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When hightailing it from awful daily news, I click to...
Dhammika
Veteran
in Mindfulness
- http://newbuddhist.com ('nuff said)
- http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/ (Still news, but Kevin is sensible, compassionate, funny and charmingly exasperated)
- http://dailyzen.com (Choice daily quotes; a virtual sangha)
- https://twitter.com/ForestSangha (Thai Forest Sangha monk quotes that usually hit the bulls-eye)
Your turn...
4
Comments
Breaths of fresh air, each and every one.....
I usually have to get off the computer entirely. I gotta get off my duff and get outside for some fresh air. Most days I know when I'm not in a mood to deal with the online world much, so I am cautious where I go. I come here, but mostly avoid social media. I watch funny animal videos on youtube and look at a large collection of inspirational links and memes that I keep for those days. I've gotten much better about knowing my personal limits and getting away before I feel sucked into a black hole. Like with yesterday, the energy of everyone who was discussing on facebook and such just was too much after a short time. Even though they weren't fighting, it was mentally and emotionally exhausting to see the same topic everywhere. So I closed the laptop, went for a walk in the rain, and didn't open it up again until several hours later.
I enjoy some of the articles written by teachers at Lions Roar, that have practical advice to offer about engagement as a Buddhist. I randomly pick a card from my stack of Lojong statements and see where it brings me on that day. I read various "good news network" pages. But I try to engage in real life more than just finding online places. I color with my son, talk teenage drama with the other one, walk the dog, do chores around the house. I do things that make me feel like I have a sense of control in my life, I guess, lol, in a world that some days feels completely crazy.
Off
Look at a posey - or a picture of a posey.
I just sit with it.....
Good answer. Good question too.
We have to turn off from our tendencies too. Hence the need to enter good company, whether the breath, flowers, virtual beneficials or:
I very often go to the positive reinforcement of for example daily gratitude on https://insighttimer.com
... or and I feel it is a good option ... I create some positive and constructive post as @Dhammika has done.
Too many of us get caught in the 'news hell realms' or the 'personal hell realm' of bad thinking. In other words we keep company with a gibbering idiot monkey (that would be me).
Imagine a spiral of spin in control (focus) on the way out of samsara.
That is On.
I like You Tube science and knowledge channels. Of course there are plenty of negative places on You Tube as well so you need to have some restraint to not click on those.
Its pretty hard to get in trouble with only a radio. My computer is just about as slow as one can be. Yes still using dial-up. By design.
The six sense doors are open all hours and all kinds of craps/data is constantly bombarding the mind...
Who or what monitors the comings and goings through the Gateless Gate
Although it may seem a blatant violation of the first precept......wait for it.....
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2AAu3Y/:j!Sx0Btb:17tKswUM9/ceriousproductions.com/25-sites-actually-kill-time/
I stick with knitting, meditation/Buddhist talks and food.
Make of that what you will...!
I tend to switch off when it becomes too much and go and do something else, whether that is talking a walk or reading a bit of a book.
I "click" to:
So during the last precepts ceremony at my Zen center, media was mentioned in the context of the precept about abstaining from intoxicants. That was reassuring for me to hear, as I have struggled greatly with Internet-powered obsessions...
I am coming to the conclusion that the best way for me is to be extremely careful about what I expose myself to online and, indeed, minimize my time there as much as is humanly possible.
That is in accord with Thich Nhat Hahn's rendering of the 5th precept @shadowleaver:
FIFTH PRECEPT
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancesters, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/G - TNH/TNH/The Five Precepts/Five Wonderful Precepts.htm