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Showing posts from May, 2022

Relief to be able to do a great number of things through effortless habit

“It need hardly be mentioned that habit, which has been rightly called "the wet-nurse of man," cannot and should not disappear from our life. Let us only remember what a relief it is, particularly in the crowded day and complex life of a city-dweller, to be able to do a great number of things fairly mechanically with, as it were, only "half-powered attention." Habit brings considerable simplification to our life. It would be an unbearable strain if all our little humdrum activities had to be done with deliberate effort and close attention. In fact, many operations of manual labor, much of the technique in art, and even standard procedure in complex intellectual work, generally bring better and more even results through skilled routine performance.” ~ Nyanaponika Thera “ The Power of Mindfulness: An Inquiry into the Scope of Bare Attention and the Principal Sources of its Strength ”

Meditating in seclusion the ultimate in volunteering!

      I want to improve my attitude to sleep and seclusion.      Unlike other religions, Buddhists don't withdraw into seclusion to be in communion with the Buddha. The whole point is that they're in seclusion, in the driver's seat of their lives, not looking to a higher power to take care of everything. Seclusion is not merely time to prepare for the real life of subsequent time with others. Meditating in seclusion doesn't pay by the hour, indeed with not even any feedback from others it's the ultimate in volunteering!

Direct experience is limited geographically this instant but vast across numerous lifespans

      I had a speculative view that I create my own unique random thought worlds during the day using the raw material of my past merits. I am responsible for the wavering and confused conclusions I make about distant "public" figures. Causality doesn't apply primarily to physical processes where all intentional action is out of sight out of mind. But as Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote to me in 2018, insight without a proper foundation of generosity can be very unsettling.      The four noble truths are an advanced teaching, but even though I can't fully understand them yet, at least I'm able to let go of other political ignoble truths during the day.      Gratitude can only flourish when the mind is unburdened from the accumulated weight of random imaginary thought worlds deludedly clung to as essential facts. Otherwise any noble but modest gesture deserving of gratitude tends to be dismissed as trivial in the "big picture." ...

A lot of my future buoyancy has already been taken care of

     The future is more mysterious than I thought.      Rather than emphasizing what I want to achieve, I'll focus on my why:      I want to be skillful and wise.      I want to have a spring in my step. I want to bounce out of bed in the morning.      I want to be warm in winter and cool in summer.      I want to deploy my merits from the past to make more merit for the future. I want to appreciate others who are deploying their merits from the past to make more merit for the future.      The world is not empty of arahants.      I am surrounded by people deploying their skills for others' benefit.      I am surrounded by quality pieces of equipment that remind me of those who made them as their financial and spiritual hope for happiness.      I am surrounded by quality pieces of equipment...

Questions for figuring out Do's not Don'ts

Theravada Buddhism mainly offers lists of Don'ts rather than Do's . I've struggled to figure out what action I want to do before I do it. “Whenever you want to do a [bodily/verbal/mental] action, you should reflect on it: ‘This action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful action, with painful consequences, painful results?’ If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful action with painful consequences, painful results, then any action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause self-affliction, the affliction of others or both, it would be a skillful action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any action of that sort is fit for you to do." ~ the Buddha, Majjhima Nikaya 61 , transl. Thanissaro My latest variation (bodily, verbal...

Unstoppably breathing for pleasure

      I'm playing the 1981 song "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode . On YouTube I right-clicked and activated Loop so it plays endlessly.      I am constantly exercising desire, and will continue to do so unstoppably into my karmic future until I finally arrive at the ultimate bliss.      Desire is not something to exercise occasionally, running on automatic pilot the rest of the time. "Slave to the Rhythm" by Grace Jones says "Never stop the action. Keep it up, keep it up."      Breath meditation is relishing what I've already been doing, even whilst asleep: wanting to enrich my blood with oxygen so I feel good. My lungs belong to me 24/7/365 so it's familiar territory. I am not a robot but one breathing male organism not separate from his limbs.      Just like I eat food to assuage my hunger, I constantly breathe for pleasure. When the checkout person as the supermarket says ...