Welcome!

Great to see you here, Nick! Your participation at KFD was always one of my top must-reads.

Welcome, Nick! Very nice to have you here.

My name's Chris. I have always been sort of a wallflower when it comes to these kinds of sites. I enjoy reading what people post but have been hesitant to post anything myself. Maybe participating in this site can be a way to measure some objective behavior change in a positive direction. I have always been very socially anxious, although I have been working on that and am eager to connect with experienced practitioners, especially via skype (I'm fairly new to skype but it seems pretty cool). My goals are simply to become a better person and to enjoy life more, meditation seems to play a huge role in that. I am a recovering alcoholic and will have two years sober in April, and I can say my sobriety has been my most consistent practice period. I have never, to my knowledge, had any "big" experiences on the cushion and don't seem to have very strong concentration. I recently got back from a retreat with Shinzen Young and a big chunk of the seeking has left me. It doesn't seem necessary for me to have any big experiences on the cushion, although I'm interested in deepening my concentration it is no longer a compulsion and I won't be disappointed if it never happens. It is kind of hard to explain because everything seems so normal and ordinary and I am still just as caught up in my thinking, but there is more of a sense of seeing myself in others and feeling more connected to the world. Although sometimes it feels like nothing has happened, I remain convinced that in a way there is really nothing I need to do other than let life unfold. At this point it's important to me to develop positive qualities and bring good stuff into the world. Ramana Maharshi said somthing like "When you give to others you give to your self, if this is known, who would not give to others?". So, I look forward to collaborating with all of you in an effort to bring a little more sanity into our lives and, by extension, the world.

I did not mean to start a whole new thread, I intended for that post to be in the already established "Welcome" thread. I'm still learning...

Hello! Welcome...

Hi all! Long time lurker (here and in other PD forums), first time poster

About me and my practice: I started out with Buddhist meditation 6 years ago - like a lot of convert Buddhists, this was due to unexpected suffering that pulled out the existential rug from under me, so to speak. Initially I was into Zen, but I quickly moved to Theravada, and Mahasi-style practice. I came across MCTB relatively early in my trajectory, and threw myself into intensive practice including a couple of longer retreats in Burma, but after hitting the dukkha nanas really hard in retreat without getting beyond Equanimity I backed off for a while, keeping up a regular practice but not really bringing it into daily life.

Last year I did another retreat which was so full of intensive dukkha that I finally thought, I have to approach this a different way, so afterwards started working with Beth (Resnick-Folk), which I still am, and since then, after bringing a lot more formal and informal practice into daily life and some more intensive practice at a monastery recently, currently in terms of MCTB maps am in 2nd Path review.

But I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with the Mahasi/MCTB path and maps. I've been a fairly devout Theravada Buddhist (I also have a lot to do with Bhante Sujato, who primarily teaches metta as a path to hard jhana in the Ajahn Brahm/Thai Forest tradition, but I don't really do this as a personal practice). But recently I've become increasingly interested in Advaita Vedanta (Ramana and Nisargadatta but also James Swartz and Greg Goode) so I'm doing some exploration of that. Particular 'hooks' for me there are concepts around the Witness/awareness and the experience of being a self, which is looming large in my current practice, and also the idea that knowledge is the problem (which is a different kind of take from a Buddhist concept of ignorance, I think).

Other than that I'm into philosophy and theory, particularly continental philosophy and deconstruction, which was one of the things that first struck a chord in me related to Buddhist beliefs, as well as Buddhist history/philosophy and the Pali canon; and I listen to a lot of popular music (indie, speaking very broadly) and write reviews for an online music site.

In closing I did want to thank everyone here for all for your contributions to meditation discussions over time (Nick, I've actually exchanged a couple of emails with you in the past as well), which I've followed and found helpful as a lurker - it's nice to be here!

Metta,
Rowan.

Hi I'm from Washington state, in the Seattle area, where I live with my wife and young daughter. I briefly kept a practice log at KFD last summer. I've been practicing vipassana for 3 ½ years with two different teachers, the last of whom was Ron Crouch.

Otherwise my spiritual journey began back in the eighties when I had some illuminating experiences but no practice to help put them into context. During the nineties I got interested enough in meditation to try the breath counting instructions from an old book called “How to Meditate” by Lawrence LeShan. I tried this sporadically for about three weeks total - across several years! Lately my practice has been a little more consistent.

Thanks for your intro, Rowan!

Welcome Mike!

Hello influx of new people overnight! I love the diversity of the practices and interests and backgrounds here.

Looking forward to hearing more from everyone.

Hello, my name is Bill. Thank you for accepting my request to join the awakenetwork discussion group, and so now it's time to get started, with an introduction:
I'm a 58 year old guy, heavily into woodcraft and tools, and except for a brief look at TM as a college freshman many years ago, fairly new to meditation. In late 2011, after a growing awareness of this thing called Mindfulness out there, I found out about a local Buddhist meditation group, and started attending. Since then, it's been a fascinating time of discovery learning about the concepts and opportunities for practice. In some ways it's been like finding a home port.
In the past year, besides reading a number of books and websites, I've been able to attend a four day retreat at the Bhavana Society with Bhante Gunaratana and a ten day at the International Meditation Center, which offers Vipassana retreats in the U Ba Khin tradition. It seems they are parallel to but not in contact with the Goenka organization. There have been several daylong retreats as well. To say the least, my family and friends have noticed that I have a new interest!
The process that led to learning of the pragmatic dharma scene began with Amazon recommending Daniel Ingram's book to me about six months ago, based on other purchases I'd made. I bought and read it, and really liked the tone and message that these things, i.e. awakening, are possible. Also, the presentation of the Progress of Insight was an eye opener. Along the way, I found out about the dharmaoverground, KFD, The Hamilton Project, etc, and eventually this forum, which seems like a real nice place to get involved.
As may be apparent, my progress has been largely in gaining an intellectual understanding of what this is about and also some good work on learning to sit and let go of thoughts. At this point, I am very interested in finding out if something like stream entry is a possibility for me.
Finally, I'd like to mention a singular event/experience I had as an adolescent, probably 12 or 13, when I was sick with the flu I think. Somehow I went into a mental state of some kind of disembodied immensity, and the lack of known bearings was terrifying. It didn't last long, and for some time afterward, I could experience the mental "taste" of the experience. This happened once again in college, during a late night spent with a few others and some marijuana. The experience lasted longer, and most of the time I was clinging to another person and shaking. Both times, the experience was definitely not pleasant, but it was compelling and fascinating. These are things I have not discussed with many others, but in light of the concept of an AP event, I wanted to mention it for consideration here. Also, my adult life experience has had a number of aspects that could fit a Dark Night model.
There. I think I've said what needed to be said, for the present. Now to do what needs to be done. It's great to be here, and thank you for the opportunity to communicate.

Bill Scaife wrote: Along the way, I found out about the dharmaoverground, KFD, The Hamilton Project, etc, and eventually this forum, which seems like a real nice place to get involved.

Welcome Bill, interesting introduction.
Glad to see I'm not the only one to have scouted around the forums you mentioned and read some of Danial Ingram's book (MCTB) before deciding THIS particular place to be the one where I could feel most comfortable getting involved.

As an aside:
Personally, after a bit of reflection, for me it may be because although HERE all the reference/knowledge, etc from those forums are available and aknowledged as excellent, HERE the group feels more peer-lead and in no way Guru lead (even if the the individuals who run those other forums would disagree this is their intention - and I wouldn't argue; it's just a feeling around the edges).

Hi Bill,

Welcome! I'm a bit of a lapsed wordworker myself. I went through a long stint where I built pretty much nothing but boxes. We have a nationally known lumberyard in the small town where I live, and sometimes I think I like looking through their figured and exotic wood selection more than the actual box-building itself.

Haven't done much with it in the last year or so, but every so often I get the urge to make a batch of new boxes. Here's a set I made a few years ago for a company art show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machinetalk/sets/72157625520103118/

Hi Bill I'm new here too. I enjoyed your introduction - My wife's uncle is seriously into wood turning and spending time with him in his shop is one of my fondest pastimes. He's taught me how to use all the equipment and tools, and he often has a neighbor or other friend over to whom he's teaching woodcraft.

Andy your work is beautiful, thanks for sharing the photos!

Glad to meet everyone. This is a very good place to hang out. Looking forward to reading more about everyone's practice!

Hi Andy -- Thanks for the reply and picture of your work. Those are great looking boxes. I'm always saving small pieces of wood in hopes of doing something like that!

Hi, I'm Tina, and thanks for allowing me to participate in this community.

I'm involved in a spiritual practice because of suffering, and the path I inherited, Catholicism, did not address suffering in a way I could relate to. I then started reading books on Zen, and Tibetan buddhism. For about 1 year I was involved with a Tibetan buddhist study group, but I could not relate to the rituals and complexity of the teachings I was given. I felt that they obscured the simplicity of the Buddha's teachings that I encountered in the Pali Suttas. I subsequently investigated the Theravada teachings, specifically Thai Forest, and I found that they resonated with my love of simplicity.

I've been seriously reading and practicing the morality aspect for around 5 years. I also attempted to meditate, but I did not do so consistently.

In the winter of 2012, I enrolled in a 6 week Insight Meditation class under the leadership of Gil Fronsdal. I was mentored by one of his teachers, Maria Straatman, who would review my email submissions and Skype with me weekly about my meditation sessions.

I enjoyed the experience, and then, during the summer, I enrolled in another course by Christopher Titmuss. It was a 12 week course, and I was mentored by a woman in Australia. She also would review my weekly lessons and Skype with me weekly.

She confronted my doubting nature, and made me look at my negativity and self-pity. She really became the mirror through which I could see all of my crap, and about 10 weeks into our weekly contact, something lifted.

2-3 years worth of heavy depression vanished. Along with contemplating our exchanges and sitting every morning for 30 to 40 minutes maintaining mindfulness of breathing, my burden of depression disappeared.

I am grateful for what meditation has done for me, but, I would like to take the path further. I can see the patterns of behavior that operate on a daily basis, and how reactivity causes suffering for myself and others. I would like to understand reality as it is, not through the filter of my views.

I don't have much wisdom to contribute, and my practice has a long way to go, but I look forward to your support, and your experience to guide me.

This is wonderful, Tina. I'm so glad you are finding life less burdensome. You've got a lot of valuable experience already.

Thank you so much, Laurel, and I want to congratulate you on your progress!

I once was a member of KFD, and I'm sorry that all of the wonderful practice journals are gone. I regularly read yours, as well as others, and your persistent practice was, and is, inspiring.

I, like yourself, have been dealing with some health issues, and I've had a lot of difficulty with anxiety and panic attacks. I still have issues with anxiety, but, mindfulness practice has helped reduce the panic that is created by getting hooked into the thought patterns that cause panic to spiral out of control.

Again, best wishes to you and your continuing practice!

Welcome Tina. Glad to have you!