Maddie

You're good this is the Buddhist discussion room 😂

That's a good point though. Where are all the enlightened people? I guess it's really not that different of an argument that the Daoists make that there are immortals out there. Granted Buddhism has helped me improve my mental state as well as a lot of other people and that's great but I would not consider myself nor anyone else I know that practices Buddhism enlightened.

This is one of the things I've considered as well.

I think that is a good pragmatic attitude to have.

I certainly hope you keep posting. Any sincere exploration needs points and counterpoints. You got me thinking, and that's a good thing lol. I would say the best and simplest definition of enlightenment in my opinion is ending suffering permanently.

I think complimentary opposites is a pretty common concept around the world.

I had a little extra free time which I don't usually have and was spending a little bit of time going over my posts on TDB since I first joined in 2009. I can't believe it has been that long! Looking back at those posts I remember the things I was doing at that time were Dan Tien breathing and MCO, Five organ healing sounds and meditations, Karate. At that time there were people like Marble Head (rip) and Drew Hempel, as well as several others that are still here. In that time I went from a primarily a qigong based practice, to a Buddhist based one, and became an acupuncturist. Just thought I would share my reflection and see if anyone else wanted to contribute theirs.

It happens lol 😂

dmattwads

Well I mean when I first got on this forum I was a boy. How about them apples? 😂

This was unrelated lol. A few months ago I was talking about delusion within the context of Buddhism and Cobie got so upset at me for speaking about this topic that he said he would never speak to me again. So no not related to IFS, but I do think its extreme. I'm trying to be the bigger person and Olive Branch here.

Hey Cobie, don't you think its a bit extreme to never speak to me again just because I spoke about the concept of delusion?

You articulated it differently than I had thought of it, but this is exactly what I felt like was going on in cases like this.

But does it? Metta is a great thing for inner criticism.

I believe the Pali equivalent to that would be Metta.

Can you elaborate please?

IFS?

I think a common misunderstanding is that the Buddha taught that there is no self. What he actually taught is that the five aggregates are not self.

I'm not going to ditch Theravada lol, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm acknowledging some of your points if I think you have them because I'm just that way :-)

I have noticed in Theravada circles physical exercise does not have a very high priority, but nothing really helps me feel better than after a good jujitsu class.

I'm contemplating this at the moment. Like I said I am baffled that the Pali Canon says nothing about the side effects of meditation.

I also became introduced to Buddhism in a college class, history of Japan. :-)

I think the recent evolution of this thread could basically be summarized by the question do you have complete confidence in the Buddha and his teachings or not? I think it's an important question to think about before answering one way or the other.

I still haven't found a good pizza recipe in there, but the search continues ;-) *but seriously, one thing that the Pali Canon does not seem to mention that I think is VERY relevant is relaxation induced anxiety!