UnbornTao

Most forms of suffering may not be caused by external circumstances to begin with. Survival is like the kernel of your operating system. We might say that truth-seeking is a different pursuit from survival, yet it doesn't necessarily contradict it - it isn’t its antithesis. I think we tend to view "survival" as something that is beneath us, but it could also be seen simply as life. Depending on how it's practiced, meditation is about healing and training the mind, so it also is about survival. - might edit at some point

So, can we perceive that there's no "tree" there?

@Carl-Richard @zurew See? Not so easy to ascertain what a tree is, after all.

The purpose of this journal is to share questions, humor, miscellaneous creative content, and raw reflections on personal empowerment and consciousness. My goals are to deepen my experiential understanding of these topics, improve my communication skills, have fun, and help others see things in a new light.

Heard it while walking past a beach bar.

Hard wood.

@Carl-Richard Too flat and 2-dimensional.

To be clear, when I said that solipsism is a belief system, I was including non-duality in that category - as well as any other system of this kind.

What is its purpose and what are the rules? How many players are on the pitch? What tactics are used? What’s the role of each player? Why do you like it - if you do? Have you ever played it? If so, what was your experience of that like? Questions like these can lead to useful answers. Sometimes, the responses don’t need to be extraordinary - just honest descriptions or explanations. Also, if applicable, consider why the other person is asking. That context matters. Maybe they’re asking out of a desire to connect, to be entertained, or simply to start a conversation. In such cases, the question might just be a pretext for social interaction, and therefore secondary to that goal.

Seriously though, I've found the practice largely beneficial - though not without its share of anxiety and frustration. I'd recommend giving it a try. It forces you to confront discomfort and override one of your most primal urges. You might even experience a sense of spontaneity and lightness - sometimes even ecstasy. I'm not talking about extremely long periods without food, btw. I haven’t done fasts longer than 24 hours. This isn't medical advice.

Essential for longevity!

How Not to Die, by Michael Greger. Important note: you are going to die at some point.

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Freedom from the Known, J. Krishnamurti.

You don't need to figure out your way into enlightenment. Just leave it as an open possibility that's currently not accessed. And go directly at you, whatever that is.

It depends on what’s being addressed. Is it a watermelon, a principle, a mathematical formula, fear, soccer? Your question is useful - it invites new ways of thinking about things, even if they’re commonplace. But could you clarify it a bit more? You can always go further by asking yourself more questions, like: What exactly am I trying to talk about? What’s my experience of it like? How am I relating to it? How does it affect me? What do I feel in relation to it? What would I say is there, as that particular thing, without considering its relationship to me?

Locate in your experience the profound and pressing background urge to believe - in anything at all. Why is it there? What is it based on? What is it like to stand on your own two feet, without any belief whatsoever? What don't you find in such a bare - and yet more real - experience?

No one. There wasn't even a post to begin with.

But what is a tree?

@Sugarcoat same.

I've actually had experiences like this, when you just stop doing stupid things with your mind. In the meantime, I'll suffer the fact that I've failed to fully eliminate self-imposed suffering.

@Sugarcoat I responded to your edit above.

I don't see why that has to be suffered. Not being in pleasure doesn't automatically mean you have to be suffering. You may well experience some pain or discomfort, but these by themselves aren't suffering. And you can enjoy difficult things. Many people do enjoy, in your example, exercising, even though it often is uncomfortable. edit: "You cant enjoy suffering right? Because it goes against the very definition. Or is there a sort of mind trick I don’t know that makes it possible to enjoy suffering? I would like to know that mind trick then." Not a mind trick; actually embrace it. Stop resisting it. Look directly at it. Of course, this tends to eliminate the suffering, or may transform it into something else, like a sensation of some kind. Basically, practice turning into it. But we might be getting off-track.