I attended a Buddhist temple/meditation-center. ☸️

[Husseinisdoingfine]

Just this morning, as of writing this, I visited a Buddhist temple and meditation center.

The place was officially non-sectarian but clearly followed a tradition and practice rooted in Zen.

The reason I attended was that I wanted more order and structure in my meditation practice. I often find myself incredibly inconsistent and sloppy when trying to discipline myself—especially when it comes to spiritual work. I’ll set the goal to meditate for one or two hours, only to find some excuse to get up and end the session early—or take extremely long “breaks.” I want to do more work integrating Spiral Dynamics integral BLUE, for which I discovered through introspection, I'm clearly lacking.

I also find myself coming up with arbitrary reasons not to practice at all. I set the intention, but then never follow through, telling myself I’ll just do it tomorrow. I don’t know why, but whenever I try to engage in any spiritual practice, I feel this internal resistance screaming at me not to do it. And even when I’m in the middle of it, every part of my body seems to be begging me to stop. I feel this internal hyperactivity within me, like as if I can't sit still, and I need to go for a walk. When I was in the temple, the feeling was there, but for some reason I powered through the whole two hours.

I went to the temple because I decided I was done with the sloppiness. I wanted consistency and routine—and people who would, in a way, “force” me to become a better meditator.

I arrived at the temple at 9:00 AM, when the meditation began, and it ended at 11:30 AM, with two 10-minute breaks in between. That means I completed two solid hours of meditation—something I almost never do on my own because I always find some excuse to stop early.

When I got there, I was joined by two Buddhist monks from China (Taiwan), as well as ten other people. The monks were really cool—one of them became a monk at 21, and now in his 60s, he even has a Ph.D., I believe in Buddhist studies, though I’m not entirely sure.

We introduced ourselves during one of the ten-minute breaks, and I mentioned Actualized.org and Leo Gura. Then, once the meditation ended at 11:30 AM and I went to collect my belongings, an older man approached me and said that he also watches Actualized.org. We started talking about our favorite videos and our admiration for Leo Gura. We were both long-time fans of the channel and bonded over our shared enthusiasm.

Later, I spoke with one of the monks and asked him about different spiritual practices. He told me that he doesn’t believe his methods are superior, but that while in the temple, they teach according to the early teachings of the Buddha. They don’t incorporate methods from, say, Hinduism.

I’m well aware of Leo’s critiques of Buddhism. But for someone as hyper as I am—who has trouble sitting still and can’t sleep at night because of sporadic, chaotic thoughts—just sitting for two full hours watching my breath is a huge improvement and a leap forward in my progress. It’s an accomplishment I don’t recall ever achieving before. Given how restless and undisciplined I tend to be, I’m genuinely celebrating the fact that I managed two whole freaking hours. I did it! That’s a massive improvement for someone like me.

I fully intend to keep going, hopefully several times a week if I can, or at least once a week. The structure, the monks’ supervision, and the sense of routine have been incredibly beneficial to me—especially since I find it so difficult to stay committed on my own, for the reasons I’ve already shared.

Pictures below taken from my iPhone.

Edited Sunday at 11:24 PM by Husseinisdoingfine
Reason for edit: grammar

[Leo Gura]

Now you understand why religion exists.

[gambler]

After reading this, I went and meditated for an hour. So, thank you for inspiring me with this post.

[Salvijus]

Nice 

[gettoefl]

Until you can sit-doing-nothing for an hour, there is no point even asking what mediation is. An hour sit anaesthetises ego so that meditation may reveal itself. Note that ego hates meditation and will find every excuse against it. If we only did what ego hates, we'd be enlightened. Get up and just sit and be sure not to tell anyone because ego will love you if you do. Ego loves religion too since it creates a beautiful image of how holy and wise I am.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

12 hours ago, gambler said:

After reading this, I went and meditated for an hour. So, thank you for inspiring me with this post.

Glad I could help. I always find that reading or watching examples of people who work hard, lets say bodybuilders, always inspires me to do things like go to the gym.

14 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Now you understand why religion exists.

Pretty much, its the same reason why universities are so popular. Because people aren't capable of educating themselves, or raising their own consciousness. Having an instructor really takes away the task disciplining myself off my shoulders by unloading it onto a monk or instructor, who tells me when to show up and what to do. 

[Leo Gura]

6 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

who tells me when to show up and what to do.

And that's why God will go unrealized.

[Thought Art]

@Leo Gura Only if that is all you do. But, having some guidance to get you started?

[Terell Kirby]

1 minute ago, Thought Art said:

But, having some guidance to get you started?

subtle difference between guidance and instruction. 

Most spiritual teachers/gurus claim to have the answers, and go about the business programming you with their worldview .. rather putting you in position to derive your own insight through independent contemplation / critical thinking

[The Crocodile]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

And that's why God will go unrealized.

Did you miss me??

[integration journey]

@Husseinisdoingfine I think you will love Vipassana meditaiton.
They offer free Vipassana retreats / courses all over the US and it’s also non-sectarian. 
I went there with a Muslim background and really learned a lot about how to meditate properly. 

[Salvijus]

1 hour ago, The Crocodile said:

Did you miss me??

I'm the only one who missed you

[PurpleTree]

also done that before.

It was the kind of Tibetan Buddhism though.

Where they think of Buddhist saints and golden lights while meditating.