Overcoming Habits
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This isn't my inital intention to post a topic because i don't know why i can't seem to reply to other people's thread. Anyway a sharing..... This is from the book The Tibetian Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. pg 31 A Change In The Depths of The Heart We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. Still, reflection can slowly bring us wisdom. We can come to see we are falling again and again into fixed repetitive patterns, and begin to long to get out of them. We may, of course, fall back into them, again and again, but slowly we can emerge from them and change. Autobiography in Five Chapters poem by Portia Nelson, quoted in Charles L. Whitfield, M.D., Healing the Child Within (Orlando, FL: Health Communications, 1989) 1) I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost... I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. 2) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hold in the sidewalk I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. 3) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I see it is there. I still fall in... it's a habit My eyes are open I know where I am It is my fault. I get out immediately. 4) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I walk around it. 5) I walk down another street.
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Hi Metta with Mindfulness, thanks for this sharing, it illustrated well the "stubborn-ness" of habits :)
By the way, which thread were you planning to post this as a reply?
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Yo Realization, sorry de late reply~ ~ ~ : ) i have to rush out of my house but i manage to post a reply in thread that i have intended to share.
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Ah ok, good
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Habbits can be hard to overcome.
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Originally posted by Melon Pan:
Habbits can be hard to overcome.
//Habbits can be hard to overcome.//
Rabbits are hard to come out of hat.
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If someone is a habbitual liar, he needs some time to change his ways.
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Right Speech
samma vaca
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vaca/index.html
Right Speech is the third of the eight path factors in the Noble Eightfold Path, and belongs to the virtue division of the path.
The definition
"And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech."
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Easier said than done. Even a 7 year old can understand but a 100 year old cannot do.
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Originally posted by Melon Pan:
Easier said than done. Even a 7 year old can understand but a 100 year old cannot do.
Explain yourself a bit more? What is easier said than done?
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Originally posted by Melon Pan:
Easier said than done. Even a 7 year old can understand but a 100 year old cannot do.
Right. That is one of the reasons what Buddhism is trying to do, to shorten the period to anything that is less than 100 years by teaching us to put in more Effort and be Mindful of our words and actions.
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its root problem is ignorance.
there's a little monk who like to play and have fun, and the older monk told him to keep the precepts, but the little monk is still immature to understand why need to keep the precepts. if u know, u would not do it. if u do it, that mean u have not thoroughly know it.
common said 知易行难 but actually its 知难行易.
example, if there's a gold and brass on the table and ask u to take, will u take the brass or gold? if u already know the gold is worthier, the act of taking it is easy.
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I must say it is not easy but by reflection and exterting the effort, it is still possible to be done. Most importantly, is that one must not give up easily, continue to listen and understand the Dharma deeply, so that we can come understand the benefits, the reason behind the action and how do we go about to cultivate right speech. :) Hope you will find a good teacher to guide you. :) Metta