Comments on: I Suffer and You Shall Too

By: Makyo

Makyo — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:13:09 +0000

I hope that you find relief from your anxiety – and a way to meet it with your practice. It is juicy ground for self discovery, that is for sure.

By: Lefty923

Lefty923 — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:45:19 +0000

Excellent read. Timely as I too am going through a period of anxiety.

By: Vishal Lama

Vishal Lama — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:51:02 +0000

Ah, a very subtle point/observation. Thanks for sharing!

By: Makyo

Makyo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:45:03 +0000

What was hard for me was to 'develop' intense anxiety in the midst of spiritual practice. Spiritual practice was not a reaction to anxiety – it was not a remedy. The practice was there and then my anxiety came about. So instead of 'Why can't I get this right?', I was running around 'What am I doing wrong?'.

By: Vishal Lama

Vishal Lama — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:11:26 +0000

but I think gentleness makes all the difference in the world.

How true! I like your use of the word "gentle." Being gentle to oneself, being easy on oneself makes the investigation a lot smoother. On the other hand, in the absence of gentleness, one is prone to all kinds of affliction – "Why can't I get this right?", "I have been practicing for quite sometime; so, why is this hard so often?"

By: Makyo

Makyo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:00:08 +0000

I agree. It is quite painful to move in on anxiety. It's a hard thing to 'take to the cushion', but I think gentleness makes all the difference in the world.

Thanks for reading.

By: Vishal Lama

Vishal Lama — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:23:51 +0000

Terrific article! I love this:

I could not mitigate or make my experience paramount by comparing it to the experience of others. More importantly, I was applying no true antidote via this practice. It was more like sending myself a daily greeting card that said ‘You’re life might suck, but somebody else would love to be you!’

Time and again, we distract ourselves so much with so many things/thoughts because anxiety is just too painful to investigate. But, once the investigation begins, slowly but surely one experiences great relief – an "unloading", if you will.

By: Makyo

Makyo — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:23:43 +0000

This is that Dylan, Alec. Small world – glad to see you here.

By: Makyo

Makyo — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:23:03 +0000

Hi Elias.

Thubtenchodron.org is a wealth of great information (though I'm a bit biased).

For those suffering with anxiety and depression, WHEN THINGS FALL APART by Pema Chodron is a wonderful starting point. Her book START WHERE YOU ARE can get you started with the principles of Tonglen.

Hope that helps.
Dylan

By: Alec_S

Alec_S — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:39:21 +0000

Is this the Dylan who I heard about from Sravasti Abbey? If so, hey dude! I will read your article when I'm not supposed to be working

Hope you're well!

By: Elias

Elias — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:32:58 +0000

Very inspiring article, thanks. I really want to get down to meditating but wasn't able to find any good resources to help me. Can you recommend any good videos, books, websites to get me started?