tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post6141017146712264002..comments2024-03-18T16:28:06.364+07:00Comments on Buddha Space: On Awakening Part 4Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820006311674418847noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-85077359861938528272011-02-03T20:25:12.276+07:002011-02-03T20:25:12.276+07:00Ditto.Ditto.Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11820006311674418847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-8308290813335298762011-02-03T14:27:06.083+07:002011-02-03T14:27:06.083+07:00Pixie,
I'm glad what G and I have said has be...Pixie,<br /><br />I'm glad what G and I have said has been helpful. There are lots of things in life we can't control. We can do is learn to be present with this and notice how we feel in reaction to this feeling of no control. We can learn a lot from that too. Through time we come to understand what we can and can't control and let go of attempting to try and control the things we can't. This is something we all experience and something everyone struggles with. So just be aware of this. It's not any failure, it's just how life is. Even in your illness, you are still on the path. Just be present in that moment too, it is still the path.<br /><br />Take care and be well<br /><br />Metta,<br />JagaroDean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-8749746311767962772011-02-03T01:36:13.189+07:002011-02-03T01:36:13.189+07:00Thanks to you both for your reply. I think I have ...Thanks to you both for your reply. I think I have realised that I was seeing my illness as a failure, and that I was failing to continue 'on the path' because of what I was feeling. I thought I could somehow control it, and that I wasn't doing enough to control it, and therefore I was failing. So your comments have really helped. I have to be mindful of the fact that I cannot always control what happens, but I can come through the experience and learn more about myself, and the path I am taking. <br /><br />Thank you. There will be other questions, I'm sure. But I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. <br /><br />Love and peace,<br /><br />PixieNic https://www.blogger.com/profile/16155143861854659940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-16237412991871983592011-02-02T04:33:33.986+07:002011-02-02T04:33:33.986+07:00Pixie, you also wrote me asking to respond to thes...Pixie, you also wrote me asking to respond to these question but G had written exactly what I would have written. He is spot on so listen to his words of wisdom. There isn't too much really for me to add. I would only say, don't resent your down times, while they may be unpleasant these moments are life too and you can learn much about yourself from these times, the same as you can from the good. Look upon them both with equal kindness and gentleness and see them what they offer with equal merit.<br /><br />Just be patient, compassionate, steady in your practice and kind to yourself always.<br /><br />Take care and feel free to keep in touch if required.<br /><br />Metta,<br />JagaroDean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-28626594472384594532011-02-01T19:00:44.966+07:002011-02-01T19:00:44.966+07:00Hi Pixie. Since time is relative, there's no n...Hi Pixie. Since time is relative, there's no need to apologize for not commenting since the last time - it all happens in timelessness. To live with bipolar disorder must be a massive challenge to maintain any consistency in mindfulness, as most of us struggle without such a condition! Anyway, here's some brief reflections on your queries:<br /><br />"What are your feelings about mental illness?" <br />Mental illness is a terrible cause of suffering in this world, Pixie. I worked in a psychiatric hospital for a long time before coming to Thailand, and I saw much misery. I also met some amazing people, too. Mental illness is a clear example of suffering, and as such can be of assistance to our practice...in the long run.<br /><br />"How do you feel about medication?"<br />If it is needed, take it. The problem can come in working out when it is needed and when not. (I take medication for two conditions called cervical spondylosis and myofascial pain syndrome, so it's not a big issue here, for sure!<br /><br />"Do you believe that an inner peace and a positive reflection upon one's suffering is the key to recovery?"<br />It can help, for sure, Pixie. Not that the road to recovery is easy, as you've attested to yourself. Sound advice to anyone suffering in this world, whether with mental illness or not, is to keep at it. No longer how many times we fall from the path of mindfulness, we can get up, step back onto it, and walk on. With mindfulness, we can help ourselves and others at the simultaneously.<br /><br />"That was more than one question, wasn't it?!" <br />Yes, but all interrelated, and therefore segments of the same question, if viewed from a holistic perspective. <br /><br />Keep in touch. Pixie, and let me know how things go. What do you make of the exercises often promoted on 'Buddha Space,' by the way?Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11820006311674418847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-75419627340733950752011-02-01T03:23:47.355+07:002011-02-01T03:23:47.355+07:00Hello G!
I'm so sorry I have not been in touc...Hello G!<br /><br />I'm so sorry I have not been in touch sooner. I have only today read your reply to me from December. Since then I have had a period of euphoria and then plunged backwards again.<br /><br />I'm not going to write my life story. But in brief, I have bipolar, and recently I had a good period of time (thanks to some good medication) where I was able to reflect on my illness and look at the benefits of these many years of suffering. Then I got ill again at the beginning of this year, and it all flew out of the window. <br /><br />If I am honest, I resent this. I resent these times. Because I seem to be forever battling, and even when I reach a state of genuine understanding and reflection, I soon plummet again. <br /><br />You may have discussed this on many occasions already. But my first question to you is this: what are your feelings about mental illness? How do you feel about medication? Do you believe that an inner peace and a positive reflection upon one's suffering is the key to recovery? <br /><br />That was more than one question, wasn't it?! <br /><br />The thing is, I genuinely feel I have accepted in my heart that we are all suffering. I puzzle over why some people suffer more than others. But I do see how my illness has made me the person I am today. And that is a good thing. But when I have periods such as now, I feel an anger, a resentment that is difficult to contain and control. <br /><br />Anyway, enough prattling from me. I am looking forward to your thoughts about this.<br /><br />Love and peace,<br /><br />Pixie :-)Nic https://www.blogger.com/profile/16155143861854659940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-80193915998606167272011-01-31T20:51:48.325+07:002011-01-31T20:51:48.325+07:00Kind words indeed, Renee. Makes writing 'Buddh...Kind words indeed, Renee. Makes writing 'Buddha Space' all the more fulfilling. As to seeing you, Renee, right here when gazing back you are seen right now. (The real no-you that is the real no-me, that is!)Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11820006311674418847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-39514812687078085952011-01-31T14:02:27.137+07:002011-01-31T14:02:27.137+07:00your blog is so rich, the teachings well explained...your blog is so rich, the teachings well explained, for me so important to always learn something new!<br />Thank you for that, Gary! <br />See you!<br />RenéeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-81023277232604395942011-01-27T21:46:01.424+07:002011-01-27T21:46:01.424+07:00The point of the "food thing" is to draw...The point of the "food thing" is to draw our attention to the awareness that lies behind our experience of eating, and to show that there is no gap between the two. On one level, yes, we can see the three characteristics of existence in the exercise, but beyond this is the recognition that there's nobody doing the eating!<br /><br />To be honest, Anonymous, I'm not interested in labels like "Vedantic" or 'Buddhistic', etc. If we delve into the experience of this moment, we experience life as it is, rather than as we imagine it to be, and this is beyond all such labels. Even "Buddhanature" seems a word too many! (Having said that, we must use words & concepts to communicate - as long as we acknowledge their limitations, that is.)Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11820006311674418847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-595900014735598043.post-90619509973309962282011-01-27T09:17:20.740+07:002011-01-27T09:17:20.740+07:00emptiness is the real wonder.. no birth = deathles...emptiness is the real wonder.. no birth = deathless simple logic as that! any kind of existence is a mass of stress even the so called immortal existence is stress. <br /><br />about the food thing? is the real intention of the exercise to see anatta, emptiness, anicca and dukkha since it is nothing more than a mass of stress given by consiciousness?<br /><br /><br />i dont get the whole unified experience, it seems vedantic all is one and one is all. but people tells me that in buddhism after you detached the self whatever is presented in life = yours one reality and one essence = buddhanature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com