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Finding the path.....

BunksBunks Australia Veteran

I have slowly noticed that I have been sliding away from the Dhamma over the last couple of years since this Covid pandemic began.

The underlying anxiety seems to have caused me to fall back into my old unhelpful / unhealthy worldly habits.

It's time to adjust and find the path of peace again. My body and mind really need it! Too much Dukkha.

Peace to you all <3

WalkerJeffreyShoshin1lobsterSuraShineJeroenmarcitkoRen_in_blackShanJieshi2

Comments

  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Thanks for sharing @Jeffrey.

    Perhaps we can make this a space where people can share the spiritual challenges they're having and ways we can get back on the horse (so to speak).

    Jeffrey
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    We get's a horse? I want's a pony … ;)

    Underlying anxiety, madness (my speciality), group think and crazy dharma are still
    part of our fall and get up again. There is success but only for the fanatics persistent.

    Should we try dog chan like @Jeffrey or is it dzogchen …
    meanwhile …

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

    @Bunks said:
    I have slowly noticed that I have been sliding away from the Dhamma over the last couple of years since this Covid pandemic began.

    The underlying anxiety seems to have caused me to fall back into my old unhelpful / unhealthy worldly habits.

    It's time to adjust and find the path of peace again. My body and mind really need it! Too much Dukkha.

    Peace to you all <3

    When I feel a certain dissatisfaction or ‘wanderlust’ I tend to go looking at expressions of the dhamma that are new to me. Some time ago I went through a phase of Zen, before that through a phase of Stephen Batchelor reading. When you immerse yourself in these things for an extended period you get to know their unique qualities, and it’s quite enriching.

    But that’s just me, I kind of divorced myself from strongly adhering to a single stream of Buddhism a while ago. Where I ended up is away from dogma, towards the search for the words of the enlightened, some within Buddhism, some outside.

    Your path may be quite different, I would say trust your inner wisdom.

    BunksWalkerJeffreyFleaMarket
  • KotishkaKotishka Veteran
    edited January 2022

    Sometimes a dose of suffering and confusion helps us to calibrate and reinforce the necessity and strength of our spiritual path. I wish you the best to find your way back.

    I actually "found" a Theravada "European" (time zone wise, not implying any nationalist tendencies..) group of Upasikas to help me with my practice. Buddhism does feel to me like a therapy / support group sometimes...

    Clarity, honesty, moderation, true happiness.

    BunkslobsterShoshin1FleaMarket
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Thanks @Kotishka

    I also recently stumbled across a meditation group that sits in a zoom session every hour, 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday.

    It's nice to dial in and sit with other people.

    Link below if anyone interested in joining.

    https://www.mindfulleader.org/meditate-together

    lobster
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Well I joined. Zoomed in and was blocked due to taking too long to figure out how to link in and … will try again … Thanks for link @Bunks

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Good luck @lobster - it's a nice way to join others.....

    lobster
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Buddhism does feel to me like a therapy / support group sometimes ...

    Metoo

    However we of a dharma persuasion are going far deeper. A healthy ego is a useful tool, just as a balanced personality makes life easier. We all start from where we are and find the benefits of involvement as needed.

    The role of the sangha is to provide support for awakening. Most of us have other needs to address, including the need for [insert personal requirements] …

    The dhamma that we slip from or over shows that focus and balance is still required. How to get it back?

    • grasping [like finding a precious jewel]
    • noble silence [observation and listening - rather than monkey chattering]
    • polishing the stone [and then stoning the heretics … eh wait … think I gones rong agin 🤪]

    BunksFleaMarket
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Go to bed @lobster :p

    Walkerlobster
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    @Bunks said:
    Good luck @lobster - it's a nice way to join others.....

    Indeed. <3

    I got in this time. I think we did about 15-20 minutes of meditation. Then we were asked what we could leave behind … so I immediately left. :)
    Tee hee. Too wikid? Maybe too subtle … :3

    BunksWalker
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    @lobster said:

    @Bunks said:
    Good luck @lobster - it's a nice way to join others.....

    Indeed. <3

    I got in this time. I think we did about 15-20 minutes of meditation. Then we were asked what we could leave behind … so I immediately left. :)
    Tee hee. Too wikid? Maybe too subtle … :3

    I just got out of a session too. There is a lovely American elderly lady who takes some of the sessions. She speaks very slowly and deliberately and is very sweet.
    I’m really enjoying it.

    lobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    I've decided to go back and re-read my favourite book from each of the three traditions I have practiced over the years:

    1. Being Nobody Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema
    2. How to Transform Your Life by Geshe Kelsang Kyotso
    3. Approaching Buddhism by Householder Fo'en
    lobsterJeroen
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
    edited January 2022

    Ah 3 books. I'll join.

    Must admit the last buddyhist books I read were all unwanted, sold for pennies or attached to a library. Lately I have been cutting out the waste and reading leaves (not tree tea), trees and people as books.

    In fact on one level every experience is booked.

    BunksFleaMarket
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited January 2022

    @Bunks said:
    I've decided to go back and re-read my favourite book from each of the three traditions I have practiced over the years:

    1. Being Nobody Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema
    2. How to Transform Your Life by Geshe Kelsang Kyotso
    3. Approaching Buddhism by Householder Fo'en

    Sounds like a plan, it helps the digestion of knowledge to revisit old favourites. I’m on my second read-through of Adyashanti’s Emptiness Dancing. Three Buddhist tomes will take a while though… it might be useful to combine the reading with reflections on the periods of your life that those teachings were active and the practical changes that they wrought. Perhaps make it a retrospective of the years, and the evolving practice.

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Thanks @Jeroen <3

  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    It’s good to recall everything is an illusion too…

  • Hello, have any reservations for Experience at now o'clock?

    Bunks
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    @FleaMarket said:
    Hello, have any reservations for Experience at now o'clock?

    :mrgreen:

    Believe it or knot … Now includes the passed away and going to happen …
    https://web.archive.org/web/20060206080848/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/edjason/alchemy/string.html

    As an operative alchemist it is my duty to tie knots to unravel …
    It is a hard call but sometimes one is herd and sometimes the heard are unheard … ;)

    FleaMarket
  • @lobster said:

    @FleaMarket said:
    Hello, have any reservations for Experience at now o'clock?

    :mrgreen:

    Believe it or knot … Now includes the passed away and going to happen …
    https://web.archive.org/web/20060206080848/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/edjason/alchemy/string.html

    As an operative alchemist it is my duty to tie knots to unravel …
    It is a hard call but sometimes one is herd and sometimes the heard are unheard … ;)

    Is Now simply the present reality lens we are tuned in to?
    The monkey mind flips the lenses of our perception of reality constantly.
    Discovery of Now = skillful Samatha meditation?
    We can stay focused on one present lens.

    Then to meditate on which present lens holds the right view?
    Discovery of the best lens = skillful Vipassana meditation?
    Through this the realization no lens is the best lens?

    How lost am I?

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    @FleaMarket said:

    Is Now simply the present reality lens we are tuned in to?

    It is what occupies our perception. The reality lens you mention, is an interpretation of that input.

    The monkey mind flips the lenses of our perception of reality constantly.

    Yes. We hear, see, feel, taste etc (sense gates) and the monkey meanders off into its dream flipping realities …

    Discovery of Now = skillful Samatha meditation?
    We can stay focused on one present lens.

    Yes.

    Then to meditate on which present lens holds the right view?
    Discovery of the best lens = skillful Vipassana meditation?
    Through this the realization no lens is the best lens?

    All meditation is an advanced practice.

    How lost am I?

    :mrgreen: Beginners mind is a wandering. Strangely a wandering or interior journeying is also a maturing approach …

    Jeroen
  • @lobster said:
    :mrgreen: Beginners mind is a wandering. Strangely a wandering or interior journeying is also a maturing approach …

    All paths walked with right understanding lead to progress no matter how long the detour?

    Jeroenlobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited February 2022

    @lobster said:
    Ah 3 books. I'll join.

    Here are three that helped me…

    1. Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor
    2. The Complete Teachings of Ajahn Chah
    3. In the Buddha’s Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi
    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    I’ve just purchased Brad Werner’s Hardcore Zen to read also. He’s had an interesting life…

    Shoshin1
  • Shoshin1Shoshin1 Sentient Being Oceania Veteran

    Have you seen some of his videos @Bunks
    https://vimeo.com/ondemand/hardcorezen

    Bunks
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