I quit drinking in 1990, which in many ways was the beginning of me waking up. In 2004, I started vipassana meditation and deeply focusing on art, meditation and 'thoughts', even when not in formal meditation.
The sentiment of this post is nice and I agree with it, to a degree. But I know, from LOTS of therapy, group support and spiritual groups, that some people will use spiritual 'axioms' and principles as a way to avoid spending time and paying attention to another person, which I feel is detrimental to people's feelings of self worth. If the time out to watch the breath is truly to help the person, fine. But if it's used as an excuse to quiet the person, I disagree. I am a firm believer in the power of listening. And the 'guru' who is compassionate enough to listen with an open heart is helping. I know a lot of people probably thought of me as 'high maintenance' because I talked all the time and it seemed like nothing was sinking in - believe me, it was. Stream entry happened in 2016 - and I am forever grateful to the people who listened to the narrative I was so attached to...THAT was part of my waking up....reflecting on the sacrifice so many people gave, listening to me.
On Sep 20, 2017 Joseph Kokomo wrote :
I quit drinking in 1990, which in many ways was the beginning of me waking up. In 2004, I started vipassana meditation and deeply focusing on art, meditation and 'thoughts', even when not in formal meditation.
The sentiment of this post is nice and I agree with it, to a degree. But I know, from LOTS of therapy, group support and spiritual groups, that some people will use spiritual 'axioms' and principles as a way to avoid spending time and paying attention to another person, which I feel is detrimental to people's feelings of self worth. If the time out to watch the breath is truly to help the person, fine. But if it's used as an excuse to quiet the person, I disagree. I am a firm believer in the power of listening. And the 'guru' who is compassionate enough to listen with an open heart is helping. I know a lot of people probably thought of me as 'high maintenance' because I talked all the time and it seemed like nothing was sinking in - believe me, it was. Stream entry happened in 2016 - and I am forever grateful to the people who listened to the narrative I was so attached to...THAT was part of my waking up....reflecting on the sacrifice so many people gave, listening to me.