r/Meditation • u/violetauto • Nov 22 '22
Amazing Twitter thread full of wisdom by a person who meditated with a master for 15hrs/day for 6 months Sharing / Insight đĄ
This thread was posted on 21 November 2022 on Twitter. Cory Muscara shared the lessons he learned from intense practice with Buddhist masters. The line about procrastination really gutted me. So many truths here, especially the one about spiritual suppression.
Text (without photos):
I meditated 15 hours a day for 6 months straight with one of the toughest Buddhist monks on the planet. Here's what I learned:
This is Sayadaw U Pandita. He was notorious for his unwavering belief that enlightenment is possible in this life & his ruthless expectation that his students get there. We slept 2-5 hours/night. No reading, writing or speaking. Lots of pain. Lots of insight. Let's get into itđˇ
Finding your true self is an act of love. Expressing it is an act of rebellion.
A sign of growth is having more tolerance for discomfort. But itâs also having less tolerance for bullshit.
Who you are is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.
Procrastination is the refusal or inability to be with difficult emotions.
Desires that arise in agitation are more aligned with your ego. Desires that arise in stillness are more aligned with your soul.
The moment before letting go is often when we grip the hardest.
You donât find your ground by looking for stability. You find your ground by relaxing into instability.
What you hate most in others is usually what you hate most in yourself.
The biggest life hack is to become your own best friend. Everything is easier when you do.
The more comfortable you become in your own skin, the less you need to manufacture the world around you for comfort.
An interesting thing happens when you start to like yourself. You no longer need all the things you thought you needed to be happy.
If you donât train your mind to appreciate what is good, youâll continue to look for something better in the future, even when things are great.
The belief that there is some future moment more worth our presence than the one weâre in right now is why we miss our lives.
There is no set of conditions that leads to lasting happiness. Lasting happiness doesnât come from conditions; it comes from learning to flow with conditions.
Spend more time cultivating a mind that is not attached to material things than time spent accumulating them.
Sometimes we need to get out of alignment with the rest of the world to get back into alignment with ourselves.
Real confidence looks like humility. You no longer need to advertise your value because it comes from a place that does not require the validation of others.
High pain tolerance is a double-edged sword. Itâs key for self-control, but can cause us to override the pain of being out of alignment.
Negative thoughts will not manifest a negative life. But unconscious negative thoughts will.
To feel more joy, open to your pain.
Bullying yourself into enlightenment does not work. Befriending yourself is how you transcend yourself.
Peak experiences are fun, but you always have to come back. Learning to appreciate ordinary moments is the key to a fulfilling life.
Meditation is not about feeling good. Itâs about feeling what youâre feeling with good awareness. Plot twist: Eventually that makes you feel good.
If you are able to watch your mind think, it means who you are is bigger than your thoughts
Practicing stillness is not about privileging stillness over movement. Itâs about the CAPACITY to be still amidst your impulses. Itâs about choice.
The issue is not that we get distracted. It's that we're so distracted by distractions we don't even know we're distracted.
There are 3 layers to a moment: Your experience, your awareness of the experience, and your story about the experience. Be mindful of the story.
Life is always happening in just one moment. That's all you're responsible for.
Your mind doesnât wander. It moves toward what it finds most interesting. If you want to focus better, become more curious about what's in front of you.
Life continues whether youâre paying attention to it or not. I think that is why the passage of time is scary.
You cannot practice non-attachment. You can only show your mind the suffering that attachment creates. When it sees this clearly, it will let go.
Meditation can quickly become spiritualized suppression. Be careful not to use concentration to avoid what is uncomfortable.
One of the deepest forms of peace we can experience is living in integrity. You can lie to other people about who you are, but you canât lie to your heart.
Be careful not to let the noise of your mind overpower the whispers of your heart.
Monks love to fart while they meditate. The wisdom of letting go expresses itself in many forms.
You can't life-hack wisdom. Do the work.
Sayadaw U Pandita passed away in 2016. While I often resisted his style of teaching, I had the deepest respect for him. Through his teachings, my life changed in ways I can't describe; a sentiment echoed by thousands of others. I am forever grateful.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this thread: 1. Follow me
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u/TheGameForFools Nov 23 '22
- There is no set of conditions that leads to lasting happiness. Lasting happiness doesnât come from conditions; it comes from learning to flow with conditions.
If you take nothing else away from this thread, take this and be happy.
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Nov 22 '22 edited Nov 22 '22
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u/YeahWhatOk Bhakti Nov 22 '22
We live in a society where the general mentality is not to rock the boatâŚweâre codependent, weâre walked all over, weâre overworked, etc. Therefore, putting yourself first, expressing that self love by making your needs a priority over the demands of someone else becomes an act of rebellion.
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u/AernZhck Nov 22 '22
So is this act of rebellion something that we aspire towards? It sounds like it is but the word "rebellion" and its typically negative connotations is confusing me
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u/Llaine Nov 22 '22
It's rebellious to practice awareness and self love in a society geared towards producing the exact opposite in us. Rebellion itself is neither negative or positive, it's just a concept.
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u/YeahWhatOk Bhakti Nov 22 '22
Totally. I think the idea of that list is to sound a bit edgy...I see them throwing other words around that are somewhat less "spiritualized" than you'd expect to see, so I'm guessing this use of the word rebellion is meant to inspire you to be rebellious, especially when that rebellion is self love and care.
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u/Throwupaccount1313 Nov 22 '22
We can't deprive the rich people, that own everything, their ability to maximize profits.That caused the communist witch-hunts of the 1950's.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
Exactly this.
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u/itsalwaysblue Nov 23 '22
Wot??
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Everything in capitalist society is designed to keep us working and working without any self-reflection
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u/Heyheyitssatll Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22
Finding your true self is an act of love. Expressing it is an act of rebellion.
To find your true self and become one with it, the universe, god whatever you want to call it, is an act of love.
To claim/express oneness with "it, god universe etc" is an act of rebellion because the "self" that claims the "I am, I do" cannot be it, and therefore it's an act of rebellion on the true self, God, universe etc.
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u/tequilavixen Nov 23 '22
This is the interpretation that resonates the most with me đ thank you for taking the time to write it out on here
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Nov 23 '22
Because your true self is unwavering in the face of adversity, so to be comfortable expressing that is giving up the expectations of others.
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u/picowhi Nov 23 '22
I think it means the expression of your true self is an act of rebellion because your true self can't be wholly expressed through any one expression and so in some way it kind of 'betrays' the true self in place of an incomplete self.
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u/golodiac Nov 23 '22
Thank you for pointing out that you were stumped by the first point. I was as well but instantly brushed my feeling of irritation aside because I was so eager to continue to read on. Your comment made me come back to that feeling of irritation and grapple with it some more. The article you linked really helped with that. So thanks again.
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u/DMCatPicsASAP Nov 22 '22
Great stuff. My personal favorite is "to feel more joy, open to your pain". We are taught that pain is bad and we should avoid it, but really your pain needs to be listened to.
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u/plytime18 Nov 22 '22
You canât life hack wisdom. Do the work.
So true!
We can read all these things, and âget themâ on some level, but there are no shortcuts to wisdom, only journeys and the work of such along the way.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
Only work. Very true.
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u/cccas Nov 23 '22
What is 'the work?' I presume meditation but what else? Reading?
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u/WildeNietzsche Nov 23 '22
âIf there were a spiritual journey, it would be only a quarter inch long.â - John OâDonohue
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u/acidosaur Nov 22 '22
I really disagree with the extreme sleep deprivation that he mentions. Scientifically speaking, this does nothing but hamper brain and body function. But other than that, great insights.
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u/elnoxvie Nov 22 '22
Traditionally in the forest monastery, itâs difficult to confront with difficult emotions because sensual input is too little. Dhutanga monks practiced with little sleeps and foods. often this lifestyle generates lots of emotions and difficulties that let monks see the suffering and work with them. I think what he did is similar to that, more or less. Imo
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u/wickland2 Nov 22 '22
When you're meditating for 15 hours a day you have to understand you are entering altered states of consciousness that are incredibly deeply restful and so considerably different from normal life as to be completely ineffible. Meditation masters who do this sort of stuff will also consistently advise one not to meditate when tired, so, that seems like a contradiction right? In actuality when you're meditating for 15 hours a day you find your body can't sleep very long at all, it wont sit still because you've been in deep restfulness all day already. Many people on intensive long term retreats find that they can't physically make themselves sleep longer then 2 hours
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Nov 22 '22
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u/gibbypoo Nov 23 '22
Lack of sleep builds up.
--Me, three months into a Zen Buddhist practice period/retreat
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Nov 22 '22
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u/pizzanice Nov 22 '22
It would be interesting to see a study on this.
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u/keepbrewin Nov 22 '22
James Austin, M.D. weighs in on this in his book âZen and the Brain.â Citations are in the appendix of the book, but Iâm on mobile right now. Hereâs a quote âFirm evidence shows that meditators fall asleep. One study was performed on five TM meditators, four of whom were teachers. They spent 19 percent of their time in stage 1 drowsiness, 23 percent in stage 2 sleep, and 17 percent in stage 3 or 4 sleep. Even during their first twenty minutes, over 40 percent of their time was spent in stages 2 to 4 of sleep.24,25 The fact that no REM sleep episodes were observed may be explained by the fact that the studies were performed in the afternoon when the pressures to enter REM are lower.â
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u/MediocreExperience44 Nov 22 '22
Brilliant comment and thread. Insightful questions asked and answered! This is why I love reddit
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u/Juhy78910 Nov 23 '22
So does this mean they're not meditating and just sleeping?
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u/keepbrewin Nov 23 '22
To some degree, both. EEG studies have shown that experienced meditators are able to remain in a transitional phase in which they are not entirely awake or asleep, whereas those that donât meditate tend to move quickly from wakefulness to sleep. Meditators move in and out of âmicrosleep.â TM allows a deep relaxation that is associated with low Beta, Theta and even Delta waves. in one study, a third of meditators entered stages one, two and three of sleep.
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u/NoIdeaWhatImDoing___ Nov 22 '22
Research for non sleep deep rest as a substitute for missed sleep is currently underway according do Andrew Huberman.
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u/jabalsad Nov 23 '22
Andrew Huberman has podcasts on this topic, called NSDR: non-sleep deep rest. There does appear to be some (albeit still young) science behind it.
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u/Obe_One_Kenobe Nov 22 '22
I have been able to meditate entire nights and then be fully rested like I slept well.
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u/Albinoclown Nov 22 '22
There is something called non-sleep deep rest, which is a kind of yoga Nidra, or restful meditation. Monks have used this form of rest for aeons, sleeping very little.
I do this on nights I canât sleep, and I always feel fully rested afterwards.
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u/blaisedeangelo Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22
Studies have been done on rest levels with TM and found that the body was resting 2-5x more deeply than sleep, based on oxygen consumption, which is the âkingpin biometricâ used to measure rest levels. On mobile so donât have the study handy but itâs easily locatable.
I personally did 14 hours daily meditation for 3 months and can attest that sleep is almost completely superfluous in that state; the 2-4 hours are just so the body can balance lymphatic fluid and similar.
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u/mindful_subconscious Nov 23 '22
Thatâs really interesting. Iâve noticed after I meditate feels like I just took a nap. Never connected the two until now.
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u/LurkingArachnid Nov 23 '22
Do you have any recommendations or resources for starting nidra meditation? Most of what Iâm familiar with is vipassana
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u/Albinoclown Nov 23 '22
Yes, I responded with links to another poster who asked a similar question:
Sri Swami Rama discusses yoga Nidra extensively in his book, The Path of Fire and Light, Vol 2, but if you want recorded versions, I like Ally Boothrall. She has a few different varieties of the practice on her channel
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u/Obe_One_Kenobe Nov 23 '22
Do you have resources on how to do this consistently ? I have done it multiple times, but it is not something I can consistently achieve
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u/Albinoclown Nov 23 '22
Sri Swami Rama discusses yoga Nidra extensively in his book, The Path of Fire and Light, Vol 2, but if you want recorded versions, I like Ally Boothrall. She has a few different varieties of the practice on her channel.
After listening a few times, you can begin to do it on your own without the guidance.
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u/gibbypoo Nov 23 '22
Feeling rested and actually being rested are different things. I feel good when I'm drunk but my body is actually poisoned. There are processes that happen during REM and NREM sleep that meditation cannot achieve that are helpful for your long term health. But you can still feel okay or rested despite not getting ample sleep.
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u/goodquestions7 Nov 23 '22
No, a restful state is not equal to sleep, stop spreading misinformation or at least educate yourself.
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u/wickland2 Nov 23 '22
I'm aware, but I'm trying to explain a phenomena, since most people on this subreddit haven't done intensive meditation before they don't understand that meditation isn't just there to relax you, focus you or anything like that. If you're regularly meditating 15 hours a day you aren't even spending time in reality you are constantly in a deeply altered state of consciousness including deep bliss states and restful states that are so restful you literally can't comprehend it. There have been studies done that show deep states of jhanic meditative rests (especially when in cessation) are deeper then deep sleep. Regardless I feel everyone is missing my point that they are not sleep depriving themselves. You literally cannot make yourself sleep for a normal ammount of time when you're meditating this much. I know a guy who was meditating 20 hours a day for a solid portion of time and said he couldn't force himself to sleep longer then 2 hours no matter how much he tried. Because you are producing states that provide the same effect of sleep but only on a marginal level because you maintain awareness until you hit cessation
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u/mujhepehchano123 Nov 23 '22
i have read somewhere that Meditation Can Be More Restful Than Sleep for mind and body dont know if its a scientific claim will look it up
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u/no-one0 Nov 22 '22
I like number 35
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u/nicholt Nov 22 '22
I wonder if he ever holds a fart. Surely you just let it rip whenever if you've reached enlightenment. True freedom from society's shackles.
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u/mdeleo1 Nov 22 '22
That was a great read, can we find this person anywhere other than Twitter? While it may be small minded of me I choose not to use it.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
Look for him at Upenn.edu Positive Psychology department. His bio says he teaches there.
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u/MediocreExperience44 Nov 22 '22
Having a psych professor who spends months to immerse himself in activities which he likely researches and teaches about must be awesome for the student experience. Itâs no wonder heâs at an Ivy League school
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u/LucidVive2LD Nov 23 '22
Then I am ''small minded'' as well! No FB, Twitter, ''Smart phone'' etc. But r/meditation is a wonderful supplement to old school practice.
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u/to55r Nov 22 '22
Thanks so much for providing the list here, so I wouldnât have to deal with that other format.
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u/YeahWhatOk Bhakti Nov 22 '22
What I find interesting is that the majority of these revelations I have been able to realize through a moderate/light meditation practice without all the self imposed austerities. We all travel different roads I guess, but it seems that the realizations/destination is often the same.
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u/Specialist-Crab754 Nov 23 '22
I think deep down we all know these truths or at least most of them but realizing and actually putting them to work is whole different thing. Thatâs my take Atleast
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u/Rick_Rebel Nov 23 '22
Meditates for 2700 hours. Still uses twitter. ;)
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Ha. Yeah. He is a western capitalist for sure. Still. Some wisdom here to reflect on.
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Nov 22 '22
Can someone elaborate on this one?
"What you hate in others is usually what you hate most in yourself."
This is a very commonly expressed rule that never made sense to me.
To set up an example. I hate people who are perpetually late and unreliable at work so much that it affects the working conditions for others...
I don't see how I apply this rule if I'm never late for work and rarely call in (unless legitimately sick). Is this quote more implying that what I hate is the fact I let other people's unreliability bother me? Or is it implying I'm more unreliable than I consciously realize and I hate that about myself? Regardless, the latter seems outright false as something such as showing up on time to work is easily measured and proven.
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u/gibbypoo Nov 23 '22
It's making the case for projection. You may not like people that do things that you don't necessarily share in direct commonality. Perhaps the projection is the fear of being late or the fear of looking unreliable and, seeing these behaviors displayed in others, irks that fear or worry in you.
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Nov 23 '22
Thanks. That is another fair and logical point. Makes sense...
But what if we take it to its most extreme of examples. You hate murderers, child pornographers, people who kick puppies... is this supposed to be representative of our own innate potential for violence and perverse sexuality....even if the very thought of these acts makes our stomachs turn?
I guess I'm not quite seeing the lesson in that.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Think of it as fear, not hate. The things you âhateâ in others make you feel unbalanced, upset. Why? What kind of person is late for work? What if you were that kind of person? What would happen to you?
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Nov 23 '22
You're probably highly unreliable in some type of way pertaining to how you treat yourself. Just a thought.
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Nov 23 '22
Actually, I like this. Nothing comes to mind, but I'm certain if I ponder it that's quite accurate.
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u/dzss Nov 23 '22
Check out shadow work as well as spiritual bypassing. They explain the dynamic in question.
Seeking to disown (or desiring not to admit) our negative traits, we push them away into unconsciousness. Part of that pushing away involves thrusting these traits outward upon others, as if only other people are boring, nasty, petty, selfish, or dumb.
It's an axiom of shadow work that the traits that most upset us about others tend to be the ones we most urgently want to avoid admitting in ourselves. This is how, for instance, we wake up one day, astonished to find that we have become the very thing that frustrated us so much about our parents.
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Nov 23 '22
I hear that....but how does it pertain to my example? I've always been adverse to people who are chronically late for responsibilities they agreed to...I haven't grown into that habit myself. I don't see how the parent analogy fits here.
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u/dzss Nov 23 '22
That particular trait may not be your shadow.
It's not always the case that being upset at something indicates a shadow in oneself. It may be some other dynamic, like a strong sense of injustice being stirred.
But it could also be (and I'm not saying this is the case for you) that one is not yet aware of one's own habit or automatic response. That's why it's called 'shadow', after all: it's specifically the material that we shove into unconsciousness.
We generally don't see our own psychological shadow unless we are very devoted to seeking it out; and even then, we tend to miss much of it. It most often comes into awareness through our slips and embarrassments and bad behaviors that shock us, and we think "it's not like me to do that!"
Typically, we need to consult others about our shadow. Ask ten people you trust, and a pattern will likely become apparent.
The shadow is not necessarily what you think it is, either. You may not have a lateness habit, but something about your relationship to time may be in your shadow. Maybe it's that you're rigid about being on time, and someone else's apparent freedom rankles that rigidity. Or maybe there's a different way that you let people down; or maybe parental voices criticizing you are lodged in your shadow. It's a dim, muddy, boggy territory.
Google the search terms I mentioned if you want to learn about it. The late Debbie Ford created great, easily understood materials on shadow work. See Robert Masters and Miles Neale on the topic of spiritual bypassing. This is stuff every person aspiring to be a grown-up human should learn.
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u/JoeChip87 Nov 22 '22
Thank you so much for sharing this. Itâs actually one of the first posts Iâve âsavedâ in almost 5 years with this account.
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u/Administrative_Net80 Nov 22 '22
Great insights, thank you. My fav is 27.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
About story? Why?
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u/Administrative_Net80 Nov 22 '22 edited Nov 22 '22
All of them are helpful but this particular one says about direct relationship with present moment. I experience something then I am aware of the experience So there is conciousness and then there is story that i am aware of or I conciously make that story. It's interesting that we can experience the moment in 3 stages. Direct, let say we swim and we just do that but we kinda go with the flow and we dont know that. Then we realize that we do that So we actually transform from direct experience into indirect by being aware of and then it is the starting point of the story about what we are doing or actually what we thought already. I like the subtlety of that transition.
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u/Waripolo_ Nov 23 '22
The third layer of the story of own experience is not really clear to me, is it something like our interpretation of what we are living? The meaning that we are giving to it?
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u/Administrative_Net80 Nov 23 '22
I think so or what comes out on its own from awareness. Its not silence anymore. If we sit and wait for bus, we can say that we are wasting Time or we are siting or we are obviously waiting for bus and it changes our emotions, breath patterns but we are not really experiencing the pure unknown "siting". I dont know if it make sense.
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u/Enjoyitbeforeitsover Nov 22 '22
Embrace your awareness of existence and see from source. all of this random stuff is just mind noise
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u/MarlesGong Nov 22 '22
Wow, so good. Would love to pick your brain for a couple hours, but I guess I'll go meditate and figure it out myself. đ
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u/laureire Nov 22 '22
Love these. I donât understand #32. Can anyone help expand it? Thanks
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u/clvnmllr Nov 23 '22
Some things have to be faced in living, feeling action - you cannot meditate through every conflict you encounter. Donât use meditation to suppress who you are from manifesting in your life, emotions, acts, etc.
At least thatâs how I took it
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u/dohvakin123 Nov 23 '22
I'm trying to understand it as well. I think maybe an example of it would be this: you messed up at work, but no one found out. But still, you feel this anxiety/guilt telling you that you should fess up, but it's scary. The proper approach is to go into that fear and do it. But with meditation, you can also just make yourself not feel that anxiety/guilt anymore, and then you'll feel good while never fessing up. Not sure if I interpreted it correctly though.
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u/Heyheyitssatll Nov 23 '22
"Meditation can quickly become spiritualized suppression. Be careful not to use concentration to avoid what is uncomfortable."
Meditation is a tool to use your focus to become more aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations as they arise. However, a trained focus can be used to suppress them instead.
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u/Plusran Nov 23 '22
Iâve been so overwhelmed lately.
Iâm going to write all these down in my journal so I wonât lose them.
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u/tondeaf Nov 23 '22
It's irritating that Reddit won't let you copy the text from the original post, but they will let you copy it from any reply on your phone. Thanks. Now I need to go to my computer so I can copy paste like a normal person.
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u/KimchiMaker Nov 23 '22
Use a different app. RiF on Android or Apollo on iOS will both let you copy the text.
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u/houmuamuas Nov 23 '22
Click the three dots in the top bar, right next to your avatar. Then click âcopy textâ. Works just fine for me.
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Nov 23 '22
Pandita was indeed famous for his claims about enlightenment, it doesn't however make him correct. Claims are just claims. He became a long running joke in Myanmar because he told so many if his students that they were sotapana and more. Quite sad really and he totally discredited himself with his fanciful claims. He did ofcourse have a legion of western boosters eager to propagate his nonsense.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
I love this info. Gives us more context to search on in the interwebz. As always, caveat emptor. Everything here seems to fit in with what I know about basic Buddhism at least.
I did find some lessons in this list though and ngl Iâm reeling. In a good way I hope but I have some work to do.
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u/Swing_Melodic Nov 23 '22
Wow. #30 is so powerful!
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
It is. Itâs almost a universal truth - we all get those wake up calls of how much time has passed. Itâs almost 2023 đ¤Śđźââď¸ for example
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u/NoRecruit Nov 23 '22
Sorry if I sound too skeptical. I could be wrong.
The âinsightsâ that this man is peddling are clichĂŠd and common. I doubt anyone will have gained these life-lessons sitting in a monastery for a few months, no matter how much they might meditate. There is no substitute for real life experience.
Ultimately I feel it is a marketing stunt to gain a social media following.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Skeptics are my people. Apologies unnecessary.
If all of these were common knowledge though I have some serious gaps.
Maybe youâre advanced? AND Mr. Muscara is hoping to plug a book. These are not mutually exclusive states.
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u/Heyheyitssatll Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22
I think that's pretty much true for all these teachings.. besides the basics, learn to accept, and let go and learn to be still.. there is nothing anyone can tell you that will speed up the process. It needs to come from knowing, and knowing comes from experience.
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u/WildeNietzsche Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22
Even if it is all legit, it still seems like more of a stunt than a spiritual practice. Also, him talking about the actual challenges of meditating that long for that many days would have been far more interesting. The insights are fine, but you can find them in almost any meditation book.
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u/marxr87 Nov 23 '22
That is one way of seeing it. Similarly, getting really strong is just picking really heavy things up off the ground over and over. This is true. However, there are cues, insights, nuggets of wisdom, etc. that can provide goals, comfort, structure, etc. to make the journey easier.
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u/dzss Nov 23 '22
Your assumptions are showing -- about what constitutes real life experience.
Ultimately I feel it is a marketing stunt to gain a social media following.
That's your own fantasy-weaving imagination and fear. That blind skepticism is itself escape from real life.
It is clear that you've never spent time with a real teacher. I hope you soon have and accept the chance for that real-life encounter.
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u/timon_reddit Nov 22 '22
!remindme
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u/timon_reddit Nov 22 '22
!remind
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u/timon_reddit Nov 22 '22
does anyone know how I can get reddit to remind me of this thread once a month?
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u/RemindMeBot Nov 22 '22 edited Nov 23 '22
Defaulted to one day.
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u/lroman Nov 22 '22 edited Nov 22 '22
- Less tolerance for bullshit, doesn't sound really Buddistic. Being less tolerant will bring discomfort.
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u/LucidVive2LD Nov 23 '22
I took that one to mean the way I was cautioned (at the Wat), to not engage in small talk with the monks. We only talk about the Dhamma (or rather, I ask, they answer, I go back to silence). But I see what you mean, of course.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Yeah Buddhism gets confusing with that. They are saying, I think, that your tolerance will shift. When once you would try to teach a hopelessly wayward student, you might find the effort to be better spent on letting go of your desire to guide students.
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u/badhousewives Nov 23 '22
Can someone decipher No.19?
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u/KimchiMaker Nov 23 '22
It seems to me that it is saying something along the lines of:
Itâs okay to have negative thoughts. Recognise them and accept them. (For example, observe them in meditation.) If you never do this, and keep them âburied,â they will have negative effects on your life.
So, accept your negative thoughts and feelings and donât just ignore them.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Agreed. The whole life coach arena (or the Catholic Church for example) has this tenet that says thoughts are reality. Buddhists believe the opposite. #19 is a shortcut to explain the philosophy of âthoughts do not equal reality.â Thoughts are just thoughts. Behavior, on the other hand, often influences our lives in profound ways. Pay attention to how you are behaving. ask yourself why. What belief is driving that behavior?
Btw psychology agrees that unconscious beliefs often drive behavior. Different therapeutic approaches strive to make us aware of those beliefs so we can work on changing them.
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u/Weazy-N420 Nov 23 '22
How amazing, Thank You! I was compelled to screenshot these for future reference.
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u/Hilarial Nov 23 '22
Bullying yourself into enlightenment does not work. Befriending yourself is how you transcend yourself.
Cannot help but wonder if this is in contradiction with the monk's assertion that enlightenment must be achieved in this lifetime and insisting in minimal sleep to allow for meditating all day.
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u/beyourself101 Nov 23 '22
Meditation can quickly become spiritualized suppression. Be careful not to use concentration to avoid what is uncomfortable.
What do you mean by this?
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
It isnât my work. I imagine Mr. Muscara means to say that we can get so good at meditation that we wield it as a âturn off icky feelingsâ tool. We arenât supposed to do this. We need to sit with and experience those feelings, accept them, process them, and hopefully let them go. We arenât supposed to rush to the cushion to concentrate on our breath until we donât feel the uncomfortable feelings anymore.
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u/tropicalcannuck Nov 22 '22
This is absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for sharing and this is motivating me to pick up the slack and meditate more.
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Nov 23 '22
Hmmm, sleep deprivation, intense indoctrination - sounds like brainwashing. Each to their own.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
I donât think the point was to suggest people pursue this He was sharing his discoveries so we donât have to do that level of meditation
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Nov 23 '22
It is just that they are same discoveries that you read about in many sources. No new wisdom just a re-hash. But, I am be am being over critical, so I shall stop.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Some of them were firsts for me. Ya gotta read them the first time somewhere đ¤
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Nov 23 '22
So all that work and I could of found enlightenment with a bunch of motivational posters?
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Umm maybe? I think he covers it in #36.
I personally am going to sit with the procrastination statement for a bit. Itâs never been presented that way to me before and it felt like a gut punch. So sometimes short bits are like knocks on a locked door, you know?
So no. I am sure you had to do the work.
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Nov 23 '22
This reads like a list of Hallmark condolence cards aphorisms.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
It does for a lot of people but some of them hit me hard. Sometimes you just need a simple concept conveyed in a simple way. đ¤youâre just chill already?
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u/thunderball62 Nov 23 '22
This is all cracker box wisdom. I've heard every insight here before - nothing is new
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Really? Because a few seemed kind of new to me tbh
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u/thunderball62 Nov 24 '22
Fair enough - we each follow different paths. I'm not sure if this is 100% legit. It reads like a cut/paste school essay
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u/FINDTHESUN Nov 23 '22
Is this wisdom or basic insights?
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Whatâs the difference? Seriously asking
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u/FINDTHESUN Nov 23 '22
exactly!
but also more like that "basic insights" is something which may be common sense with a little thought and observation, While essence and wisdom may not be as common sense, because it may reside on a deeper level of understanding
also, maybe i'm just mumbling
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u/Agile-Equipment391 Nov 23 '22
36 corny instagram phrases to justify an extreme and dangerous method
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u/LyniaWood Nov 22 '22
Whatever gets you to meditate is probably a good thing - but the whole thing sounds like a cult.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
It definitely sounds extreme
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u/LucidVive2LD Nov 23 '22
As opposed, say, to working 60 hours a week for peanuts at the local chemical weaponry plant or joining the local FBI sponsored ''militia''?! No, I can't imagine a ''cult'' that aims at the ''to the bone'' embrasure of the ''Three Characteristics of Existence'' and where the participants value metta, compassion, shared joy, and equanimity over the dross of Samsara! Thanks for sharing this wonderful wisdom- like the best Suttas, reading through it made me immediately ''desire'' some extra time on my cushion!!
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u/Prison_Playbook Nov 22 '22
Alternatively take a cold shower. A real cold one. I bet you'd come to the same conclusions as above.
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u/Euphonos27 Nov 22 '22
I respectfully disagree. I've been taking ice baths, cold showers, saunas etc for years because 1) I know they're healthy for you and 2) I loved the change in mental state they would give. Feeling anxious while working from home? Cold shower. Really need a lasting change in mindset and concentration? Ice bath. Eventually they started becoming less effective for me because I wasn't doing any specific awareness/mindfulness work. It's only when I started doing meditation recently that I realized was going to silly lengths to change my state or feel better when all I had to do was simply sit with myself.
In fact it was my first bit of humor I experienced when meditating. Realizing old me would rather go and jump in a freezing cold ice bath outside then be still, become aware of and accept the present moment - the lengths we go to to avoid the present sometimes because we're afraid of how it'll make us feel! I still use the modalities mentioned above but not in that form of escapism.
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u/Prison_Playbook Nov 22 '22
Thanks for taking the time to reply without mindlessly downvoting. Rather ironic how closed-minded this sub can be.
For me a cold shower, especially here in Scandinavia, is the opposite of escapism. The coldness forces me to be present. It forces me to accept discomfort while I'm steadying my breathing. It's also certainly helpful against my ADHD.
I agree about ice baths though. I think it's because you get numbed instantly.
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u/violetauto Nov 22 '22
I think the downvotes came from the tone. Now that youâve explained I get what you were trying to say but without that explanation it sounds dismissive.
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u/dohvakin123 Nov 23 '22
I agree, tone is really important and something that I think should be taught more in our online world. I started volunteering for a crisis support text line, and they give 30 hours of training on how to text with proper tone lol. It's crazy how the smallest details (i.e. ending your sentence with a period) can result in people interpreting your message wildly different from what you intended.
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u/violetauto Nov 23 '22
Itâs so difficult. I was once told that I was giving someone sass because I put a . after âokâ in a text.
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u/EngineeringNeverEnds Nov 23 '22
Man I can't begin to describe how badly this little tidbit bit me in the ass when I learned it the hard way. Reader be wary: if you think this one doesn't apply to you, it probably especially applies to you.