What should we do of our lifes ?

[aloun]

Hello,

Another question that I would like to ask :

Before knowing about meditation, I was convinced that, to be happy, I had to gather numbers of conditions and that when the puzzle would be complete I would finally be happy. ( “If I do theses and theses activities, If I achieve that and that then I will be happy” ). I spent all my energy and all my time on that.

Part of me starts to understand that this is absurd, but as I gradually let go of all this, a question arise : ” What should I do then ? “. Until now I’d always been busy running to full-fill objectives, to reach goals. It was probably useless but it kept me busy. Now I feel a bit lost as I’ve no clear directions.

After I made the effort to get what I need to survive, to eat and to keep warm, what am I supposed to do ? Maybe there’s no need to do anything and I guess it’s not Buddhism’s purpose to tell people what they should do so they can lazily follow instructions … but really I don’t know what direction to give to my life : should I help others, practise meditation, keep living as before ?

Thanks in advance for your advices and experiences. 🙂

Topic

[ssb2]

Hi
I don’t know whether it will work to post this message so long after this thread was created…but let’s see
I have the same basic Q as Aloun, but have been in a ‘gap’ in my life for the last 3/4 years and it has to come to an end soon (cos my finances have run out!).
This means there is an opportunity to make a change in direction/ focus.
So while Edwin and other’s comments are useful when you are already ‘engaged’ in life, my question is how to apply this to a ‘bigger’ question. (bigger in terms of the opportunity to make a wise or unwise choice!)
My practice is still at an early stage so I am not yet able to apply some of the theory of loving kindness, compassion etc to my thinking process in a very consistent way.

Furthermore – a bit of a different issue but closely connected to my question- is, how, if we see everything as mind/ projections – do you engage with the world?
I know that I have a need to ‘be of use’ (corny phrase), but also know that sometimes I am emotionally overwhelmed by the suffering I want to alleviate.
This has not always been the case, but seems to be getting worse/ I am getting more sensitive/ despondent about the state of the world – and now find it difficult to decide how to move forward (hence the 3/4 yr gap of doing nothing).

I recognise it is sometimes difficult to explain these things in words, but any thoughts, experiences or advice welcome

[terry25557813]

Hi all. I am also in the sort of state as Aloun and Maria. After knowing that certain or the mainstream concerns of daily life is quite fruitless. There appears a void where I dunno wt to do next.

But on second thought, at a certain pt it seems that wtever I do is OK because if something is TRUE that it will finally leads to the same way. I just have to take a balanced life ( not overly commit so that i still have time for practice & exploration) and be hopeful and happy with the moment.

But of course if U are down a moment of making a decision to sacrifice more for the practice. That’s upto ur courage, determination, and readiness. ( not to this stage myself :p )

For now I’d say for myself stay open, & take opportunities to deepen the practice, and let things manifest ! ( oh btw i heard that it seems that’s there is nothing that is not practice. Yea ? )

[tnpatton]

It might be good to incprorpate “sila”, or morality, into your daily life, as it forms a solid foundation for which to build your meditation practice upon. If you are a layperson (i.e. not a monk or nun), it is best to follow at least 5 basic precepts in your day-to-day activities: 1) don’t kill; 2) don’t steal; 3) don’t engage in sexual misconduct (cheating, visiting prostitutes, etc.); 4) don’t lie; and 5) don’t use drugs or alcohol. Living an ethical lifestyle will keep your mind clear so that when you sit down to meditate, you won’t be bogged down by guilt or other negative thoughts and emotions that arise from unwholesome actions done in the past.
You also ask whether or not you “should live as before.” You may find that after some time of devoting yourself to the Buddha’s teachings that you can no longer live life like before. At this point, you may wish to spend some time in a monastery to see if the monastic life is right for you.

[aloun]

Ok, thanks again for your help,

So let’s focus on the present moment and on “the way to do” rather than “what to do”. I find useful the idea of ( “keep as before” + practice + help the others ).

Aloun,

[edwin]

Aloun and Maria

It is understandable that when we begin to meditate one of the things we see is how much of our behavior is misdirected in our constance search for happiness. However, the most powerful thing about Mingyur Rinpoche’s approach to meditation is that we all have basic goodness. At the center of our own being is a clear mind and a pure heart. The problem is that we don’t recognize that. Meditation is the art, or act of recognizing our basic goodness. Qualities like awareness, lovingkindness, compassion and wisdom. These qualities are innate. We don’t have to create them.

So from this perspective as our meditation develops we become more and more familiar with our basic goodness and all of our actions begin to come from this understanding. It does not matter what we do, but rather how we do it. If our actions are grounded in awareness, lovingkindness, compassion and wisdom, we will naturally do good and not harm.

I think this is the most powerful practice possible and I am truly grateful to Mingyur Rinpoche for sharing this understanding and teaching me the methods to help realize it.

Thanks

[bimbabruna]

Interesting Alex! Thanks! I’ll keep doing like everyday with this increasing feeling that everything’s changing. Lovely to know this is a common ground.

[alexmeditates]

Aloun and friends,

I try to do all of what you say: help others (if even in tiny small ways), meditate, and keep living as before. With this I have found that little by little when I cycle through experiences that I slowly start to perceive them differently, react differently, and little by little what was known as ‘keep living as before’ starts to change naturally, becomes more flexible. A dear friend told me it is not about forcing yourself but it is about effort. With that said I daily ask myself ‘what should I do with my life?
I hope that is helpful.
All the best.
Alex

[bimbabruna]

I feel quite a bit like you, Aloun. I’m begining to understand all I was fighting for were just illusions, and it’s relieving but also baffling, my mind now frequently asks this to me: so now, what I do with my life? I also would love to read some answers to this or some similar experiences.
Thanks

[Author]

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