How do you heal a broken spirit?

[Marblehead]

You guys are doing great. I don't need speak at the moment.

[doc benway]

what if i am extremely tired and disillusioned with the whole world?

 

do i let go of the whole world and just do what i need to do?

Is there anything that you enjoy without feeling guilty?

Any simple pleasures?

A good book, a movie, food, nature?

If not, what is preventing the enjoyment of simple pleasure?

Simple pleasure are our gift which makes life delightful.

Pain and suffering are our gift that gives rise to growth and change.

 

 

It is the whole life thingy which I am extremely disappointed with.

 

What happens if you know the whole world is awake except for you?

 

How would you feel if you know the gods are deliberately suppressing your higher spiritual faculties but have freed the rest of the world?

 

How would you feel if you are punished for living life like a brainwashed zombie slave whose only interest is the material and indulgence of the senses? Yet everyone else in the world was not punished but even encouraged to continue indulging their senses like animals?

 

How would you feel if you are designated to carry all the world's sins without you having any say in this matter?

 

No, I don't think a mere broken heart comes anywhere close to a broken spirit.

 

The way you describe what you are feeling suggests that you are the one who is awake and the rest of the world is sleeping.

You have identified the fact that material goods and experiences are banal, mundane, and nothing compared to communion with the spiritual. But it sounds like you feel stuck in a place where the material is not satisfying and the spiritual is outside your grasp. Tough place to be. Forgive me if I'm misreading you.

 

I think this is a sign of awakening of "higher spiritual faculties" as you call them. It is a mistake to think that such an awakening is painless, beautiful, ecstatic. It can be those things but it usually starts with great pain and suffering. Change and insight come from pain and suffering and failure. Don't fight those feelings but let them simply be there and continue on. See if you can identify the source of those feelings. What is at the root of it?

 

This is why I mentioned values - what do you value deep down? It may take a while to figure that out but I think that's a good place to start. You need to look inside yourself. You will not find answers or help outside. All of the great spiritual traditions lead inside, be it through prayer, mantras, sacrifice, meditation, whatever. You need to look inside and see what you value deeply and see what it is about your choices in life that are causing conflict and pain.

 

At least, that's one approach that I think could help.

[Jetsun]

Then perhaps you need a re-think of what constitutes Reality.

 

In my mind, Reality is change.

 

You may not be able to change external conditions overnight, but that does not mean we cannot begin by first transforming our intentions. Doing so does not imply denial, does it?

 

Dont you see the benefit of creating a new set of mind-conditions, rather than accepting that the present is static like molasses?

 

How does one create a more conducive, ease-filled state? Imagine...

 

...This moment is pregnant with potential... a big part of mindfulness involves examining each thought we bring or allow to expand into each passing moment. Its entirely possible to decide... this is not denying the present ~ its being skillful in using this very moment to create, with total control, what we want to experience in each subsequent moment.

 

As you practice this, gradually you are replacing the weakest links in the chain of thoughts with stronger ones, and a time will come when these sturdier links will be able to hold the rest of the chain, and that is a good starting point. We do not need to work at transforming the whole chain because the magnitude of the task often overwhelms us and we usually end up defeated even before we begin to put in place fundamental conditions which make change a possibility.

 

Maybe the present moment is perfect as it is and things will change naturally and balance out naturally when we gain full acceptance in the moment, perhaps gaining acceptance in the moment will result in us dropping our non productive intentions and maybe it is our minds tendency to always try to improve on things and create better circumstances for it which creates the biggest barrier to this natural process unfolding.

 

Some teachers I study stress the importance of observation and awareness without any interference in the process, while others say you need to sow the good seeds and use your intent to create more productive circumstances and start to dream a better dream for your life. I am still trying to work all of this out as you can probably tell, but a lot of my previous practice which tried to actively improve things often left me feeling like a fish caught in a net thrashing around trying to escape rather than accept where I am .

[C T]

Maybe the present moment is perfect as it is and things will change naturally and balance out naturally when we gain full acceptance in the moment, perhaps gaining acceptance in the moment will result in us dropping our non productive intentions and maybe it is our minds tendency to always try to improve on things and create better circumstances for it which creates the biggest barrier to this natural process unfolding.

 

Some teachers I study stress the importance of observation and awareness without any interference in the process, while others say you need to sow the good seeds and use your intent to create more productive circumstances and start to dream a better dream for your life. I am still trying to work all of this out as you can probably tell, but a lot of my previous practice which tried to actively improve things often left me feeling like a fish caught in a net thrashing around trying to escape rather than accept where I am .

Perhaps what is really needed is a unification of the two?

 

Not that i really want to resort to citing the Buddha's teachings, but i find there that in all the different traditions/paths there is a great emphasis on bringing together prajna(wisdom) and upaya (expedient means). This is the skillful way of practicing the Dharma, according to the teachings, and i think its good advice.

 

Acceptance is good, because it creates conditions that bring about Calm Abiding.

 

When one attains to Calm, this state creates the conducive condition for the mind to attain insights, without which attaining to Calm serves no real purpose, although for many people, it does help to alleviate some degree of stress and mundane struggles.

 

Then we need to find out what exactly is the purpose of Insight if not for gaining a deeper transformational perspective into one's life? (Its not the exclusive purpose, but one of the primary ones.)

 

Allowing for natural unfolding is a very good attitude to have, dont get me wrong, but then, exercising positive and intentional change does not fall outside the realm of natural. In fact, if you reflect deeper, you may want to think why Compassion is such a fundamental teaching in all authentic Buddhist schools. Compassion, besides its usual battered and oft-abused common understanding, denotes Power, or the primordial energy that sustains all beings' wish to find fulfillment, happiness and to overcome suffering of all degrees.

 

Wisdom is seeing suffering for what it is, and Compassion is the power we have to cultivate the necessary virtues and merits to enable us to alleviate our personal conditioned existence, and when we succeed, we can then help others to achieve the same. It might be true that by achieving the complete merging of these two transcendent qualities, then all the fetters will have been disentangled and one reaches the fringes of Buddhahood. Even though this is a lofty, ultimate aspiration, nonetheless its a worthy one to maintain, but of course, we do not want to fall into the prideful error of thinking (as some so-called Dzogchen practitioners do) - "Oh! Everything is already perfect, therefore there is nothing more to do ~ all i need is to allow everything to arise and subside without me having to lift a finger!" This is very unwise, and has all sorts of associated problems built into such a premise.

 

The wise thing to do is we need to reconcile our minds to know that fulfillment, happiness, freedom, joy, and ultimately sustained awakening, leading to full enlightenment, does not arise without effort. Although our innate nature is pure, if we do nothing to decondition the conditioned mind, then the primordial purity or Buddha essence will have a hard time to reveal its true face. Metaphorically, its like being very thirsty, yet we are unwilling to make the effort to find drinkable water, and some, having found water, refuses to make the effort to drink. If we make the effort, even if we are lost in the desert, possibilities are there that we will not perish from hunger and thirst.

[Informer]

I think the spirit in dependent on all the chakra's as a synergy of sorts.

 

Like it takes both water and heat to make steam.

 

So to repair it, you simply repair the chakra's on which it is dependent.

 

Which I have been telling you since forever, to work with the heart center, if you really are where you have eluded to be. You have to be honest not only with us, but with you as well, if you really want it.

[thelerner]

It is the whole life thingy which I am extremely disappointed with.

 

What happens if you know the whole world is awake except for you?

 

How would you feel if you know the gods are deliberately suppressing your higher spiritual faculties but have freed the rest of the world?

 

How would you feel if you are punished for living life like a brainwashed zombie slave whose only interest is the material and indulgence of the senses? Yet everyone else in the world was not punished but even encouraged to continue indulging their senses like animals?

 

How would you feel if you are designated to carry all the world's sins without you having any say in this matter?

 

No, I don't think a mere broken heart comes anywhere close to a broken spirit.

Truthfully in the universal plan, I'm not that important. I think it takes a monstrous ego to come to the conclusion gods are punishing and suppressing oneself. Shit just happens. Our assumptions color our world. When we feel its collapsing drop the assumptions and JUST LIVE.

 

Forget the gods, forget the zombies(unless they're attacking and after brains), just live life. The gods don't matter, if some one wants sex or a BMW it just don't matter. Whats happening in Timbuktu doesn't matter.

 

What matters is what matters. What do you have to do today, how will you do it? Can you improve yourself? Learn something? Help someone?

 

You realize there is an incredible world of possibilities. You have rare fire and determination. You just try to bite off too much (IMO). Have a plan, get a little bit better. Master the long sit. Just 1 minute more each day and in a year you'll be well over 6 hours. Now that heavy duty.

 

There are many manuals for free on serious dreamwork on the internet. Thats a vast portal to deeper understandings and Siddhis.

 

I think we both suffer from intellectualism. We need to be a little more mentally retarded. Really. As a group they tend to be the happiest godliest people I can think of. Why? They're in the here and now, while we ponder great thoughts that trace causalities up the wazoo.

 

We don't have to be stupid, or try to sooth the gods, but I think there are concepts we have to drop. Or just shelf deep in our mind, so that we can take what comes with less judgement. And in your case much less negativity.

 

If you want to be happier, judge less, despise less. Even in mundane topics you often throw down who you dislike, seemingly out of the blue.

 

Please please please, try for one month to be positive, encouraging. Express no negative judgements. Keep'em to yourself for one month.

 

If someone says they're filling a Porsche with $100 bills and having an orgy of married couples frolic in it, I'd like you do say 'Thats nice' and go on with your day. Odds are they're lying anyway.

 

When life hands you lemons, sometimes, find another life. The quickest way is dropping preconceptions. You can always pick'em up later.

[thelerner]

You guys are doing great. I don't need speak at the moment.

Hmmnnn. Looks like someones hacked into Marblehead's account and is sending out posts.

[Marblehead]

Hmmnnn. Looks like someones hacked into Marblehead's account and is sending out posts.

 

Hehehe. Who in the world would want to pretend that they were me? Few, if any, I am sure. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I do remain silent now and again.