First experiences

MyJourney

After my first few weeks of meditation I would like to share some experiences in the hope they might help others and also to get some comments.

After reading some posts and following up some links I came to the point that there is to much information for a beginner out there. Questions like
What is buddhism?
How to meditate?
Which posture?
What is the difference between Mahayana and Theravada ...
...

I have to admit that I would like to know the answers to all the questions but maybe I have to learn to be more patient.

So I decided to go back to the basics and start to work on the breathing meditation and take it easy.

One outcome after a few days for me is that at times when I am not meditating I think about mindfulness a lot and I try to be calmer when my mind tricks me into much thinking. That is a very positive thing.

In a book from Thich Nhat Hanh I found a very good question to the topic of Right Thought that I should ask myself the question "What am I doing right now?" This helps me a lot to come to the here and now.

Thank you for reading this and hoping you like to comment.

Have a great day
MJ

lightwithin

I'm a newb to this forum, and to Buddhism in general, so I can totally relate to your being overwhelmed by the crazy amount of information available out there for someone who is interested in this subject.

I have also decided to focus my attention on the basics of Buddhism first, which are the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, and then move on from there.

I have downloaded several e-books regarding these subjects from buddhanet.net and I've been reading them non-stop since I got them about 2 or 3 months ago.

It's interesting you mentioned the question of "What am I doing now?" because I came across the same notion of asking yourself that, in another book called "The Power Of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. It's not a Buddhism book per se but it has definite influences from Zen Buddhism and I enjoyed it.

I ask myself questions about what I'm feeling, what I'm thinking and doing right NOW too and I have become more curious and analytical about my own experiences and what I have inside. My mindfulness on a daily basis has also increased too.

Good to see you are enjoying walking your path and best of luck on your journey!

Swanny

I fall into information overload at times too... I just have to cram it all in there at once. The internet has too much info so I started from scratch with a book Federica recommend in the book thread. Awaking the Buddha within by Lama Surya Das was a tremendous read. I also read TNH's The Miracle of Mindfulness which is much shorter but very strong! Now, working on the Dalai Lama's In my Own Words and loving that too... It's much easier than sifting through all the internet stuff when you have them condensed in great books.

Still not rocking with the meditation though.

FoibleFull

Sometimes, if one can find a teacher in our area, it is simpler just to put the books away and go to class and listen.

You only have to learn what is being taught, and you have a week to assimilate it.

If you have questions, they are answered ... if that is possible (it isn't always possible).

If you don't understand, you will eventually when everything has stated to fall into place.

The odds of misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and of heading down blind alleys are greatly reduced.

And you don't worry about learning "it all" all at once ... because only so much material can be covered in one class. A good way to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

If the teacher is a skillful teacher, topics flow one-into-the-other, thus aiding comprehension.

And a good teacher never expects you to believe something just because they are saying it ... so you don't have to hand over your freedom-of-thought.

aMatt

Congrats MyJourney!

It sounds like the steps you are taking are really impacting your... well... journey.

Don't worry too much about taking big chunks of information in, there are a lot of terms and philosophies and so forth that take time to digest. I think you're wise to keep breathing and relax.

With warmth,

Matt

lightwithin

FoibleFull wrote: »

Sometimes, if one can find a teacher in our area, it is simpler just to put the books away and go to class and listen.

It sounds great but sadly a lot of us don't have access to a teacher or group in our area like you mentioned. Either that, or something else, like time constraints or other reasons prevent us from attending a formal class (like me), so we have to make do with what we find online and in books.

With the book recommendations I've found here, I certainly have a lot of reading to look forward to, and that's IF I can find the books somehow. I live in South America (Ecuador) and it's hard to find books in English here. Some books might be translated to Spanish but the vast majority won't be.

MyJourney

I support the comment from lightwithin, that sometimes it doesn't fit to join a class. The only class I found nearby is NKT and the comments about this aren't encouraging to put it mildly

I know that an online forum can't replace a real class but lets put it this way 20 years ago there wasn't a chance for people living "out in the wild" to access anything at all.

With the support, knowledge and experience from this forum I feel good to start on my own. But I am still lookin for a chance to join a group.

Have a good day.
MJ

pegembara

This is a good and solid starting place

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/index.html