In a growing trend, it's difficult to explain how my day went. I woke up bright and early to go with my philosophy class to a one-day buddhist retreat. I've (obviously) never done anything remotely like this- both a retreat and the buddhism part, so I had no idea what to think about it. The temple itself was actually located at Wat Umong, which is the temple I visited on the second day. We arrived bright and early and were given white clothing to change into. Katie and I were given a room together and it was basically a cell- concrete floors, bare walls, and slitted windows. We got changed then sat through a meditation 101 of sorts.
The monk that was talking with us was very interesting and had a lot to say about suffering. In that spirit, here's a short list of things I've suffered through today:
The thing about suffering, or so I'm learning, is that it can mean everything if you want it to. Suffering was not getting what I wanted out of the buddhist retreat, but the way to relieve yourself of suffering is by growing and developing your person through learning experiences. And spending most of the day at the buddhist retreat was indeed a learning experience. I definitely had a lot of time to reflect and think on myself and what I want and while there are some aspects of buddhism I'll carry with me, I largely don't think it's what I want. However, in spirit of trying new things, I came up with eight things (well, seven) in correlation with the eightfold path that I want to try and improve in my own life.
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| KG on her bed |
The monk that was talking with us was very interesting and had a lot to say about suffering. In that spirit, here's a short list of things I've suffered through today:
- waking up early because I hadn't thought to go to bed earlier than usual
- my feet falling asleep during meditation
- being a little bit afraid of all of the chickens wandering around the temple
- not being able to concentrate during meditation because I have "monkey mind"
- bugs crawling on me
- getting used to the ants crawling on me
- accidentally killing one anyways when I was trying to gently remove it from my hairline
- wanting to bring the really cute puppy home with me
- having to be really quiet
- being bad at having to be really quiet
- being served tofu for lunch
- trying to eat the tofu at lunch
- spilling food on myself at lunch
- feeling icky cuz my white clothes had food and dirt on them
- being bad at having to be really quiet
- being really bad at meditating in general
The thing about suffering, or so I'm learning, is that it can mean everything if you want it to. Suffering was not getting what I wanted out of the buddhist retreat, but the way to relieve yourself of suffering is by growing and developing your person through learning experiences. And spending most of the day at the buddhist retreat was indeed a learning experience. I definitely had a lot of time to reflect and think on myself and what I want and while there are some aspects of buddhism I'll carry with me, I largely don't think it's what I want. However, in spirit of trying new things, I came up with eight things (well, seven) in correlation with the eightfold path that I want to try and improve in my own life.
- Right View. Ajarn Fisher described as "Do you see things properly and as they are?" In that spirit, I want to try and view things more positively
- Right Intention. This came up during my monk chat- the monk had said that all things must be done intentionally and with good intentions. I like this idea but I need more time to think and understand it better, so I want to combine it with:
- Right Speech. This meaning behind this one is more obvious, it means to speak well to others and no cussing. I want to try and be better about thinking before I speak, which is something I feel that I'm not very good at.
- Right Action. Basically this means to do good and to do the things that best benefit your life and your growth. In this spirit, I want to be more proactive and procrastinate less.
- Right Livelihood. Ajarn Fisher mentioned that this pertains to the idea of having a job as a butcher, or selling weapons, or something of that nature. I feel like this isn't really a concern for me, but maybe I can focus better on finding what "path" is most fitting for me- finding the livelihood that makes me the happiest.
- Right Effort. Ajarn Fisher mentioned that he takes this to mean no multitasking. I don't think I'm quite ready to give that up, but perhaps I could focus on being better at finishing the projects that I start.
- Right Mindfulness. This means be aware and pay attention. For me, this definitely means I need to work on being aware of my surroundings- I've always struggled with this.
- Right Concentration. Perhaps this is the most elusive of the eight paths for me as I think that concentration is pretty basic, right? Like, just pay attention and stay that way. But I'm starting to think that it's something deeper. I do a LOT with my life, especially when I'm at school, and sometimes it gets to be too much and I get really stressed. With this path, I think I want to focus more on living in the moment. I don't mean that in a YOLO kind of way, but more like when I'm in class I will focus on class and when I'm at dance I will focus on dance and try not to let my concentrations get in the way of the other. Just to focus on what I'm doing in the present and to not let those things influence or ruin my time with the rest of it.
-Haley
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