How does one deal with self doubt within Buddhism?

Kikujiro

I really don't feel like I know what I'm doing. Or rather if it's right practice.

I've felt changes come on, but part of me knows I'm fully capable of attributing these to my practice even if they aren't caused by it. (like if I stood on a nail right after a black cat crossed my path and thought the cat was the cause, gross example of course)

I mean it could be just because I'm growing up, or for other reasons I don't know.

Saying that, for example. I was sitting on a train with nothing to do so I did some metta for the people there. Right afterwards a women lent over to me and said "Let me know if you get too cold, I'm just feeling a little bit hot" because she had (without me knowing) opened a window. The day was pretty damn hot and I would have had to have been seriously ill to have been cold. The thing was, It came across to me as the greatest kindness I'd ever experienced. That to me seems like a pretty good result if the metta helped me expereince her kindness for what it was. But, would it have felt the same way if I hadn't done metta?

I dunno, I'm probably just in a knot i'll un-tie later.

How does one deal with self doubt within Buddhism?

Rain

Doubting yourself is a perception of no use to you. Accept the reality of what you do know and/or what you do not know, and that's the extend of reality, that's it in a nutshell. The doubt should recede in the presence of the logical facts.

You asked if you would feel the same way had you not done the metta, for example. What does it matter if you would have felt the same way? You felt as you did, and now that moment is gone.

You're dwelling on the past and trying to contemplate how things would have been if the circumstances had been different. But they weren't different, they were exactly as unfolded, and now that time is gone. So the best thing I can recommend is just to let it go and return to the present, understanding that moment is long gone and trying to consider all the various "possibilities" that "could have" happened is not helpful to you.

In other words, any kind of doubt is dispelled with the plain old facts. Take note of what is real, and what else is there to consider?

Namaste

Kikujiro

Rain wrote: »

You asked if you would feel the same way had you not done the metta, for example. What does it matter if you would have felt the same way?

The matter is if it did no good in the past, why do it now? I don't think considering the past to a degree is a bad thing. For instance, if you didnt consider the past, you would have had nothing to say. Since knowledge and experience is expressed from what is a past moment. One second or one day is still the past.

Rain

Learning from the past is important. Trying to figure out how things would or could have been different, is pointless. There is a difference.

Not only will we never know if it would have been different (as past is past and we cannot replay it over again), but none of us can tell you if you would have felt different, as only you can examine your own feelings.

If you wish to make a change for the future and not do something that you've already done in the past, to test the difference, that makes more sense. But we cannot predict how something would have happened or how someone would have felt. It's just not a reality we can construct.

You ask a question with no real objective answer, as the situation is entirely personal (to you).

That's all the input I can really give you, my apologies if it isn't what you were looking for

Namaste

aMatt

Kikujiro,

Sounds great, keep going. Doubts are normal, just keep practicing and don't worry too much about worrying. Its normal, it diminishes.

With warmth,

Matt