Best Of

I too have been struggling, mostly through losing focus.

I've been exercising haphazardly, mostly not eating "stupid shit", trying to keep the precepts, but drank a concern-inducing 3 times.

@Bunks Lead us forward.

Yep I’ve been struggling too. But I make sure I still make sure I say my Bodhisattva vows daily and make a small offering.

The struggle-bus tour is over here too @Bunks. Though the heat broke this week so been outside a few times. I'm finding room to meditate while exercising; or at least mindful observation. Something about the body in motion makes mindfulness on things easier right now. I think it was @lobster who said "Sometimes cold showers, sometimes warm showers, sometimes no showers" and that brings me a lot of comfort.

In fact a game is a mirror, a reflection of all the hangups that you still have, the things that you yearn for from this samsaric existence. That is why it is so enticing, and also why playing mindfully can be such a good lesson. It is an escape, there is no doubt about that, from difficulties and unfulfilled desires and dreams to a puzzle-like half existence where these things can be fulfilled.

Yes, it's a fantasy story and a game through and through. Built on a familiar structure that mimics real life in many ways. And the illusion reveals itself for a discerning eye. Maybe an impossible standard to align with a Buddhist understanding since by their very design, stories and games are meant to engage and entangle the audience within the world. Real life, having a family and a job, and living in a society does the same sort of manipulating which is probably why people find games like this so engaging.

I, too, was disappointed in a lot of the chosen mechanics and missed opportunities for alternative means of playing the game/accomplishing challenges. Though it has been an improvement on previous titles from the studio, and the studio does generally attempt to push games in a more positive direction than other gaming studios. Even if they were to have all those features which allow non-violent progress to build a meaningful sense of purpose around, or even to live a holy life in-game, it's still a purposeless game. It's still building attachments and entanglements to the world.

@person I guess the first two questions that always comes up for me is "What to do instead? and How is that different?". If playing WoW makes a WoW enthusiast feel the same way cleaning a workshop makes a workshop enthusiast feel, what's the difference? A career tradesman may have used-up hands. Maybe similarly a career gamer may have used-up eyes. One displays an accomplishment on the wall or floor, another displays an accomplishment on a forum or profile. They both use up the earth's resources for their own enjoyment. Both can choose to be engrossed in their chosen activity or not.

Here in much of the US people are not looked upon by leaders and peers in a positive way. We are often referred to by our own government as consumers, by our own bosses as liabilities and expenses, and the depth of our connection to friends is measured based on what value we can provide to them. Can't blame people for being disaffected when perceived by others as something that only eats, is a burden, and relatively valueless. If those are the options, then maybe more unsettling is how many people still choose to engage in that way of living. But there is no conventional escape that I can see. It all leads to more strife, not less.

The only option I keep returning to which holds any real value is going forth. Though I don't even really know what that means. Everything else feels like fluff. But I do like fluff. A lot of us like fluff. That's why I keep returning to pick fluff. I think I spent two hours reading and responding to this post and I really enjoyed it. But as you've both, and others, likely stated before, it's also fluff.