Originally posted by Keishin

It took me quite a while to start identifying myself as "Buddhist," but considering the time and effort I'm putting in to sitting and studying (and as I've taken refuge), I guess it's the best label to use. When I feel I have to label myself. For example, if someone asks me point-blank if I'm a Buddhist I'll say "Yes." Also, it was the box I ticked off on my last census form.
Originally posted by Jundo
Then there's the period of disillusionment - "I've been sitting every day for 6 whole months and I'm still not enlightened!" Or the new & improved kinder, gentler 'you' still gets its ass dumped by their boyfriend/girlfriend. In my case, I thought zazen would be a panacea for all my health problems, but I still got sick. So I figured it wasn't working, and gave up.
I can't really say what brought me back. I guess that now I don't know what zazen is, or what it is not. And that seems to be an improvement from when I thought I knew stuff.
I hope that there really are some benefits to practice. Otherwise I've been hauling myself out of bed an hour too early and missing out on some prime evening TV shows for nothin'. :wink:
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