goes back generations, millenia. The current violence will not solve it; quite the contrary. Israel may be considered to have the “right” to retaliate, but it is an obvious step in exactly the wrong direction. What is really meant by “right?”
At this point in history, Israel has access to the most powerful weapons America can produce. Power corrupts. But what happens when Iran builds a nuke? Over the generations, things have a way of changing.
We need to be cultivating peace.
Steve_B
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
While I don't agree with Israel's current actions, I find it extremely concerning that BECAUSE of Israel's current actions, the losses they suffered at the beginning of a war they didn't start are swept under the rug or reasoned away. Women WERE raped, tortured and killed. Babies WERE butchered. Hostages WERE held in despicable conditions and hostage holders ARE UNWHR teachers being paid by the UN. Hostages ARE still being held presumably with substandard medical care.
These are still acts of criminality and just as subject to scrutiny as Israel's actions. Yet I don't see Hamas being brought to court. The lack of accountability does not sit well with me. And THAT is just wrong.
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
I don't think those who have posted here are anti-Semitic/anti-Israel. They are expressing their concerns regarding the Israeli government's actions, which are not only making Israeli citizens and the surrounding regions unsafe but are also making Jewish people around the world unsafe.
Many people in the West were shocked when hearing about Hamas's attack and the killing of Israelis. Many supported Israel's right to retaliate. However, when Israel started to target and bomb homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches, cutting off power, water, food and medical supplies, (with blatant disregard for international humanitarian laws) resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including men, women, children, and babies, including the targeting of Journalists, and humanitarian workers... support for their actions waned and then shifted to the Palestinian civilian population...
Shoshin1