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Whats the difference between..
..Somebody who lives in what we call the now (no imagination, no day dreaming, no illusion) and somebody who lives in fantasy thinking tomorrow is always there and full of possibilities?
I dont consider future lives as anything the buddha would consider reasonable, unless you consider that knowledge findable via mediation within one lifetime.
Is it all just a matter of diminishing suffering?
I dont consider future lives as anything the buddha would consider reasonable, unless you consider that knowledge findable via mediation within one lifetime.
Is it all just a matter of diminishing suffering?
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Kind wishes,
Dazzle
But suffering must be thoroughly comprehended.
Maybe they are both extremes. One can try to be mindful and have his moments of daydreaming. I guess in that sense there is no difference, we all have both 'seeds' if I might call it that way inside of us.
The Buddha himself considered it reasonable. The problem is people in the West tried to turn Buddhism into a form of self-analysis and seemingly stripped it from all that requires faith. Although I admit its a good system of self-analysis, even if a psychologist is better in that sense.
It depends. Maybe suffering is inevitable in this cycle of rebirths (if you believe in rebirth). In that sense, the person who believes in six realms and rebirth would be concerned in attaining enlightenment to find their own salvation from samsara, and meanwhile would be more inclined to accept that suffering happens, but in inspite of it you gotta continue your path.
If the path just helps one cope with problems, then, well, it is just that [a matter of diminishing suffering].
Any way you talk about waking up (including "waking up") leaves some aspect of it out. "Living in the now" suggests no thought for the future, <i>etc.</i>, but that is not how it works. There can be consideration for the future and heedfulness at the same time.
You might be asking this post to do too much. Do you want to know about the difference, or do you want to see another argument about the meaning of rebirth in the Buddhist scriptures?
Anyway, the question was driven by my experience that, since my practice started, things really haven't got any better. Sure, I would say I'd learned a few things, and I've had good moments, but generally I wake up in the mornings now kinda wishing I haden't at all. Maybe things might be easier if I had a teacher, but right now I need to consider going back to the meds and stop thinking so damn much.
Kikujiru I can relate to your situation in the sense that I also don't have a teacher. I was just pondering what I should do next, as far as religion goes. Buddhism is supposed to be like a path I guess, but I have a hard time connecting the dots to make a road, if you know what I mean.
Other problem with not having a teacher is that our own mind has its own annoying way of blocking the path. We look over our faults and get misconceptions, and having someone else pointing it to us, teacher or not, can be quite helpful.
Don't let it get to you though. You have very nice posts so it's pretty much a proof that you made some progress since you started being a Buddhist.
I kind of get the feeling you are looking for either some relief or a proof that you have changed, which are both respectable wishes. What are the things you expect to be better? What is bothering you, not only inside buddhist doctrine but in life as general?
I found the thread you started when you joined. I understand you reasons for getting off meds. It may be a good idea, after a series of bad experiences, to take a break from meds, particularly if you are functional without them. But there are no studies that I know of on the effects of meditation on bipolar disorder. So we can say that modern meds appear to be alleviating the symptoms of a certain portion of sufferers, while meditation has no track record.
Of the few Buddhist bipolars that I've talked to, all use meds to control the symptoms. None of them have been able to do it with meditation alone.
Buddhism teaches that all phenomena are the result of conditions and causes. As long as the conditions and causes have effect, a phenomenon continues. I am the result of many conditions and causes, some of them chemical. Meditation *may* have some effect on those chemicals, if I continue it long enough. It certainly won't have an immediate, major effect. Taking meds will have an immediate, major effect. That effect may be undesirable, as you've discovered. It's common for people to go through several meds before finding one, or some combination of meds, that has side effects that they can live with.
Meditation is most likely to help you deal with your reaction to your symptoms, rather than change the symptoms themselves. That may be beneficial, but it will take a while, and will most likely happen if the symptoms themselves are under control.
The Buddha tried to attain enlightenment through starvation. It wasn't until he brought body and mind back into balance by eating that he succeeded. Buddhism has always emphasized the importance of proper medical care for sick monks. It's not Christian Science. We have a saying in Zen, "Everything may be delusion, but you still have to give medicine to the sick."
I'm not telling you what to do, or telling you that you've done something wrong. I'm not in Kent, standing in your shoes, and I don't know enough to give you advice. All I can do is tell you how Buddhism generally views this, and what people in your situation have told me.
That was a particularly wonderful post, imho. I couldn't agree more with everything you said.
Gotcha.
Above all, find a teacher. For depression, you might try the meditation described in <a href="http://unfetteredmind.org/audio/podretreat.php?code=PAP#here">these talks.</a> You might also see what you think of the book <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=uE-HjrA2yJIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+mindful+way+through+depression&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false"><i>The Mindful Way Through Depression</i></a>.
Thanks
My problems with Buddhist practice are, I have had a bit of a problem in the past with my mind going off in a really big way on its own with very little I could do about it, and the more I practice the more it feels like thoughts are comming up without me thinking them, and more and more rapidly, which I then end up thinking about and then I think about thinking about them and falling into that. I'd quite like to just bloody stop thinking, or at least stop worrying about what I'm thinking, It's obvious to me that its completely irrelevent what I think about anything, I might as well be happy. Blah anyway..
In general I have a pointless tendancy towards seeing/imagining my last moment of awareness, and that that moment will be just like this one. Not that I choose to do this, it just flashes up in the middle of, or most often, at the end of things (days, tv shows, songs) Leaving me with a turned stomack and a sense of pointlessness.
Just to update: I have been to the docters today and they didn't want to give me any meds straight off. Which is a nice change. But I have been referred to whatever talk based therapy relevent and a re-assessment of my diagnosis. (Since I raised doubts along those lines)
I realised after re-reading the OP that it didnt really make any sense. So thanks for the feedback.
Hum. Let me throw in my 2 cents. Mindfulness of breathing is not about making your mind stop. Its just about being mindful of the breath (in the case of, let's say, Zazen). The slowing down of thoughts is a consequence and not the practice itself. As long as you are being mindful, of the breath despite of the phenomena that arise (thoughts, feelings) its all good. People sometimes think they have to try too hard to repress their thoughts becase we are told we can't cling to thoughts. My opinion is that as long as you keep being mindful on your breath you won't be able to wander too far into wild thoughts, so don't worry about them, worry about your breath.
Trying to grasp the breath like that might even be seen as one of the five hindrances: ill-will. You are having ill-will towards your mind, like its something to be dominated. You are having ill-will towards yourself, as you feel you are doing poorly in your meditation. Without the ill-will most likely you would be happy during meditation. The remedy the Buddha prescribed to ill-will is loving-kindness. Even if you don't want to go too deep in loving kindness try to just bring a compassionate state of mind. You are meditating, you are taking care of yourself happily, you are freeing yourself from suffering, you wish yourself to be happy and well, you look to your mind not like a fighter, but like a mother. See where I am going? You cant convince yourself logically to be happy: you have to make happiness arise within your practice and in order to do that just try a little of loving-kindness meditation towards yourself, nevermind the other people, the first step of loving kindness should do the trick in this case.
Whenever you feel stuck in meditation its important to review the 5 hindrances, and I mean in a deep sense.
Basically you are stating that because you think you are doing poorly now you will do poorly in the future (i.e. your last moment of awareness). Is this logic? No. It's ill-will happening again. :-)
It's not necessarily a bad thing that you keep death (that is what I think you meant by last moment of awareness) in perspective. That is what the Buddha did didn't he? He saw sickness, old age, death and that turned his mind, generated a wish, a urgency for enlightenment. Maybe if he thought he had all the time in the world he would just drift away in mundane pleasures saying "Oh! I can do it tomorrow!" and we wouldn't have his teachings now. But don't be sad: use it to move you foward and not to slow you down.
you always sound so sure of what you say. you should probably start saying "in my opinion" before you make statements.
I have been treating my bipolar disorder with dark therapy. Mood disorders are closely related to circadian rhythms (lithium works on the part of your brain that regulates circadian rhythm). I am controlling my symptoms by wearing amber (yellow) safety glasses in the evening (they block blue light), wearing a mask while I sleep and keeping a sleep schedule. There aren't very many studies on dark therapy (no pharma companies to foot the bill), but the ones that have been done are promising.