Doing buddhist practices with low energy

[Rufous McKinney]

A book I have worked with focuses on this Dark Nite, this suffering we experience. We feel anxiety. We feel fear. We seek the cause of our misfortune. We blame.

working with this book I did about four years...of Do Not Seek the Cause of This Misfortune.

This ME....

I think I made a valiant effort. And the False Roots= Myalgic Encephalomyelitis- did not fall away.

It was not pruned, it was not burned and turned to ash.

Other things in my life turned to ash (career, possessions, art, etc). The ME far worse (not the plan, and don't feel like getting worse comes with the territory...it doesn't)

So I give myself the Prince Valient award for Really and Sincerely Trying....

 

[crowquill]

Hi all

I am a long time Buddhist practitioner in the Tibetan traditions and Soto Zen. Over the years I have had to adapt my practices and most of the time now I 'sit' laying down. I also lead ceremony and practice online sitting up rather than standing - meditation, chanting, Tonglen and Ryaku Fusatsu (the Zen version of the full moon Uposatha ceremony).

I wrote a little about practicing with illness and disability, and lead that side of practice at my sangha: https://andykokuumclellan.wordpress.com/practicing-zen-with-illness-disability/ That also includes a list of resources of practicing with illness, and the website has a link to my audio recordings of some traditional Buddhist and Zen teachings, and suggested online sits and podcasts of dharma teachings.

For me, Buddhism is about accepting where we are for now, even as we work to get better. I have not yet found any magic mantras or practices for healing, including in varayana, but I can only speak for myself in that.

This moment, right here and right now, has nothing missing or left out. Illness does not mean that something has gone wrong, it is a natural part of life, just as are birth and death. However, it would be wrong to say that chronic illness does not create a huge amount of suffering, and anything we can do to reduce this, both in ourselves and others, has to be a good thing.

With much metta
Andy/Kokuu

ps. my You Tube channel has a guided breath awareness meditation and a body scan meditation. I hope to have a guided tonglen and metta practice and some resources on that soon.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Thank you for posting this! Will check it out.....

I cannot sit in any of the mandated positions. due to spinal defects.

 

[crowquill]

A frustrating thing is that pretty much all photos of people meditating are of someone in a lotus posture, Burmese, seiza etc. which seems to suggest that anything else is not correct.

Meditation is not a matter of how we sit, but being comfortable enough. We have a man in our sangha with Ankylosing Sphondylitis who sits in a chair with sides so that he doesn't fall when sitting. The use of cushions or supports when sitting or laying down is also fine. Whatever works for you.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Whatever works for you.

I agree....

Rumors many people tend to otherwise fall asleep...hence Sit Up....

Not likely in my case.

If the point is to fully relax the body so one can breathe slowly, you cannot be in some physical position which does' work for the individual. Pain etc. I gave up on teh lotus posture decades ago.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Actually it's a lot like the hindu practice of pratyahara, or even corpse pose or a combination

was thinking about this...with COVID at the hospital, they put people in the corpse position and they can get more oxygen.

thats how I nap!