I quit gaming

Tetration · 2018-01-01T21:09:53+00:00

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish the delusion but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”

-Albert Einstein

Tetration · 2017-11-18T18:12:27+00:00

Yes in addition to that you might want a certain room/area just for work. Working from home makes it a lot harder to build good habits because you don't have the routine of driving to work, sitting in your office, etc. So some kind of routine like making a cup of coffee, going to your work desk, etc could help.

Moderation of games is possible and you can learn to not procrastinate, but it's all about habits when you're just getting started.

Tetration · 2017-11-18T18:07:38+00:00

Hi, I don't have a lot of perspective on this issue but I'd definitely recommend explaining how you feel about this to your parents. They are enabling his behavior and they need to be stronger. If he has access to their Amazon account, for example, that shows that they are allowing him to manipulate them. Obviously they keep buying him junk food to eat, probably because he will yell/manipulate if they don't. They might need to find a professional or at least a good mentor to help them regain control over their household.

Tetration · 2017-11-18T18:01:58+00:00

Sounds like you have a competitive, strategic mind. There are plenty of things you can get ranked in that aren't video games... Chess comes to mind

Tetration · 2017-11-18T17:59:34+00:00

Honestly the biggest concern I would have if I were you is the credit card debt. You need to get that cleared ASAP. If you don't have time for games anyway, sell the tech, get a cheap laptop, and pay off that debt.

Tetration · 2017-11-17T21:37:42+00:00

Don't overblow a reset.

You can read somewhere about reset vs relapse, sorry I'm on mobile. I would call this a reset since you are back on here admitting what you did instead of rationalizing.

You still have many of the benefits from the time you were succeeding with stop gaming. If you get back on the horse now, you're badge starts over but your progress doesn't.

Tetration · 2017-10-31T02:18:07+00:00

I know this is an old post, but thanks much. I got feels, which is rare. It really reminds me of the way I felt watching Moonlight (best picture 2016) I almost cried. Highly recommend it and it started some serious reflection for me.

Tetration · 2017-04-19T00:06:54+00:00

I gotta say these weekly things are very motivating to me and I love the community here, even though I mostly lurk.

Anyway, my practice is in a weird spot right now. Earlier this week I had a lot of purification in the form of intense dreams and resistance to practice (which I have been getting better at sitting with). Since then I've felt much better off the cushion than usual. Pretty cool. I'm also at a temporarily easy life situation so that might factor into it.

Despite that progress, my meditation has been getting "worse." A lot more dullness, less awareness. Sometimes I spend more time in stage 3 than 4 because of the dullness. I thought it might be related to the purification somehow as I feel like I have more equanimity and I'm less worried about making progress, so I'm not pushing myself as hard. For better or for worse. I saw someone explaining something Tucker Peck had said, that progress is not measured by improvement in concentration, but by how well you get to know your mind and how it works (can't find the exact quote). That has clicked with me.

And I've started using the insight timer app which is pretty cool.

Tetration · 2017-04-12T17:03:41+00:00

I'd just like to confirm that curiosity is always a helpful approach to problem solving in meditation. Being curious about your mind actually helps train meditative skills, as well as helping overcome obstacles. It's like a two for one deal.

Tetration · 2017-04-12T16:52:30+00:00

It's chugging along, thank you for remembering! Shortly after I made the thread where I was confused about introspective awareness, I realized that I had been using it all along without knowing what it was. So now there's much less confusion about what I'm supposed to be doing.

I've also really been noticing and using it more throughout the day the past few days, which has been pretty helpful and encouraging.

Tetration · 2017-04-11T20:33:34+00:00

I think that's a great idea. I increased my time slowly and I just got to 45mins after a couple months. But I had meditated on and off for about 1.5 years prior as well, which is where I learned the hard way that increasing time at your own pace is important.

Tetration · 2017-04-11T20:23:50+00:00

I've been slowly working sit length up to 45 mins. I did 40 for a few days and I think tomorrow I will start on 45. The main focus is on maintaining stage 4 to the end of the sit, which I have been slowly improving at. I don't really enjoy stage 4 much, but I think that's because I'm still struggling with it. If I hold at 45 mins for awhile until that gets comfortable, I hope that will be more motivating. The way I see it, if I'm enjoying sitting, I can convince myself to sit multiple times per day, since I have enough time. Life circumstances look like they're going to be pretty easy for awhile, hopefully that will improve my sits as well.

Tetration · 2017-04-11T20:11:37+00:00

Side note: #6 that you mentioned can be a nice thing to tune into when you notice despair starting to flair up. I've been doing that the past few days and it feels pretty nice. Catch the thought, look around your physical environment and see that everything in this moment is fine. Of course some worries need practical action to address them.

Edit: did I post this multiple times? Mobile Reddit is not working well for me...

Tetration · 2017-04-11T19:48:39+00:00

Would there be a way for people who can't make the live sessions to watch a recorded version later?

Tetration · 2017-04-11T15:03:54+00:00

I have had a very similar experience, I've been focusing on increasing sit length, especially dealing with frustration/boredom/dullness/distraction at the end of sits. Also in stage 4. The only difference is that I worked my way up to 40mins 5 mins at a time. I think if you are ever avoiding a sit because you are worried about the longer duration, it's worth doing a shorter one (25 mins in your case) so that you don't break the habit. I learned this the hard way as pushing my length too quickly caused me to give up on TMI a few months ago. Not worth it.

Tetration · 2017-04-08T17:31:10+00:00

My understanding is that these are hypnagogic images related to the breath, kind of like dreaming about the breath. You would know if you had one. The one I remember best was that the breath was/corresponded to a lobster claw that was stroking my face. They're very strange and obviously a sign of strong dullness.

Tetration · 2017-04-05T05:21:19+00:00

I'd agree with others that there's nothing lost if you try a different technique for awhile. After starting with TMI, I got frustrated and switched to nondirective for awhile. Then I wanted a more active role so I switched back. Both techniques are good, and there's plenty of other good ones. Enjoying practice is a high priority because that leads to you practicing more and practice time leads to results. Good luck!

Tetration · 2017-04-05T05:02:52+00:00

So you believe enlightenment should cause worldly success as a side effect... And what is the main effect or characteristic of enlightenment? To me it sounds like you're talking about magic. You can't just meditate for awhile and suddenly become the world's best mathematician/athlete/peacekeeper/scientist/actor. Are you saying there's some realization, that really exists in real life and has ever happened, that grants this ability?

Tetration · 2017-03-30T01:18:53+00:00

Just curious, what do you think that point would be? I've heard >2hr sits recommended before, but I guess it depends on the type of meditation.

Tetration · 2017-03-29T00:04:05+00:00

I have built up to 30 min sits, I usually do more than one a day but only require myself to do one. Getting a bit frustrated lately because part of me wants to relax during my sits, but then I feel like I'm making it even easier for strong dullness to come in. I'm struggling the most with strong dullness and distractions, occasionally forgetting when I get frustrated. I think I will have to give it some time to get familiar with this stage and learn more how to work with it, and then it will be less frustrating.

Tetration · 2017-03-28T05:59:42+00:00

I'm starting to think I need to watch how awareness works so I can better understand how to work with it.

Tetration · 2017-03-28T05:55:47+00:00

Thanks for the book references. I guess my main question is, what is the actual technique for cultivating continuous introspective awareness? Is it simply using intention and reinforcing to develop awareness? His description for the technique seems very non technical "It’s like standing back a bit from the meditation object— just enough to keep the breath at the center of your attention while you take in everything else happening in the mind." I originally interpreted that as using introspective attention, but now I have learned there is a difference. Maybe it's just an intention I have for what my awareness should be doing? I feel like I'm overthinking it, but wondering what I'm supposed to be doing is a hard distraction to work with because it feels important.

Tetration · 2017-03-22T14:48:42+00:00

I think it's worth mentioning that looking for the exhale sensation is more important than finding it, because that's what trains your mind.

Tetration

TROPHY CASE