I’m a week or so away from my 35th birthday and I can confidently say that the Dhamma (dharma) has been a big part of my life for the better part of the past 20 years, arguably even the whole of it. My family’s not Buddhist, and I didn’t have any Buddhist influences growing up, but I was always questioning, investigating, wanting to understand the ways of the mind and heart. Even though I was lucky enough to come across my first book on meditation at 14, and my first formal instruction at 18, it honestly wasn’t until just before my 31st birthday that things started to click. And it wasn’t until another couple of years passed that I truly learned how to meditate—meditate as a way of life.
All posts in category Formal / Retreat
What happens when you decide not to call yourself a Buddhist
Posted by sharanam on October 9, 2011
https://sharanam.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/what-happens-when-you-decide-not-to-call-yourself-a-buddhist/
Inquiry as practice
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.–Albert Einstein
→Ask questions.
I’d like to say this is the first present I received when visiting the Gimme Presence site to partake in its creator Kristen’s challenge. But I can’t.
Posted by sharanam on July 21, 2011
https://sharanam.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/inquiry-as-practice/
The dirty on desire
What is the condition of the mind before wanting arises? It is actually quite okay, isn’t it? The mind that is not disturbed by wanting anything at all is peaceful. It is when wanting arises that we feel the itch, but if we scratch the itch straight-away–gratifying the desire immediately without stopping to investigate–we won’t notice how irritating desire can be.
Posted by sharanam on May 27, 2011
https://sharanam.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/the-dirty-on-desire/
The power of community
It is hard to live
the life of renunciation;
its challenges
are difficult to find pleasant.
Yet it is also hard to live
the householder’s life;
there is pain
when associating with those
among whom one feels no companionship.
Posted by sharanam on May 12, 2011
https://sharanam.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/the-power-of-community/
Integration
The point is to look at meditation as awakenedness and awareness throughout daily life in whatever way we live and in whatever conditions…Be that which allows things to be what they are.
Posted by sharanam on April 22, 2011
https://sharanam.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/integration/
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