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Lost foolish being
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 8:07 pm
by Namu Butsu
So I have tried a lot of different paths. I have been trying to see if i could be a person of yogic discipline. i thought I could gain power over energy to help heal people (mainly a close one I love who is suffering). I thought my pranayama would cure my social anxiety and calm the body for integration of the truth. I thought my self inquiry and natural meditation would allow me to see the truth in all things. But now I am back to the very fact that I cannot do anything. I am weak and am in poverty spiritually. My anger has been suppressed and comes out in unwholesome ways. None of my practices have helped. Sometimes I think perhaps if i was truly disciplined and practiced every day it would change, but I feel I am incapable of that. So all I can do is chant the nembutsu. Even I feel that chanting the nembutsu will not save me, but this comes from the conditioned mind of a foolish being. If Amida buddha is not real I will be lost forever. If he is real then it is only through his grace that I will be enlighten ever.
Namu Amida Butsu
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 9:57 pm
by Rakz
Any spiritual path no matter which it may be should be viewed as a marathon rather than a sprint.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:48 pm
by greentara
namu butsu, Certainly a sincere and frank posting. A great Indian yogi once said 'how do you know there is no progress?' If we want something to happen instantly it may appear that nothing is happening. Continue with no expectations, its the only way. Chanting is always beneficial.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:41 am
by Admin_PC
Welcome
Namu Butsu wrote:...If Amida buddha is not real I will be lost forever. If he is real then it is only through his grace that I will be enlighten ever.
But isn't the point of enlightenment losing the "I am" forever?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:49 am
by Johnny Dangerous
Just give up, seriously..there's no way out of the prison man, it doesn't work like "do this, then everything is better" that's the first noble truth. Don't try to create a shangri-la and then go there, just do what you can and try to accept wherever you're at with things.
I know it's not a Pure Land answer, but in other traditions some would say that feelings of hopelessness are actually a sign of seeing things a bit more clearly....probably talk to a teacher of some sort.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:24 pm
by padma norbu
So... pranayama... OP's statement of "I thought my pranayama would cure my social anxiety and calm the body for integration of the truth" makes me think it probably takes many hours of work where nothing seems to really be happening before anything noticeable takes place from the practice... is that right?
I have not shelled out the money to learn it yet since I have plenty of other things to spend money on like bills, but was considering it soon. Yantra Yoga book and Breathe DVD have been sitting there gathering dust for some time because I just didn't think it would do much (unless maybe I turned into an avid breather) and now you seem to be confirming that. Sadly, I was searching for "pranayama" because my experience for the past 6 months of doing the Five Tibetan Rites caused me to think I was wrong and should learn Yantra Yoga / pranayama soon, but now I am not so sure.
OP, how much pranayama have you done?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:18 pm
by Grigoris
padma norbu wrote:Sadly, I was searching for "pranayama" because my experience for the past 6 months of doing the Five Tibetan Rites caused me to think I was wrong and should learn Yantra Yoga / pranayama soon, but now I am not so sure.
Just to be nosy (please disregard the question if you wish), but why would you spend precious time doing techinques whose validity is questioned, when there are so many authorised lineage holders in the US that you could learn "legit" techniques from?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:47 pm
by padma norbu
Sherab Dorje wrote:padma norbu wrote:Sadly, I was searching for "pranayama" because my experience for the past 6 months of doing the Five Tibetan Rites caused me to think I was wrong and should learn Yantra Yoga / pranayama soon, but now I am not so sure.
Just to be nosy (please disregard the question if you wish), but why would you spend precious time doing techinques whose validity is questioned, when there are so many authorised lineage holders in the US that you could learn "legit" techniques from?
I don't have authentic lineage-holding pushup teachings or a lineage-holding jogging coach, either. There is no pranayama in The Five Tibetans, it is just exercise. Also, it was identified as part of some fairly obscure yoga in the Sakya lineage by a lama someone, not that it actually matters.
EDIT: That wasn't meant as snippy. I apologize if it sounded that way. I find it hard to be blunt as I normally am without sounding rude when I write. I wonder if I sound rude when I talk and don't realize it.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:07 pm
by Astus
Fortunately birth in the Pure Land does not require special techniques or empowerments. Realising that one is full of karmic defilements, that only Amitabha's Vow can help in reaching enlightenment, and sincerely aspiring for birth in the Pure Land, these are the essentials for having right faith. And even in times of doubt one should keep the name in mind.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:54 pm
by Grigoris
padma norbu wrote:I don't have authentic lineage-holding pushup teachings or a lineage-holding jogging coach, either.
Fair enough, neither do I!
But if you are looking for a yogic exercise routine surely there must be somebody near you that teaches Surya Namaskar or Ashtanga Yoga?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:33 pm
by padma norbu
Sherab Dorje wrote:padma norbu wrote:I don't have authentic lineage-holding pushup teachings or a lineage-holding jogging coach, either.
Fair enough, neither do I!
But if you are looking for a yogic exercise routine surely there must be somebody near you that teaches Surya Namaskar or Ashtanga Yoga?
Exactly. I'm not. I'm interested in The 5 Tibetan Rites which take me about 2 or 3 minutes to do and make me feel amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I began to realize there must be something to this "coordination of energy" stuff Namkhai Norbu is always talking about and so I started thinking about yantra yoga, but
I in fact do not want to do yantra yoga. I am interested in learning pranayama now, though. See how I brought this back to the topic I was interested in hearing more about from OP?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:40 am
by Grigoris
The 5 Tibetan Rites are a pseudo-yoga routine (or a rip off and repackage of a proper routine).
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:06 am
by plwk
Well namu butsu, Amida has reached out his hand to us, question is, what about our part?
Singing about the glories of Amida extending his hand to us is of little value if I don't extend mine as well...
Kinda like listening to a sales talk but not buying anything at the end of the day.
In the final analysis, you get to see & know your own butsu.
That's what Amida would want for all of us.
There's no saving by anyone or anything. Just your own.
Amida merely extends his hand but I have to extend mine as well.
Think about it.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:10 am
by lobster
Namu Butsu wrote: If he is real
A very real post. In a sense we become or attune to the nature of our focus. Most people are unaware they are lost, having found a teaching, teacher or practice to attach to.
You have decided what you can do. That is well, that is a path, that is a potential. All you need do is travel a little more certainly . . . you are no more lost than those with other preferred 'realities'.
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:13 pm
by padma norbu
Sherab Dorje wrote:The 5 Tibetan Rites are a pseudo-yoga routine (or a rip off and repackage of a proper routine).
I do not care. I thought we already covered this?
Re: Lost foolish being
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:18 pm
by Grigoris
Apaprently so.