Best Of
Re: Today
Today I hope to...
... do what is right, even when difficult.
... avoid doing what is wrong, even when easy.
Also, continue learning to accept difficult emotions & thoughts and carrying on with wholesome activities.
marcitko
Re: Today
If you are depressed or angry, you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.
Re: A Buddhist teacher admits ... BUDDHISM HAS FAILED!
In some ways what he says resonates. I think that Buddhism hasn’t really made the jump to the technological age, and with the Treeleaf Zendo he is kind of at the forefront of Buddhism on the internet. Also with where he lives in Japan he is at the cutting edge of technology.
But to me a Buddhist ‘moon shot’ is about giving people in the smartphone space an incentive to engage with Buddhism. That is 54% of the human population. You could make it as simple and direct as putting a Buddhist education on a smartphone app.
But really what we want to do is make Buddhist ideas ‘go viral’, there are probably many ways to do this if there are enough techno-Buddhists.
Jeroen
Re: A Buddhist teacher admits ... BUDDHISM HAS FAILED!
I haven't seen anyone criticize Jundo as a person
Nor will you from me. 
I was a member of his online temple/forum and Zen Roshi training program for about a year. Obviously I can not be trained to such high aspirations BUT I can attest that the support and people at treeleaf Zendo will further your unfolding ...
https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/forum.php
lobster
Re: Unsocial Media
Dear Friends who don't know what Instagram is,
As we may know I use Mastodon social media - badly. I don't know how to use it well ... yet.
https://fediverse.party/
I was on Instagram for a while but the Fediverse has an alternative, just as it has friendly, advert free wonders for wonderful critters (for example sentient cats)
I can not tell you where I am or what my handle is because I am on a new computer/server somewhere in the clouds ... with a new group deprogramming to get us off legacy centralised social media. All I can say is expect the unexpected
I have an account here but as I say, am trying to be a social media bodhi ...
https://fediverse.party/en/peertube/
Mastodon is run by elephants
lobster
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
“Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.”
— Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Jeroen
Re: Unsocial Media
To me the most destructive thing about social media isn't purely the addictive quality, though that is bad, its the way that it incentivizes and brings out our more destructive and anti social emotions. In order to keep us engaged anger and disgust are more powerful drivers.
I've also more recently become aware of the impact superficial wealth influencers are having on kids and what they aspire to in life. Something like 1 in 5 children's answer to what they want to be when they grow up is just rich. Maybe this is a passing phase, the 80s was pretty materialistic too.
There is also this effect where since people can cultivate exactly what they want to see, seeing or hearing things outside that world becomes increasingly unpleasant.
person
Re: Unsocial Media
Twitter is for the birdbrains...TiKTok is a ticking mindbomb...Instagram I've no idea what that is...
I only use fb and Whatapp to stay in touch with my family and friends who live miles away, eg overseas ....I have a YouTube account for posting short videos on here and to family and friends I also watch docos, old films and some news sites...
The most time I spend on the internet during my days off is on here...
Accessing the internet has become part of my daily life, but not to such extent that it becomes disruptive...In other words I still have a life...
I have cushion time twice a day, and check in on the mind's flow throughout the day off the cushion..
Everything in moderation...including moderation...
Shoshin1
Re: Unsocial Media
The easiest way to measure the degree to which one is attached or addicted to social media is to just impose and stick to set limits of your use of it.
Here, I expect a thousand different reasons why each person can not do this in today's world.
If one ever really becomes serious about freeing oneself from its attendant sufferings, it helps when one can finally accept that our social media indulgences are simply the face of the Mara of our times.
My solution has been to try to limit my daily screen time from any electronic source to not exceed whatever time within that same day that I formally meditate. At least with this plan, I spend no more time indulging in this cause of suffering than I spend in freeing myself from it.
What was formally my pimp, can then become a half way decent meditation instructor.
Challenges beyond this though are how to not just switch from one form of Mara worship to another.
how
Re: Unsocial Media
I never actually got involved in social media in the first place. Back when I worked in the UK, it was a useful way to keep in touch with colleagues, via LinkedIn and Facebook, but I was never very active on there. So I have accounts on which those old contacts are maintained but I’m very rarely on there.
I also keep a minimum of personal information on there, these places tend to get hacked every so often and so you can count on what you put on a social media site eventually ending up on the dark web. I’ve had highly personalised phishing emails being sent to an email account that I use for very few things. I’ve also noticed that Facebook has absorbed a lot of interest that used to go out to forums.
So yes, I would kind of agree that social media has largely become harmful. I use YouTube and WhatsApp quite a lot, and stay away from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and so on.
My take on it is, as long as it is a useful communications device, smartphones and texting have a place, but I don’t think maintaining a social media profile is beneficial or necessary.
Jeroen