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How to live?
lobster
Crusty Veteran
As we of a Buddhist affirmation/inclination/alignment know. Life is dukkha.
How to live?
As I head towards Buddhahood (lobster fantasy realm perfection) or at least a better humanity/being, I become more aware of best life practices:
- Be kind to the wise but even more so the ignorant, especially oneself
- Don't waste your time on fear, anger, conflict, sardine-tin acquisition
or [insert overriding delusions] - Share, in other words align and learn from those on the path.
Also if you find a mysterious one sock: Put it on the hand, squirt on liquid soap, quick clean of sink, bath and or floor. Woosh. Throw sickly sock away. Wash hand. Cleaning done for another year ... [filthy lobster]
Any life tips?
1
Comments
If you want to enjoy life then...Don't take it too seriously...
.
Live It Fully Every-moment...there's not a moment to waste
It is taking me seriously at the moment ...
I bought some chamomile to drink instead of the strong coffee
Good advice @Shoshin
At the moment I am using more mantra in between daily sits.
meanwhile ... my sister recently showed me some 'shoe shuffling slip ons' that act as floor cleaners.
cue music ...
Hey @lobster many moons ago when having the good fortune to visit Darjeeling (Northern India with its "Tea plantations" and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries) I stayed at a guest house ( like the one in Rumi's poem
) which was owned by Tibetans (lay-Buddhist practitioners) ..
I remember the floors were wooden clean and shiny... One morning I found out how they polished the floors ...They tied rags to their feet and skated over the floors...I remember them being so shiny and clean that I didn't want to walk on them
It's funny the little things we remember from many moons ago... Your 'shoe shuffling slip ons' post jogged my memory
I am using spiders as a natural fly paper, mostly for fruit flies. I try and keep floor and the usual areas clean and hygienic. Neat looks cleaner than mess. I knew optical illusions were useful.
I always use coffee grounds down sinks (not tea which clogs)
Here are some other coffee uses ...
soil, hair and air conditioner ...
https://experthometips.com/2015/06/05/21-curious-uses-for-coffee-youll-really-love/
Edit: Tee Hee, after reading that link ... I had some cheap freshly ground coffee from the £1 shop. Nobody liked the smell of it. The whole packet is now sprinkled around the garden to encourage super-active worms. Down sinks, drains and loos to give sewage workers a more pleasant experience and clean the klingons out. I have even sprinkled it onto snail tracks - woosh ...
I will keep an eye out for the shoe-shuffling add ons - they look useful.
interact with the natural world as often as possible. Walk barefoot in the grass. Stop and smell the flowers and grasses, and plants. It's amazing how good some smell despite not having flowers, wintergreen mint grows here, hiking in it is like a York peppermint patty commercial from back in the day.
The busier you are and the more rotten you feel, the more you need to take care of yourself.
@Kerome you can also find them as slippers, many department stores here sell them, saw some at Target just the other day
@Kerome you can order them online
Live how you would live if..... you were already enlightened ...
(How would you live if you were enlightened ? rhetorical question)
"If you don't feel that you're enlightened...You can always try to be !"
@lobster said, "Don't waste your time on fear, anger, conflict..."
But if you DO choose to waste your time on anger and conflict, be creative about it.
Use your imagination when your neighbor acts detestably for the millionth time about how he may meet his (or her) demise (NEVER caused by you, natch). Like getting swallowed up by The Sh*t Monster or you could go with something from Simpsons a la Itchy and Scratchy style. Let it be, y'know - then Let go.
Exactly so. Some of my best monsters are Buddhas in disguise ...
Just been in the kitchen clearing, tidying and cleaning. For example found a dark patch of awful grime (the kitchen is swept every day but more is being done).
It is half gone, may have to get out the ancient demon cleaner ... salt
http://thegraphicsfairy.com/10-tips-for-cleaning-with-salt-vintage-household-tip/
... however, wishing ill to neighbours or grime monsters is not skilful unless we send them on their way with a helpful mantra/companion etc ...
Love the cartoon, @lobster ^ ^ ^
I figure if I can survive the incredibly unskillful behaviors of my neighbors, I've done well ... enough.
The reason I am going on about cleaning is both my sisters consider it suffering/painful/drudge. I enjoy it ... but don't tell them ...
'Unpleasant' chores are excellent 'practice modes'. Everything has its medicine or teaching.
For example, we all like to clean up the world. However have we swept up?
I think this is very true... I don't like opening my mail - I've had too many bills - and have been looking at learning the lesson this is trying to teach me. It's something to do with money and fear and avoidance, it looks ultimately hollow but I've not yet unravelled it.
But I've yet to find the beauty in cleaning, I still do that largely because I must, and I sometimes feel resistance to it. I think it's laziness, a lack of diligence... perhaps I should look at that more closely too.
In what way do you enjoy cleaning @lobster ?
I used to enjoy cleaning, and I still enjoy the end result. But not the process because my time is spent cleaning up after others who have no care or respect for the fact I am stuck with their messes because I am the only one who cares. If I lived alone, I suspect I would enjoy it much more as I wouldn't be picking up dirty socks from the kitchen table or bread crust from between the couch cushions, lol.
Tape up a large, clear and visually-obvious warning:
"Anything found where it shouldn't be will be put into a trash bag. If the offending item is not claimed and dealt with, or put away properly where it belongs, by Trash collection day - then that's where it's going.
NOTE: This is your one and only warning. Love, Mother."
Then? Stick to it.
My daughters made the mistake of not believing me.
They did not repeat the error.
In my work, for years I have been evangelizing the use of video. Now, it turns out that my hyper-attention to detail and craft and 3 to 5 min videos has been mostly for naught in that most people only view the first few seconds of a video, if that. Now what? How to live? I have been crafting 15 second videos of our three housecats for one of my offspring who has moved out and misses her fuzzy mates. SHE watches them through to the end. Adjustment made.
@federica I do, and have followed through. I have thrown away (mostly donated) clothes, toys, all sorts of things. Yesterday my middle son came home to his bed full of the recycling he didn't bring out. But as they are getting older, it's much more difficult to throw away things like cell phones, cameras, tablets etc. I do confiscate them. But the behavior is always short lived to earn it back. In one case, my son lost his tech stuff for 3 months, and went right back to his habits. I keep on them, they all have chores, but it's more work for me to stand over them while they do everything than to just do it (I know, ,that's my fault and a bad habit of my own). But at this point, my husband is probably the worst and I've been working on that with him for 10 years now. His mom worked full time, but still played the perfect house wife. Made brownies for his friends, did all the house work, did all the cooking, etc etc. So in his mind, since I stay home it's my job, despite the fact that it's HIS mess and he disregards the fact that it's my job to do things like clean the bathroom, taxi the kids around etc. It's NOT my job to be his mother or his maid. We're still working on it. The other day, I put his pile of dirty socks in his work lunch box
Before he opened it, he must have thought, "Mmmmm! Cauliflower Cheese made with Gorgonzola! Can't wait!"
Oh, @karasti , you're enabling them! How about you let the cards fall as they may and let them suffer the consequences? Running out of clean socks with none about to be washed, that kind of thing...?
Good clearance tip from @federica and sock laundering/meal preparation from @karasti ...
Many thanks.
This way
https://zenhabits.net/mindful-simplicity/
Baby steps ...
@federica I actually don't do any of their laundry, even my 9 year old does his (with a little supervision yet). Yes, it is indeed my fault in some ways. But the problem (for me) isn't simply that they don't do it. I can make them do it. It's that I have to make them, and that they don't care about our home that bothers me. And I can't make them care, so far anyways! I've even left for several days and told them to call me when they clean the house. It doesn't stick!
To try to stick with the topic, I've determined the best way to live is to not live with others. Especially males! Only kind of kidding
@karasti said, "The other day, I put his pile of dirty socks in his work lunch box."
Ooh, I would love to know the outcome of THAT!
(I believe I confessed some time ago the occasional desire to live on my own...!)
@silver He knew I was in the right because we do the same stuff with the kids
Last summer when my college son left, he left a pile of garbage in his room. I mailed it to him as his first care package (followed a few days later by the real one). Husband just came home, sighed, dumped the socks down the laundry chute and made his own lunch. But I don't think I have found dirty socks in inappropriate places since then.
I'd love to have a little retreat I can go to. I love my family and can't imagine living without them. But sometimes I fantasize about it! Living with others is difficult for sure. Lots of opportunities in every moment for practice, but sometimes I need a break!
How to live?
Like every day is your last, leaning towards...this life is your last.
I have no control over the skillfulness or unskillfulness of my neighbors. Therefore, I don't overworry sbout their level of skillfulness.
I do, however, have some control over my own skillfulness and lack thereof. That is where I do my polishing.
I also do not take myself too seriously.
It is more fun that way.
Leave cleaning to jingle roomba puppy.....
Slow down and do one thing at a time...
Outstanding advice @Will_Baker - slowly task, tai chi style ... mindful chores.
Soon we find our work is mindfully done ...
Life tips? Jettison the word enlightenment and replace it with awakening - and then realize that mindfulness is but one small step and one inevitable barrier to awakening.