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Now that I am a beginner ...

lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
in Buddhism Basics

As a constant beginner of a 'some sort of almost Buddhist' type, I like to hear advice worth ignoring or preferably heeding.

My plan is not to listen but should I be prepared to abandon any plans? Would that be an unsuitable first step?

yagr

Comments

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited June 2016

    I think you should become a faith follower and start believing in rebirth in the crustacean realm, magic pinching powers and such. Praise the Lord, born again. :p

    You could also take up a martial art like Lobster Judo:

    KundoJRick49herbertoRuddyDuck9
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Find a tradition.
    Find a teacher.
    Practice, practice, practice.......

    KundoShoshin
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    If you were looking for serious suggestions, then I think Thai Forest could be a good fit. It's basically a mix of Theravada and Zen.

    herbertoRuddyDuck9
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Stay with Buddhism as long as it feels right. Leave when it doesn't.
    Find a teacher, but one who encourages you to test his teaching.
    Read, discuss, digest.
    Put into practice what seems right to you.
    Follow through on your commitments.

    lobsterherbertoVastmind
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    edited June 2016

    @lobster said:
    As a constant beginner of a 'some sort of almost Buddhist' type, I like to hear advice worth ignoring or preferably heeding.

    My plan is not to listen but should I be prepared to abandon any plans? Would that be an unsuitable first step?

    If it were me it would depend on the plans but I do think it's good not to put any real stock into them.

    So I'd say it's a good step to be prepared to drop all plans at a moments notice but not to abandon any plans that feel right until such a moment arises.

    You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, oh never mind, sorry.

    upekka
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Thanks @kerome

    Excellent advice. I tend to find teachers present in many people and situations.

    The naked awareness of 'Beginner Mind' is not just a Zen cliche, it is a way to engage with reality moment to moment. B)

    upekkaSwaroopherbertoVastmind
  • upekkaupekka Veteran
    edited June 2016

    @David said:

    If it were me it would depend on the plans but I do think it's good not to put any real stock into them.

    So I'd say it's a good step to be prepared to drop all plans at a moments notice but not to abandon any plans that feel right until such a moment arises.

    Insightful

    You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, oh never mind,

    Insightful

    sorry.

    why

    @lobster said:

    The naked awareness of 'Beginner Mind' is not just a Zen cliche, it is a way to engage with reality moment to moment.

    Insightful

    lobster
  • yagryagr Veteran

    @lobster said:
    As a constant beginner of a 'some sort of almost Buddhist' type, I like to hear advice worth ignoring or preferably heeding.

    Never promote yourself to Intermediate.

    lobsterherbertoVastmindDairyLama
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    ^^^ Tee hee!
    The Middle Way is not in the middle. It is extreme dislocation ... so to speak ... It is balanced by the capacity to be at the extremes, without recourse to centering as a 'state of being'.

    In other words 'beginner mind' is too advanced for beginners ... [lobsters head promptly explodes] :3

    yagrherbertoBeejVastmind
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Layer upon layer do "I" exist, always a new beginning, ah what bliss :)

    Beginner's mind

    herberto
  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran

    I'd give you some rock solid advice about some hard and fast rules and never-fail techniques, but I don't know any. How could I know such things with this empty beginners mind?
    Come on now you veteran crusty crab...

  • BeejBeej Human Being Veteran

    I intend to piggyback on this rebeginner thread just to see how apt I am at also not-listening. Cheers, @lobster !

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Thanks everyone. <3

    One of my favourite symbols, is the Taijitu, commonly known as the yin-yang symbol. It is sometimes depicted as two fishes. :3 If you follow the outer circle at a point of narrow white or black, it gets bigger, maximises ... and ... [spoiler alert] turns to its opposite [lobster faints]

    Ay carumba! The full mind empties. The empty mind is full.
    Emptiness is form and form is emptiness as the beginners try to say ...

    Ay caramba! Next they will be telling me the nearing to Nirvana is heading to a deep understanding of samsara. Heaven is hell and ice cream is dukkha.

    I'm going home ... it's all too much... :dizzy:

    Abandon ship. Dharma Plan iz for sale. One careless owner ... o:)

    mfranzdorfDairyLamaRuddyDuck9
  • row37row37 st pete, fl Explorer

    If your plan is not to listen, then my plan is not to type anything els...

    lobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    The results of too much ice cream is definitely dhukka though.

    lobster
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    The road to hell is paved with Neapolitan ice-cream good intentions. :p

    RuddyDuck9
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