What keeps you going?

[Hoyu]

Re: What keeps you going?

Thank you Seiryu for getting the ball rolling on this subject.
Everyone has such great personal answers.
For me I vibe most with Risho and Shawn. Zen is life, and one of the best ways of living it is through understanding of Four Noble truths and following the Eightfold Path.
I'm also drawn to Soto Zen over other sects because of it's emphasis on Shinkantaza. When I sit and thoughts pop up, I acknowledge them but then think "let it go". Over and over hundreds If not thousands of times. How that helps me when I'm not on the Zafu is like this.... When I get angry I acknowledge that I am angry and then think "let it go"
When I think I'm not good enough(or the best) or have thoughts or emotions of fear I acknowledge them and then tell myself "let it go"
On and on etc.
Keeping up a practic is a must. As with anything if you don't constantly maintain it goes away, gets harder, etc.

Gassho,
John

[Seiryu]

Re: What keeps you going?

Wow, it was great to hear so many responses!
Here is mine:

I think what keeps me going is: returning back to the everyday. I think a lot of people think that Buddhist practice is something special that will take you away to some other perfect existence. But instead Buddhist practice is returning to everyday life, which is where life actually happens. It is making the ordinary divine and the divine ordinary. (Which is special)

What keeps me going is learning how to see the world exactly as it is and being able to smile back at it.


*Endless Bow*

Seiryu

[Nenka]

Re: What keeps you going?

Hm, what keeps my practice going? I don't know, if I ignore it for a couple days, I miss it. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the books and magazines and talks and sittings so I let it go for a while. But I really enjoy coming back!

[Saijun]

Re: What keeps you going?

Hello friends,

The practice is, in my experience, self-sustaining. One practices because one practices. I don't know any better way to explain my motivation.

Metta,

Saijun

[chicanobudista]

Re: What keeps you going?

One thing that keeps me going...is that it (whatever that it may be...the Dharma...meditation....vowing .....) works. Works in that each day, each moment it works for me. :wink:

[Engyo]

Re: What keeps you going?

Sraddha (Sanskrit); saddha (Pali). Often translated as "faith" but more like "confidence" than, say, "belief". Maybe "trust" is another translation.
It is one of the five (spiritual) faculties, often described as a blind giant who carries and is led by the other four; energy (or effort), mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.
It's like confidence or trust in the efficacy of the teachings and practice. I don't get them right all that often, but I am confident they (at least) do and feel strongly that "practice" is the key.
Gassho,
Engyo

[AlanLa]

Re: What keeps you going?

What choice do I have but to keep going? It's so much better than standing still and going backward, which are impossible anyway, yet people do try, and they suffer because of it. Then again, if the present moment is all there is, then am I really going anywhere at all?

Seriously, life is better on the Path than off it, so I stay on it.

[Hogo]

Re: What keeps you going?

What choice do I have but to keep going? It's so much better than standing still and going backward, which are impossible anyway, yet people do try, and they suffer because of it. Then again, if the present moment is all there is, then am I really going anywhere at all?

Seriously, life is better on the Path than off it, so I stay on it.

......That sounds about right.
Gassho.

[Seishin the Elder]

Re: What keeps you going?

What keeps me going is realizing what a lazy ass I am and the promise I made to simply do this no matter what! Just do it...in the sunshine, in the rain, in the snow and cold, in the summer's heat, with a cold, with a stroke, headache, itch or tickle. I know I can be a lazy ass, but I also know I am better than that...and the struggle goes on.

Gassho,

Seishin Kyrill

[Nindo]

Re: What keeps you going?

Faith that keeps getting stronger the less important it is for me to identify as 'Buddhist' ... curiosity (as in: wow, I never knew this about myself, I wonder what I'll see next) ... still wanting to get IT, albeit knowing there is nothing to get ...

[Amelia]

Re: What keeps you going?

What keeps me going is the progress I've made so far.

[disastermouse]

Re: What keeps you going?

This is meant for introspection rather than advice, just to put a frame around it

From where do you draw your motivation for ongoing practice? I know as a Mahayana we'll say bodhicitta and as a Vajrayana practitioner we'll say the guru. But I mean aside from that, what keeps you going with your practice and what keeps you interested in Buddhism as a whole? Habit? Devotion? Love? Academic interest? Healthy attachment?

Please share your thoughts.


*Deep Bow*


Seiryu

I have no love of Zen, the habit of it seems to be more recently avoiding it, and the academic interest aspect of Zen wears thin pretty quickly. This isn't me being difficult or 'zenny'; this is the actual reality of my experience lately.

And yet, every painful barb of life has hidden in it message that you are responsible for your own suffering to a staggering extent. If you have seen it even once - well, you can't 'unsee' it.

[Keishin]

Re: What keeps you going?

Chet
Your response is like a lightning bolt--revealing to me more than I can consciously absorb.
You'd think I'd know better than to stand under a tree for shelter--even a Bodhi tree!

I thank you for this succinct and formidable clarity.

[Nenka]

Re: What keeps you going?

And yet, every painful barb of life has hidden in it message that you are responsible for your own suffering to a staggering extent. If you have seen it even once - well, you can't 'unsee' it.

Aye.

Gassho,

Jennifer

[Dojin]

Re: What keeps you going?

to be honest i dont even know anymore.
i started out to better myself and find peace. but when i found it i was so attached to it and to the intellectual understanding of it that i couldnt stop talking about it. it became another thing to hold on to. in the end i lost my peace and found nothing but life.
to tell the truth i hardly notice it anymore, i just sit. and if you asked me how the practice of zen influences my life now days i couldnt tell since it is so intertwined with who i am that i can not see myself living any differently. it is in every little choice and action i do.
i dont practice, i just live.

Gassho, Dojin.