Development of the internal well
FleaMarket
Veteran
I don't have a great word for it but when I run out of the inner supply, I start seeking it elsewhere. From others. "I want some of yours cuz I'm running on empty." Many who've done this realize quickly that internal well is a precious resource and giving to others from it likely means needing to replenish it.
In Buddhism I see this internal resource discussed in many ways. Establishing an island, a well or font, coming home to yourself, pleasant abidings, metta, it's all in that area of understanding.
So.. How to develop a deep and abundant resource internally as to not draw upon others', not become depleted and hungry, and maybe even give freely to others so they may replenish?
Wholesome choices comes to mind first. This can be directly experienced now by all and leads to some form of resupply along with some safety from sources which deplete.
An example of this is my life over the last few months. Choosing to return to isolation, intoxication, indulgence, and computer games. My body and mind began to decay as a result of choosing those things. The homeowner stopped the maintenance and termites began eating at the foundation. Those choices yield certain types of results which left the body and mind feeling not so great. Those choices yielded results which appear to be inherent to the choices themselves. Touching a hot stove will burn. Going to a dark room will be hard to see. Brushing your teeth will help them last. It's the nature of making that choice and doing the act. The results are shaped from the choices themselves. Cause and effect.
Ideally being in abundance, being able to internally resupply, and being in a position to share freely with those who need. Allowing someone to radiate outward like a sun rather than deplete within and seek more externally like a black hole.
How do you guys do it, or know it, or are working on it?
I can use all the help I can get as I think my well has a hole in the bottom.
Abundant resources to all
Comments
@FleaMarket
An internal well,
a stability experienced within an ever shifting landscape,
a slaker of thirst in a waterless desert,
a touch stone of calm when entropy comes calling,
selflessness drawn upon where a self fears to tread,
a candle in the darkness, the compass upon the path,
are among the endless descriptions
of where some respite from life's suffering can be accessed
in accord with a pilgrims particular practices.
and while all are promissory experiences of what the path walker is heading towards, the likelihood of those promises ultimately bearing fruit also depends on the practitioner not becoming attached to them, despite how overtly helpful they might seem to be.
Treat it as you would any other phenomena in a meditative practice.
Allowing it to unfold on its own, without grasping after it, rejecting it or deliberately ignoring it, will remove it from the equation of suffering's potential.
Not sure if this is helpful and I certainly don't often live up to it, but a helpful notion to me over the years has been the understanding that the things that are beneficial in the long run are often unpleasant or difficult in the short term and vis versa, things pleasant in the moment often lead to worse outcomes in the future.
To maybe get even a bit more hardcore. A lesson I've been working to take more to heart lately is to embrace the struggle. George Mumford, the person who coached the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, as well as others, says "no struggle, no swag". A sort of modern take on "no mud, no lotus". I like comfort and try to avoid stress and difficulty to a large degree, but when life forces me to engage and struggle I often come out better for it in the end.
But all that is in balance, coming from a place of someone who has dedicated much time to a spiritual understanding and inner development, rather than a rat racing, productivity maximizer.
@FleaMarket
No thing remains the same... situations which one may perceive as wholesome or unwholesome are ever changing.... in a constant state of flux...
This too shall pass @FleaMarket
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi
Ah that's right. Some very welcome insights. I'm in the way again and making judgements on the current house guest and hoping for some quick fix.
"Why now have you assumed a being, Mara? Have you taken a view?"
"Cross over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place."
At the moment I'm having difficulty discerning when I follow after things.
Yes, it's missing a formal meditation practice. The mind currently possesses majority of the resources from the other five senses and now it's contemplating and scheming and such.
When I was training in karate a long time ago my Sensei said that when you are in a fight you never try to save your energy because you think you will need it later in the fight when you are getting tired. She said that you put everything you have into every instant of a fight and continually draw in new energy from the universe. I think it is the same with the "internal well" you are talking about.
I understand how it is to feel that you are running on empty and have given all you have to give, but I think the solution is not to give less and try to avoid emptying your well, but instead to figure out how to draw what you need from your surroundings and to refill the well as you go. I admit I am not always able to do that, am still working on the technique all these years later. The Guest House poem above has helped me a great deal through the years.
My take is that when the inner well runs dry, in some way you haven’t taken enough rest. You may have been too much in the mind, or done too much meditating. It’s better to do what comes naturally, maybe clear the garden and make that your meditation.
we are funny creatures
Excelling at what hurts us
and avoiding bitter better medicine
Good advice from agent #zorro
one way to be well is to use GNU Linux if hardcore
… Or at least investigate The FSF started by St Ignatius aka Richard Stallman the ultimate Geek?
https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/fight-to-repair/
And now back to body healthing 🤓😌🦞
Different approaches to meditation are useful as well. I’ve been reading the short book True Meditation by Adyashanti, and in there he talks about meditation by letting everything be as it is, and not focussing on any object but instead resting in pure awareness. I found it very refreshing.