I did my first noble truth inquiry and then had some difficult emotions so have taken a break for the last week or so. I would like to pick it back up, but need to give myself a couple more days just to settle back in. Had a couple of weeks off CBT (my therapist was away) which set me back a bit there and I’ve got all confused between RD and CBT. Hopefully back on track with CBT and then will get onto the RD book!
2 Likes
The first noble truth inquiries were a doozy for me too. Are you just writing them out on your own, or doing it with a mentor?
2 Likes
We read through the Five Precept Inquiries today, just read through them and I really struggled not to climb deep into myself and disassociate. I am going to work through with a “wise friend” but I fear neither of us are far enough along to handle it together and should maybe bring in a mentor.
I am interested to hear if you were working through it alone @siand . I have heard that doing it on your own, with a mentor or wise friend, can be brutal. I think I need someone to both “ground” me and “lead” me to go deeper without drowning.
2 Likes
I tried to do the First Nobel Truth questions the other day and struggled. I couldn’t work out what exactly it meant by a behaviour. I know that sounds a bit silly, but I couldn’t quite grasp it, along with how the subsequent questions expanded on these behaviours. I tried looking online for an example but didn’t find much.
When it says behaviour, does it mean a specific event or action rather than a consistent behaviour? I think perhaps the reason I’m struggling is that I’m looking at it more as on going behaviours, like say, being selfish, as opposed to single events like, a time I was horrible to someone.
The questions seem to make more sense if I were to say - this specific thing that I did, what the affects were, is there a pattern, was it due to trauma/pain etc.
If that’s what it is, it’s going to be tough reliving some of that stuff 
What are your thoughts?
2 Likes
I will send you what I’ve done if that’s helpful. I thought about behaviours as a group e.g. behaviours relating to low self-esteem (doubting myself, self-sabotage, people pleasing etc).
Editing to add an example of the format I used which helped organise my thoughts on this, and some narrative which came from contemplation and discussion.
@EarnIt @anon28001181 I have been chatting to someone in my group after Sunday meditation class. I guess he is my mentor although we’ve not really spoken about it like that. He leads the sessions for my local group.
I think what I’ve done also blurs into the second noble truth a bit. I’m not really sure though as above I’ve just taken a break from it while I wait for this rocky patch to pass.
2 Likes
That’s great, thank you. When I look back at what I wrote before it was just a jumble, but the structure you have used is really helpful. I think I approached it without any real order or framework so it was too confusing. My notes are just a load of words scribbled down.
2 Likes
I’m not usually fond of these ‘look what you were doing on this day…’ posts that smart phones do, but today was quite fun. 3 years ago today I was in Bagan, Myanmar. And I was sober. I mean, it all came crashing back down when I arrived back in the UK, but something changed while I was there. It was the beginning of my weight loss journey and in some ways the beginning of my sobriety journey too. It’s definitely when I started to take it seriously and wanted to change.
7 Likes
Some notes from my local meditation group this morning, which was talking about sitting through difficult times.
The progress we make isn’t a straight line - sometimes it’s easier to sit than others. That’s how progress works, there are ups and downs. But when we hit a down it can be easy to justify not sticking with it. We can use difficult times to strengthen our practice (as we can use good times!), to help us develop insight and compassion.
Through meditation we develop clarity and focus. That is the goal - it is not about feeling good or bad. Difficult circumstances provide an opportunity to explore and melt away the walls of our delusion. Delusion means not seeing things are they are - taking the appearance of something as the real thing. The basic teachings of the Buddha are that we don’t see things as we are, we see them as they appear and that delusion is the basis of suffering.
Through our suffering we can create more suffering, through the narratives we create and the way we respond. That cycle is samsara. By sitting, meditating and seeing things as they are, we can start to break that cycle.
I know for me, when I go through difficult times, I can really build up resistance to meditation (and other things that are good for me). It is very easy to let the ‘nope’ take over and sink into the cycle of samsara.
Something we’ve been talking about through meditiation is this idea of tightening and then letting go, building focus and finding clarity. That’s something we meditated on this morning - ‘when we relax our tight grip, we find infinite space that is open, inviting and comfortable’. We need to let go to find that time and space, I have found this with the inquiry practice. Just setting it down has given me the opportunity to explore my meditation practice, to sit with myself and see what comes up.
3 Likes
question. do you attent recovery dharma meetings online? If so can you recommend a time and group that fits our time zone?
2 Likes
Thank you. I have those access, but was specifically looking for this
1 Like
See you wizard! you are fast! thank you. I will check it out! for coming months that is my breathwork meditation group night but I have the option and will check it out! It keeps coming back with me, so I have to do something with it then right.
Have a good night. I heard there is change of a KanaalRat storm in our little country.
1 Like
The Daily Non-Dukkha meetings sound good. I believe 2pm UK time so it depends what you have on through the day. Our friend @EarnIt goes to them 
2 Likes
Good point! I suppose rather than saying that part of progress is having ups and downs, I should say that part of life is having ups and downs. As per the first noble truth, there is suffering. And the important bit is that the point of meditation is not to feel up, or stop feeling down, but to develop non-judgemental, compassionate awareness.
And I really like the idea of gaining insight from resistance. Fostering an attitude of curiosity rather than attachment. I think that is how I will break down the avoidance, and I guess I just have to accept that some days it will work, others it won’t! Will keep coming back to it and remember that long held habits and attitudes take time to break, just as new ones take time to form.
2 Likes
I think all the zoom details should be on the Recovery Dharma website - https://recoverydharma.org/meeting-list
1 Like
I would be interested in starting to work through the eightfold path part of the book while I take a little break from the inquiry. Start tomorrow and work through them, one a week?
Editing to say, seen the DND zoom does book work on a Thursday, so maybe we could discuss that here after?
Yes! The Non-Dukkha Sangha is seven days a week at 2pm GMT (8am my time!). It’s just a really great group of people from all over the world. I love my sangha.
Meeting ID: 93271063033
Passcode: 1234
2 Likes
Thank you!
1 Like
I will be on for the speaker meeting tomorrow
1 Like