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@marcitko said:
D8 (18/24/90)

Meditated and hiked for 3.5 hours.

Watched dirty videos - so according to my interpretation broke the precepts. @how got that Zen stick with you? It worked last time

The Zen stick that one asks for can sometimes be compared to the bar of soap on the prison washroom's floor that is better left alone.

Because no one knows how to pull our chain like our own ego, a successful meditation practice is less about pulling back against the force of its pull and is more about letting go of that chain's hold over you.
Each nano moment offers all of us a choice of how we relate to our ego's control over us. The entirety of any practice is only really measurable by how we relate to this pull in this present moment.

Take comfort in the endless opportunity that each single moment of practice offers and an inexhaustible grace from suffering's grasp can unfold...just one nano second of effort at a time.

Took a 20 minute walk outside, did a round of push ups and sit ups. Not sure how long I sat for but it was more than usual. There's a little resistant feeling. The jig is up, we're getting healthier and building a floor to being unhealthy. The denizens of the deep cry out in protest but there's no hard line or tough guy enforcing anything, just paying more attention to the results of my actions. I show them some truth and they will come around to appreciating the feeling of better actions.

I think you're right in that utilizing perceptions (along with the other four aggregates) is an important part of the path. But it's not about having the 'correct' perceptions so much as cultivating certain perceptions, mind-states, and insights which bring one closer to removing craving, not-self identifying with them, and ultimately realizing awakening (e.g., AN 4.49 , AN 6.63, AN 7.46, SN 22.47, SN 27.10, etc.).

Good progress guys! Keep it up. Maybe worth re-assessing your goals? Up to you. Finding a balance between setting something achievable but also pushing ourselves is tricky.

@FleaMarket said:
So I guess the question is what to do about it?

The other thing to be clear about is that “seeing the world as it is” carries with it a revolution in thinking. All at once, the impact of right view is felt throughout one’s thinking.

what to do about it.

The most difficult course of action is inaction or in Buddhist terms non-action, or Taoism - Wu Wei. Doing nothing, apathy, a giving up nihilism, is the dank side. Rather we do as we always do but with increasing perception/wisdom comes:

• Disciplined restraint
• Easing into hidden virtue
• Increased mindfulness embodiment

I could say less …

@FleaMarket said:
Perceiving the world as it really is, is a critical component necessary for wisdom.

Such perception, being a result of enlightenment, seeing things as-they-are, will provide wisdom.

Concentration and mindfulness practice helps with this. Though it isn't enough to perceive it as it really is. There has to be an understanding of sorts. Or the way it's stuck in my head, what to do about it.

So I guess the question is what to do about it?

Nothing. After enlightenment, there's really nothing left to do. Simply rest. I would see it as constant samadhi. I suppose you could teach. If you wanted to. Teaching from the experience of, let's call it, seeingasis, would be a hot commodity.

Move to Boulder. Or Sedona. We could use some help in the Carolinas.

Hire Lobster to coin your mantra. Maybe they're a terton, and you could have them compose a sadhana too!.