ajasatya

there you go

pay more attention to what's been said. i said that marriage is being a great path to me and i was asked to elaborate more on that.

this is an advanced subject and certainly deserves its own thread. i can write about it in more details if you guys want. but to keep it simple, lemme say a few words. our current global culture has attained a completely upside-down perspective on marriage and intimate relationships as a whole. people are deeply immersed in toxic patterns of thoughts and very few people understand the reason behind marriage. a marriage is an opportunity for us to see our own selfish patterns and take action towards aligning ourselves with Truth. nowadays people just want instant gratification, pleasure and easy wayouts. every way of virtuous practice manifets in a marriage. patience, compassion, hard work, honesty, detachment, presence, humility etc.

i married and tons of contexts to perfect the embodiment of Truth are arising everyday. it's an intensive experience. totally worth it!

plot twist: your only "sickness" is emotional wounds and even though drugs can make you go through the days as a functional human being, you're the only one who can actually help yourself heal. nah, that's just a projection from me. forget what i just said.

i am and still, i don't know what. i have been asking myself forever the eternal question the eternal mystery i just am and still, i don't know why. i amaze myself i amuse myself i create myself i devour myself what does it mean to know? what's even a question? what am i doing?

@Genghis Khan thank you for your detailed report. why don't you ask him if he'd like to come here to aid tons of confused people that are looking for help?

@Moreira you just lack experience. face it with humility and you'll grow as fast as possible.

keep it up. come back and get in touch with that fear over and over. whenever you feel like you have to think, let go of that thought and get back to your fear. feel it until it doesn't bother you anymore. it may take 1 month, 1 year or 10 years.

@Aakash i agree with you but i like to keep things simple. there's certainly no end. every instant is an instant of practice. every instant is a door to the Spirit. before enlightenment: sharpen the mind after enlightenment: sharpen the mind you can't change what you are fundamentally, but you can perfect the embodiment of Truth.

then let him be. focus on your own practice. if your practice is solid enough and you actually start to live in a more present state of mind, he'll notice and maybe he'll deliberately invite himself to meditate with you.

can't you see the value of this? this is gold. consolidate your own meditation practice and invite him sometimes. don't try to fill his head with your stories. let his own experiences speak for themselves. focus on meditation only and let go of concepts. this will also help you. the most honest way to seek enlightenment is by facing your own suffering.

yes, because it's a matter of practice. you cannot change what you fundamentally are, which is Truth. you are, were and always will be Truth ITSELF. but the mind twists things up if it becomes complacent, unfocused and undisciplined. that's why we call it "training" in zen. monks go to monasteries to train their ability to be present. dogen zenji once said "enlightenment and practice are one". so, wrapping it up. you have to keep up with the practice and that's your responsibility.

it depends on the kind of conversation you're having. personally, i don't like superficial conversations. i'm not the alpha male type of guy and i am very introverted. if i can't connect with people on a deeper level, the conversations just end very quickly. when i was single, i would talk about how i used alcohol as an attempt to run away from my social anxiety and how i couldn't handle my relationship with my parents. i made LOTS of good friends. shared intimacy with a few of them. and then, after another period of 5 months of celibacy, i was able to find my wife. this strategy won't work if you're just trying to get lucky. it requires a serious commitment to honesty.

detachment from social status detachment from looks detachment from material abundance detachment from neediness detachment from gross experiences related to high excitements detachment from goals and success detachment from family detachment from spiritual beliefs detachment from logic and conceptualizations detachment from past and future

no, that's too superficial. emotional vulnerabilities are related to the way you deal with deeper wounds, like the feeling of rejection, daily anxiety, bad episodes with parents, having hard times with loneliness etc.

your sentence is true and my sentence is false.

start by making a better use of the time you spend on bad habits.

the purpose of doing things is simply doing things. learning to let go of rewards is an extremely humbling experience. in zen we say "when we eat rice, we eat rice. when we drink tea, we drink tea". you either learn to enjoy the simple act of doing or your emotional state will be a rollercoaster.

find a teacher who has transformed himself/herself through the practice of hatha yoga. my hatha yoga teacher was obese, materialist, possessive/needy and used to smoke before she went to india.

@Jordan94 ashtanga vinyasa yoga would strengthen everything you need for the lotus posture.

@solr you gotta let go of all your attachments if you want real progress. everything else is just a sabotaging lazy excuse.

plot twist: @okulele was the husband of his story and now he's single because his ex-wife went to heaven.

@Shin lots of projections. if it worked for you, great. but most people (me included) need a different routine for this kind of work. disciplining the mind is a hard task by itself and it's even harder when immersed in our culture full of distractions. why make things harder for yourself? go to a quiet place where it's easier to be mindfull of your daily activities. all activities are simple. clean this, do dishes, water plants etc, always taking humble babysteps. and about the "enlightened masters", lots of them did go to isolated places to get started. dogen zenji and ramana maharshi are great examples. "avoiding life"? living in such isolated places will make tons of shit come up to the surface very quickly. it's far from avoiding life. it's more like going straight to what matters as fast as possible.

@Psyche_92 it depends on the monastery. it's easier with ashrams, where you can just sign up as a volunteer and they may provide you with shelter and food.