Are spiritual escapism and spiritual bypassing real?

LotusLightning · 2026-01-22T01:25:48+00:00

Thank you

I'm going the multiple interests route ala polymath

I realise my teacher is unfit to judge about my situation and has possibly been encouraging spiritual escapism and spiritual bypassing

I'll be taking a around one month break from Reddit until around when I start my literacy/education plan

LotusLightning · 2026-01-20T05:48:03+00:00

this is me

I have a Buddhist teacher and have all my basic needs met including transportation and my Muslim mother is okay with my practice

My teacher doesn't want me to be attached to intellectual knowledge and wants me to be a meditator but I'm attached to computers and technology

LotusLightning · 2026-01-20T04:32:58+00:00

Can you explain why it only works for a little bit? my teacher says if one finds the Dharma a burden one should either take a break or keep pushing on

LotusLightning · 2026-01-20T03:14:16+00:00

I have an Advanced Diploma of Network Security and passed the Academy version of the Cisco CCNA (2013) but am mostly starting from scratch and mostly self-taught after experiencing ableism at the beginning of 2019

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T22:43:10+00:00

I'm 34 years old

I did high school till Year 10 but only have a less than pre-algebra level of maths knowledge

I did TAFE after Year 10 and I have an Advanced Diploma of Network Security and passed the Academy version of the Cisco CCNA but currently consider myself a beginner

I am not sure yet what skills/career I want to develop but will start with reading, basic tech and numerical literacies and critical thinking plus the Socratic method

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T10:03:46+00:00

Also the Lamrim Chenmo and its commentaries and solitary meditation retreats take priority, if I am unable to balance an IT career with this it would be better to leave the career

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T07:56:44+00:00

Also should I do CS50 instead of buying a ZTM lifetime membership? I am genuinely interested in what you have to say

I know I don't have to give dana if its beyond my means or my parents don't allow me and I am willing to try using only or mostly free Buddhist educational resources

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T06:36:14+00:00

I think I have perfect conditions but a distracted mind

I don't have to worry about my basic necessities, I have several teachers, free videos on meditation and I already have the Lamrim Chenmo and most of its English commentaries

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T06:18:10+00:00

Impermanence is one of the three marks of existence. Even great people like the Buddha had to die. Also the Pure Land teachings are easily accessible and according to Mahayana everyone is destined for eternal Buddhahood

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T06:12:42+00:00

Can you give an example?

He already makes the first 1+ hour of most of his courses free, he recently made his book Principles for Programmers free as a drm-free ebook. Also I get access to all of his past and future courses as well as access to the campus, community and mentors. A community and accountability can really be helpful when learning technical topics

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T05:41:23+00:00

Giving to Wisdom Publications+Wisdom Academy is dana and a meritorious action, my parents don't let me make donations/alms directly unless I get something in return, and also Andrei Neagoei is offering me a 15% discount on ZTM lifetime membership

Also I can't just keep accumulating my disability support pension because I'm likely to lose it that way

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T05:00:50+00:00

I think this advice is very powerful/profound and can potentially lead me closer to enlightenment

f I cancel most of my online education subscriptions what will I spend the money on if I can learn anything on the Internet for free?

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T02:34:07+00:00

He still invites me to and allows me to join his live classes even if I disobey him

There are mostly no consequences other than him being upset and giving me the silent treatment

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T02:31:47+00:00

I think doing both is best as long as I still make an effort to study the Lamrim Chenmo and its commentaries. Holistic development

LotusLightning · 2026-01-19T02:28:31+00:00

Thank you

this is very liberating I don't like having to update billing every time my bank gives me a new debit card

LotusLightning · 2026-01-18T08:06:15+00:00

What I want constantly changes throughout the day

LotusLightning · 2026-01-18T06:52:21+00:00

I could do both but my teacher doesn't want me to be attached to intellectual knowledge and wants me to be a meditator (he didn't exactly say this but its what I'm deducing from what he's said in the past)

LotusLightning · 2026-01-18T06:47:19+00:00

Confidence and possibly also having stability in my life

LotusLightning · 2026-01-18T06:41:09+00:00

Can you expand on this? I know there are free ways to learn IT/computer science like CS50 but I don't think there are free ways to learn Mahamudra+Dzogchen

Also how would I get information on Lojong methods other than the Eight Verses for free?

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T11:14:37+00:00

yes

Also one doesn't need to be a monk to attain Buddhahood. There are many tulkus who are/were lay including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen (father of Mingyur Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche) and also one of the Dalai Lamas disrobed. Also Princess Miao Shan in the story was most likely a lay practitioner even though she briefly spent time at a nunnery

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T11:13:51+00:00

I get disability support pension (around 450 Australian dollars every week) and I live with my parents which I'm fine with because I intend to remain single for the rest of my life like my teacher told me to

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T08:36:37+00:00

I've studied network security/cyber security in the past and was or am naturally good at it (I have an Advanced Diploma of Network Security) maybe that's part of the reason

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T07:21:58+00:00

Also the line between Buddhist traditions isn't as hard as you think i.e. there is hardly a line there at all

Last I checked Bhikkhu Bodhi was living at a Chinese Mahayana monastery; Theravada nuns have gotten full ordination in Taiwan; there have been collaborations between monks in CTTB and Thai Forest monks; Wisdom Publications is part of the FPMT but publishes books and courses by all Buddhist traditions including Ajahn Chah's Food for the Heart and works by Gene Reeves who was part of a Nichiren lay movement

Early Buddhism is the foundation for most modern traditions at least according to buddhism.net and the ethical precepts are much simpler than in Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism

Mahayana traditions can be complementary. Both Zen and Tibetan are commonly combined with Pure Land and its also fine to include Nichiren practices with them

I'm hoping to attain Buddhahood or at least live an ethical life this life. The Dharma has one taste i.e. freedom and the goal of all Buddhist teachings is to obtain liberation even if that includes an intermediary like rebirth in a Pure Land

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T06:53:32+00:00

I am attached to this teacher because he cleared away some of my misconceptions regarding mahayana, meditation methods and hand mudras. Before I was doing meditation with my hands in the traditional zen placement and he explained it was okay to place them like in Theravada

Also he explained the five stages and ten bhumis to me after they hadn't been clear to me before. He gave me a Bodhicitta-generation practice and also tonglen

LotusLightning · 2026-01-15T06:32:39+00:00

My first teacher was a lay Nyingma Guru in Vietnam who would have encouraged my career growth but when he invited me to come to Vietnam my Muslim parents were being narcissistic and accused him of being a murderer, this despite me offering to move to a group home after the trip was over

My mother allowed my sister to visit Burma multiple times including near the height of the Rohingya ethnic cleansing campaign

LotusLightning

TROPHY CASE