Camellia

A view to a kill Mountain top or city block I drink tea in both

For myself, I found that when I can "let go" of things - like, say, trying to control the outcome of a situation - I am more calm, relaxed, and able to be in the moment. That's when I feel more connected with the dao. So...releasing to advance, in a way, as counterintuitive as that sounds. I find it gets easier with practice. Side note, very cool to see so many AT goers here! I have spent a lot of time on the trail myself, mostly in and around the Shenandoah area.

On a hot tin roof Playing a horsehead fiddle Those owls can sure sing!

I think simply being open to experiences is a good way to practice spontaneity. My personal anecdote: I was picking up a few things at Target about a week ago and passed by a woman going in the other direction. I made a u-turn and caught up to her and stopped her just to compliment her long braid. It was beautiful! Thick and healthy and shiny, and I told her so. She in turn complimented *my* braid, and we spent about ten minutes just chatting about hair. We were joking and laughing. It was totally random and unplanned, but we had a great conversation and then we went on our way. I have a lot of little spontaneous encounters like that because I make myself open to them. Like you said, it's a way of acting and responding in the moment without attachments. It also makes chores and errands a lot more interesting!

Oh one thing I thought I might add @Barnaby, many years ago I bought a book called "3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery". I still have it and the recipes are quite good! You will probably have to scale down most of the recipes though - they are cooking for an entire monastery, haha. There are also a bunch of little tidbits about Buddhist practice sprinkled throughout the pages. It's a really nice little book. 🙂

Thank you so much! 🙏🏻

No rush for this bum. 😅 Thank you!

I use a timer due to schedule constraints. I like Insight Timer too, and have created presets for meditation, yoga, qigong, etc. Agree 😅

Hello! May I please have a PPD? 🌻

A personal experience of mine: a few years ago, I wanted a sweet potato for dinner, so I went out to the garden to dig one up. The first place my shovel landed was a well-hidden mouse nest. So, I got one sweet potato in exchange for the lives of six baby mice. Just illustrating how easy it is to inadvertently kill something when it comes to your food.. I imagine how much this kind of thing is magnified on a larger scale.

A good example of what I meant earlier when I mentioned mindfulness vs perfection.

For protein I had tofu, tempeh, seitan, and combinations such as beans and rice, or lentils etc. I supplemented b12 just through vitamins. I also got bloodwork done every year to make sure I was good with everything, and to be aware of any changes I needed to make nutritionally.

Agree with both of these points. As part of my ahimsa practice I was a vegan for over a decade. Ultimately, it didn't work for me. So I decided I wanted to be closer to my food and got a small farm. Interestingly, growing food has become a part of my spiritual practice. It's been a cool evolution. I think mindfulness is one of the best practices we can do when it comes to our food. Being mindful of where our food comes from, how it gets to us, how what we eat affects our body, etc. Just mindfulness, not perfection. We do the best we can with the tools that have been provided to us. That being said, I do think vegetarianism is a good practice and I still enjoy plenty of vegetarian meals each week. If taking that next step is something that aligns with you, then that's all that matters.

That's a beautiful painting you shared; it evokes such a calm feeling for me. I can see why you would be drawn to it! I think almost any pursuit can be a spiritual practice based on how you engage in it, whether it be as mundane as folding laundry or a hobby like art or music. There's a book called "The Tao of Watercolor" by Jeanne Carbonetti and while the style of art isn't Chinese, it talks about using playfulness and deliberateness to create balance and find flow in your painting, and it builds on Daoist concepts. If you decide to take up painting as part of your practice, you may find it useful. 🙂

Kill it and eat it Destroy veils of ignorance Clarity tastes good