Dear greggorious, sorry to hear of your situation. Many years ago (1995) I was struck by a bout of deppression, my what a deep dark hole that was! Cleaning up my lifestyle and practicing meditation were key tools in getting out of the hole and back to normal. It took a matter of months of slow but s...

Thanks for the input so far. Fortunately my job involves a moderate amount of physical activity and I regularly practice Taiji in the mornings and evenings. This probably counteracts some of the effects of sitting for long periods. I would be interested to hear of other peoples experiences of discom...

With regards to Tai chi, I practice every morning and evening for a short time and have found it an excellent opportunity to practice mindfulness in a more dynamic situation to just plain sitting. Sitting is still the cornerstone of my practice but Tai chi (and Hatha Yoga) can be quite complementary...

Is anyone aware of any negative health effects fom sitting for long periods? This could be arthritis, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis or nerve damage. I generally sit for up to an hour before bedtime and get the occassional "pins and needles" etc. A little pain is very common for most pr...

Hello all. Does anyone know of any buddhist commentaries on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi? I have not found anything substantial as yet. Some opinions exist out there regarding the similarities between Advaita Vedanta and buddhist teaching on annata. I would concur, but I would also like to h...

I always feel more at home with vaugeness and uncertainty anyway. Personally I prefer unshakable certainty because this causes effort and joyous perseverance. Kind regards The point I was tring to make was that as I have become more uncertain about the world around me it has actually been liberatin...

So the consensus would seem to be that, because it is near impossible to draw a conclusion in the absolute sense, one should make a projection based on ones experience, bearing in mind the limitations of ones own perception. And that is all one can do. Does this seem like a reasonable summation? I a...

mikenz66 wrote:

daniel p wrote: No one here from Christchurch?

Yes, see: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5536" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mike

Well it looks like your arguments are on shaky ground!

(I'm sorry, I've been dying to use this joke)

Hope you are well.

Paññāsikhara wrote:Kia ora, Daniel. Are you from Aotearoa?

yes.Auckland.
No one here from Christchurch?

Sure you can! Of course! why not? Come on, just do it! Keep a stiff upper lip! Take it in stride! What have you got to lose? If you practice then you at least gain a hobby, but very likely an increase of peace of mind too (ask anyone here). Whether or not the practice goes all the way to the end of ...

mikenz66 wrote:

daniel p wrote: Surely truth is truth no matter which sect.

One would hope so. But I think that one of the problems that Goedert is pointing to is that different schools use different terminology, and mixing them can lead to a lot of confusion.

Mike

Yes. I agree

kia ora.

perhaps I should emphasise cessatation What do you mean by cessation? The cessation of doubt would be a good place to start. :sage: Yes, I do recognise doubt as one of the five hinderances. This is an area I am still trying to understand fully. It does seem open to interpretation. I think one shoul...

Is awakening (in the Buddhist sense) a myth? It is assumed that many great teachers were awakened. But were/are they really? One is generally discouraged from making enlightenment the focus or goal of one's practice. But occasionally we find ourselves questioning why we are even practicing.There ma...

Bankei wrote:Was the Buddha a Buddha?

yeah man, like totally!

So logically, if it is a myth I could practice dilligently my whole life and never know it is. or if it is not a myth then I could practice dilligently my whole life and maybe know it is, if I progress to the end. If I was to meet a buddha I may not recognise them as such. I love this. Now I can pra...