Anyone else found meditation helpful?

[heyheyhey]

Delighted to see this thread! I am Buddhist and practice mindfulness meditation, although the two ar...

Loved your post @whiteraven! That is so cool that you have a zen practitioner as a therapist :)! I so relate to what you are saying about breaking down crying in meditation; both in metta and in mindfulness, sometimes I don't realise how much sadness there is in me until I meditate; but it's so healing, I think sadness is such a healing emotion - it's not hard like depression or rage. And the tears make things feel so much better; crying is so healing to me :). Thank you for sharing!

 

[heyheyhey]

@Bliss, I love your flower too :D!

 

[heyheyhey]

(No Mud, No Lotus Flower) :)

 

[heyheyhey]

Hi guys, I'm just coming to update you all. Today really I was so happy, it was like the feeling of being in love and I was sitting with a calm, peaceful smile on my face as I rode the tram around my city. Lots of little things just bring me joy, I just feel like I'm really enjoying life; it's a deep sense of ease and contentment. It's awesome. Almost like I'm falling in love with life.

At the same time I'm seeing change, all the little 'bad' ways I used to find some rush and relief from being me and living life, don't work; the flirtations and indulgences just feel so jagged and ugly, and yet I can feel how deeply I am attached to them; but I can't go towards them anymore. It's exciting, it's like I really can't bare those things anymore, yet I can feel how much I'm attached to them.

Hope I don't end up posting too much, but just wanted to share this. This is a pronounced difference in my life, compared to the changes I've seen from meditation so far, before I've been more used to some great happiness and peace but not anything big...these changes are really a lot different. It's great. I think a big part of it is that I actually hang out with people who do it too, so it's really helping me uphold my practice and think more deeply about practice.

 

[heyheyhey]

By the way, I read something inspiring in the book I'm reading on happiness and meditation. The author was talking about a Buddhist monk who had been a religious prisoner and had been through severe abuse by his captors and torturers for over 20 years, yet he was one of the most joyful and peaceful men the author had ever met; a psychologist could not find any symptom of PTSD in him. The author was using this to highlight the power of the mind, particularly insight and compassion; I found it inspiring because often I read this stuff and I think that somehow this stuff won't work for me because of PTSD, or how can I let go of anger after what they have done to me? It was just so inspiring to read, like if he can do it and experience real happiness and he has had an insane amount of trauma, then it's possible for any of us :) (without idealising it too much - I think that we will always have pain and things, it's not about getting rid of it but about being happy and calm anyway; like waves that peak and dissolve but don't affect the depths of the ocean).