Quote:
Originally Posted by Mydriasis
The first 10-20 minutes of my meditation is purely distraction. I used to frown on myself for this but then I realized. Meditation and the Modern-world don't go hand in hand.
I believe our culture of live-fast, eat-fast, work-fast, sleep-fast, form habits, pop-culture, culture(in general), know only the "facts", is unsustainable for spirituality. but shamefully if we don't sustain these traits we are out-casted and may die sooner than neccasary(s.p?)  . The flaws in the design .
So these bloopers imo are our mind and spirit cycling out of the circles in daily modern life, and correcting itself, much like dreams and some of the random symbols/entities we encounter.
So now I embrace these bloopers, as a sort of healing from the poisons of society/culture. Lately I've been able to snap past them further/easier. |
Well I'm glad to hear that you can get past these markers of thought faster.
In
Buddhist meditation, the first instruction is often to watch the breath. These thoughts on parade are watched and labeled with a word when they arise, and emotion is to be recognized, but if possible not followed. Stopping thoughts all together isn't an easy task.
The cyclic existence you speak of,
samsara, is the precise thing Buddha was adressing in his teaching of the Dharma. It's that we can remove ourselves from it, sort of like, in but not of, kind of thinking. Doing these daily things that we seemingly
have to do to live aren't inherently bad, as some of them we must do to live. However the concept hinges on the reality and attachment we place on them. That is the crux. Living is suffering, or unsatisfactory if you will. If you are happy you want to stay happy, if you are sad, you push it away and long for happiness. If you eat something you like for a long time you will start to be unhappy with it, as you will become full and bloated. So in and of itself, unsatisfactory is its nature.
Buddhist meditation at it's core if to help us be in contact with the true nature of things, including looking deeply at these thoughts that arise, with what Buddha called,
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
Living in that frame of mind, choosing a more simple approach to life, doesn't mean that we will die young, although we may not fit into some circles. However we'll be welcomed into others certainly, as there are many people who feel the way you do.
Acknowledging the insights you have as bloopers and being able to laugh alittle is a good first step in the direction of true nature and toil so many get caught in.
Meditation is certainly an individual experience and with out sounding like a zealot, I only wish you share my practice from a framework perspective, and share the thoughts I had when reading your Post.
I don't necessarily think this is THE right way for everyone, but I feel that reading about how other traditions and indivuals approach this subject can be markers for our own practice and experience since there isn't exactly a road map, although this was what Buddha was offering.
"Try these, they worked for me, maybe they will for you too" is his paraphrased advice. And that is all I'm saying here too.
Much love Brother. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and maybe even reading that tangent I put forth
SageTree