Jay Quote:

Quote:

So when cravings like that strike, it can be useful to reflect that there may be nothing you can eat that will fill that desire... because it is not fillable!

How often have I eaten one thing and then another and NOT been satisfied but keep right on grazing away looking for :?: .

The messanger came when I was ready to listen !!! THANK YOU

I just looked at dukkha in my book and it says " discontent, dissatisfaction, suffering, and fear".

I am really so happy to have found this thread. I was drawn to Buddhism for years but had let "life" get in the way of learning and practicing. I feel more peaceful just reading and posting here.

Jay, Mariana and Others...the different takes on the Poem are real eye openers. Notice I jumped straight to my personal interpretation, I believe it was Chapter 3 or 4? I think that my eyes are always wide open when it comes to my own bad habits, but I just step right into that hole each time, sometimes making excuses for why I do it. I want to thank you all for sharing...this is a most illuminating forum. To Mariana, you have named and defined the task ahead of you and I am sure you will succeed. Best of luck...I am following right behind you, my friend.

Cathy

Gooday Day to All...and a Happy Sunday!

For those of you who asked about book titles, here is one which I may already mentioned. However, in looking through it I thought it might be worth a second mention simply because of the depth of the writing. This is "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching," by Thich Nhat Hanh. It is a very comprehensive look at the tenets of Buddhism for those who are involved in serious practice. For those whose practice is just beginning to blossom, it may be a little tough reading. At any rate, I find that, short the "Lotus Sutra" or other sacred texts, this one is the finest in terms of pure and direct explanation. Hope you find it useful.

Raindancer 1

Greetings, Weight-loss Sangha!
 

Hello, All...

What a pleasure it is to find a Buddhist-oriented weight loss group. Or sub-group, anyway. I am a 34 year-old Zen Buddhist, and have been practicing seriously (or not - as Zen might suggest) for some time. I am 5'6" and weigh 156 lbs. My weight loss goal is to lose 26 pounds. Thank you for creating a community for like-minded individuals.

In gassho,

Lambie

Hi Lambie and welcome to the thread!

I think that the concept of dukkha is very apt for weight issues - well for me anyway! I find that I get that slight frantic feeling that preceeds a binge eat, or a bad eating session. It is overwhelmingly a sense of dissatisfaction... a seeking...and through habit I have learnt to try to pacify that feeling with food.. but eating never really ceases the feeling.

My husband and I were discussing this exact feeling last night...We had been in the city shopping all day and had been having just a lovely time and despite having a huge selection of foods that aren't great for us we made very good choices, felt no deprivation and were actually proud of that feeling. Had we have been having a not so great day perhaps the eating would have been different. As I have mentioned before, we are graudually changing our habits to look for happiness within and not from external sources (food)...

Cheers,
Marianna

Thank you for the welcome, Marianna. I agree about your observations re: dukkah. I thought that you hit the nail on the head when you said:

I find that I get that slight frantic feeling that preceeds a binge eat, or a bad eating session. It is overwhelmingly a sense of dissatisfaction... a seeking...and through habit I have learnt to try to pacify that feeling with food.. but eating never really ceases the feeling.

Sitting (I practice Soto Zen) really brings those seeking feelings to the surface, but since you're sitting, you're in a "controlled" setting to observe the urge to seek rather than to go rummage through the fridge. It's bringing that awareness and sense of observation to those times when stress is running high and the fridge is nearby...that's when enlightment seems elusive.

Observation and awareness seem to be applicable wisdoms here, don't they? Just seeing those behaviors is key. Noticing our conditioning, and the things we tell ourselves about it.

Welcome Lambie...nice to have you on board. Hope you find this forum enlightening. You have much to share with us, and I, for one, look forward to your contributions. I have practiced for several years as a Buddhist, and prior to that I studied a secular form of meditation for 15+ years, then Zen. No matter how much I read and practice, there is always room for more reading and practice!
Regarding weight loss and bad habits: I fell into the very bad habits of not cooking and eating out with someone whose company I cherished very much. 80 pounds later I am paying the price. While I know that the gain was over two years, I just wish for the loss to take 1/100th of that time. Any words of adivce for someone who is experiencing excrutiatingly SLOW weight loss? I would appreciate your advice.
So...welcome again and wishing you peace.

Cathy

Hello Sangha for Loss!

I recently read something in, "The Heart of Buddha's Teaching," by Thich Nhat Hahn, that I thought applicable to our struggles with weight. In identifying, looking at, accepting, and welcoming our dukkha (suffering) we learn the causes of particular suffering, and how they (pains, sufferings) can come to cease.

In my case, I look at this extra 80 lbs of weight that causes me so much physical and mental anguish. My back hurts, I stomach hurts, I have GERD, I am out of breath, my self-esteem is lower, I obssess about wieght-loss, I cannot fit into 90% of my clothes, etc. I think about these things deeply, acknowledge them, and a road to the cessation of this is apparently opening up before me. This is in terms that I might not have seen otherwise. It is a more profound understanding of myself and my own suffering. I actually will write down some of the ways to end this dukkha, and look again at where this takes me.

While I want to see an objective met, I have no particular attachment to a specific outcome here; I am realistic enough to know that 80 lbs are not going to vanish without work. Still, I can just let my obsession with weight go elsewhere. Perhaps this is only a first step to my spiritual understanding of the weight loss issue, but already it feels better.

Peace, Cathy

Hi, Lambie! Nice to meet you. And hello also to the Sangha of En-LIGHTEN-ment!

I very much like Zen Buddhist principles, Lambie--and I've done much reading (or "skirting the issue" as one might say ;) ). I have questions about some Zen group practices, though--such as the austerity and hardships. Does one really have to get up at 4 a.m. to meditate? (I suppose not--but please share some of your experience with it.)

I am having the usual feelings of inadequacy around the holidays, so much of which seems to be a food festival. It is habit, of course, and excuses. I have not gone completely overboard, but the goodies are everywhere.

I need to have compassion for myself, I think, without allowing that compassion to act as an OK for overindulgence. As we've said before in this thread, just watch the desire and see what it does, without being directed by it.

Blessings to all,
Jay

For those of you that celebrated Christmas I hope that your day was lovely!

For us here it was quite stressful with family problems, which is a real shame. It highlights the effects that other people's negativity can hold over you. Quite interesting in retrospect to acknowledge the harm that it can do. Now that it is over I am able to be more impartial but at the time I felt beseiged.. just goes to show that I have much to work on.

I am interested in learning more about the different *schools* of buddhist thought to follow...ie. zen, tibetan, western. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good book or website that discusses the different traditions? I suppose to deepen your understanding and practice, would it be best to find a tradition that sits well with you and then learn more... some guidance on how you have chosen which one is for you would be appreciated.

Namaste

Namaste, Artemis!

Here is one good place to start:

http://www.buddhanet.net/

On the home page, look at the choices along the top. On the far right is "file library/resources." You'll find more topics underneath that--in fact, enough to keep you busy for a long time! LOL! But just pick and choose what you are interested in.

I am glad that the stress of family problems has passed for you.

And I will be glad when the advertisers get over the holidays and stop attempting to arouse desire in us all! LOL!

Be well,
Jay

Artemis/M,

Hello. Try http://www.zenguide.principles.com// for a discussion of the different schools of thought in Buddhism. The site offers concise explanations of Zen, Pure Land, etc. and contrasts them to more traditional Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan schools. It also talks about the Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hahn. His interpretations of Buddha's teachings are quite detailed yet geared to a Western audience.

Happy reading...looking forward to hearing from you soon...Cathy

Hey Cathy! Nice to "see" you!

I went to that site, but it seemed to be a Life Coaching site. ??? But I found a link to another site, www.betterbuddha.com, that has information also.

I am reading a book by Jane Dobisz, now a Zen master, titled THE WISDOM OF SOLITUDE. She goes on a 100-day retreat during winter in the mountains in Massachusetts. I guess it helps if one is younger! ;)

She takes with her beans, rice, sunflower seeds, miso, dried fruit, roasted barley tea, and a medium-size jar of Skippy peanut butter. That's it. Rather optimistic! The peanut butter runs out pretty quickly. In the course of the retreat, she does indeed lose weight, but of course it's not about weight loss. I recommend this book--it has some wonderful insights.

I am hoping I don't have to be snowed in in a remote cabin in order to make right food choices!

Jay

Hello to all, Hi Jay!

Oops, the names of the two sites are so close that I seem to have made a mistake. What I was referring to is not what I listed above, but is actually zenguide.com with sub-sites called "principles," "practice," etc. Please try again. I found Principles.com, which is the Life Guide (huh?) and not what I meant at all. Please accept my apology.

Zenguide.com has pages on The Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, meditation (zazen) and much more. I looked at it and copied some of the material because it is pertinent to what we read from the masters. There is also a page that differentiates that various schools from Zen. At any rate, I hope some of you will find it useful.

Other topic: my obstace is that I use meditation for spiritual reasons, and it also has the side benefit of helping me fall asleep immediately (a good thing for a notorious napper like me). Unfortunately, inasmuch as I try to visualize better health and weight loss, it does not seem to work for me. Sure, I know the bottom line is diet/exercise, but I wonder if anyone else has had success with meditating and translating the experience to better appetite control. Also, with the holiday fare it was hard to pass up some things (luckily I did not gain anything). Anyway, if someone has had success with this, please let us know.

Wishing you all much peace and goodwill...Cathy

Hi Again Jay,

I read the link that you suggested in your last writing and must thank you very much for telling us about it. It is comprehensive without being difficult to read.

Cathy