Just realized I never introduced myself...

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It'sYa1UPBoy
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Just realized I never introduced myself...

Post by It'sYa1UPBoy »

Greetings, DW!

The first time I posted here, the last thing on my mind was a self-introduction--- you may know me as the one who recently had anxiety about anantarika-karma. Thankfully that anxiety attack is far past me now. Since then I've posted a couple of times but I don't often feel qualified enough to contribute to most discussions. Still, this is the best place I can learn--- whether by discussion or observation. I am a Shin Buddhist from the Southeast USA, so no sangha near me--- even the ethnic temples, whose languages I sadly don't speak, are several hours away. Besides that, my internet is *very* crappy, so I can't even do livestreams with a virtual sangha! Still, by Amitabha's light and protection, my next birth will be much more conducive to Dharma study, and I'm grateful for that much.
As for my practice... My physical health isn't the best, so I can't do nembutsu at my shrine every day. Nonetheless, even when I'm stuck in bed, I try to recite nembutsu silently, and when I can get up, I pray, read, and chant at my little shrine in my room. (Maybe I'll post a picture of it at some point when I am able.) Right now I'm reading BDK's edition of the Pure Land Sutras and Alfred Bloom's "The Essential Shinran," with D.T. Suzuki's "Buddha of Infinite Light" waiting in the wings.
As for improving my conduct and my mindset in this life... Though I know Amitabha doesn't use good behavior as a criterion for admission to Sukhavati, I still find it very helpful to focus on the basics of Buddhism--- contemplating the 4NT and the impermanence of phenomena, working to embody the 8FP, following the five lay precepts to the best of my ability as a mere unenlightened human. In the short while that I've dedicated myself to Buddhism, I've found my conduct and character to have improved quickly. I know, of course, that speaking like this is ironic--- to say you've improved in conduct implies you haven't, at least in the case of humility and pride. I don't take pride in it; I simply speak of the results of self-evaluation then and now. I find myself to be calmer (though not always), less angry (though still ill-tempered), and far less prone to clinging to things I cannot change and to the actions of others. And, of course, to be speaking in terms of self and state of being, these are signs that I have a long way to go. I accept this. I am still on the raft, after all, not on the riverbank of Nirvana.

In gassho :anjali:,
It'sYa1UPBoy
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DNS
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Re: Just realized I never introduced myself...

Post by DNS »

Welcome to DW!

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Ayu
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Re: Just realized I never introduced myself...

Post by Ayu »

:hi: Hello.
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