Topicless Friendly Banter

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

Do you remember which monastic you heard? I remember reading and listening to a lot of Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Dhamma talks
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
Meezer77
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Meezer77 »

DNS wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 9:09 pm
binocular wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 8:57 pm
Meezer77 wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 8:50 pm Eh?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyweight
I'm a super-featherweight (58-59 kg). Not that I do boxing, but that's my weight class. :tongue:
That’s good banter. 😊
Meezer77
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Meezer77 »

Wizard in the Forest wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 9:15 pm Do you remember which monastic you heard? I remember reading and listening to a lot of Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Dhamma talks
It was Ajahn Brahm. Also like listening to Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Jayasaro - quite enjoyed his stories about Ajahn Chah.
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

The Thai forest monks helped a lot when I was learning the suttas, and the Burmese meditators helped with bhavana and Sri Lankan monks helped me learn devotional practice. I am incredibly greatful for all of them. Had a rough time trying to learn the ins and outs of discipline, but I try my best. Figured learning is best done all in. Applied this kind of concentration to my uni, high school studies and had an easier time than I would have without it.
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
Meezer77
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Meezer77 »

What was it about the discipline you found challenging? Just curious
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

Since I am a stickler for rules and obsess over various ritualistic actions, meditation was always really hard because I would follow the rules to the letter and to no one's surprise this was ruled by the powers of uddaca and kukkuca because my mind would overly police what I was supposed to be doing, and I'd get all sorts of impatience with what I was supposed to be doing and what I was supposed to be experience and how it didn't seem to match what was supposed to be happening, and then I read the Sutta with Sona the musician and got the simile of the instrument. A lute string that is too tight is out of tune and too loose it doesn't have the right tune. I regeared my efforts and ignored the Papañca that kept telling me I was a dvihetuka or padaparama that would never get any results in this life.
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
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Karma Dondrup Tashi
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Karma Dondrup Tashi »

Meezer77 wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 9:16 pm
DNS wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 9:09 pm I'm a super-featherweight (58-59 kg). Not that I do boxing, but that's my weight class. :tongue:
That’s good banter. 😊
Unfortunately I am an aspiring super-heavyweight.
It has been the misfortune (not, as these gentlemen think it, the glory) of this age that everything is to be discussed. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
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Pondera
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Pondera »

As mental illness has been brought up, I thought it worth mentioning that a Dutch study found 1 in 25 people hear voices. That’s opposed to the fact that 1 in 100 people are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Here’s a related article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5346930.stm

Funny story. This is how I know Māra is real. One day I started hearing a voice in my head saying “you’re a real shlep”. I knew immediately that this was a derogatory statement - but I had to google “shlep” to find out its Yiddish slang for “moron”, “idiot”. So Māra kept calling me shlep for a couple days and then we both moved on.

Another time I was conversing with Soren Kierkegaard in my head and he kept repeating, “equivocate, equivocate”. Once again, the meaning of this word was unknown to me. I had to look it up.

I lead a normal life. Mostly because I know that I’m not really talking to historical figures - I’m just in a conversation with Mara where she/he is playing a game.

I might have gone terminally crazy, but I was lucky enough to figure out that there weren’t ten thousand people conversing telepathically with me - there was only one being behind me all the time. Call him Satan - Call him Māra - call him what you will.

The interesting thing is that this deity belongs to a conscious collective. Each member is infinitely powerful and lives in total harmony with his untold number of cohorts. How they appear as one deity attacking or harassing 1 in 25 people all at once is a mystery. How they know the personalities from the past is incredible also.

I sometimes miss talking to Jesus. Jesus was a good guy. I don’t miss the lies. Māra is a consummate liar and murderer. I think of all the suicides related to schizophrenia and it’s saddening that these people couldn’t sift through the lies and the torture of hearing voices. Not only that, the extent of the illness varies.

Some people get commands. I was lucky not to be in this category. Some people hear the voice outside their heads. I have no doubt that the Buddha’s contemporaries had schizophrenia. The Buddha himself - eating his own excrement and drinking his own urine - living in such coarseness - he too may have had the illness at some point. This kind of behaviour is typical of severely ill schizophrenics.
Like the three marks of conditioned existence, this world in itself is filthy, hostile, and crowded
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No_Mind
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by No_Mind »

Wizard in the Forest wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 6:05 pm I've been diagnosed with Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and struggle with health problems that are aggravated by stress. While I know it's totally incomparable it helps to know you aren't alone in the struggle for mental amd physical health. It can make trying to explain things really hard.
I suffer from OCD too .. in fact wrote a thread here about it viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28987

After tormenting me for many decades, lately it seems to have subsided somewhat for a year or two. I have low level depression and anxiety disorder for about as long as I can remember.

My depression has been a real obstacle most of my life rather than OCD (which was more a bother than an obstacle)

:namaste:
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus
binocular
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by binocular »

Karma Dondrup Tashi wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 1:09 amUnfortunately I am an aspiring super-heavyweight.
Why unfortunately?
I'm a huge opponent of Buddhism-lite.
:tongue:
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
User1249x
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by User1249x »

life is kind of like the princess and the pea story
Meezer77
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Meezer77 »

binocular wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:36 am
Karma Dondrup Tashi wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 1:09 amUnfortunately I am an aspiring super-heavyweight.
Why unfortunately?
I'm a huge opponent of Buddhism-lite.
:tongue:
Grandiose. And coming from someone who thought Irvine Welsh’s books were written in Welsh :rofl: :lol:
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

It sure is, you lie down to sleep and you find out that little thing that has been bothering you for years is a small petty thing of little to no value and it's all because you're dealing with a nasty host (Mara).
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
chownah
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by chownah »

User1249x wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:10 am life is kind of like the princess and the pea story

chownah
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Topicless Friendly Banter

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

I remember seeing this cartoon when I was a kid. They were hilarious takes on traditional fairy tales.
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
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