Beautiful. It's cool seeing you continue to make sense of the repercussion brought about by your meditation shift. I remember in college attending this talk titled "What happens after enlightenment?" and the speaker never got around to actually addressing the supposed point of the talk, which made me feel like maybe it was impossible to talk about the kinds of bliss attained through deep, sustained meditation practice, like everything would just be so good as to be ineffable.
Your work is important because it speaks to the buddhist adage "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." That is, life keeps going and you still have to deal with it. A big theme in my writing lately has been interrogating what is on the other side of the experience I thought would bring me happiness, so it's cool to see you working with that theme of arrival and shedding light on the path.
Thanks Ethan! Part of why I wanted to write this was to encourage active participation in life after big meditation changes. That's what I've found to be the most inspiring/enlivening. Can be tempting to think spiritual practice can be the solution to all your problems, and although it can really help, we still wake up to the mundane each day. There isn't another place, or another state, or another life other than the one that's in front of us.
Thanks, Carmen. Felt a lot of compassion reading this. I grew up in similar circumstances and it's heartening to hear about what you've discovered and what you've been able to heal.
you are so cool.
Beautiful. It's cool seeing you continue to make sense of the repercussion brought about by your meditation shift. I remember in college attending this talk titled "What happens after enlightenment?" and the speaker never got around to actually addressing the supposed point of the talk, which made me feel like maybe it was impossible to talk about the kinds of bliss attained through deep, sustained meditation practice, like everything would just be so good as to be ineffable.
Your work is important because it speaks to the buddhist adage "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." That is, life keeps going and you still have to deal with it. A big theme in my writing lately has been interrogating what is on the other side of the experience I thought would bring me happiness, so it's cool to see you working with that theme of arrival and shedding light on the path.
Thanks Ethan! Part of why I wanted to write this was to encourage active participation in life after big meditation changes. That's what I've found to be the most inspiring/enlivening. Can be tempting to think spiritual practice can be the solution to all your problems, and although it can really help, we still wake up to the mundane each day. There isn't another place, or another state, or another life other than the one that's in front of us.
I'm glad you finally posted the intro story
Thanks, Carmen. Felt a lot of compassion reading this. I grew up in similar circumstances and it's heartening to hear about what you've discovered and what you've been able to heal.
Thanks Jeremy! Hope you’re doing well now.
:')))
In awe, so well written and so much clarity in thoughts. Thank you so much for writing this Carmen. Glad i read it. Keep on writing.
Thank you, I will!
I'm so glad you're here.
This is beautiful, thanks for sharing
love your writing, I also chose San Francisco <3
i really enjoy your writing
I feel like all the thoughts I want to make sense were just made sense. This was beautiful, thank you