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New buddhists in the suburbs.....
I wanted to raise the topic of "How do YOU manage finding buddhism and living in the urban jungle?"
if anyone has tips or practices to share with the rest of us on how they find enlightenment in todays sprawling lifestyle... do share
Also my first topic post!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if anyone has tips or practices to share with the rest of us on how they find enlightenment in todays sprawling lifestyle... do share
Also my first topic post!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comments
Firts post and a new topic - such chutzpah!
I think we have no trouble finding the Dharma in the city or the Buddha in suburbia. After all, the First Noble Truth is writ large everywhere in the built environment.
As for "finding enlightenment", on that I can cast no light (LOL) except to say that I have found the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path engaging enough without worrying about it.
Hi Gearhead and welcome!
I've lived in a capital city for most of my life and its probably a lot easier finding Buddhism and fellow buddhists offline in a big city than it is in a rural environment.
Practising the teachings of Lord Buddha is all about dealing with our own minds - and so we can apply the teachings to ourselves whatever the exterior environment happens to be.
Kind wishes,
Dazzle
Anyway, enough ranting. The "urban jungle" can be an excellent place to practice. My first experience with the Dharma was with a little Zen group run by a kindly Japanese Buddhist priest (Gyomay Kubose) on the north side of Chicago. His place wasn't fancy or anything, and we could clearly hear the buses and sirens of city traffic while we sat. After a while it became like music, something that just was, and it wasn't a distraction or an annoyance. The same was true later at the Chicago Dharmadhatu, which at that time was located above a Mexican bar on North State Street. We would be upstairs meditating on red/yellow cushions on a beautiful sky blue carpet while below us loud salsa music shook the entire building. Again, after a time it became part of the whole and wasn't a distraction or an annoyance. I actually began to rather appreciate it as it was a constant teaching. As it says in the books, "All sounds are the mantra's sound". The same goes for all the other seeming difficulties of living in the city, or suburbia, which can be worse. It's all part of the practice, and when you can actually see that, it's quite amazing.
Palzang
Read all about it!
welcome to the forum!
thanks for your reply, but i must ask about your choice of words.
the deffinition gave a negative conotation and i just wanted to know where your coming from brother
SithePi's been here longer than most.
I've never seen him make a negative post.
(That rhymes, but it wasn't intentional.)
He's coming from a place of warmth, heartfelt welcome and generosity.
trust me.
If he uses words, it's with affection.
Relax.
Just wanted to say that I've never known the word 'chutzpah' to have a negative connotation. I hung around a lot of Jews growing up and whenever I heard the word used by my friends' parents or grandparents it was always used in a joyful way. "You've got a lot of guts!" I mostly heard it when it was being used to refer to someone who had a lot of courage or took initiative.
Anyway, aside from my take on the word itself you can rest assured that what Fede said about Simon is right on. Warm, gentle, respectful, joyful, humorous, and so on. That's Simon. You'll see.
So again, welcome! It's lovely to meet you.
My dear friends Fede and Boo are quite right that I meant no negative, only admiration that you come straight in with a valid (and valuable) question.
Contextualising what was expressed in a dead language 2500 years ago to a modern urban setting is a real challenge and particularly where the culture appears to value only material success and possession.We are rarely going to be popular when we point out that mundane values have no 'self' and are transitory at best. Applying it to our own lives can be a hard task but, ultimately, worthwhile.
I am sorry if my use of a word upset your calm mind. Please accept my apology.
Palzang
just to be clear i was never accusing or calling anyone out. I was ignorant to the words meanng and when i looked for the deffinition (poorly provided to me i'v come to find out) it was one that seemed to me negative...
but no need to dwell!!! Im thrilled to get all these great minds on my first post to share their wisdom. As of late I am trying to take a "comfort in the chaos" approach wandering through the city, using the hustle and bustle to put myself in a mental bubble. This will really come into play in school hours. (4000 kids
Please continue to post and i'll do the same
Anyway, that should give you plenty of material with which to practice patience if nothing else. As Trungpa Rinpoche said, the more shit you have to put in your garden, the better it will grow!
Palzang