Comments | juliust: Mid-Monastery Update

juliust

Mid-Monastery Update

Aug 27, 2004 15:16

Turns out this monastery has DSL, so I am taking advantage of the latter and posting a small update. It is now (I think) a week and a half since I came here...in any case, my muscles have stopped hurting only a few days ago. They certainly drive one here, which is good, but I must say that I have been in these 10 or so days a dishwasher, logger, ( Read more... )

Comments 8

hai_kah_uhk August 27 2004, 21:00:08 UTC

Sounds great. I wish I were there too. Actually I'm reasonably close.

tearak August 27 2004, 21:11:21 UTC

....the monastery has DSL?!

so much silence, I'd go mad.

weird comparison in 5 4 3 2 1 alcira September 2 2004, 05:54:36 UTC

criticism in public? man that was so not Foothill student gov't. although the president at the time in 2001-2002 tried to make it so that there was trust - (there was none, it was fake)..., and he did get away with doing it, the teacher wanted him to be really PC and try not to hurt other people's "feelings", it didn't really bother me.

Re: weird comparison in 5 4 3 2 1 juliust September 5 2004, 22:51:41 UTC

In zen there are no predispositions towards anything - all of the BS is stripped away. Today, in fact, I got a major verbal flogging because I left the door to the compost room open...it smelled horrible. The mention was made before dinner, and I had to clean the hallway before partaking of the evening meal. Took me 45 minutes, but it was worth it - I'm not doing that again.

Re: weird comparison in 5 4 3 2 1 alcira September 6 2004, 07:45:06 UTC

Julius, I've learned so much about Zen from just hanging out with you that I have to tell you - tonight a roommate got pissy but I took her down with Zen calm - who knows where it came from but I think I did it on my own. You did leave the door to the compost room open - ewwwwwww it must have had a stench! But my point is I pulled quite a Janeway-Picard-Sisko on her... I got very calm but very angry in my chair here I'm sitting in. She was fucking around with my chicken without asking me. It pissed me off. I told her to tell me before she does something or ask. Then she came into my room without asking... bitched at me for having done the same although I ask quietly thank you..., and then proceeded to be.. well pissed. But not in the Zen way... in "blame, blame blame, condescend way...", as in I haven't spoken to her or acknowledged her existence since Friday since she so often does that to me. One of those people who think they need to treat me as stupid for the way I look or something or the fact they caught wind of what I deal with ( ... )

Re: weird comparison in 5 4 3 2 1 juliust September 7 2004, 18:25:38 UTC

The secret, I feel, to maintaining calm, at least at the beginning, lies in the way one sees the world. If you get pissed off, then immediately (telling yourself "Stop!") cease thinking (period) and look at what happened, why it happened, and why you are pissed. From there you can take different routes - I for example find humor a wonderful way to overcome anger. If I am pissed about something someone has done, I usually tell myself "what an idiot you are, worrying about stuff like that!" and in most cases it immediately goes away. It is very hard to maintain mindfulness (a key practice in Zen) 24/7 - that is why I stop occasionally and look at myself from a third person view, and in most cases it helps tremendously. Yoga is really not needed here (although it is not discouraged!), but rather a practice of mindfulness. I can go on for hours, so if you are interested, I can give you a little intro on Zen and what we do when I get back. For now, remember to stop the presses whenever you feel angry, and look at yourself from the outside ( ... )

Thread 6