Lay autobiographies or blogs

Keith, modified 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:43 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:43 AM

Lay autobiographies or blogs

Post: 1 Join Date: 3/5/16 Recent Posts
Hello,
Just wondering if anyone knows of any autobiographies by lay practitioners who have become meditators and progressed far along the path while living lives in the "conventional" world. I'm interested more in how they juggled the commitments and resolved the obvious conflicts between following a "spiritual" path (is there another desciptor for this?!) and living a life in the "normal" world.
Or maybe someone might know of blogs written by experience practitioners describing this on an ongoing basis which would be interesting.
There are many technical books around describing different aspects of practice but rarely have I seen discussions of the day to day journey and impact on lives lived.
Thanks in advance,
Keith
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Chris M, modified 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 8:03 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 8:02 AM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs (Answer)

Posts: 5117 Join Date: 1/26/13 Recent Posts
I'll link you to mine but there are many more here on DhO and Awakenetwork.org:

http://awakenetwork.org/magazine/cmarti/70#more-70
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Noah, modified 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 12:21 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 12:21 PM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs (Answer)

Posts: 1467 Join Date: 7/6/13 Recent Posts
Kenneth Folk: http://contemplativefitnessbook.com/

Antero: https://apracticejournal.wordpress.com/

Nikolai: http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2011/06/yogis-journal-from-1st-to-4th-path.html

An Eternal Now: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-e-booke-journal.html
shargrol, modified 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:27 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:27 PM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs (Answer)

Posts: 2345 Join Date: 2/8/16 Recent Posts
Keith:
Just wondering if anyone knows of any autobiographies by lay practitioners who have become meditators and progressed far along the path while living lives in the "conventional" world. I'm interested more in how they juggled the commitments and resolved the obvious conflicts between following a "spiritual" path (is there another desciptor for this?!) and living a life in the "normal" world. 

As you look through DhO and AN, you'll probably be surprised at the lack of conflict between having a consistent personal practice and "the conventional world". Many people have progressed far along the path with limited and even no retreat sessions, simply doing 30 minutes to an hour once or twice a day. In the early days of DhO, there was a smallish community of people posting their daily practice and people providing feedback. Pretty much everyone that had a consistent practice went pretty far, regardless of their daily family (single, married, married with kids) or working life (unemployed, easy work, lots of drama work). 

So it really isn't about balancing the spiritual and conventional, the real challenge is simply finding a way to organize your life so that you have a consistent sitting practice.

Hope that helps in some way!
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Chris M, modified 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:32 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/5/16 5:32 PM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs (Answer)

Posts: 5117 Join Date: 1/26/13 Recent Posts
Yes, gotta agree with my friend shargrol -- the idea that one can't have an effective practice while leading a "normal life" is a false choice. Just find time to sit consistently and take it seriously. Most of those here who have done that have gotten somewhere.
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Heiliges Basilikum, modified 5 Years ago at 6/5/18 3:40 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/5/18 3:40 PM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs

Posts: 7 Join Date: 6/5/18 Recent Posts
Here is one by Bill Crecelius called: A Meditator's Handbook: How to Untie Knots

https://store.pariyatti.org/A-Meditators-Handbook-br-spanVipassanaspan_p_4839.html


The audiobook version is a free download at the linked site. Or buy the inexpensive book or eBook.
Francis M Crawford, modified 5 Years ago at 6/6/18 9:52 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/6/18 9:52 AM

RE: Lay autobiographies or blogs

Posts: 23 Join Date: 5/14/17 Recent Posts
What password works for KF's book?  Or where do you get one?  Thanks.

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