Lived Experience Forum

[MDT]

About to go to bed here @Maelstrom1
Shall catch up with you tomorrow

[Maelstrom1]

@MDT ,

Ha! Hamsolo, a man of culture I see 

[Maelstrom1]

No Mud, No Lotus

[MDT]

yeh something like that lol @Maelstrom1

[MDT]

sounds like good accountability there my friend @Maelstrom1
today i have got up 🙂 that much I am actually happy about

[Maelstrom1]

This is the start of me posting some Buddhist concepts, as the want takes me, disclaimers as per my first post - In all cases, if anything I am posting is making you feel worse, please do what is right for yourself, don't reply and click off this thread.

The Four Noble Truths

Content/trigger warning

Siddhartha Gautama was twenty-nine years old when he left his family to search for a way to end his and others' suffering. He studied meditation with many teachers, and after six years of practice, he sat under a bodhi tree and vowed not to stand up until he was enlightened. He sat all night, and as the morning star arose, he had a profound breakthrough and became awakened, filled with unbounded happiness, understanding and love.

But how to explain the heart of the breakthrough that he had to others?

Siddhartha chose to frame it as the Four Noble Truths.

The First Noble Truth: There Is Suffering.

• The root meaning of the Chinese character for suffering is "bitter." Happiness is sweet; suffering is bitter. By suffering he meant not so much physical pain but rather mental torment, however this chooses to manifests, in its many forms, from dissatisfaction, to craving, to anger, to anxiety, to depression.
  
  

The Second Noble Truth: Suffering Is Caused.

• This is good news! Suffering is not something permanent, unchangeable, that we are born with. We can look deeply into it and to see how it came to be. We can recognize and identify the spiritual and material foods we have ingested, are continuing to ingest, that are causing us to suffer. To do so, we may need the help of a teacher and a community, friends in the practice.

The Third Noble Truth: Suffering Can Cease.

• If suffering is caused, then it can cease. We can live our way to a new way of feeling. If there is suffering then there is also happiness. If suffering has its causes then so too does happiness. The Third Truth is that healing is possible.

The Fourth Noble Truth: There Is A Path That Leads To Freedom From Suffering.

• Look at the nutrients you are ingesting, both body and mind. Ask yourself, "What nourishes joy in me? What nourishes joy in others?" Let go of the daily habits that increase suffering. Cultivate the habits that nourish joy. Know this is a practice. And to practice is to start small and to try and to make mistakes and to fall over and to start again, over and over, and to never give up. Be kind to yourself. Be like a child learning to walk.
  
  
• (Note - traditionally the Fourth Noble Truth can be expressed as the Eight Fold Path - a set of eight daily interconnecting practices - I'll cover in a later post.)

For forty-five years, Siddhartha Gautama, merely a man, now known as Buddha, said, over and over again, "I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering." In a very real way, he was the world's first therapist.

[Maelstrom1]

End Of Day 1 Accountability Check

• I got to bed on time last night ✔️
• Went for walk in rain and did my mental rehearsal ✔️
• Had a green tea and meditated ✔️
• Helped wifey with Resume✔️
• Took my dog for a walk with my wife ✔️
• Completed a guided compassion meditation  ✔️
•  Ate cleanly  ✔️

It was hard. First days always are. Faced a lot of cravings and resistance. Went through a lot of intrusive thoughts and feelings. I tell myself short term discomfort for long term peace and positivity. Feeling content now. Will do it all again tomorrow 

Night All. Hope everyone else's day had someting they could celebrate @Appleblossom, @Emelia8 , @Clawde , 

@BPDSurvivor , @greenpea , @wellwellwellnez , @frog , @MDT , @ArtistZ @Daisydreamer @HenryX 

Welcome to the forums @Miss_BPD , @Andrew_Jackson. 

Welcome back @AlwaysHappy

[Maelstrom1]

Sorry for the spam people, posting playing up for me...

[Maelstrom1]

I have a couple of blank posts to fill up. So let us call this the start of "Things I Like".

I like the poem Desiderata 

Desiderata

GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By Max Ehrmann © 1927

[Maelstrom1]

---

"When it hurts observe.

Life is trying to teach you something."