Christmas

[Chaz]

I LOVE Christmas.

I don't adhere to any of the underlying belief systems, and those that I've adhered to in the past were set aside many years ago.  Yet, I dearly love this time of year.  It's a time of giving, of remembering, a time that heralds the return of light and warmth and winter's end.  It's a time of piney scents and wasted paper.  It's a time of surprise and delight.

THis yar is kinda sad because of the loss of our Mother, but happy in that we see that rolling the dice on a move to the Carolinas was the right thing to do.  It's also exciting as ou plans for a cruise on the Nile River is coming together.

And i's fun.... the Stars/Encore cable network is showing a Kaiju movie marathon this morning.

Gotta love it!

[Anemephistus]

I have bows on my tree Its cultural at this point and recognition etc...but I really like it.

[Rahul]

Be mindful whenever you like or dislike anything. No need to evaluate or analyze. Just be aware that you enjoy so and so atmosphere, so and so time of the year.

[Chaz]

Be mindful whenever you like or dislike anything. No need to evaluate or analyze. Just be aware that you enjoy so and so atmosphere, so and so time of the year.

C'mon man, don't be a buzzkill.  Christmas is a time for NOT being mindful. 

Much of our Christmas tradition is taken from Saturnalia - one of the most important feast celebrations of the acient Roman calendar.  Feasting, giift giving, revelry are all a part of it.

It's a time to doff the hiar shirt, kick out the jams and have some fun.  One of my favorite memories are of back home in MN when on Christmas Eve, we'd all drive out to Lori's house in the country, where we'd exchange presents, smoke pot, eat pot brownies, smoke hash, eat hash browines, mix up interesting and sometimes repulsive cocktails, tap a keg of cheap beer, eat turkey, ham and so on, avail ourselves of the comfort and privacy of one of Lori's guest rooms and so on.  A true Roman tradition although, at the time, we had no idea ...... and many years had no recollection ;-)

Mindfulness at Christmastime?  BAH!  HUMBUG!  No fun at all.  Gives Buddhists a bad name.

[cruciada]

A time for not being mindful, how can you say that? Are you being ironic or something? Surely Buddhists don't need to go looking for a good name – good and bad reputation are two of the mundane concerns, after all.

[Chaz]

A time for not being mindful, how can you say that? Are you being ironic or something? Surely Buddhists don't need to go looking for a good name – good and bad reputation are two of the mundane concerns, after all.

Actually it's pretty easy - you just get on the keyboard and type. I'm not trying to be ironic.  I'm being practical. Why would anyone want to practice a religion that doesn't allow you to have a life, doesn't allow you to have a little fun from time to time?  And where has it been chiseled in stone that we, as Buddhists, have to be mindful all the time?  Seriously.  Where is it written that we can't stop being mindful for a little while, have a little fun with friends, and family, and neighbors? I, for one, won't wear a hair shirt as my practice. That is especially true at this time of year. I, for one, will celebrate this truly blessed time of year, the time of the return of light and warmth.

[cruciada]

But if you took a holiday from mindfulness, might you not do or say something you would later regret – perhaps something that put Buddhism in a far worse light than merely being mindful? Talking about hair shirts and not having a life is going from one extreme to the other: in my experience it's perfectly possible to have a very enjoyable Christmas while being mindful enough to stay on the path. But perhaps you would call me a humbug or even a prig?

[Chaz]

But if you took a holiday from mindfulness, might you not do or say something you would later regret

Dude, unless you're Buddha you take holidays from midfulness all the time.  Every minute.

Due something I might regret?  Yeah, but I regret a lot of things.  One thing I don't regret is celebrating Christmas the way it should be celebrated.

perhaps something that put Buddhism in a far worse light than merely being mindful?

Like what?  Like a momentary lapse in m indfullness results in an act of terrorism that leaves thousands dead, or sexual abuse that results in my radio show getting canceled and my name struck from every obelisk in the land?

Talking about hair shirts and not having a life is going from one extreme to the other: in my experience it's perfectly possible to have a very enjoyable Christmas while being mindful enough to stay on the path.

Oh god, spare me!  Dude you are on the path whether your mindful or not.  A lapse in mindfulness will not bring the Dharma police out to take away your Super-Secret Vajra Decoder Ring AND your birthday.

But perhaps you would call me a humbug or even a prig?

Well, if you insist..... but seriously, just what do you think being mindful is, exactly, and how it relates to the path and enlightenment, and unless you are mindfull in that manner 24/7  you might consider not being such a prig when it comes to your fellow Buddhists letting their hair down for the Holidays.

[KathyLauren]

Why would anyone want to practice a religion that doesn't allow you to have a life, doesn't allow you to have a little fun from time to time?  And where has it been chiseled in stone that we, as Buddhists, have to be mindful all the time? 

Buddhism does not say, "Thou shalt not."  It says "Thou shalt accept the consequences."  If you choose not to practice mindfulness, that's fine, but it will cost you.

I, for one, won't wear a hair shirt as my practice.

So you equate mindfulness with punishment?  Mindfulness brings serenity and equanimity, not more suffering.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy

[Chaz]

Why would anyone want to practice a religion that doesn't allow you to have a life, doesn't allow you to have a little fun from time to time?  And where has it been chiseled in stone that we, as Buddhists, have to be mindful all the time? 

Buddhism does not say, "Thou shalt not."  It says "Thou shalt accept the consequences." 

Hey Kathy...

Putting it that way, it's pretty much saying the same thing.

If you choose not to practice mindfulness, that's fine, but it will cost you.

A teacher of mine once said, that we are mindfull all the time.  It's what we're mindful of is what causes suffering.

And, what will my apostacy cost me?

I, for one, won't wear a hair shirt as my practice.

So you equate mindfulness with punishment? 

This attitude some online Buddhists take, their practice is similar to wearing a hair shirt.  They don't think it's punishment so my should I?

Mindfulness brings serenity and equanimity, not more suffering.

Please describe the process of mindfullness bringing serenity and equanimity.

Please don't provide sutra to explain this.  I want to read a  nuts-and-bolts explanation if you don't mind.


I've maintained a shamatha practice along with regular Vajrasattva practice for years.  I am more at peace - serenity and equanimity.  But I didn't undertake the practice for that.  My practice is geared more towards a Mahamudra/Nature of Mind fruition.  So for me the serenity and equanimity is a by-product.  Kind of like when I quit smoking - I suddenly gained an intense desire for dark chocolate.

If I take a break from practice to let my hair down for 12 days, what does it hurt?  Who does it hurt?  Why do you even care?  I may have a bit of a set-back on the path, but it's taken countless lifetimes to get this far, so taking a few days off won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

[VisuddhiRaptor]

If I take a break from practice to let my hair down for 12 days, what does it hurt?  Who does it hurt?  Why do you even care?  I may have a bit of a set-back on the path, but it's taken countless lifetimes to get this far, so taking a few days off won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

This sounds like Protestant Buddhism.  While I personally do not believe in past & future lives & regard the "realms" as here-&-now mental states, the Buddhist "grand scheme of things" includes 're-birth' in the lower realms of hungry ghost, animal kingdom & hell. You believe countless lifetimes in hell for evil deeds won't be a "setback"?

 

[Chaz]

You believe countless lifetimes in hell for evil deeds won't be a "setback"?

Well, I've already had countless lifetimes in the lower realms, and proabably have a few waiting in the wings.

I believe my next birth will be as an intestinal parasite.

[VisuddhiRaptor]

Well, I've already had countless lifetimes in the lower realms, and proabably have a few waiting in the wings.

Sounds like false speech to me; i.e., claiming things not experienced. Why don't me & you go to court over this dispute? Will you win? 

[Chaz]

Well, I've already had countless lifetimes in the lower realms, and proabably have a few waiting in the wings.

Sounds like false speech to me; i.e., claiming things not experienced. Why don't me & you go to court over this dispute? Will you win? 

Dude I know people on crack that make more sense than that.

[Chaz]

If I take a break from practice to let my hair down for 12 days, what does it hurt?  Who does it hurt?  Why do you even care?  I may have a bit of a set-back on the path, but it's taken countless lifetimes to get this far, so taking a few days off won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

This sounds like Protestant Buddhism.  While I personally do not believe in past & future lives & regard the "realms" as here-&-now mental states, the Buddhist "grand scheme of things" includes 're-birth' in the lower realms of hungry ghost, animal kingdom & hell. You believe countless lifetimes in hell for evil deeds won't be a "setback"?

 

You seem to think the Path is something linear.  Strictly speaking, it isn't.  To say going from precious human birth to one in a lower realm is a setback makes for a very narrow view.  That kinda thinking presupposes that there is some ultimate goal out there, yet to be reached.  As Chogyam Trungpa taught, the Path is itself the goal.  With this realized, there can be no "setback" as every birth remains on the Path. 

So, when I take birth as an intestinal parasite, it isn't a setback at all - just another step on the Path.