Programming And Spirituality

[Dodo]

I am at a crossroad in my life as I am moving to a different country and I will be looking for a new job. I am thinking between continuing my programming career and just getting a simpler "serving the people" job. My problem with programming is that it is obviously very intellectually demanding career and it kind of forces me to live in my mind. Of course it would yield more money, however, I would need to spend countless hours learning new things and keeping my old knowledge fresh, which I would think is counterproductive for the spirituality practice, which is to get out of the mind and to let it's waves calm down on their own (will this ever happen if I constantly throw hard intellectual tasks in it?) .

I was wondering is it possible to stay conscious and be a no-mind while you are working with computers, or are computers the so called "devil" when it comes to being present?

[nbolt]

I don't see any issue. I'm a professional software developer and it's one of the best industries to be in. I earn more for working less hours, and am also usually location independent, meaning I can work anywhere in the world.

The above has only resulted in benefits for my spiritual practice. Pursuing enlightenment shouldn't hinder your intellectual capabilities. If done successfully it should enhance them.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Neill

[Azrael]

3 hours ago, Dodoster said:

I was wondering is it possible to stay conscious and be a no-mind while you are working with computers, or are computers the so called "devil" when it comes to being present?

@Neill great answer, dude! I'm studying computer science and I'm normally doing a lot of very abstract math or programming myself. I see it the following way: First of all, this is my number one passion. I love to see great structures that begin to live if I execute my programs. For me that's pure magic. Also, I'm totally in flow and love the stuff I do.

If that is the case for you as well, why not go on? Doing anything isn't devilish per definition. You can and some say should use any task to realize your own being. If that's meditation, great. If that's walking around, great. Cooking, having sex, conversations, programming? All great. It's about how you go about it. Will you forget enlightenment and go back to the normal world living in the matrix or do you use your passions and interests to embody and see your true nature?

So, you have to decide for yourself. However, on the long run I can also see your point with living the simple life. For me personally, my plan is to integrate my enlightenment work with my passions for now (I'm 20 years old) and then later I plan to shift it more into probably being a yogi, just sitting all day somewhere in Canada out in nature, experiencing pure bliss (or maybe in a Zen monastery, who knows yet).

But this takes some planning and I have enough time left to really hit my passions deeply at first and then use the wealth I built to shift to the simpler life. So, that's my plan.

[nbolt]

Just now, Arik said:

@Neill great answer, dude! I'm studying computer science and I'm normally doing a lot of very abstract math or programming myself. I see it the following way: First of all, this is my number one passion. I love to see great structures that begin to live if I execute my programs. For me that's pure magic. Also, I'm totally in flow and love the stuff I do.

If that is the case for you as well, why not go on? Doing anything isn't devilish per definition. You can and some say should use any task to realize your own being. If that's meditation, great. If that's walking around, great. Cooking, having sex, conversations, programming? All great. It's about how you go about it. Will you forget enlightenment and go back to the normal world living in the matrix or do you use your passions and interests to embody and see your true nature?

So, you have to decide for yourself. However, on the long run I can also see your point with living the simple life. For me personally, my plan is to integrate my enlightenment work with my passions for now (I'm 20 years old) and then later I plan to shift it more into probably being a yogi, just sitting all day somewhere in Canada out in nature, experiencing pure bliss (or maybe in a Zen monastery, who knows yet).

But this takes some planning and I have enough time left to really hit my passions deeply at first and then use the wealth I built to shift to the simpler life. So, that's my plan.

Exactly. It's something that I'm also naturally passionate about, and have lots of plans for the future in terms of starting new projects and hopefully businesses that I find contribute meaningfully to the world. There is no sort of creative work that spirituality or enlightenment is incompatible with.

This doesn't mean that software development needs to be a center part of my life for the rest of my life, it just means that it's part of what I'm focusing on right now.

Do what you love. Love what you do.

[Dodo]

2 minutes ago, Arik said:

But this takes some planning and I have enough time left to really hit my passions deeply at first and then use the wealth I built to shift to the simpler life. So, that's my plan.

A little offtopic here, but I'm kind of scared of Zen monestaries, I have this really weird "memory" how I am getting beat up to death, really painful and not knowing what is happening to me xD. Out of the blue! Or maybe I was an asshole