oh... man... i just started reading this and it's amazing

this is basically buddhism

specificially the more cerebral mahayana schools like zen

if the general concept appeals to you, i highly recommend shunryu suzuki

a lot of people also really like thich nhat hanh

greenanddying: I do like the post. Part of what most appeals to me about it is the spirituality without the fabricated certainty of a higher figure. Does that extend to your recs? If so, I may check them out.

absolutely

the metta sutta is probably my favorite of all scripture, in any religion

(the challenger is the dhammapada but it's hard to find a translation of that that isn't really clunky)

I like it, but I admit I have a hard time with striving for that level of mindfulness because I don't think it's possible (at least for me) and the idea of striving to that level seems impractical. I'm all for

working on self-improvement ceaselessly, but say I'm at a 18 and want to be better. I think it's unrealistic to strive for a 100, even if I'm constantly progressing from 18 to 20 to 28 and so on.

yeah, you want zen (so to speak)

I go back to Maslow's hierarchy, tbh. I don't have the stability in the lower levels to reach self-actualization

one of the famous zen sayings is "before enlightenment: chop wood, draw water. after enlightenment: chop wood draw water."

because zen practice is about living life

(at least the less monastic traditions, and some of the most famous zen writers were, on the surface, shitty at being monks )

Interesting.

if you're interested, i recommend zen mind, beginner's mind, by shunryu suzuki

if it doesn't speak to you, zen probably isn't a match

I already added it to my wish list. c:

Along with the FEAR one and mindful meditation by the other guy.

They sound like good reads. Thanks again!!

my pleasure!