My original intention was to write a blog that contained dependably quirky thoughts about Buddhism that were of questionable value, validity, and relevance, but that were at least “true” to the degree that they were specifically tied to my own practice and my own life experiences. The other alternative, I suppose, was to try and grind out discursive “insights” about Buddhist philosophy or psychology, i.e. be another Buddhist writing about Buddhism in the abstract. Nowadays there is no shortage of books about Buddhism. If you were a fast reader you could completely read a different book about Buddhism every day, and it would still take you many years to read them all. In fact, I don’t think anyone could actually do it because there are new ones coming out constantly, and I just don’t think you could keep up.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to keep my blog entries short, simple, and mercifully unwise. All that I really know about is my own practice anyways. I’m currently doing two hours of sitting meditation per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon because if I wait until the evening I can’t sit worth a damn because I’m falling asleep while sitting. Over the years I’ve tried to figure out how sitting meditation has actually changed me. Thai Master Achan Chah said that chickens sit still on eggs for years, and they never get any wiser. On the other hand, he spent countless hours in sitting meditation over many years, and he taught his students to do the same. Go figure. The point is there’s more to it then just sitting. One Zen monk that I heard said that Americans were very sincere in their practice, but that too often they put too much emphasis on sitting meditation and didn’t realize that sitting was only a small part of practice. I think that figuring out how to live a daily life in accordance with Buddhist principles is the tricky part. For many people that’s where reading the books comes in, and that’s where you have to be careful or your head will explode.
