Your Buddhist Practice - Talk About It

[Nosta]

I am curious about the kind of buddhist practices that people in the forum uses. This is just a little thread to talk a little more about what you do regards to meditation and other practices you may want to talk about. You can talk about being vegetarian, you can talk about mantras you use, you can talk about other stuff.

About me, i have little to say. I practice Pure Land buddhism, i mean, i do recitations (i say "namo amituofo", in case you dont know what Pure Land is). Some days i will be more diligent than others. Sometimes i may even not practice. When i have the opportunity, i may bow to a small Buddha statue that i have.

This is my main practice. Of course that i try to follow the best i can the Noble EightFold Path.

[ronnewmexico]

Firstly to state I don't claim buddhism. So much is buddhism today and much is far removed from me, I don't feel proper in claiming it. But I use buddhist texts as practice manuals to enhance understanding, and have certain empowerments and such, and am buddhist by ceremony.

I try to spend as much time in wilderness as possible. Present circumstances prohibited that largly this year(only three trips), but I mainly spend a month and a half in retreat house, but usually, wilderness, in the past years. But I live next to national forest so I try to expand my wilderness meditational practice to some degree here. I spent five years of time doing service to establish the necessary base for spiritual progression in meditation, more extensive mantra and prayers and ceremony. I maintain some service of a political nature but only a vestiage of past activity. Now I focus on meditation. Though much is not structured (some always is on a daily basis)...I am always watching/evaluating this thing of mind in everything. I consciously present circumstance to study mind but unconsciously I find circumstance presents to study mind as well. Ultimately self inspires these unconscious circumstantial presentations but it does feel like being led in a certain direction. Always in temple for instance.. I see a bug that needs to be saved reminding me of how the importance is not the temple nor the ceremony or me, but the compassionate intent of saving bug. The ground of things I assume always teaches. It seems that way. I am of the ground of thngs of course, but it is most easy with how things present, to see things happening of this sort as exterior.

So I mainly meditate. My present meditational endeavors involve periods of quietatude, and study of the functioning of mind as it relates to self. Moods and such I may elicit with particular causes to aid in study. Part of my practice is to study mind in varying contexts, some in wilderness some in city, as per my study guide. So part of my participation here on this board, is the mind in city part. Which I will abstain from when this part is done for a time. As a householder I have some family responsibilty but not to extensive.

I sing mantra always at least one daily, a bit as part of my requirement with empowerment, (I sing don't say it). but mainly to spread dharma to those insects animals spirts and such that may inhabit areas I frequent. Humans it seems are to my opinion mainly lost causes their karmic necessity seems like concrete or very heavy mud....so I bother with other things. I wonder at times of the human life being most conducive to progression....it seems not at all mostly, for most, just egoism. At least it may be a spark to hear dharma song, for other things, to start the path. To hear at least once dharma sung within the context of a empty thing. So I do that, and most enjoy that.

I think I have a very fine singing voice and sing quite loud, unbelievably loud actually... though spirits and animals may quite disagree.

In wilderness I go to remote places of fear and spirit inhabitation, to elicit mind in fear. It seems quite beneficial for that purpose. But winter stops that for a while. I will go through all events with eyes wide open such as even pain, drilling teeth and such, other pains(other than when sleeping is necessary)...to watch mind in those circumstances. Everything....eyes wide open which is how I meditate formally and not. I do use caffines, teas and such things, at times to stay most wide awake, when drowsy dreamy meditational moods ensue. I lift weights to balance spacyness of meditational moods with a grounding force. I jog and such, hike.... some in part to maintain body, some to study mind in quiet environment. I think that is necessary to be fit, to stay wide awake and effectively meditate. Other wise the body overpowers it.

Sio that is it in a nutshell. I trade stocks and stuff to supplement income sometimes.

Nothing stated here is to infer I have any spiritual progression of any sort, nor to infer I am in any way educated to things. I am a uneducated very simple, layperson with a very very slight bit of enhancement in this life, of my very minimal compassioante intent...is all. That is my ultimate measure of this thing, compassion. But that was my goal to increase just the slightest bit....so I have attained my goal, all the rest is gravy. Thusly I am mainly...living in paradise. Watching the sensations available to this distillant of awareness....this human body is quite quite entertaining. Light is golden to me now, I never fail to be amazed, at what I am now seeing and feeling. I am so strange... sometimes I frighten myself.
Mind of circumstantial origin, my mind, is quite common and ordianary....mostly I pay it no mind, except in the watching.

[Mr. G]

Firstly to state I don't claim buddhism. So much is buddhism today and much is far removed from me, I don't feel proper in claiming it. But I use buddhist texts as practice manuals to enhance understanding, and have certain empowerments and such, and am buddhist by ceremony.

You're Buddhist, stop repressing!

[ronnewmexico]

Like stinky farts in crowded places...some things are best repressed.

If it serves purpose in the real world.... mainly to show a other view availablity to those who may have no exposure to such things....I claim it. Most of the working class people I acquaintance with, or are related too, know zero buddhists, or anything religious that is nontheist. So then I claim it, loudly.

On internet and in reality, I don't. It serves no purpose, and may not be true. I look then closely at all that may be said or written, to see if it is true, rather than to see if it is true in a buddhist way. The habit of close looking is then reinforced by this consideration. Close looking habit formation, being more important to me personally than looking in a buddhist way. I will forget all words when I die, but not the habits, and thusly the habit of looking closely, it seems. The habit of calling things by names I actually consider not beneficial to reinforce, as it reinforces conceptual habit formation. So I make no effort to remember any names or things of that sort, (other than perhaps peoples names I have just met or things I really need to retain) and cannot even tell you the proper name of my practice manual, and many other spiritual thngs, though I have used it and them, for lots of years. Retention itself is seemingly good to reinforce in habit, but nameing seems to lead to concept almost directly. I must be careful in which habits I develope and reinforce, to make this life usefull.

I thought on walk in forest the other day....all was words. My self my body the ground I walked the squirrel I spied the sky and all the rest. Lines of words upon words. Quite remarkably the dreams I drempt two nights later were all words as well. Dreaming in words...who woulda thought?

Is that for instance buddhism.....most all buddhists would say no. I don't care... I know its purpose. Habits we retain imprint beyond death. But truthfully most would say no.

[Shutoku]

I am curious about the kind of buddhist practices that people in the forum uses. This is just a little thread to talk a little more about what you do regards to meditation and other practices you may want to talk about. You can talk about being vegetarian, you can talk about mantras you use, you can talk about other stuff.

About me, i have little to say. I practice Pure Land buddhism, i mean, i do recitations (i say "namo amituofo", in case you dont know what Pure Land is). Some days i will be more diligent than others. Sometimes i may even not practice. When i have the opportunity, i may bow to a small Buddha statue that i have.

This is my main practice. Of course that i try to follow the best i can the Noble EightFold Path.

I am also Pure Land, though of the Jodo shinshu tradition.

Every morning and evening I go to the shrine and gassho reciting "Namo Amida Butsu"
a few times.
Then I chant a sutra...usually either Juseige, Amida kyo, or Shoshinge. Sometimes I chant in English, other times in Japanese/Chinese. It just depends on my mood, but I think I prefer the Japanese overall. It is just more rhythmic and more meditative.
After the sutra I either recite the Nembutsu a few times in Gassho, and then I am done,
or I might use my nenju and recite 108 times, or I might practice Nembutsu Zazen...Zazen posture, silently reciting with each in going and outgoing breath.

However, in keeping with Shin teachings, if I do a meditative recitation of Nembutsu it is done with an attitude of gratitude, not trying to attain anything.

This is my daily practice. Twice a month I attend services at the local Shin temple as well, where I play piano for gathas (in this context.. Shin Buddhist 'hymns") and on rare occasions lead the service when our Sensei is out of town. (I do not give dharma talks though)

[Nosta]

Shutoko, i always made confusion about Jodo ShinShu. Is Jodo ShinShu the tradition that doenst see Amithaba as a real (and by real i mean something so "real" as me and you, and clouds, etc) but rather as Nibanna state? I mean, i know that there is a Pure Land tradition that sees Amithaba in a noumenon way but not in a phenoumenon way, but i always get confused about wich tradition is.

About my recitation, its not just to "admire" or show my gratitude, but more with the purpose of reborn on Pure Land, to free myself and others.