SampaJasli said:

keep yourself

busy
and/or
distracted

it doesn't pay to spend your time ruminating and introspecting. life is much easier when you are constantly engaged in work and leisure. alternatively you can distract yourself with any number of things. the two options share quite a bit of overlap though.

---

Quote:

The Bodhisattva's way is called "the single-minded way,"
or "one railway track thousands of miles long." The railway
track is always the same. If it were to become wider or
narrower, it would be disastrous. Wherever you go, the
railway track is always the same. That is the Bodhisattva's
way. So even if the sun were to rise from the west, the
Bodhisattva has only one way. His way is in each moment
to express his nature and his sincerity.
We say railway track, but actually there is no such thing.
Sincerity itself is the railway track. The sights we see from
the train will change, but we are always running on the
same track. And there is no beginning or end to the track:
beginningless and endless track. There is no starting point
nor goal, nothing to attain. Just to run on the track is our
way. This is the nature of our Zen practice.
But when you become curious about the railway track,
danger is there. You should not see the railway track. If you
look at the track you will become dizzy. Just appreciate
the sights you see from the train. That is our way. There is
no need for the passengers to be curious about the track.
Someone will take care of it; Buddha will take care of it.

- Shunryu Suzuki

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MushroomTrip said:

SampaJasli said:

keep yourself

busy
and/or
distracted

it doesn't pay to spend your time ruminating and introspecting. life is much easier when you are constantly engaged in work and leisure. alternatively you can distract yourself with any number of things. the two options share quite a bit of overlap though.

---

That's a pretty lame-ass advice

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Compelling argument, MT, maybe you could expand on it and enlighten us all

I think there is some validity to SJ's thought, in recognizing that he said "keep yourself busy and/or distracted."  I often find myself loafing around in deep thought idly allowing the experiences of life to pass me by.  I think that although it is important to be conscious and investigative of your world, it is equally important to be engaged in that world to a more physical degree.

Because we can rarely be absolutely positive about the cause/effect/significance of any experience, it is only useful to dwell on a singular subject for so long before you need to go collect more data from the field to bring back and process further.

It surely pays to spend time "ruminating and instrospecting" but when you do it too much you can go crazy

I recommend a healthy mix, if something is too easy you're probably not doing it right or over-complicating it enough

Bernackums said:

RAPTOR JESUS DOES NOT APPROVE!

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LEVEL 28 DEVIL JESUS AGREES

Quote:

I think there is some validity to SJ's thought, in recognizing that he said "keep yourself busy and/or distracted."  I often find myself loafing around in deep thought idly allowing the experiences of life to pass me by.  I think that although it is important to be conscious and investigative of your world, it is equally important to be engaged in that world to a more physical degree.

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This doesn't make sense to me. How can being in touch with yourself stop you from being active, work, or do anything else? If anything, it makes everything more enjoyable and can add to the effectiveness of your work. When we lose our self awareness, irrational thoughts and emotions can squeeze in unobserved, and create irritability, mental exhaustion, and even depression. It is very easy for these negative emotions to occur, and if we're not "there" (as in present), then they have the opportunity to flourish and turn into problems of huge proportions. The sleep of reason can indeed produce monsters.

WhiskeyClone said:

Distraction gets you nowhere but closer to death. 

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SampaJasli said:

keep yourself

busy
and/or
distracted

it doesn't pay to spend your time ruminating and introspecting. life is much easier when you are constantly engaged in work and leisure. alternatively you can distract yourself with any number of things. the two options share quite a bit of overlap though.

---

SampaJasli said:

keep yourself

busy
and/or
distracted

it doesn't pay to spend your time ruminating and introspecting. life is much easier when you are constantly engaged in work and leisure. alternatively you can distract yourself with any number of things. the two options share quite a bit of overlap though.

---

alot of people are fine when they are distracted by activity but when they have a minute to relax they suddenly realize that what they have been doing is completely pointless & get depressed, like being at work all day chatting with collegues but then finsihing work like 'this is a load of BS'

so yes you may be happy while busy but nobody can be busy 24/7, eventually you have to stop & wonder, why do you do what you do? to get where? what for?

in my experience introspection is the key to all the happyness you could ask for, infact during introspection i have so much happyness all i want to do is give it away

imo staying in constant activity & not questioning why is pretty mindless

but i like relaxation, deep deep relaxation that only instrospection can bring
staying in constant activity either physcial or mental is not relaxing, especially mental, i can physically work hard all day & stay in constant relaxation without even the feeling im doing anything, its the mental thought of 'im doing this' that weighs heavy, not the act in itself

our attention is our most powerful tool, i see a wise person as one who puts their attention on something worthwhile, not just any distraction

whatever works for making you happy

SampaJasli said:

keep yourself

busy
and/or
distracted

it doesn't pay to spend your time ruminating and introspecting. life is much easier when you are constantly engaged in work and leisure. alternatively you can distract yourself with any number of things. the two options share quite a bit of overlap though.

---