“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” –Maya Angelou
Kyoki told me most people ‘find Buddhism’ once they’ve hit rock bottom. And most people stay with the Center or in active practice for about three to five years. She said nothing more about the subject. I can understand how one believes after a few years they no longer need to sit and then choose to ‘lose the training wheels’.
In the beginning one is learning about themself. It is natural to develop positive life patterns as a response to self-reflection. New practices equate to new choices and experiences. One goes along for a while; everything is hunky-dory. Then the boredom of just sitting sets in. And one stops sitting. Stops practicing. Because they’ve done enough work to break the old, unhealthy patterns. The question is: After stopping the practice, what is the recidivism rate for going back to rock bottom? And how many will not return to Buddhism because it ‘failed’ them?
For me the practice of being still is not about developing a method to deal with feelings of hopelessness. It is about creating an active practice to keep me from hitting rock bottom again. It is about me coming to peace with the kinkster in me. It is about me keeping the twinkle in my eye, a wiggle in my walk and a giggle in my talk. Oh Baby, that’s what I like!
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