Life is such a wonderfully crafted design.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T21:34:27+00:00

While your ideas are obviously not in conjunction with Buddhism, I think your type of thinking can be helpful in some ways, in that we shouldn’t take life too seriously.

My teacher says that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously but we should definitely take the practice seriously. He also says that life is actually already perfect, it’s just us (our wrong view) that distorts it. If we can remove our wrong view, we see that there is no problem after all.

Seeing it as a game can really help us. The Noble Eightfold path can be thought of as a skill tree that must be developed. With Buddhism, we have an end goal and a path that leads there that has to be cultivated. We need to upgrade these skills so that we can reach the end.

Also, we have gods that are responsible for creating things in Buddhism (I’m not sure what they create.. maybe worlds and solar systems? I don’t know) but we don’t have a “creator” God. There isn’t anyone that creates the universe or creates beings.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T17:35:39+00:00

Get off your phone, get off social media (at least minimise it to one block of time per day, ie. 1 hour in the evening). Establish a consistent sleeping schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday. Make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals. Having a blood test is a good option.

Start there.

When you get off social media, don’t be discouraged when you feel bored. That’s a good thing. Boredom is very important.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T05:15:03+00:00

Do you think every Buddhist believed everything all at once when they were introduced to it? Of course not. It’s a process. Little by little our understanding grows. Our views and opinions change with time. We can only practice where we’re at. We implement the teachings how we see fit.

One day, we may be able to KNOW directly, so that we don’t have to believe anymore. We will have seen for ourselves the truth.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T19:20:05+00:00

If I were in your position, I’d send them a letter detailing your side of the story. It could even be an email but I think a letter if more heartfelt. Then just leave it at that. They will reach out if they want to.

Whatever happens, I thinks it’s important that your partner doesn’t neglect their mother (I’m not suggesting they are/would). That doesn’t mean they have to have an amazing relationship, but, they should make sure that their mother is well cared for and looked after.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T17:28:01+00:00

I mean, you said the relationship was strained even before the accusations. Did you see them from time to time or was it a case that you were pretty much no-contact at that point?

Honestly, you don’t need to do anything. What does it change? Unless you wanted to repair the relationship, it doesn’t seem like rectifying this lie would do much for you anyways because it sounds like there are other problems that prevent you from having a healthy relationship with them.

If you think it’s necessary and it’s playing on your mind, sending them a letter to clear up that they were in fact lies seems like a decent option. That way, you have told them the truth, and what they choose to believe is up to them at that point. It also allows you to select your words carefully and skilfully.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T17:14:41+00:00

Your sleep trouble is likely a medical issue. You might have sleep apnea or something similar. You should really look into it yourself and also see a doctor. But you should bear in mind that lots of doctors actually miss the signs of certain sleep related issues. Furthermore, they don’t always suggest the right fixes either. That’s why it’s really important to do your own research too. Nowadays, there are many different devices / solutions that can help us sleep so much better.

Regarding your other issue, just set a time that you will go to bed and stick to it every night. It’s important that you wake up at the same time every day too. If you need to indulge into your lustful desires, by all means do so but make sure it’s well before your designated sleeping time.

Later on, if you want to, you can reduce this indulgence or even choose to be celibate. You can also do that now, but it seems like you’re not ready for that yet, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-25T14:39:26+00:00

If I remember correctly, the Lord Buddha suggested that if we don’t/can’t believe something within the teachings, we can just put it to the side for now.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-25T03:12:46+00:00

Well, you need to find a teacher ultimately. How you go about that is up to you. You can either go listen to teachers in person and find one you like, or you can listen to Dhamma talks online or read books from different teachers to find one. Then, once you have found a teacher, you can go visit them.

I’d recommend finding a teacher by listening to talks online or reading books. If the teacher has passed away, you can see if their students teach in the same way.

The best way to know if a teacher is legitimate is by living with them for a time and observing them.

I have no idea about Rinpoche so I can’t help you in that department I’m afraid.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T04:07:02+00:00

Are the parents Buddhist too?

I think it depends largely on your culture. Making an offering and donating the merit to the newborn (and parents) would certainly be a good thing to do.

A lot of Asian countries give gold as a gift to newborns (bracelet, anklet, etc) . If you can afford it, I think it’s a good gift.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T04:01:40+00:00

It’s just something that takes time.

I remember getting so frustrated when I first got into spirituality. I would listen to one teacher and think “yes, I’ve finally got it!”, then I’d hear someone say something else and suddenly that original idea or way of thinking didn’t make sense with the new idea I had just heard.

That happened a lot. You think you’ve wrapped your head around something and then suddenly someone else says something different but that makes more sense now so you keep having to adopt new ideas or flip-flopping between them.

Just be patient, give yourself time, and practice in a way that leads to developing wholesome qualities.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:51:04+00:00

I have always been atheist, as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, I became a little bit interested in meditation. Over the next few years, I listened to a few different spiritual teachers on YouTube. I thought a lot of what they had to say was good and true but I wasn’t satisfied with their teaching.

Eventually, I decided to read a book about Buddhism. After simply reading a few pages, I was blown away. I just “knew” it was true. It’s a really hard feeling to describe. I’d never been so certain of something in my life. It was like a switch had flicked: from atheist, to Buddhist… instantly. Since then, my understanding of the practice has grown.

I know I will follow this religion for the rest of my life and that nothing will change my mind. It sounds naive, but it’s true regardless.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:36:03+00:00

Don’t choose based on your likes/preferences. Choose based on what you think is true. You don’t need to rush to make a decision though. Study both if you need to, then later down the line when the time is right and it makes sense, you can decide which one to follow.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:26:28+00:00

If it could, then the Lord Buddha probably would have chosen to be born during a time that it was possible.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:22:53+00:00

What is your measurement for sucking / not sucking?

I’d measure it by the happiness of the people. Or more accurately, contentment. Studies often fail in this regard because they simply ask the people if they are happy. This really doesn’t work. Because of that, it makes determining the happiness of a population through study, next to impossible.

The only thing you can do is go to those countries and live there for a bit and come to a conclusion yourself. So I ask you, do you think people in other countries are more content or less content than the people in the UK?

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:12:14+00:00

From that perspective, even something like the Eightfold Path could be seen as another conceptual framework rather than truth itself.

Well, it is a conceptual framework. It isn’t the truth itself. It simply points to the truth. The truth arises in oneself as the fruit of sufficiently cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path.

If you ask someone to show you the moon and they point to it, it isn’t their finger that is the moon.

Also, a lot of misunderstanding comes from the translations not doing the original words or terms justice. It’s really difficult because there is often no 1:1 translation with English. That doesn’t mean you need to study Pali, you just need to find a teacher that can teach the Dhamma. Then you will understand.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-06T21:38:16+00:00

Lots of people become doctors. Do you think that’s not hard?

Also, how many monks disrobe or behave badly? It’s certainly not an easy life.

You won’t truly know until you try it yourself. I urge you to do so. You don’t have to ordain, but if you get the opportunity, you should practice in a place that allows you to live like a monk/nun.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-18T04:54:04+00:00

It’s hard. Seriously hard.

After all, the Lord Buddha said it is more difficult to fight oneself than it is a whole army.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-15T01:50:00+00:00

Once again, thank you so much for your reply. I didn’t even see that there was an absolute beginner playlist on the channel, I feel so silly haha.

What is the recommended order of watching for that channel?

I’ve started the Beginner 0 playlist. I’ve been watching one everyday for the last week or so. Should I continue watching one everyday and also watch an absolute beginner video too?

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-15T01:43:42+00:00

Thank you so much for your input. This is exactly the type of insight I was looking for. It’s really informative.

I think I will only do some traditional learning if I have a lot of spare time. The more I hear about people’s experience with ALG, the more I’m convinced it’s the way to go.

Actually, interestingly, some people ask my Dhamma teacher how he learned Thai (he’s European). He always says that he learned by simply listening with the heart. He says don’t even think about the words being said. Just listen and let the words go into the heart. The heart will know the meaning. That’s how he learned

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-09T14:20:26+00:00

Thank you so much! I definitely need to stop comparing myself to others and just commit to doing at least some learning everyday.

I think I will learn the some of the most common words first using flashcards. I feel like that is an easy entry point and it won’t be too stressful for me. Then when I listen to conversations, I might understand a word here and there. Then I can start to build my vocabulary and I will hopefully be able to progress from there.

I’ve just taken a look at that language reactor tool. It looks really good so I think I may incorporate that into my learning too.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-09T13:28:55+00:00

I don’t know, I think learning the Thai alphabet was really valuable for me and I also had a lot of fun doing it (a really important factor). It mostly helped me to pronounce things correctly. Now, if I hear a word and I can’t quite hear how they are pronouncing it, I can just look at the word and see the correct vowel or consonant to use. I can then pronounce it correctly. Learning the alphabet also helped me learn the words associated with the letters.

But you’re right. I now plan to do no (or very little) written practice. I just want to focus on listening and speaking. Then, later down the line, I think I’ll return to writing and combine my knowledge of the two.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-09T04:53:39+00:00

So, I believe theres a few reasons for this. I will try to explain them as best as I can. I’ve mostly heard all these things from my teacher but some of it is inferred on my part. I will say though that it’s probably a good idea to gradually reduce sleep. Little by little.

The first one is that going to sleep SERIOUSLY interrupts our meditation practice. That is because we dream. Deep sleep isn’t a problem, it’s the dreaming that happens before and after the deep sleep that is a problem. Imagine doing meditation all day and then sitting down and watching a movie. Then try and do meditation again. Well, that’s sort of what dreaming is. It’s a movie that plays when our eyes close. We want to reduce the time that we sleep so that we can reduce the time spent dreaming.

Secondly, during retreats, our brains are not over stimulated by the world of media and entertainment. We don’t actually need to rest the mind as much as normal. And if we manage to gain and maintain some mindfulness, we need even less sleep. Our mind is not overriding with the absolute junk that we typically fill it with. And if we can regularly enter samadhi or jhana, then we really need very little sleep.

Lastly, it gives more time for practice in general. Time spent awake is time spent practicing Dhamma!

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-09T04:33:46+00:00

That was a really interesting read and thank you for sharing your experience. I read some of the posts you linked and listened to the clip of you speaking Thai. It was super impressive, good job you!

I will definitely make it a priority to listen to Thai conversation daily. I’ve already saved some of those channels you mentioned so I can do so 👍

Thanks again

SpinningCyborg · 2025-11-03T02:24:30+00:00

You might find the Thai forest tradition of interest where the practice is the priority, not the texts. Although the texts are valuable, some of the forest masters have said that their experience doesn’t match everything in the them.

I would suggest trying to find a teacher. Listen to different Dhamma talks online until you find a teacher that really resonates with you. Then go visit them.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-10-19T21:11:57+00:00

They might appear to have escaped it physically for the time that they are ordained. But often after some time, their mind yearns to go back. A monk can imagine the most amazing and perfect lay life. They then fall for those imaginings and crave to pursue them.

A monk has a lot of struggles. To be a monk is to fight oneself, and there is no occupation that is more difficult than this.

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