Re: Jen's Paradise

On Jul 23, 3:31 am, Bonobo <m...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 22, 11:52 am, norbu_tra...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Apologies for butting in but:

but...the description of practice as eliminating the senses and human
sensibilities
i find a verbal oddity.

Dear Dukkha agony column,
Possibly because I am not doing my practice right I find the modern
'householder' world quite mad and stressful. My senses are constantly
bombarded and 'overloaded'. Since coming back from a short 'retreat'
I have been trying to meditate for 30 mins most days in my garden.

Strongly distrust any notion that you are doing your practice right or
wrong.
If you sit for 30 minutes you are sitting for 30 minutes, not *trying
to sit*.
It's your lifesblood, it doesn't taste like anyone else's...

Let me know when you fail to be yourself - that would be weird....

Following Awaken21's instructions (from the Buddha) about breathing
meditation I find it an extremely effective and powerful method to
'attenuate the senses' somewhat, dampen them down so to speak. So
whilst I would not describe this kind of Buddhist meditation as
'aggressive' it certainly 'calms the senses' via a very powerful
'technique'.

If it works for a time do it. Stay honest is the maxim, but it isn't
written anywhere
to kill yourself for practice for no damn reason. That being said
Buddhist meditation
is not a way to make life reasonable or tame at all...usually the
opposite happens,
but with a certain grace of the opened heart....

However it's not about some ideal level of practice insight
bullpucky...
it sort of hurts to yourself in the world you have been running
through....people act funny,
and there are a lot of balls to juggle, and there might not be a light
at the end of the tunnel.
Finding how to live with all that and every other curve ball tossed is
part of life...

we eat dogfood sometimes, fall into others (shame horror), recover, we
go on...
fall down twice, get up three times.

- n. with love.

I have a fantasy that some day I would be able to go about my daily
life, doing my daily tasks just as 'calm' as that feeling I get
through meditation however maybe this is unrealistic. Maybe the proper
'way forward' would be just to limit my activities somewhat and
meditate more regularly as I am now doing?

(But who knows how long I will keep it up for?)


.