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'Thich Nhat Hanh - Heart of the Buddah's Teachings'. I didn't become a Buddhist, but it gave me some really useful mental tools to be happier.
I had a bit of a fucked up childhood, left home at 15, was really angry & bitter for a while. I was already many years into a general attempt to let go and be happier, I believe the knowledge from that book has made me happier and more resilient.
Adding this to my bookwyrm!
Username definitely checks out :)
Haha. I've had this username for several years now, you're the first one to comment on it across a bunch of different accounts. I love my username. Haha.
I'm always a bit fascinated by why people choose their usernames. I usually go with one of my music production aliases, but on a whim I decided to go for Bleeping Lobster. Am I a lobster with a bomb in it? Am I a lobster who swears on daytime TV? Am I a lobster with a watch who slept through their alarm? It's a mystery.
Why did you choose yours, is it as obvious as I assumed or a deeper meaning?
For what it's worth, I assumed you were a lobster on Maury swearing up a storm about how you are not the father.
Around 5 years ago I started investigating my faith. I've always been sort of... Eclectic in that regard, but once I discovered the Dharmic faiths, it made a big difference in my life. Non dualism specifically. I chose the username because I made a new reddit account specifically for that sort of content. I was still really new to it at the time, and associated the branching out from my Christian roots with the same type of exploration people do when they're beginning to explore their sexuality. So it's a play on bi-curious. I wasn't Dharmic at the time, I was just Dharma-curious. Haha.
That's interesting, so how did you journey work out? Are you still Dharma-curious today, or do you feel you've gotten enough from it? I keep meaning to re-read the book I suggested, I've read it three times which is twice more than any other book I've read... but I reckon the lessons are difficult enough to make a key part of our personality that it takes a bunch of reads. I guess, that's why it's called a practice!
At this point, I'd say I am definitely a nondualist. I was raised Christian, so that flavors my outlook in major ways. I'm some weird mix of Hindu and Christian, and recently I've become very interested in Buddhism as well. I really enjoy the writings of Swamiji Vivekananda and Rama Krishna. A sort of universal view of religion, with many paths that lead us to God.
What about yourself? Do you subscribe to a particular religion or philosophy?
Also, related, do you recommend any Lemmy communities for this sort of stuff? I haven't found my esoteric and spiritual people on lemmy yet.
Unfortunately I can't recommend any lemmy communities for this. I've found a good one for general 'woo' like paranormal, UAP etc but not for spirituality (I'm not into paranormal stuff anymore as there's so often a logical explanation, but with UAP.... 99% have a logical explanation, that 1% which doesn't fascinates me).
I mostly see any given religion as an ancient, outdated 'how to live your life' manual that (imo) we should be well beyond needing. Like, I don't need a book to tell me that killing someone or stealing their bike is wrong! Also if I'm being honest I see them in modern times merely as systems of control, a way to manipulate large groups of people and steal either their money or devotion. Buddhism stands out to me in that regard as a genuine attempt to help people gain happiness and peace in their lives. Sadly as with many good things, there are people corrupting it (eg Myanmar). But after reading so many other religious texts, it's the only one that venerates the human and tries to get them to lift themselves to happiness. All the others are various threats, demands and commands to do this or that otherwise we'll burn for eternity.