Starkadr

Junior Bum
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About Starkadr

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    Dao Bum
  1. why so serious?

    Is it possible to reach enlightenment/the end goal of your path (whatever that is) while being happy? When I was younger I was extremely devout to my practices, and I feel a reason for this was my frustration with the world beyond my control. My feeling of helplessness expressed itself in my dedication to asceticism and martial arts. I had will power but it was fueled by my anger. Only after giving up was I able to become happy. And now I have positive reasons to become someone new, to find a better path. But are positive reasons enough? My question is this: is discontent and anger a necessary impetus on your path? Or do sages get to laugh before they are sages?
  2. The road to hell is paved...

    with good intentions: One thing that has always amazed me is learning to shoot free throws. When I began practicing I would only make around 10% of the shots I took. Which of course leaves 90% missed. By all rights I was practicing missing more than I was practicing making baskets, yet over time the number of shots I missed decreased while the number of shots I made increased. Not sure how that happened, other than I recently saw a post extolling the virtues of knowing your goals. Maybe that's the first step. When I was younger I wanted to be taoist. Something about the philosophy resonated with me, and of course there was my youthful dissatisfaction with mainstream religion (I'm very much a westerner). But I knew nothing of taoism other than the trappings of the religion and the textual gibberish that I was unable to pierce. Much like the Ethiopian eunuch from bible school, I was unable to understand what I was reading and desperately wanted someone to explain it to me. Eventually there came frustration and an abandonment of anything associated with religion, including taoism. I have seen the good religions can offer. However, as a student of the abrahamic religions feel that there is some disconnect between what religion now is and the deeper meaning of the texts. My intent is simple, and maybe by forming it plainly I will be able to get closer to the basket. I want to experience, not believe, what all world scriptures point towards. I want to know the moon and not just the finger. I don't have any well formed questions at this point, but would gladly welcome any insight from those who have travelled further along this path.