2 ms·
Only a few do, mostly because Buddhism has a lot of baggage being classified as a religion and being couched in mysticism in popular presentation, but everyone
by fnordpiglet 3y ago
Only a few do, mostly because Buddhism has a lot of baggage being classified as a religion and being couched in mysticism in popular presentation, but everyone who does finds a lot of value. It’s value is proportional to how much you practice meditation and take it seriously - but not mystically. There’s no magic or life after death or eternal happiness, it’s a very practical guide to being a human being in the way humans actually are rather than how we are taught to live by our society, culture, and instinct.
My suggestion to most is to start with Gil as a teacher -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Fronsdal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Fronsdal
He has an enormous amount of recorded teachings and does a daily mediation at 7am PST on YouTube. I would start with this:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq_lRuaNj50Nm-SRxYPFSTyTtyvdq3QHm https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq_lRuaNj50Nm-SRxYPFSTyTt...
Regarding recovery I think most people do, but it does require dramatically changing your lifestyle in some way. You’re there mostly due to how you view life and your situation, as well as the situation. I think no one is ever the same and their limits in life are closer than before. You have to be more gentle with yourself, and more aware of yourself. A lot of vipassana meditation is learning to detach your “self,” or awareness from your thoughts and feelings and sensations and being able to observe them without becoming entangled in them. For instance I feel anxiety in my chest. By letting my thoughts and feelings be as they are but holding the tightness in my chest in awareness without judgement, the tightness eventually dissipates because it never really existed somatically. Concurrently my anxiety does as well, and I can then let the thoughts go as well as they’ve lost their power. It’s taken me two years but at this point I am fully engaged in my life, learning and loving more than I ever have all that life has to offer. I’ve got a great job at a late stage startup and switched from senior leadership roles to distinguished engineer roles.
Good luck man. Find friends too, friends are hard to engage with when burned out, but it is helpful.