Ive been a monk for 3 years AMA

[Ulax]

@Cathal What do you think of Shinzen Young's meditation system?

[Cathal]

@Someone here Yes for sure some im aware of and some i know im not even aware of, thats the best part but difficult is being around really pure and noble people is you become very aware quickly what you hold onto that is not so good, many of which stem from childhood not knowing any better.

My diet is pretty great because each morning ill go on alms and get very healthy food from the thai people. They always make sure the monks have plenty. Havent had western food for a while though

[Cathal]

@Ulax Never heard of him sorry.

[Cathal]

@AerisVahnEphelia Not at all if you want to help others you have to help yourself and become really clear on what it means and then become consistent at that. Ottherwise your own garbage will affect others. People always want to save others to feel satisfied but there own garbage gets mixed in. It is a different case with starving children, drug addicted people on the streets and all these symptoms of widespread selfishness. Truly taking the dust out of your own eyes is the way to help others. And one should be very clear and honest if they have dust and stop doing and fixing the world and spend some really dedicated time to there inner world so something genuinely fruitful comes out, thats my take it might not be fully the best thing or way i dont know what is

[Cathal]

@Applegarden8 Well there definitely are clear defintions of selfishness, but i can see what you mean by that - an enthusiasm to want to the best for yourself possible. Selfishness that i mentioned that which is unbeneficial and destructive all around the board would be the craving and clinging that which is rooted in the three main human defilements, greed hatred and delusions. 

[LordFall]

Is this something that you're planning to transition out of to have more of an impact on life or are you satisfied with this state of living? 

[Nercohype]

Thank you for your hard work! I admire those who can go beyond desires. Who do follow teachers and living tradition. I am not cut out for that life. I cling too much of desire. Desire to help people. And other desires of course 😅 I just try to be the best version of myself as i can be. I try my best to overcome my own darkness through my art. IT is my shadow work. Because the story I make is just a reflection of what is happening inside my heart. I found that my greatest enemy is my pride. That is why the egregore of pride is the antagonist of my story. I just want to give back to the people. At least try to make our world a better place. 

[Cathal]

@LordFall Not sure i think about it sometimes, its way more satisfying that normal life but its been a mixed experience. In my experience when you say impact on life, the people who have impacted my life the most was not by what they "do" but because of so much years on inner work, how they are just by there presence alone was quite transformative for me. So depends on what level impact you mean.

[Cathal]

@Nercohype Yes we all have our own trip... monastic life can be a great maybe like 'pit stop' to clear out ones mind and really get centered, a good break from all that social conditioning but everyone is so different and unique and it might be good for others and not good for some, i think being the best version of yourself is all that is asked of us 

[LordFall]

21 minutes ago, Cathal said:

@LordFall Not sure i think about it sometimes, its way more satisfying that normal life but its been a mixed experience. In my experience when you say impact on life, the people who have impacted my life the most was not by what they "do" but because of so much years on inner work, how they are just by there presence alone was quite transformative for me. So depends on what level impact you mean.

I've always viewed the hermit meditating in a cave as a valid temporary stage. But ultimately, the more complete path is taking what you've learned back into society to create tangible impact once your consciousness is elevated.

Siddhartha Gautama himself comes to mind in terms of monks but even top politicians in history have followed this path like Marcus Aurelius and Nelson Mandela.

Meditation is great but it looks like world war 3 is coming and massive economic insecurity through the AI transition. Are you gonna be content meditating your anxiety away or are you taking part in saving mankind? Seems like a legitimately important question over the next few years. 

Not really judging you either way, mostly curious how you look at it when I put it this way. 

Edited Wednesday at 11:12 PM by LordFall

[Tistepiste]

Very cool; I've been thinking about it myself.

- what meditation "technique" do you do? Is it Vipassana?

 

[yetineti]

23 hours ago, LordFall said:

I've always viewed the hermit meditating in a cave as a valid temporary stage. But ultimately, the more complete path is taking what you've learned back into society to create tangible impact once your consciousness is elevated.

For who? The more complete path, for who?

Quote

Meditation is great but it looks like world war 3 is coming and massive economic insecurity through the AI transition. Are you gonna be content meditating your anxiety away or are you taking part in saving mankind? Seems like a legitimately important question over the next few years. 
 

How are you personally saving mankind @LordFall? Or sure that you are?

How are you sure it’s doomed?

Edited 1 hour ago by yetineti

[Cathal]

@LordFall Yes for sure. I agree, i can read the statement "Be in the world but not of it" by Christ, that is the ideal, the mirror to that inner perfection and potential we all inherently have. The problem is not the phone, the world, people etc but the mind that has defilements. Also A.I is not a problem, but people have defilements so its going to be warped by that. The people who have less defilements will be able to influence it positively more.

If you think of a prodigy child, the parents can raise it and only do so much. One day it will break free and all that potential becomes actualized, one can only hope that initial influence shapes the destiny the child takes on in a responsible positive way. 

So with a.i its possible the less defilements a human has, theyll influence it to develop in its own way. The removal of defilements is thrle essencd of all goodness, clarity and harmony with reality and how the Buddha became such a perfect teacher as you mentioned with his monks, walking across all of India with one singular purpose, by sheer clarity to the way the reality really is and guiding everyone to that refuge from ignorance.

So ww3 and a.i is scary, but if we can diminish our defilements we can be better off to " save" each other as people stuck in ignorance, its how i see it. Its a two way street, freeing yourself and others

[Cathal]

@Tistepiste Anapanasati is the most complete technique you can find, it is how one trains the 8th fold noble path for the awakening of the 7 factors of enlightenment and comprehension pf rhe 4 noble truths. Vipassana is not really a technique either, im not sure why that is so popular in the west. It means literally "in sight" which in the suttas is always yoked with Shamatha, or tranquility. The Buddha also says if you have no Vipassana, get Shamatha.

To see clearly a skill of making the mind still is important, insight (Vipassana) arises from this. So this vipassana is not a doing technique but a result of correct practice. Insight into impermanence, dissatisfactoriness and not-self making the heart let go of its misunderstandings

[LordFall]

49 minutes ago, yetineti said:

For who? The more complete path, for who?

How are you personally saving mankind @LordFall? Or sure that you are?

How are you sure it’s doomed?

I run creative and business communities helping people build reliable streams of income.

I don't think we're doomed but me building influence and power is the best way I've come up with to shield myself and others from an uncertain future. 

@Cathal So you're focused on spiritual purification at this stage of your life. That's a worthwhile endeavour. 

Alright, I’ve got another question for you: in monastic Theravada, complete celibacy is mandatory, and sensual craving is treated as a core defilement. Having lived this for three years, do you genuinely see sexual desire as an obstacle to consciousness that must be eliminated, or is renunciation just a tactical boundary for the monastic container?

Edited 1 hour ago by LordFall

[yetineti]

3 minutes ago, LordFall said:

I don't think we're doomed but me building influence and power is the best way I've come up with to shield myself and others from an uncertain future. 

So are you saving mankind or shielding yourself from uncertainty? @LordFall

[LordFall]

5 minutes ago, yetineti said:

So are you saving mankind or shielding yourself from uncertainty? @LordFall

Well we'll start with removing as much uncertainty and building as much competence as possible and if I end up scaling up my power to be able to save all of mankind it will be my great honour to do so. 

Trump and his buddies are getting old, I'm sure they have a few blindspots we can exploit! Now that I've rewatched The Avengers, I'm ready. Give me the quest and I will accept. It's time to take over. 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by LordFall

[yetineti]

7 minutes ago, LordFall said:

Well we'll start with removing as much uncertainty and building as much competence as possible and if I end up scaling up my power to be able to save all of mankind it will be my great honour to do so. 

Trump and his buddies are getting old, I'm sure they have a few blindspots we can exploit! Now that I've rewatched The Avengers, I'm ready. Give me the quest and I will accept. It's time to take over. 

 

@LordFall So is ‘saving mankind’ a placeholder for something then? Perhaps, what you said about shielding?

Why focus on eliminating uncertainty?

Edited 56 minutes ago by yetineti

[LordFall]

17 minutes ago, yetineti said:

@LordFall So is ‘saving mankind’ a placeholder for something then? Perhaps, what you said about shielding?

Why focus on eliminating uncertainty?

Well, reducing uncertainty is the basis for sound living. Do you tend to keep your front door open at night, or do you prefer it closed and locked?

Navigating and mastering uncertainty is the baseline game of biological life. You build competence, gather resources, and develop systems precisely so that random environmental shocks don't wipe you or your people out. Competence buys agency; pretending uncertainty doesn't matter would just be spiritual bypassing.