UnbornTao

That's a good practice, happy for you. In my case, meditating for at least 20min daily is what I do. I've noticed that meditation requires confronting yourself, your emotions and your state in a very positive, straightforward way. Your mind learns to embrace your experience, to let go and to focus. I recommend it.

Avoid procrastinating. Whatever can be done now, do it rather than putting it off. That way it won't linger on your subconscious, causing unnecessary strain and anxiety, and you'll get more done.

Wanting something you don't have means you don't have it and are separate from it. Ta da! It's counter-intuitive - pursuing happiness is based on suffering because it's an assessment of lack. Avoiding suffering also adds to the suffering, it seems to me. Better to confront it in order to grasp what it is and why it is there, which facilitates freedom from much of it.

Suck my nirvana!

I don't know what wisdom is.

Use the kindle app. Apparently it's available here at Barnes & Noble.

What!? I'm out of here.

My wallet is suffering! Buy the book!

You can become conscious of what life-death is but it wouldn't be a matter of conviction but of consciousness. Talking from hearsay, you'd grasp that, since your nature isn't born, it can't die. Immortality is about you directly realizing that, not about a self or body living forever. It wouldn't be life persisting but you. Death is no more you (self), so life stops for that self, I'd say. As for what happens after death, the truth is that nobody knows.

The fact that it is made up doesn't invalidate its contribution. That it is created doesn't necessarily mean it's bullshit.

That's the list that makes us not-so-big performers feel better about ourselves. What about what makes such individuals kick ass? Vision and clarity. They know what they want, they're intrinsically motivated Commitment. They're committed to achieving whatever they've set up to do Practice. They put in the hours into their craft and obsessively practice it A positive relationship towards failure. It is held as a learning tool and thus actively confronted and improved upon etc.

Monks are generally pretty deprived individuals. "I'm not going to jail again!"

First, what do you hold as ego? What is it? I'd say that animals don't have an ego, nor do they have emotions even though it may look like it. But hey, no idea.

Confront, understand, and transcend. It exists because it serves a purpose for you. What is it doing? Why suffer? And why suffer needlessly? You can become aware of self-imposed suffering and do away with it once it is grasped in one's experience as an activity you're doing. I'd say that a bunch of it is unnecessary and can be transcended.

Seems to involve intuition, above all. In any case, I'd say listen for honesty and personal experience. Ask yourself: What are their communications serving? Are they inviting you to look into things for yourself, or are they sharing opinions, beliefs and just entertaining people? Are they coming from direct experience? Are they clear, straightforward? Do they facilitate your own investigations, or do they feed you fantasies and stories? This should leave out most teachers.

@lostingenosmaze got it, thnks.

Which video are you referring to?

What is envy? Why is it there? What is it doing? You've got to contemplate those in your experience. Rationally, you can tell how incredibly unnecessary and wasteful being envious is. So don't engage or focus on that. Throw yourself into what you're up to in your life.

Bodhidharma presumably handed this sutra to a disciple of his and told him: "everything you need to know is in this book." It has two basic themes: Everything is a projection of your mind Direct experience and personal realization are fundamental I'm currently revisiting the first chapters of Red Pine's translation. Fascinating book to study and contemplate.

Keep to the original thread, guys. To the original poster, be honest with yourself. Whatever happened is what happened, avoid making up stories. If you want to play the victim, enjoy it, otherwise don't act like one.

I recently quit coffee and have increased meat consumption quite a bit and as a result feel so much better, calmer, better able to focus. Prior to this change, I ate meat very sparingly, perhaps once a week. Skinny guys like me can probably benefit a lot from occasionally increasing high-quality meat consumption. As Michael says, this might not be a suitable strategy for the long-term, though. Eating meat five times a week for years and decades, likely not the best decision for your health.

Interesting, I may add it to my reading list. What about sleep and nutrition? Anything fascinating on those topics? As an aside, I think Michael Greger is also working on a book on longevity. Not to be released soon, though.

@Carl-Richard Wonders of religion!

Amen!