How to be Sick
I would like to be a part of this group and I agree to the rules of the group.
Gassho
Kosan
I would like to be a part of this group and I agree to the rules of the group.
Gassho
Kosan
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I would like to follow along as best I can with you all [emoji120][emoji846]
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday
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I've been a member of the StoneWater Zen sangha in Liverpool, England, since 2001, and a monk since 2015. I have been living with Multiple Sclerosis, now secondary progressive, for even longer! Currently, I'm mostly confined to bed with sciatica and other chronic pain. I'd love to join your study group - I've ordered but not read the book.
Hoping to meet you all,
Miranda Wayu ForwardComment
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PS What time of day is the group? I hope it's not our middle of the night... I should have asked that before.
MirandaComment
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Hi everyone, I'd be honored to share in this study/practice group with you. I will abide by the 3 rules.
Thank you Kokuu & Onka for providing this opportunity
Gassho, Yokai (Chris) st/lahComment
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Hi MirandaPS What time of day is the group? I hope it's not our middle of the night... I should have asked that before.
At present we are just discussing together on the forum here so there is no excluding anyone by timezone.
If there is interest, we could also offer Zoom discussion meetings but since I am in the UK too, you will probably be okay for timing!
Gassho
KokuuComment
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Hello,
I have chosen to sit this one out for now. I have lived with Myalgic Encephalitis for around 12 years now. A year after that diagnosis the doctors told me I have Fibromyalgia too. I am partially sighted, and have a few other health issues too.
Doctors got me addicted to prescription pain meds four times.
I have found ways to manage my health conditions, and whilst not getting better, I have been gradually able to do more. My strategies may not be beneficial or even possible for others, or they might. I can say, I am now stronger and healthier than anytime in the last 15 years, even though I still live with daily chronic pain.
If anyone is interested I am happy to share my strategies, but please note that I am not qualified to offer medical advice, merely tell what I did. I'll leave it there, as I don't want to hijack this study group.
Apologies this post is somewhat long.
In Gassho
Seiko
stlahLast edited by Seiko; 01-21-2021, 11:35 PM.Gandō Seiko
頑道清光
(Stubborn Way of Pure Light)
My street name is 'Al'.
Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.Comment
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For sure, I will abide with these rules. I have not spoken of this group even to my wife, I will be kind and gentle, and I will speak only of my own personal experiences. I will withold judgement of others. Today is a paticularly difficult day for me. I have had strong emotion over the state of the world and my country. For me strong emotion brings on pain, and I will take my medications at 5:00 p.m. Now it's 4:38. If I can wait until 5:15, I will feel better. My pain will subside and my emotions will improve. Writing helps improve my pain. Now I feel better.
Gassho
sat/ lah
Tai ShiComment
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Hello everyone. I have been mulling over whether to join in or not. My indecision is based on a couple of things; Whether I "qualify" for this, for lack of a better word, and my stubborn refusal to admit there is actually something wrong with me. If not too late, I'd like to agree to the conditions and sign up. Got the book today. Thank you.
Gassho
ST-lah
ShokiComment
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You're very welcome Shoki and not too late. The only qualification is that you accept the guidelines for participants which you have. As for something 'wrong'... that's what this group is about, hopefully a guide to perhaps challenge that notion of 'wrong' and perhaps reframe the language around these things.
Your input, should you feel comfortable will be very welcome.
You'll find the group's discussion at the top of the 'all of life' forum.
Gassho
Onka
St穏 On (Calm)
火 Ka (Fires)
They/She.Comment
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I wish to join.
As a sufferer And a career, i need some support.
Thankyou,
SatToday,
LaH.
Always sit when bored.Nothing to do? Why not Sit?
Comment
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You are more than welcome, Getchi! There are other carers in the group as well as people with ongoing health challenges.
The first week was pretty much a session of introductions and sharings while reading the prefaces and foreword. This week we begin with the first chapter.
Gassho
KokuuComment
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'How to be Sick' Study and Practice Group
This first chapter is an overview of Toni’s disease onset. You can read that. My disease began with drugs in Berkeley, CA in October 1974. I had worked in CA that summer after graduating college in Iowa. In Sonoma County I had begun graduate school. I was angry this institution was forcing me to take remedial courses. As it worked out my college girlfriend lived in Berkeley and we got back together. Two friends and this girlfriend watched me slip into a drug triggered psychosis that afternoon in a park in Berkeley. I was 23 and I am 69 now. The psychosis never lifted. I have been in chemotherapy for mental illness my whole life. Memory of being prescription free lives in the dim past of my college years. However, from age 16 to age 35 I abused drugs and alcohol sometimes drinking days on end? Surfacing for 6 hrs on food and a part-time job. I came to rely on my wife early on. In July 1987 she became my lifelong caregiver. We had met in graduate school in 1980. Drs call my mental illness atypical because I do not fit easily into most psychiatric models. Does any mental patient? Rarely. In addition in 1992 I was diagnosed with my second lifelong illness. I have been on Social Security Disability Insurance since Fall 2000. I was accepted as disabled within60 days of application. For most it takes a year, two, or more. I have taught in colleges and universities, and have the degrees that allowed me to do this. When they told me I would never be the same again, I did not believe them. Good thing; I earned degree, married, and fathered a brilliant daughter. These are accomplishments doctors said would never happen. They predicted I would move in with my mom and collect welfare the rest of my life. I decided early that if someone told me I couldn’t do something, I would do it anyway. Psychiatry decided I was disabled at age 23, and I was not legally disabled until I was 51. What brought me to meditation was the hope of finding relief from level 10 pain. When I found no physical relief in Buddhism I continued to practice. When I first came to Treeleaf Sekishi told me Zen won’t cure you, but it might change your thinking. I think it has. Recently, I have found a Dharma Recovery program drawing from many traditions, and maintaining focus on what we call Buddha Basics. Recovery is very much a part of everything I do. Now I am 69, and maybe I have been sick my whole life. Acceptance is difficult for me. I do not want to be sick. Now my age is advancing and I cannot say no to death. No matter what I do I will die. I do not want to die now.
Gassho
sat/ lah
Tai Shi
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProLast edited by Tai Shi; 01-26-2021, 03:54 AM.Comment
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