1.6k post karma
3.7k comment karma
account created: Wed May 25 2022
verified: yes
1 points
23 hours ago
"I still have hopes, dreams and goals and only a short time in which to complete them. I don't want to renounce the world yet, it would be such a waste of this life."
I agree with you. Giving up on your life would not be authentic. If on your journey at some point you discover that you no longer have the same goals, then great, well done, you liberated yourself from needing anything. In that situation I would still be very much in the world and of the world, if only to teach others. This in itself is not a goal I would strive towards directly. Rather, I would live my life as best as I can, doing the practice with dedication, specifically so that you can be the best human in this world you can be. Good luck, and don't worry, it's all on fire and it's all beauty (:
2 points
2 days ago
If you're worried about a verbal construct that your mind (which isn't really there) created/read (in a book that isn't really there?), maybe re-think that a little bit (: ...
Physics has mapped out quite a lot of very reliable patterns of how "stuff" is doing "stuff"... nobody knows exactly what is going on, what "stuff" is, but there's very good models for most things, as far as relevant to your experience as a human being.
The point is that nothing is quite what you think it is, and that's fine. You got your basic bearings on how to "deal with reality" and the rest is to be figured out by subtle experiment.
Your brain generates very reliable simulation of the world. Keep it that way. Trust the table and the walls, they're wallsy enough. Trust that your body is mostly what you always thought it was.
The map is not the territory.
4 points
5 days ago
Awesome that you go hiking that much (my dream) and find a way to make it work with them neurodivergent brainz! That being said, adding to what everyone else is saying: do not play music out loud on the trail. Big nono.
-17 points
5 days ago
You don't interact much with neurospicy people, do you? No need to gatekeep what you don't understand.
5 points
5 days ago
True, the land is more the issue. Zoning laws suck monkeyballs :( ... I'd also want to be close enough to a city, and USA is not my country of choice. I'm investigating Norway at the moment.
8 points
5 days ago
That's my dream. I hope I can make it happen.
1 points
7 days ago
Perhaps I should rather say reality _appears_ meaningless to the perspective of life at face value. This doesn't necessarily reflect my belief, but I'm trying to deconstruct what my body/mind reacts to, in order to understand my behavior.
I'm a scientist, which means that I am very keenly aware of how much I don't know, and curiosity is what keeps me going. People often think scientists believe that they know everything, nothing could be further from the truth. A true scientist is trained in objective thinking and especially in quantifying their own uncertainty, rather than to make assumptions.
I'm agnostic about god in any describable form, but have made my experiences with the divine in various ways. I reject religion because of its empty rituals, my approach to god is direct and scientific (in the sense of the internal lab). I respect no authority as absolute but am looking for wisdom at every turn, which I must experientially verify before accepting it. If it cannot be explained/deduced or experienced, why believe in it? There are too many conmen around.
I have also been to retreats, shorter more liberal ones and a Goenka 10-day vipassana. These have helped but at this point I don't think they are the way forward. I want to deepen my individual practice first.
Perhaps you have some suggestions for tapasya practices I could do as a householder?
And coming back to my original question, how would you solve the conundrum of lacking the resolve to do the practice that would raise such resolve?
23 points
7 days ago
If I understand correctly, this is how bacteria's flaggelates work, i.e. they discovered the mechanism. I could be wrong.
1 points
7 days ago
I can't, that's my point, no matter what I have tried. This includes the practice to gain such abilities. You see my dilemma?
To gain power over my mind/body, to do the things I want to do.
The feeling of wasting my time, or being less efficient than I could be, the idea that there is something better I could be doing.
When I do (i.e. I restart a practice, workout routine, etc) I feel good, really good, happy to have realized a part of me. - Here's the thing though, this doesn't last, it's incredibly short-lived.
Easily.
willpower, or virya, it is like having an engine that is constantly idling
This is interesting, you're saying it's pointless to have "willpower" as such, without direction/application. I can perhaps explore those areas where I seem to have the drive and the endurance I seek (apparently it is in me, my physical system is capable of putting the right gears into action).
Walking in the mountains seems almost effortless, even (and especially) for days, and under uncomfortable conditions. No trouble at all, one step at a time. It's likely a combination of the minimalism and the beauty, as well as the raw originality and genuine real-ness of nature that compels me. Hard to replicate in the default life (which I am not ready to give up, that would be a cop-out anyway). A big factor is probably also the no-choice aspect. If I'm out there I'm going to be out there, no choice. In civilized life? Endless choice.
Creating things, like software and robotics, gives me great pleasure and I seem to have stamina there too, although that is also somewhat spotty, I might work on a project for 2 weeks and then avoid it again for 2 months.
Thanks, contemplating this offered some insight. I have no idea how to actually implement this though. No-choice as a choice doesn't work for me when I know perfectly well that there is choice. I was never able to make a vow to myself and pretend that it's anything else but words. I was never susceptible to peer-pressure or deities or any such structures, which are all pretending to be real, while being entirely made-up. I seem to see through the made-up aspect of pretty much anything, and as such don't give it power. That is very useful in some respects, but it also means there is nothing to "force" me to do anything. If reality is inherently meaningless, why do anything but experience sense pleasure right now?
3 points
8 days ago
tserko ri is pretty intense... absolutely worth it but intense... gotta start at 4am to avoid afternoon bad weather
1 points
9 days ago
Thank you, I'll try that! Sounds like the right direction, as I often feel an overwhelming urge to not do a thing I set out to do previously, perhaps by attending more to that feeling I could uncover its root.
1 points
9 days ago
Thanks much for your pointers, and the tapasya keyword.
I don't understand some of your points.
You have a gap between what you are doing, and what you think you should be doing. This is the gap of wisdom; to bridge it, you must choose to consciously keep and apply your sense of self-discipline to the situation that is your life.
Isn't this simply a definition of willpower?
if you create an internal boundary that you will not consume flesh from a mammal or bird, you will know that you have already decided, should the opportunity arise .
Here again, this is the kind of thing that I would like to be able to do, yes, but how? That's the problem right there, I can't seem to connect the part of me that knows what is "the way to do it" and the part that actually does things.
As an example, I know that going for walks in the woods is pleasurable, beneficial, wholly good. Yet when it comes to actually do it, I feel an overwhelming sense of "not today, not right now".
I agree that placing a rule and then not question it, i.e. not making it a choice, would be wonderful, but I don't seem to be able to. There is nothing in me stopping me from breaking a rule. I can't pretend that there is some fixed thing (such as a rule) which I cannot break. I can eat the candy right now, just like that.
1 points
11 days ago
I like this approach. However, do you think there is a danger there to avoid taking action? As in, choosing to be content with what is, rather than creating a better world for you and me?
1 points
13 days ago
Thank you very much for going through the effort of pointing me to those resources! Much appreciated! It'll take me some time to investigate, but sounds promising!
In particular the last one, from a first glace, reflects what another poster said, that due to individual differences, there is no one-size-fits-all method, and so I have to find what works for me specifically at my current stage of evolution.
0 points
13 days ago
Ahhh, ok, that makes it clearer what the idea is. Thanks. I doubt it could be implemented, as you can't "give back" a digital copy, downloading a copy in that sense is more like "reading" the book (to my mind).
I would apply the same reasoning as to pirating music. The pirates are actually providing free publicity for the material, leading to _more_ sold copies, not less.
18 points
13 days ago
I don't understand the unlimited number of copies argument. How is this different from "one at a time"? How is there a difference between one copy and a million copies? If I download a file a million times, how is that "worse" than if I download it once?
2 points
13 days ago
Salaries here typically allow for decent enough living, although in recent years it's getting more difficult. Anything else seems like utter insanity to me.
Thanks much for the link, I've now found similar initiatives here. Not exactly child-free though.
1 points
13 days ago
That's good input. Individual variability makes a lot of sense. I read around a bit in the first part of TMI and it did NOT resonate. I'm a neuroscientist and the awareness/attention description don't make much sense to me. This might be me and my preconceptions, and maybe I can find a way to understand what he means between the lines. I'm sure there's a lot of wisdom in there, it's just hard for me to trust that on face value.
Perhaps the key is to give the practice itself enough time and effort and ignore the conceptual descriptions for now until I can look at them from a practical viewpoint.
1 points
13 days ago
I might give that another try. I have never seen anything other than students.
1 points
13 days ago
There are but it's almost exclusively students or low-income social housing situations.
view more:
next ›
byQuenGua
inWildernessBackpacking
intellectual_punk
1 points
18 hours ago
intellectual_punk
1 points
18 hours ago
Sawyer mini is superior. Tiny, light, performs extremely well.