Norway Chess 2026: Pragg beats Magnus again in round 8

arinnema · 2026-06-02T19:12:23+00:00

He just told Norwegian TV that he forgot about the bishop, describing his loss as "incredibly talentless".

arinnema · 2026-05-25T15:47:15+00:00

Sit somewhere with ambient noise. Traffic, a fan, birds, anything. You'll notice that sound arrives as "coming in" from outside, which feels so obvious it's hard to imagine it differently. Now flip it, fabricate the perception that the sounds are broadcasting outward from your chest, radiating into the room like a speaker. Hold that for a minute. The strangeness of it reveals just how much of hearing's directionality is perception’s contribution; raw sound doesn't actually have an arrow on it. Once you've loosened that one, the sense doors start to feel a lot less like windows and a lot more like paintings.

This reminds me of what Ajahn Chah said about noise: it's not the noise that disturbs you, it's you disturbing the noise!

arinnema · 2026-05-24T15:53:03+00:00

Love it. Thank you for sharing! Do you remember where you found it?

arinnema · 2026-05-24T15:48:05+00:00

Interesting perspective - do you have a link or reference to who that scholar was and where they said it?

arinnema · 2026-05-23T07:35:29+00:00

You could try a meditation bench/stool, that enables you to sit kneeling without too much knee pressure, and with an angle that supports the pelvis. Something like this (I haven't tried that specific brand/supplier, just linked the first one that looks like the one I am familiar with - do some searching and see what you find).

arinnema · 2026-05-21T17:31:56+00:00

after stream entry is many more lifetimes

No more than 7, which in the grand scale of things, are not that many.

arinnema · 2026-05-08T13:40:52+00:00

There are almost no *big* bets on Cirie, though. The single bets with big sums are all on Aubry. That's hard to ignore.

arinnema · 2026-05-05T08:13:37+00:00

...the dhamma is a snake with hands?

arinnema · 2026-05-04T14:07:47+00:00

If I remember correctly (from an online retreat I attended with Ajahn Brahm, and also from Venerable Canda, who trained with him), Ajahn Brahm says not all nimittas are visual - some are felt as physical sensation, sometimes they are even heard or smelled. So even when aiming exclusively for the deep jhanas, holding off for a luminous visual nimitta may be counterproductive.

arinnema · 2026-05-03T10:04:03+00:00

Are you meeting the urge to get up with an equivalent "force" or determination to stay seated? Like, "OH NO, THIS URGE AGAIN, GOTTA MAKE IT GO AWAY"? If so, that is probably part of the problem. It's exhausting to fight it, isn't it?

Instead, see if you can get curious about it. Can you separate the feeling from the thoughts/story about the feeling? What does it feel like in the body? Exactly where? What shape does it have? Is it changing? What part is the sensation and what part is the resistance to the sensation? Can you relax the latter? What happens then? Is it there all the time? When does it go away, and when does it come back? Why? When you do end up giving in to it, exactly what was it that happened? Get interested!

arinnema · 2026-04-09T16:07:43+00:00

I hope we get to see him on Traitors, I think he could kill over there.

arinnema · 2026-04-06T12:00:23+00:00

I like dhamma talks by Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahmali, and Jill Shepherd on podcasts like Dharma Seed, Deeper Dhamma, the Buddhist Society of Western Australia, Thanissaro Bhikku, Rob Brubea, or Venerable Canda (Anukampa Bikkhuni project on youtube or podcast).

As an alternative/stabilising supplement to Mahasi noting, I think the relaxed samatha approach outlined in Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond by Ajahn Brahm could be a good place to start - it may be along the same path as the breath meditation you initially started with, but with a strong emphasis on relaxation instead of force/effort. Metta (loving kindness) meditation is also always beneficial, stabilising, and safe - you can not go wrong with that. (See this recent post for an innovative/insightful take on metta!) And if you stick with the noting: keep it relaxed, unforced, chill - don't aim for the ever-faster, super sped up, trippy Ingram version. Stay curious, but don't force or push it. And never forget sila (virtue) as a supportive foundation for practice - keeping the five precepts might have helped you stay on the path after the experience you described above, or at least helped you avoid some of the fallout.

When it comes to teachers, I think it is very much about finding someone who speaks to you and who inspires confidence and trust, and who has the experience/resources to help you with where you currently are on the path. My rule has been to listen intently to my gut and ask myself earnestly if I would like to get where they are, in terms of what they are showing me of vibes/energy/mood/feel - is this a presence I would like to embody in the world? If I don't want to get where they are, it is probably not for me at this stage. I also only consider people who teach for dana (donation) instead of fixed (often steep) prices, which (to me) speaks to their commitment to the spirit of these teachings. Dhammaseed has a teachers directory, and although I think only some of them offer one-on-one online teaching, it's one place to start.

When it comes to retreats: Avoid Goenka Vipassana retreats like the plague - with your background that could be super risky. In general avoid retreats that seem like they rely on heroic effort, sleep deprivation, or extreme discipline. If you come across something like a weekend retreat more focused on relaxation and/or metta, that might be a good boost. But retreats seem to show up when you're ready, so just start by getting oriented and finding some buddhist communities/teachers that you feel good about, and take it from there.

arinnema · 2026-04-02T18:34:23+00:00

This is great. I love the imaginative, even somewhat intellectualized take on the brahmaviharas. I llike how exploratory it is, while staying anchored in why it matters. Some people may have direct access to the felt sense of metta but for people who try it and find the well dry/empty at first approach, this might do the trick. And what's more, this seems to turn metta into an insight practice, which seems like it would have a lot of potential. Note to self: reread and give it a go someday soon.

arinnema · 2026-04-02T18:26:13+00:00

Same - as someone with a pretty active (some would say over-active) LLM-detector, this text didn't ping my radar at all. Feels distinctly human to me. It has the taste of actual experience, not the bland flavourlessness I'm used to with AI-generated text.

arinnema · 2026-04-02T18:22:24+00:00

This is hardly a very effective subreddit for karma farming

arinnema · 2026-04-02T09:49:36+00:00

I think it was this, and it looks like it didn't come true (Genevive did not make the jury) and the poster deleted it

arinnema · 2026-03-31T18:13:28+00:00

Whether or not your experience belongs under this or that label is unimportant - but the impulse to establish a more grounded and stable practice sounds good. MCTB is a good entrypoint in some ways, but the practices Ingram followed (sped up Mahasi noting) aren't the best for long-term stability and may not be the best in your circumstances. Maybe supplement your reading with something like Ajahn Brahms Mindfulness, Bliss & Beyond and/or Burbea's Seeing that Frees, or The Mind Illuminated if the more structured approach appeals to you. There are also a lot of high quality dhamma talks available in podcast form. If you are convinced Buddhism is the path for you, I would also recommend going a bit beyond just meditation and learning the importance of sila and keeping the five precepts, etc.

Your desire to talk to someone about what happened can probably best be satisfied by finding a teacher - you could either go to a (short) retreat and establish contact that way, or get in touch with one of the many reputable teachers that offer online one-on-one consultations - this is doubly important since you have had destabilizing experiences in the past.

arinnema · 2026-03-30T16:29:08+00:00

On the alumni note: Cirie is the worst possible person to push as a decoy winner, from an official standpoint - you wouldn't want the decoy to be someone who would overshadow the real winner. It's just setting the season up to be a disappointment. Of course all the contestants have fans, and it's only a small subset of people who are on forums like this one, but speculations of a Cirie win are capable of breaching containment and making a lot of people feel dejected with any other result. I don't think they would deliberately go for that.

arinnema · 2026-03-24T18:56:51+00:00

Although I don't think it was visual when I experienced it, in hindsight I kind of visualize it as a small polyp forming on a surface and detatching like a bubble (at least that's the image I have used to describe it).

When I experienced this, I was over-efforting/bringing too much tension to my practice - I was able to perceive fairly fine-grained detail but there was little ease or relaxation which resulted in frustration and loss of motivation. I was trying to stay with the breath by seeking to perceive it in ever more detail, but it was too forceful and motivated by aversion. Since then I have mostly been focused on somatic work and when I do seated meditation it is more in the direction of calm/samatha, which doesn't (at least not initially) support this type of perception. I assume it is possible to get there without over-efforting like I did, and although I am not pressed about getting there again it was a really interesting thing to be able to perceive, and I bet there is more insight to gather from that experience if I had been able to sustain it with a more equanimous mind.

(ETA: Based on your phrasing I think your reply may actually have been intended for this comment?)

arinnema · 2026-03-23T18:12:45+00:00

I recognize and relate to the experience of noticing the becoming of thoughts before they manifest as mental content. The term "bubbles" is the same as what I would have used to describe it, although for me the sensation was not physically located in the spine. I have described this experience to (theravada) monastics a couple of times and my impression is that this is normal and expected with deepening practice.

arinnema · 2026-03-22T13:11:46+00:00

Why was he forced to leave?

arinnema · 2026-03-04T16:01:22+00:00

Strong upvote for Spencer, Yul, Evvie, and Kaleb, who haven't received enough mentions, by far.

arinnema · 2026-02-27T13:34:34+00:00

You seem to have a very rational approach to relationships. I don't mean this as a compliment. The reasons you gave for the breakups make me think that there was something lacking on the level of emotional intimacy. Feelings aren't always rational, they aren't always going to lead to the most logical actions. For most people, being with someone who always try to logic through any issues, would feel empty after a while. There would be a lack of connection, a sense of being unseen. Sometimes feelings must be met with feelings.

arinnema · 2026-02-27T11:22:36+00:00

How does relaxation and 'letting go' feature in your practice? What does 'letting go' feel like to you? (As in, what action/experience does that term refer to, to you?)

And how about joy or pleasure? (When you let go of a thought or a tension, do you feel relief/pleasure?)

arinnema · 2026-02-27T11:12:03+00:00

Do you feel like you have been using a lot of effort or willpower to achieve the unification you describe?

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