Breathe in this moment.
sisterred just asked me "Does spinning help you focus and concentrate better on difficult tasks?"
I said: "Actually, that is exactly what I was going to say. When we're just going about our daily business, we have a lot on our minds and are probably not observing the world much. That's what I love most about spinning fire: you really have to live in the moment. You really have to be fully aware of yourself and your surroundings. There is no past, no future - just now, just you and the fire. I don't think there's any coincidence that I started to really understand Buddhist teachings, to believe them and put them into practise, once I started spinning fire. Of course, doing it without fire, like when I'm learning a new move, really helps my observational skills as well."
Now I truly understand why so many burners subscribe to eastern philosophy.
I'm a Pagan/Buddhist hybrid. I found out I'm a witch in 1995, and as yet, nothing has changed that. I've always said that I have fluid ideas about religion, and that I don't take religion seriously, I take spirituality seriously. My religion is just a way to express my spirituality, but if it stopped serving its purpose for me, I could stop practising it tomorrow. So far, it's still serving its purpose. I first got interested in reading up on Buddhism in about 1998, but what I read scarcely made sense to me. Back then, I didn't understand there were so many different types of Buddhism. I'm glad I came back to it. Now I'm finding a lot of comfort in Tibetan Buddhism and the writings of Sogyal Rinpoche. The things that help you find you when you need them the most, not any time beforehand. As a witch, I understand that well.
I'm also glad I'm older now - that alone will grant amazing perspective and calm. Maybe it's that earned perspective and experience that made Buddhism make more sense to me.
In seeking perspective, I was shown this.
I said: "Actually, that is exactly what I was going to say. When we're just going about our daily business, we have a lot on our minds and are probably not observing the world much. That's what I love most about spinning fire: you really have to live in the moment. You really have to be fully aware of yourself and your surroundings. There is no past, no future - just now, just you and the fire. I don't think there's any coincidence that I started to really understand Buddhist teachings, to believe them and put them into practise, once I started spinning fire. Of course, doing it without fire, like when I'm learning a new move, really helps my observational skills as well."
Now I truly understand why so many burners subscribe to eastern philosophy.
I'm a Pagan/Buddhist hybrid. I found out I'm a witch in 1995, and as yet, nothing has changed that. I've always said that I have fluid ideas about religion, and that I don't take religion seriously, I take spirituality seriously. My religion is just a way to express my spirituality, but if it stopped serving its purpose for me, I could stop practising it tomorrow. So far, it's still serving its purpose. I first got interested in reading up on Buddhism in about 1998, but what I read scarcely made sense to me. Back then, I didn't understand there were so many different types of Buddhism. I'm glad I came back to it. Now I'm finding a lot of comfort in Tibetan Buddhism and the writings of Sogyal Rinpoche. The things that help you find you when you need them the most, not any time beforehand. As a witch, I understand that well.
I'm also glad I'm older now - that alone will grant amazing perspective and calm. Maybe it's that earned perspective and experience that made Buddhism make more sense to me.
In seeking perspective, I was shown this.