AMA: felipeforte [2]

A quick reminder that AMA stands for "ask me anything", which means this post embraces questions and doubts more than anything else, but feel free to assert anything too.

I will tell you a few things about these feet that carry the swinging of the roads.

Before studying Zen, I came from a Buddhist background. I used to live with some friends and one was a Buddhist who taught me about "vacuidade", or 'vacuity', 'emptiness'. I couldn't grasp it, though, but I managed to absorb the concept that "emptiness means the sense of openness you feel when your mind is resting". As with most concepts, the words eventually become hindrances to understanding, especially with something as profound as "emptiness is the essence of mind". I can develop this deeper if asked.

So, even though I can attest I did not have a realization that liberated my mind, I still studied Buddhism through many means, eventually incorporating it into my daily life and practice, sometimes even teaching key concepts to people close to me that had a curiosity about my creed.

I used to browse Reddit on an account called curiousgeist451, and in that account I was suggested r/zen, probably because I followed r/buddhism. I was very curious about the seemingly uneasy nature of the community, with no apparent orderly culture on how to approach teaching and learning, along with a weird devotion to a specific user from the community, and it was mystically fascinating at the time.

I had a trip with my family, and during that trip, I've had a realization that put to rest all the doubts I still had about my journey, and I'm not talking about Zen. I've had finally felt the ground that touched my feet, the sky that looked at me, the winds that I blew through the oceans.

As soon as I came back from the trip and talked to my Buddhist friend, how we laughed when a trope was repeated through History. "You look different", my friend stated. I didn't have anything to teach, neither to learn any longer.

I however wish that some will excuse the fact that I didn't answer the "standard questions", only because they are silly and should change once in a while, so this is my silly protest to it.

Submitted January 21, 2020 at 12:55PM by felipeforte https://ift.tt/3atKi9U