Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
3 Years of Practice: Reflections
Deformed
Veteran
Hello NewBuddhist community. It has been a while since I posted, so I just thought I would write a little about my practice. It has been nearly 3 years since I decided to practice in the Zen tradition, mainly because the sangha I began at (and still attend) practices it. At the time I was also making some major changes in my life by abstaining from mind altering substances, as they were exacerbating some underlying issues of minor/moderate depression, etc. 3 years in, I can say that I am happy and grateful that I made that choice, and in retrospect, I am also grateful for the suffering that pushed me to make that change.
Then came mindfulness practice. Many issues and insecurities seemed to be unshrouded as I sat with them in more frequency. I began a new relationship about a year and a half ago, and even more things seemed to pop up that caused unnecessary suffering. But instead of running towards a comfort zone, I thought just maybe, I should stay with the discomfort and tend to it with compassion. Easier said than done, but that's probably why it's called practice.
The literature and other practitioners I have encountered over this time remind me of why I first began mindfulness practice: It offers no easy answers. It only offers guidance in working to develop awareness of what already is., and that peace and happiness can come out of this. Before, I always thought that beliefs meant everything, and upon walking the path, so far I have found that attaching to those beliefs I always clung to was causing great suffering in me and around me.
I got married back in April, and I am grateful for having a partnership with a wonderful person. And of course, even more things have risen to the surface and call on me to practice some more. I have been jobless since the summer, and perhaps I feel the need to examine why I feel somewhat stagnant at the moment. What I can say is that this will pass, as is the way of everything that is. But, I'm grateful that it prompted me to come back here to this forum and post about it, and become more active in small and big ways.
I just wanted to say thank you for this forum, and I'm grateful for all of you who bring your insight to this board, and who have helped me in my practice along the way.
In gratitude...
Then came mindfulness practice. Many issues and insecurities seemed to be unshrouded as I sat with them in more frequency. I began a new relationship about a year and a half ago, and even more things seemed to pop up that caused unnecessary suffering. But instead of running towards a comfort zone, I thought just maybe, I should stay with the discomfort and tend to it with compassion. Easier said than done, but that's probably why it's called practice.
The literature and other practitioners I have encountered over this time remind me of why I first began mindfulness practice: It offers no easy answers. It only offers guidance in working to develop awareness of what already is., and that peace and happiness can come out of this. Before, I always thought that beliefs meant everything, and upon walking the path, so far I have found that attaching to those beliefs I always clung to was causing great suffering in me and around me.
I got married back in April, and I am grateful for having a partnership with a wonderful person. And of course, even more things have risen to the surface and call on me to practice some more. I have been jobless since the summer, and perhaps I feel the need to examine why I feel somewhat stagnant at the moment. What I can say is that this will pass, as is the way of everything that is. But, I'm grateful that it prompted me to come back here to this forum and post about it, and become more active in small and big ways.
I just wanted to say thank you for this forum, and I'm grateful for all of you who bring your insight to this board, and who have helped me in my practice along the way.
In gratitude...
0