Best Of

Re: Clinging to reason and science

I think that makes sense @jeroen. Familiarity with views appears to become more a deficiency the more one is attached to the particular view over others.

If there is a workbench full of views and the favorite is chosen over and over, even if the job may not call for it, the job may still get done but being able to see beyond the favorite allows the other tools to to be learned and to work more efficiently and in harmony with each other. If wielding the view of reason and science does not provide a satisfactory solution, have you attempted wielding different views with the same level of conviction just to experiment?

FleaMarket

2

Re: How to practise

@Rixh;

You're getting a lot out of your journey so far but feel stuck. That's normal and you may be limiting yourself if you don't take the next step, whatever that step may be. That's a bit different than leading yourself astray but can sure feel that way.

I would echo everyone else who've commented so far. Learning to let go of the attachment to expectation, studying the suttas more, adding different forms of meditation, finding a physical branch of the Sangha, going on a retreat... Any of these can be a game changer.

When I get stuck, I look to the 8-fold path, see what needs improving and work from there. Should I plan a job change to line up with a beneficial livelihood? Is my intention skillful? Am I clinging to my views and hindering my growth? Do I need to practice how to focus and/or what to focus on?

Sometimes, what's missing in practice is the action that puts it to use. Once there is skillful resolve, things start to fall into place a bit more gracefully.

QuangKsanti

1

Re: How do you find the conditions for your own personal growth?

Yes, it is a difficult question, but only if you try to understand it in the mind.

What you really need to know is where your heart tells you to stop and change direction. That requires occasionally clearing the decks, telling the mind to be quiet and then listening very carefully to your feelings.

Jeroen

1

Re: How to practise

I've heard that going on a retreat can help open stuck doors, help you see new paths and deepen your understanding.

person

1

Re: How do you find the conditions for your own personal growth?

It's a tough question. People have different goals, different aspirations, and stop at different places along the way for different reasons.
Meditative living, a relatable community, a loving family, an ethical career, is more than enough for some people to find that peace they're seeking.
For some others the search continues where more letting go might be necessary.
I believe I may end up falling into the latter camp as much as I'd prefer to be of the former.
Pulling apart the magic trick may spoil the illusion but that's precisely the way some become magicians.

FleaMarket

1

Re: How do you find the conditions for your own personal growth?

The Rhinoceros sutra
https://accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.03.than.html

Thanks for your input @person there is a lot there that I sympathise with. Luckily there are a lot of individual teachers in the US now so that you don’t have to associate with a community if you find you don’t connect with the culture.

In a way spiritual seeking is kind of connected to culture, it depends a lot with what kind of people you feel at home. If you feel deep down that the Sangha you are trying to be part of is too different from you it’s hard to see yourself making a home there permanently.

If you listen to a lot of these teachers stories like Jack Kornfield, you hear that they went to a Theravada community to study, and in a way brought what they had learnt back to the American culture. Some people are going to find it difficult to connect to a Thai forest monastery which has been transplanted to California, but may still get something out of Jack Kornfields teachings, who actually studied under Ajahn Chah in Thailand.

Jeroen

1

Re: How do you find the conditions for your own personal growth?

The past decade or so I've had a hard time finding role models that speak to me. The early part of my Buddhist life I was a pretty devoted Tibetan Buddhist. I didn't really examine and question things the way I do now, it was pretty easy to eat it all up and immerse myself.

Since, I've become disillusioned with some of what I've come to see there and moved away looking for a new home. I went to a modern Theravada sangha and I found much of that sort of western skeptical, pragmatic attitude missing in TB. But the broader culture became off putting to me, ultimately they weren't my people either.

I don't really feel much at home with most teachers and teachings, there's always something that feels off, from my perspective. I kind of have the Rhinoceros mentality at the moment and am trying to muddle my way through a mish mash of various teachers that each speak to a part of me. I like Gil Fronsdale, Dan Harris, Joseph Goldstein, Josh Korda (Dharma punx NYC), as well as the psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman.

person

2

Re: How to practise

Everyone gets stuck. It is just your teacher saying that the rewards you have received so far from your practice are in fact the next source of attachments in need of being addressed.
This boundary is one of many lines drawn in the sand by our ego, identity or the selfish self, that says continuing beyond this point in it's own deconstruction will result in irrevocable changes. Here, many seek solutions elsewhere, and with much perseverance, only arrive back in front of another representation of that same drawn line in the sand.

That can mean a lot of circular wanderings on the path towards suffering's cessation when all their spiritual compass was actually requiring was a fuller acceptance of where they presently are.

how

2

Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!

@Kotishka
That Swedish option looks good..
While everyone's body is unique, there are some basic sitting instructions about the physical postures that seem to apply to most folks.

A chair has been my solution whenever I've injured a hip, knee, or ankle and have been forced out of the Seiza option. Here, the only warnings are about choosing a chair whose sitting height that allows one's feet to rest firmly upon the floor with the legs bent straight up & down at 90 degrees and the seat surface to match the height of your knees so as to allow unimpeded blood circulation and maximum upper body stability.
A small wedge of cushion to help tilt the coccyx and allow a comfortably upright spine is also recommended.

Yes, it's understandable to wish to be able to sit in a way that matches with the rest of those practicing Sangha members, but isn't the real deal about what works best for your own present and particular physical limitations?
Cross-legged sitting positions only really make sense when they can add to ones overall sitting stability. Pyramidal-based sitting positions actually decline in stability in a cross-legged sitting position, the higher one's knees are off the ground.

Avoid resting against the back of the chair if you can, as it tends one towards a sleepier sit. The final concern is to watch that your sitting hand mudra can still rest comfortably in your lap in this setup so that your arms & shoulders are not unduly tensed to maintain your posture.
A small folding chair whose back can be cut off without reducing its structural integrity might be interesting. It sounds like you might have a bit of a fun experiment ahead of you.

how

1

Re: How do you find the conditions for your own personal growth?

In terms of finding a way out of samsara, I think Osho’s discourses are an interesting pointer. For many years he spoke on many different traditions — Zen, sufism, hinduism, the Tao, and so on. When asked why he did this, he said that different people among his followers would resonate with the traditions and get something from it.

So relateability extends not just to different Buddhist teachers, but to the ‘flavour’ of entire spiritual traditions. A seeker may find himself wandering for years, searching among the different traditions for something that would resonate with him.

Progress along the way is a slippery concept. More often than not it is a gradual unfolding within until you are ripe for whatever existence has in store for you.

Jeroen

1